Clinton Lake and Rainy Day Mania at White Oak Park

Yesterday, the JWP Audubon Society had another bird walk at Ewing Park. We had a nice turn out, and I enjoyed talking to the ten other people who came. Otherwise it was a dreary, cold, rainy, somewhat disappointing morning. There were a few new birds. I had my first of the year Northern Waterthrush and Gray Catbirds. We heard Northern Parula, and Wes Kolb had a Black-throated Green and a Blue-winged Warblers. Then later he had a Nashville Warbler with Dale Birkenholz. Otherwise, we seemed to have the same Yellow-rumpeds, Palm Warblers and Blue-gray Gnatchatchers that had been hanging around the whole week. Below is a photo of one of the Gray Catbirds and a video of it singing.





After the walk, Les Allen and I decided to head down to Clinton Lake to look for Leconte's Sparrows at the dead marsh. On the way down, we stopped at Centennial Park in Heyworth. Highlights were four singing Warbling Vireos, a Green Heron, two or three Great Blue Herons, and a couple of Eurasian Collared-doves. I had become familiar with the song of the Warbling Vireo since Carrie heard one singing in our yard last week. We also thought we had a Yellow-throated Vireo, but could never get a clear look at the bird before it flew to the next tree.

When we got to the Dead Marsh at Clinton Lake, we saw a couple of Vesper and Swamp Sparrows, but no Leconte's. Then we saw a bird along the edge of the prairie that had the posture and behavior of a Sedge Wren, but it turned out to be a Marsh Wren. The bird did not call, and sat out in the open quite a bit. I misidentified this bird initially and did not correct myself until I examined my photos carefully at home.



Before we left the marsh, we found a singing male Orchard Oriole, which was a first of the year bird for both of us. Next we went to the Marina. On the way there, we saw our first of the year Eastern Kingbird perched on a power line next to someone's yard, and near the marina, we found a nice mudflat with a variety of shorebirds. After we scoped them, we headed for Mascoutin Beach to look for gulls and terns. When we arrived we saw a couple of Forster's Terns standing on the beach with a number of Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls. While we were looking at the Forster's Terns through the scope, a Caspian Tern flew in. The two Forster's Terns flew away when the Caspian landed, but a what appeared to be the third Forster's Tern remained and eventually flew next to the Caspian Tern.



After seeing Forster's Tern, which was a year bird for Les and a lifer for me, and Caspian Tern, a year bird for both of us, each of us celebrated with an ice cream cone from Boondock's. We checked the Salt Creek Wetland before heading back to McLean County, but we were so far away from the birds from the numerous shorebirds from where we walked in, we could not identify them We could make out shovelers, Great Blues, and a Great Egret. Below is a list of what we at Clinton Lake.

Clinton Lake, De Witt, US-IL
Apr 28, 2012 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
15.0 mile(s)
35 species

Canada Goose 5
Mallard 2
Blue-winged Teal 2
Northern Shoveler 8
Ring-necked Pheasant 5
Great Blue Heron 22
Great Egret 1
Killdeer 3
Solitary Sandpiper 15
Greater Yellowlegs 6
Lesser Yellowlegs 12
Bonaparte's Gull 6
Ring-billed Gull 60
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
Barn Swallow 3
Marsh Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 7
Common Yellowthroat 1
Palm Warbler 1
Field Sparrow 5
Vesper Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 45
Eastern Meadowlark 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 12
Orchard Oriole 1
American Goldfinch 4
House Sparrow 1

Strangely, I ended up seeing more species the next day at White Oak Park in Bloomington, IL. After attending a birthday party with my wife nearby, I decided to stop at the park to see if there were Purple Martins in the martin apartments that Matthew Winks has been maintaining. I did indeed see about ten Purple Martins, and although I was seeing Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers, I was on my way back to my car to escape the rain when I ran into Ted Hartzler and Matthew Winks himself, who told me there were six American Avocets and a Forster's Tern in the park. I went back to my car to get my camera, and walked over to these birds to take some pictures. American Avocet was a lifer for me, and since I had seen my first Forster's Terns the day before at Clinton Lake, Forster's Tern was a county bird. Below are a few shots of the Forsters's Tern and the six American Avocets.















