Acadian Flycatcher at Merwin Nature Preserve in McLean County, IL

In June 2014, I posted this bird I photographed on May 31, 2014 on the Illinois Birder's Forum. It was the first time I saw this bird and heard it singing at the same time. I thought I might have seen one at Merwin the year before, but could not be certain without hearing it call. I had also heard this species singing a few times, but had never been able to spot one of the ones I heard singing. This was a special sighting for me--an Acadian Flycatcher. What was interesting about this bird was the yellow coloration on the throat and chest, which made it appear similar to a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.



I did not saturate the photo or change the color. I only lightened and sharpened it a bit. The original looked just as yellow.



Written and published on February 1, 2015

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in Yorkville, IL and Prairie Falcons Near Hennepin and Hopper Lakes

I drove up to Yorkville, IL to see these nine Black-bellied Whistling Ducks--rare visitors to Illinois. This looks like a good photo to guess the dialogue! Any takers?









This was one of two Prairie Warblers I saw on territory today near the Hennepin and Hopper Lakes in Putnam County on my way back from seeing the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in Yorkville.

Cerulean Warbler at Bull Gap Overlook in Buncombe County, North Carolina

Carrie and I saw this Cerulean Warbler this morning along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Buncombe County, North Carolina. We heard it singing as soon as we got out of the car at Bull Gap Overlook, and it sang the whole time until we left. It was a lifer for both of us.

Here is a photo of the view by Craggy Gardens further up the parkway.



We are here on a visit my mother trip, but I have been planning to look for Cerulean on the parkway since our visit here last July. Western North Carolina is where I grew up, but I was not a birder back in those days.

There are Eastern Towhees, Carolina Wrens, Northern Mockingbirds, and Song Sparrows everywhere in the lower elevations in Haywood County, NC, where we are staying. The upper elevations on the parkway in Buncombe County, are full of nesting towhees, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Chestnut-sided Warblers. This Cerulean was on territory. There were also what appeared to be nesting pairs of Indigo Buntings, American Redstarts, Red-eyed Vireos, and Pileated Woodpeckers at the same overlook with the Ceruleans. Further up the parkway we heard but did not see Wilson's Warbler, Hooded Warbler, and Black-throated Blue Warbler. We stayed across the highway from Lake Junaluska in Haywood County, and had Carolina Wrens, Eastern Towhees, and Eastern Bluebirds greeting us when we pulled up into the apartment drive. There was a Killdeer family in the gravel parking lot adjacent to the apartment, and a pair of Northern Mockingbirds just across the highway. This morning we saw a diving Osprey in the lake across the highway as we pulled out of the drive. We also had a Common Loon in the Lake and a Bald Eagle, hundreds of Barn Swallows, and a few Tree and Northern Rough-winged Swallows over the lake. Most of the migrants seem to have already passed through in that we did not have a big variety of species. It seems that most of what is left is here to nest. We are driving home tomorrow.

Last July, we also found nesting Veery, Canada Warbler, and Chestnut-sided Warbler along the parkway in Haywood County, but we did not have time to go back to that area on this trip since we were looking for Cerulean in Buncombe County.

Western Kingbird at Evergreen Lake

On May 14, Dave Weth reported finding this Western Kingbird on the fence across from the Deer Island Trail at Evergreen Lake in McLean County. When I arrived at the place he described, Matthew Winks was there watching the bird, and I was able to take the photo above from my car. It was great to add this bird to my county list and to get a close look at this species.

Alder Flycatcher at Ewing Park

I heard an Alder Flycatcher sing and "peet" several times last night at Ewing, but it was in some thick stuff so I was unable to get to it to see it. Alder was a lifer for me, and hearing the song is a more reliable way to identify Empidonax flycatchers than seeing them. I also heard the "whit" of the Willow Flycatcher several times in the same place, but I did not report Willow because I did not want to make the ID based on a chip note. I also heard an Eastern Wood-Pewee and saw an Olive-sided Flycatcher on a snag above the swale. Least was also reported there though I did not identify one. So it was a good day for flycatchers at Ewing yesterday. Unfortunately, I was not able to find the Mississippi Kite that Given Harper had there yesterday, and I am still trying to see my first Bay-breasted Warbler in Spring breeding plumage.

Female Bobolink at the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds

Upland Sandpipers at M&M Turf Sod Farm

A pair of Upland Sandpipers have returned to the M & M Turf sod farm in McLean County. I photographed these two this evening about 50-100 yards from the road. Sometimes they come in closer. Here are some close-up photos I took of them from a couple of years ago at the same location.

http://www.murphbirder.blogspot.com/2012/05/mclean-county-upland-sandpipers-at-m-m.html

White-rumped Sandpiper at El Paso Sewage Treatment Center in Woodford County, IL

On May 6, I found this White-rumped Sandpiper at El Paso Sewage Treatment Center in Woodford County, IL.

