Trumpeter Swans in McLean County at the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds

Yesterday morning I stopped by the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds before work as I usually do. However, I was amazed to see two Trumpeter Swans in the middle pond. I watched from my car for about an hour as they swam back and forth, preened, and fed or drank from the water. The workers started coming into the facility in their vehicles. A few of the cars stopped to look, but the swans did not seem disturbed. Suddenly, at the end of the hour, they just took off and headed South. I suspect they may still be in the area.

Franklin's Gull at Evergreen Lake in McLean County

Saturday morning, I went to Evergreen Lake to look for an American Black Duck. I noticed four Greater Yellowlegs from the road by the South bridge. On my way up the Barred Owl Trail on the South end of the lake, I saw the Hermit Thrush shown above. When I got to the bottom of the trail, there was a nice group of waterfowl, including Canada Goose Wood Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, and a single American Black Duck, which briefly lifted his head, but then put it back down.



From the end of the trail, I also saw several Pectoral Sandpipers, a couple of Dunlin, and three Double-crested Cormorants. With my target bird for the day acquired, I decided to check some other parts of the lake. I hiked the Deer Island Trail on the East side, and found two Bonaparte's Gulls and several Ring-billed Gulls in the water along the trail.





I continued on the trail to the spit. There were four Ring-billed Gulls on the edge of the spit, and there was an American Pipit along the shore. I walked out into the open and past the spit to scan for ducks. I noticed groups of Lesser Scaups and Ruddy Ducks in addition to some of the species I had already seen. As I turned to walk back to the trail, I noticed there were now five gulls on the edge of the spit. I scanned with my scope and noticed that one of them was a Franklin's Gull. This was my first ever Franklin's Gull in McLean County.





After I snapped a couple of shots, the gulls flushed. I'm not sure if it was me, my phone ringing, or the pair of Bald Eagles that I noticed just after the gulls disappeared that caused them to flush, but by the time I had hiked back to the car and drove to the boat launch at Comlara Park, the Franklin's and several Ring-billed Gulls had returned to the spit, which can be scoped from the boat launch.

With a state year bird and a county bird under my belt, I decided to check a few more locations before heading home. I checked the flat behind Hinthorn Chapel and found six Greater Yellowlegs, two Least Sandpipers, two more Dunlin, eight Pectoral Sandpipers, and of course plenty of Killdeer. There were a few gulls and ducks as well. Here is a shot of one of the Dunlin.



Next I drove to the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds. I think they are beginning to leave the gate open again now that the construction work is finished inside. My best bird there was a single Green-winged Teal, swimming with the resident Mallards.





Finally, I checked the lake at White Oak Park, but there was nothing out of the ordinary there, except Ring-necked and Ruddy ducks. I enjoyed watching this strange duck that has been there for at least a few weeks.





After I returned home, Carrie and I enjoyed eating at a wonderful Turkish restaurant in Bloomington called Ephesus. Then we went to see Captain Phillips. It was an awesome movie with the exception of Tom Hank's attempts at a Massachusetts accent, which was distracting and annoying at the beginning of the film.

Harlan's X Western/Eastern Red-tailed Hawk and Northern Harrier in McLean County

Monday, October 21, on my way to work, I stopped at the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds, where I had a decent variety of waterfowl, including Canada Goose, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, and Ruddy Duck. Here are a couple of shots of the Bufflehead.





There were also about 12 American Pipits on the rocks around the ponds, and a Northern Harrier was flying around in the field on the east side of the east fence.







Friday morning, October 25, on my way to work, I saw this raptor on highway 29 about a mile South of Merwin Nature Preserve on a telephone pole, but it took off and started soaring due West before I could get a photo of it on the pole. I believed it was a dark morph Western Red-tailed Hawk, transitioning from juvenile into adult plumage, but Matt Fraker helped correct my identification of this bird. It is actually a Harlan's/Western-Eastern Red-tailed Intergrade.

Nelson's Sparrow, Finally!

Tuesday, I had the opportunity to see my lifer Le Conte's Sparrow at Sugar Grove Nature Center in Funks Grove. Today I returned to Sugar Grove to look for my first Nelson's Sparrow, but I could not find Nelson's, Le Conte's or Henslow's sparrows. My best birds were Lincoln's. I had 5-6 of them. I also saw Song, White-crowned, and of course Swamp Sparrows. Here is one of the Lincoln's.



After I realized there were no Ammodramus sparrows at Funks, I decided to try the Kenneth L. Schroeder Wildlife Sanctuary for Nelson's. When I got there it was raining, but I walked through the woods to the blind for cover. While I waited in the blind, I saw more Lincoln Sparrows, Song Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, and a Nashville Warbler. When the rain stopped, I walked back to the parking area to meet Les Allen and Wes Kolb. Wes needed Le Conte's and Nelson's as lifers, and Les needed Le Conte's as a county bird and Nelson's as a state bird.

We checked for Le Conte's first in the prairie Southwest of the gate. Wes and Les flushed a bird, and I followed it. It was a Le Conte's! It perched in a bush, and sat there until we all got great looks.







Next we headed South along the gravel road to the ponds. We did not see any Nelson's Sparrows there, but we had lots of White-crowneds, Swamps, Songs, and a Marsh Wren.



Here is one of our Song Sparrows . . .



and here is one of our Swamp Sparrows.



Next we decided to check out the brand new wetland Southeast of the blind. It was the first time I had seen it, and it was amazing! To my knowledge, there is nothing like it anywhere in the county. I cannot wait to see what this new habitat brings next Spring. It is perfect habitat for Nelson's Sparrows, and we found one, which was seen first by Wes!