After taking a few pictures, I took my wet camera back to my car to dry it off and called my wife Carrie, Les Allen, and Dave Weth so that each of them could come to see these birds. Les arrived first on the scene with his scope. While he and I were watching the birds through the scope and waiting for Carrie to arrive, two Caspian Terns flew in and landed beside the gulls and the Forster's Tern. These birds appeared so large in flight that when I saw the first one flying in, I mistook it for an Osprey. Unfortunately, I had left my camera in the car to keep it dry. Carrie arrived next and saw the avocets and both tern species. These birds were all lifers for her, and American Avocet was a state bird for Les. Not long after she had arrived, a woman who was speaking to us loudly from her porch about the avocets, which she had seen, seemed to flush all of the birds though we were a good distance away watching through the scope. Fortunately, all of them returned except for the Caspians.

I walked Carrie back toward her car after she had seen the birds. On our way back, we ran into Dave Weth, who had his camera on his shoulder. I pointed him in the right direction and grabbed my camera out of my car in case the Caspians returned. When I caught up with Dave and Les, the Caspians had not returned, but they had seen a Sora walk right out into the open from inside the Phragmites. After Dave took his pictures and returned to his car, the Sora walked out again and walked almost right up to Les and I as we watched in amazement.





As Les and I continued around the lake it became dark and the rain fell harder, but we saw more Spotted Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs, a second Green Heron (one had flown over us earlier), Great Blue Herons, Blue-winged Teals, Purple Martins, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Tree and Barn Swallows, Chimney Swifts, Savannah Sparrows, etc. Below is a complete list of the birds I saw in the two hours I was there. I am so grateful that Matthew and Ted were there and grateful to them for telling me about the avocets and the tern. If I had not run into them, Carrie, Les, Dave, and I would not have seen these birds.

White Oak Park (Bloomington), McLean, US-IL
Apr 29, 2012 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Protocol: Area
3.0 ac
29 species

Mallard 15
Blue-winged Teal 6
Great Blue Heron 3
Green Heron 2
Sora 1
American Coot 8
Killdeer 4
American Avocet 6
Spotted Sandpiper 7
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 3
Ring-billed Gull 9
Caspian Tern 2
Forster's Tern 1
Chimney Swift 6
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3
Purple Martin 10
Tree Swallow 6
Barn Swallow 4
American Robin 5
Palm Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Savannah Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 2
Red-winged Blackbird 25
Common Grackle 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
American Goldfinch 1
House Sparrow 6

Blue Grosbeak at Ewing Park in Bloomington, IL

This morning, I birded Ewing Park before work. I added Blue-gray Gnatcatcher to my year list and enjoyed the music of the White-throated Sparrow choir accompanied by three Eastern Towhees. There must have been over 30 White-throated Sparrows in the woods. As I came out of Hedge Apple Woods, I saw a Broad-winged Hawk flying toward me. It turned and flew across the football field, across the stream and up the hill. It seemed so be inviting me to follow. When I finally made it across the stream and up the hill, I saw what first appeared to be a strange molting male Indigo Bunting. He flew into the little tree by the bluebird box. The female Eastern Bluebird must have thought he was handsome because she flew into the tree with him. I can understand how she might have been confused by his appearance. He was a blue bird with a ruddy brown breast. As I approached, he flew to the ground and perched on the tall grass. I worked my way around the bushes so that I could get close without flushing him. When I saw the color of his wings, his big head and bulky bill, I started to think I was looking at strange molting male Blue Grosbeak rather than a strange molting male Indigo Bunting. When I got back to the car, I looked in my field guide, which confirmed my impression--a first spring, male Blue Grosbeak. Before I left, I saw Angelo Capparella, who came to the same conclusion when he viewed my photos.

Prairie Ridge State Natural Area and Karl Bartels Land and Water Preserve

Yesterday, Carrie and I got up at 2:30 a.m. and left at 3:00 a.m. to go see the only Greater Prairie Chickens left in Illinois at Prairie Ridge State Natural Area in Newton, IL (Jasper County). You can read about the prairie chickens and Prairie Ridge at the link below.

http://dnr.state.il.us/orc/prairieridge/

We only had a quarter of a tank of gas when we left, and there were few places to stop on the way, but we made it to Effingham at about 5:00 a.m. where we hit the jackpot as Carrie said--a Pilot with a McDonalds. We filled the tank and enjoyed coffee and breakfast at McDonalds before finishing the remainder of our drive.

We arrived at the park office at about 6:20 a.m. and walked to the Northwest edge of the fence where we joined a father and son from Chicago and a couple of park workers, who were already watching the prairie chickens booming 300 yards away. We could see them fairly well through the scope, but they were too far away to take decent pictures. Here is a video of one of the chickens displaying and a couple of distant photos I took through the scope with my LG phone. This species was a lifer for both Carrie and me.