Long-billed Dowitcher at El Paso Sewage Treatment Center in Woodford County, IL

Dunlin and Wilson's Phalaropes at the El Paso Sewage Treatment Center in Woodford County, IL

I went to El Paso Sewage Treatment Center this morning before work and ran into Ted Hartzler. I was able to identify maybe half the shorebirds there with the time I had. So there were probably between 30 and 60 shorebirds there. The clearly marked Western Sandpiper that Ted Hartzler had yesterday was not on the flat, but there was a Dunlin and a White-rumped Sandpiper on the flat in the Northwest lagoon. There were three Wilson's Phalaropes found by Ted on the west side of the center pond near the berm. Other shorebirds included Least, Semipalmated, Pectoral sandpipers, and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. There were 3 American Pipits, and Ted had Bobolink there yesterday.

Townsend's Warbler and Other Migrants at Ewing Park

This morning there were three groups at Ewing Park: JWP Audubon Society, a group from Illinois Wesleyan University, and the Master Naturalist class. Carrie and her brother Daniel Freburg rode with me, and we were all there for the JWP Audubon Society's Ewing Walk. Wes Kolb, who was also came as part of the JWP Audubon Society, was the one who found the Townsend's Warbler, while some of us were looking at a Kentucky Warbler. He called me on my phone, and I found him trying to relocate the bird. He asked me to help him find it so we could gets some evidence. My mind went back to a Black-throated Green Warbler I thought I had seen earlier in the same spot that just did not sit right with me at the time. The word Townsend's entered my mind, but I had dismissed it because it seemed so unlikely. As I searched, I wondered if that had been the Townsend's. Had I missed it? After a few minutes of searching, I relocated the bird, and Jeanna Powell, Wes, and I began frantically trying to get photographs while my wife Carrie, brother-in-law Dan Freburg, and Marty Greenberg looked on. Then Wes found the group, and Les Allen brought them over. I think just about everyone that was there got great looks at the bird as it fed up in the canopy. Then as I started trying to send texts to let others know, I lost it. Here is the best photo I was able to get. Jeanna had a better photo of the face. Wes took some good photos as well. The crown was dark black though you cannot tell from the photo above. Here are a couple more . . .





There were at least two and maybe three Kentucky Warblers and a Hooded Warbler. Here is one of the Kentuckies.



Before Wes found the Townsend's, we had some nice birds in Ewing III, up on the hill North of the football field and creek, including Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Phoebe, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds, a flyover Peregrine Falcon, a Pine Warbler, and a Northern Mockingbird. Here is the mockingbird, a good bird for McLean County . . .



Other birds present included Orange-crowned, Tennessee, Black-and-white, Yellow-rumped, Palm, Nashville, and Yellow Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Blue-headed Vireo, Winter Wren, and at least seven Broad-winged Hawks. Carrie had seven lifers--Blue-headed Vireo, Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Pine Warbler, and Townsend's Warbler. Townsend's Warbler was a lifer for me, and most of the birds Daniel saw were new for him.

Carrie and Daniel were ready to leave and left before I did. Les Allen, Wes Kolb, Wayne Hostetler, Paula Aschim, Tim Garvey, and I left around noon and went to Angler's Pond, also in Bloomington. We had Green Heron, Purple Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, Yellow Warbler, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Blue-headed Vireo, Marsh Wren, and Solitary Sandpiper. Birds that some of the others saw that I missed included Lincoln's Sparrow, Bay-breasted Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, and Sora. We were looking for the Clay-colored Sparrow, Prothonotary Warbler, and Worm-eating Warbler that Les Allen had seen a couple of days earlier, but we were unable to find them. Well, actually, I now remember that Wayne did see the Clay-colored. Here is the Northern Waterthrush and the Blue-headed Vireo.





I went back to Ewing this afternoon and ran into Colin Dobson, Tony Ward, Josh Engel, Keith McMullen, Jim Mountjoy, Mike Baum, and Mike Wille. None of us were able to relocate the Townsend's, but we did see the Hooded Warbler along the creek.





Jim, Mike, and I saw this Kentucky together . . .



and I later found this Blue-headed Vireo . . .



I thought I saw a warbler with a black throat West of where it had last been seen in the trees along the South edge of the park between Hedge Apple Woods and the baseball field, but I just had a glimpse before it disappeared. Although I was sorry that the bird was not relocated, it was great to see and meet so many birders from other parts of the state and have a few minutes to talk and get to know them better. Greg, thanks for posting this.