Yellow-crowned Night-heron and Black-crowned Night-heron at Kaufman Lake in Champaign, IL

Carrie and I were looking at the sleepy Yellow-crowned Night-heron right where Ted Hartzler said it would be.





Suddenly, another Night-heron sized bird mobbed it and stole its perch. The Yellow-crowned flew to the left and landed on a stick by the water, and a Green Heron flew across the lake. After a moment, the Yellow-crowned flew back to a perch beneath the second Night-heron, which I recognized to be a Black-crowned Night-heron.



Yellow-crowned looked up at Black-crowned, but Black-crowned ignored Yellow-crowned.



Yellow-crowned turned and they were both standing in the same direction.



A couple of minutes later, they were looking at each other. Black-crowned was looking down and Yellow-crowned was looking up. It was like a stare off.



Then Black-crowned turned around and defecated on Yellow-crowned, and Yellow-crowned flew away to the right, landed on another stick by the water and began to fish.







Later in the evening, after I took Carrie home, I stopped by El Paso Sewage Treatment Center to see a Willet that Ted Hartzler had found there.



Not only did I see the Willet. I also saw this Snow Goose.



Then on my way home, I heard and then saw this Sedge Wren in the John W. English Prairie at Evergreen Lake in McLean County.

Western Meadowlarks in Woodford County, IL

Above is a video of one of the two Western Meadowlarks that Carrie and I saw in Woodford County on July 19, 2014. We drove out to find this bird after we put our dog Bobby down at our veterinarian's office. It seemed like a good way to try to get that difficult experience off of our minds. At first we saw one of the meadowlarks on the ground. Then one of the birds flew up on the power line where we could get better looks and hear it singing. This species was a lifer for Carrie. We saw them where Dr. Angelo Capparella has them every year on the stretch of 3100E Rd. between 1400N and 1600N. I had first seen them there in June 2013. We also had a Dickcissel on the power line along this stretch.

Here are a few photos of the Western Meadowlark.





On our way home, Carrie and I saw a dowitcher in a fluddle just North of 2900 N on Highway 29 between Hudson and Gridley. There were also Least Sandpipers in another fluddle just North of that one.



As for our dog Bobby, here is something I wrote about him on Facebook the same day we put him down.

"I have never had a pet that I loved so much as Bobby. Carrie had him for 11 and 1/2 years and I knew him for 7 and 1/2 of those years. When I moved from Salem Ranch to live with Carrie after we married, I was very happy to be with Carrie, but there were times when Carrie was at work that I was lonely. I missed the community of Salem, but Bobby was such wonderful company that he helped me adjust to my new home. I take comfort from my Lord who weeped when Lazarus died and said that my heavenly Father feeds the sparrows and that not one sparrow "falls to the ground apart from your Father's will." I know he loves Bobby more than we do, and I am thankful for the blessing and gift that Bobby was. Just before we were married we found out that Bobby had a kidney disease, and we thought he was going to die, but the Lord answered our prayers and gave us 7-8 more years with our dog."

We were able to take Bobby on one last walk the morning before he died. He did not want to go on a walk because he did not feel well, but I had the idea for Carrie to hold him on her lap on the front porch to see if the fresh air and the smells would make him more interested in going for a walk. It worked. After sitting on the porch for a few minutes, he was ready to take a walk. He had a difficult time drinking afterwards as the cancer had grown very rapidly and filled his mouth, pushing his tongue to the side. This was the first day that he could not drink on his own. Then I had one last car ride with Bobby on my lap, and Carrie held him on her lap at the veterinarian's office as he fell asleep and his heart stopped. His body was still warm and soft when we handed him over to our vet.



Written and published on February 25, 2014

Willet at the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds in McLean County, IL

On Saturday, July 12, 2014, Daniel Freburg and I went birding locally in McLean County. We started at the spillway at Lake Bloomington, where we observed several swallow species and some Cedar Waxwings. We both enjoyed viewing the swallows through our binoculars as they zoomed around the spillway catching insects in the air. Next we stopped by the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds where we found the Willet shown above and below. Willet is a rare bird for McLean County.







We also saw numerous Barn Swallows, 12 Spotted Sandpipers, two Least Sandpipers, and even a Cedar Waxwing that landed on one of the concrete blocks by one of the ponds. Here is one of the Spotted Sandpipers.



And here is one of the numerous Barn Swallows we saw.



We also stopped at the El Paso Sewage Treatment Center where we saw a Snow Goose.



Written and published on February 5, 2015

A Photo Quiz on Shorebirds at the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds

Can you tell these three shorebirds apart? Get out your field guides and get some practice. I first saw these three birds at the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds on the evening of July 10, 2014. Then two of them ended up in one of the fluddles just North of 2900 N on Highway 29 in McLean County. There were also Spotted and Least Sandpipers at the ponds, and there was a Solitary Sandpiper in one of the fluddles. That's a pretty good shorebird species count for early July (seven species including Killdeer). Here are some more shots of the three birds shown above.













In this photo one of the three birds shown above is standing behind a Spotted Sandpiper.



And here is a Killdeer chick I photographed there the same day at the same location.



Written and published on February 25, 2015