Also present were the calls of Northern Bobwhites, singing Eastern Meadowlarks and of course Red-winged Blackbirds everywhere and a couple of Eastern Bluebirds across from the park office.

After we finished observing the prairie chickens, one of the park workers drove us to a field beside an old red barn on 500 N Rd. just Northwest of the park office where an Upland Sandpiper had been seen on Friday. Unfortunately we did not see the Upland Sandpiper, but we headed South on 900 E and saw a couple of small wetlands while going East on 400 N where we had Blue-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, and Great Blue Heron.

Next we went looking for the Loggerhead Shrike that had been spotted on 600 N Rd. Northeast of the office near the intersection with 1000 E Rd. We had barely left the office parking lot when we saw the shrike on a power line in front of a house on the East side of 1000 E Rd. We both got good looks at the bird. We drove East on 600 N Rd. and South on 1100 East Rd. to see if we could see the other shrike. Instead we saw a Northern Bobwhite in a very small mowed area on the East side of the road. It quickly ran into the tall grass before I could set up for a photo. When we pulled over nearby two Northern Mockingbirds flew out of a bush and gave us good looks. One of them, shown below, landed on the road and the other, shown at the beginning of this post, landed on a park sign. Carrie also noticed a Northern Flicker on a telephone pole across the street.



We turned back North and recovered our tracks. Carrie thought she saw the other shrike on a power line on 600 N Rd., but it flew before I could get a look.

Next we went to the Illinois Audubon Society Karl Bartels Land and Water Preserve which is just Southeast of the park office but in Marion County. There Carrie had her lifer Wilson's Snipes, Pectoral Sandpipers, and Greater Yellowlegs. We also had a Canada Goose on its nest, Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Song Sparrow, and Tree Swallow. There we also ran into the Chicago Ornithological Society, which had been looking for Smith's Longspur. They had not seen any longspurs but had seen a Henslow's Sparrow on 900 East Rd. Carrie and I decided to go look for the Henslow's. Although we did not see this elusive sparrow, Carrie saw her first Horned Larks, including the one below, which sang for us.



After checking for the Upland Sandpiper again, we drove East on 500 N and found the Loggerhead Shrike again. It flew to a power line on 1000 E Rd. near the house where we had first seen it, and I was able to take a few photos from my car.



Before we left to head home, we went East on 600 N one more time hoping to see another Northern Bobwhite. Instead we found the second Loggerhead Shrike on a barbed wire. We left by 12:00 p.m. and got home by 3:00 p.m. just in time to mow the yard before it rained. We finished the day with 37 species including five lifers for Carrie and a lifer and a state bird (Loggerhead Shrike) for me. Below are separate lists for Jasper and Marion County and a few more photos from the day.

Prairie Ridge State Natural Area (Jasper Co.), Jasper, US-IL
Apr 7, 2012 6:20 AM - 12:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
10.0 mile(s)
32 species

Canada Goose 2
Blue-winged Teal 1
Northern Bobwhite 4 3 heard, 2 seen
Greater Prairie-Chicken 8
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 6
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 6
Wilson's Snipe 1
Mourning Dove 15
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Loggerhead Shrike 2
Blue Jay 3
Horned Lark 6
Barn Swallow 2
Eastern Bluebird 3
American Robin 35
Northern Mockingbird 4
Brown Thrasher 1 heard
European Starling 12
Chipping Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 5 heard only
Song Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 150
Eastern Meadowlark 60
Common Grackle 25
Brown-headed Cowbird 20
American Goldfinch 5
House Sparrow 7

Prairie Ridge State Natural Area (Marion Co.), Marion, US-IL
Apr 7, 2012 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Protocol: Area
10.0 ac
18 species

Canada Goose 1 on nest
Blue-winged Teal 9
Green-winged Teal 3
Northern Bobwhite 1 heard only
Turkey Vulture 3
Killdeer 2
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Pectoral Sandpiper 6
Wilson's Snipe 4
Tree Swallow 2
Eastern Bluebird 1
American Robin X
Brown Thrasher 1 heard only
Field Sparrow 1 heard only
Song Sparrow 1
Red-winged Blackbird 25
Eastern Meadowlark 15

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Northern Goshawk at Ewing Park in Bloomington, IL

On April 3, 2012, I saw and photographed this juvenile Northern Goshawk at Ewing Park. Angelo Capparella also saw this same bird the same morning in the park. I was also surprised to find two Pine Siskins between Hedge Apple Woods and the Swale.