It was not the most cooperative bird, but it was a lifer for Wes and me and a state bird for Les! And we also had Wilson's Snipes, another Marsh Wren, and Savannah Sparrows in the wetland.



With Eastern Towhee and White-throated Sparrow, our sparrow species count at Schroeder totaled at nine. Although the light was not great and the weather could have been better, any day with Le Conte's and Nelson's is a great day, especially when you can share these birds with friends!

Le Conte's Sparrow, Finally!

For the past three years, two Ammodramus sparrows have completely eluded me until this morning. Sparrows in general can be difficult to get good looks at. They often forage on or close to the ground and many of them seek cover in tall grass. Sparrows from the genus Ammodramus can be particularly challenging to see or photograph. Two years ago, I saw my first Ammodramus sparrow--a Grasshopper Sparrow at the Kenneth L. Schroeder Wildlife Sanctuary. Only a couple of weeks later, I saw my second Ammodramus sparrow--a Henslow's Sparrow at Evergreen Lake. Since that time, I have seen more Grasshopper and Henslow's Sparrows, but I have been unable to find any Le Conte's or Nelson's Sparrows or at least not any that were willing to sit up in the grass so that I could get a look. Over the past couple of years, I had been to Schroeder many times in October to look, but usually whenever I had the opportunity to go, it was windy and the sparrows would flush, but would not sit anywhere where they were visible. Also, I have wanted to go on Matt Fraker's famous Smith Longspur/Clinton Lake field trip in April because Le Conte's Sparrows are typically seen on that annual field trip, but it always falls on the weekend that I have to be at work for our biggest fundraiser of the year.

This year I decided I would search somewhere other than Schroeder for these birds. Saturday, Carrie and I searched a prairie at Moraine View State Park, where Carrie got her lifer Henslow's Sparrow and we found an unbelievable bird for Illinois--Say's Phoebe, but we saw no Nelson's or Le Conte's Sparrows. I heard Nelson's calling and even singing a couple of times, but it would not sit up for us.

Yesterday, I saw a photo on the Illinois Birders Forum Photo Pool, taken by Visu Nandakumar. It was a photo of a Le Conte's Sparrow and it had been taken on Saturday at the Sugar Grove Nature Center in Funks Grove, IL. Since Funks Grove is in the county and not too far of a drive, I decided to get up early this morning and drive there to look for a Le Conte's.

It was sunny and not windy this morning so it seemed to be a promising day. When I arrived, I immediately noticed it was a very birdy morning. There were warblers and kinglets in the trees by the parking lot. However, I made it to the prairie where I quickly noticed a good variety of sparrow species. I saw a Song, a Savannah, and a Field Sparrow, and there were Swamp Sparrows everywhere. I even saw a total of four Lincoln's Sparrows and was able to photograph a couple of them.





I even got psyched out by a Henslow's Sparrow that I at first thought was a Le Conte's.



As I was starting to wonder if I was going to miss Le Conte's yet again, I heard one calling along the black trail in the prairie North of the observatory, and it popped up! What a beautiful bird!





Although the little bird did not sit still for long, it offered great looks from several different perches.





This juvenile Le Conte's Sparrow was not nearly as cooperative.



After leaving Funks Grove, I stopped by the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds before going on to work, where I found two American Pipits--my first two in McLean County for the year. These plain little sparrow-like birds are one of my favorite yearly treats.





And as for the Ammodramus nemeses--one down, and one to go!

A Say's Phoebe in Illinois?

Early on Saturday morning, October 5, Carrie and I went to the prairie across the street from the horse barn at Moraine View State Park on 900 N Rd. to look for Ammodramus sparrows. We were particularly hoping to see a Nelson's or a Le Conte's Sparrow. I thought I heard Nelson's Sparrows calling and even singing a couple of times, but nothing would really sit up for us.

We were on our way back to the car in the middle of the prairie on the North side of the road at 9:02 a.m., when I saw a bird sitting on a bent yellow restricted area sign (hunting). There were actually two signs together and both were bent. Carrie was right with me and also saw the bird. I was puzzled at first, not having this bird anywhere on my radar, but quickly realized it was a Say's Phoebe and managed to snap a couple of shots before it flew into a bush toward the road.



We stood in the same spot, while I texted a bunch of other birders for a couple of minutes. Mysteriously, out of the blue, the bird took off and flew all the way back to the Northeast corner of the prairie behind a tree line that juts out into the middle of the prairie.

While we were waiting for people to come, Carrie found a Henslow's Sparrow in a bush, and we both got good looks.



Matt Fraker, Matthew Winks, Shanin Abreu, Todd Bugg, Dale Birkenholz, and Les Allen all arrived on the scene, but none of us were able to relocate the Say's Phoebe.

I was hoping the bird would return to the sign or to the fences behind the house or horse barn. There were lots of Eastern Phoebes in this area on the South side of the road. The sign was in the middle of the prairie on the North side of the road on the West edge of a mowed path through the prairie, perpendicular to the road and directly across the road from the brown house.

Also a man drove up in a truck and told Todd Bugg that we should not be in the prairie (not sure if just the South side or both) because of deer season. There were no hunters anywhere around and all the signs said deer hunting was on Monday and Tuesday only so I'm not really certain what was going on there.

Say's Phoebe is a rare vagrant to Illinois, but another one was found in Illinois this year on September 23 in DuPage County.

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