Rufous Hummingbird in Downer's Grove, IL

Carrie and I had two goals this Saturday--to stain the back porch and to see a Rufous Hummingbird in Downer's Grove, IL. We planned to get the bird first and then to stain the deck. This worked out well since it was cold and drizzling most of the day. Bob Fisher first reported seeing the rare but annual species in his yard about a week and a half ago. This individual was at first thought to be a female, but from photos appears to be a juvenile male with plenty of Rufous splotches all over its body.

After each of us cooked our own eggs, we filled our cups with coffee and water and drove an hour and a half to Downer's Grove. While we were driving, I phoned Bob, who had already given me permission to come into his yard, to find out where the feeders were. When I called at around 9:00 a.m., the bird had not yet been seen, but Bob told me how to get to his feeders since he planned to be away at the hawk watch. He was very kind and welcoming and even kind enough to call back a little later to let us know his wife saw the hummingbird out the window.

We arrived at about 9:40 a.m. and followed the paved path behind the house, where several chairs were set up along the back of the house under the second story deck. Bob had mentioned that the hummingbird was coming to the West feeder. Colin Dobson and Eddie Kasper were sitting in the chairs closest to the feeder. Tony Ward and Sharon Dobson were sitting a little further back. A little later another birder showed up, but I did not have a chance to speak with him. The bird came into the feeder not long after we arrived, but it came to the back side of the feeder, and we could not see it. Then it came again to the part of the feeder facing us about 30 minutes later, but quickly flew to the back side and away before I was even able to get my binoculars raised to my eyes. This bird seemed to be skiddish. It did not seem to like people sitting close to the feeder, nor did it seem to like to come when people were talking.

Bob's backyard was lovely and outstanding for wildlife. While we were there, Carrie saw a Coyote and a deer in his yard, and among the birds we saw or heard were Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Cedar Waxwing

We all moved out into the yard in various directions, and eventually the bird came back to the feeder, but did not even take a drink before it flew away. It seemed to me that perhaps we were still too close to the feeder. At about 11:30 a.m. Carrie and I had still not been able to see the bird through our binoculars and we were both getting cold. So we decided to go to lunch and come back. We had a nice lunch at Panera Bread. Since we are both still on our diet, we decided to eat salads with our soup instead of sandwiches, and their salads were great. We both drank warm drinks, and after lunch, we returned to Bob's house refreshed and a little warmer. When we arrived, everyone had left except Eddie. He was sitting in the chair closest to the feeder, and I sat down next to him. We went out to the yard for a bit to see if that would make a difference. Unfortunately, Eddie had to leave before the bird appeared, but he said it had buzzed the feeder several times while we were gone. Eddie's mother, Kelly, arrived to pick him up, and Carrie and I returned to the chairs, but the hummingbird never returned to the feeder.

We were about to leave when I looked out into the yard and saw the hummingbird feeding on one of the flowers as shown at the top of the post. Carrie was finally able to get looks at it through her binoculars as was I. I also took this photo when it landed on a branch above the flowers.



And I followed it to the back of the yard, where I took this photo showing its rufous tail.



When I returned to the back of the house, Bob told me from the second story deck that he had seen the hummingbird visit the feeder while I was in the back of the yard, which confirmed my theory that the bird did not want people to be close when it was feeding.

Excited to finally see this intermediate plumaged Rufous hummingbird, which was a lifer for Carrie and a state bird for me, Carrie and I drove home to find that the weather had cleared up and that the back porch was dry. I scraped the porch, while she went to buy the paint, and were able to finish painting it before dark. Mission accomplished!

Sabine's Gulls in Mason County, IL

On Friday, September 23, 2016, Greg Neise posted on the Illinois Rare Bird Alerts page on Facebook that Kevin Richmond was watching three Sabine's Gulls from the Roundtree Trail at Chataqua NWR. Two Sabine's had been at Chataqua all week long and had been, and there had been reported sightings of them from the beer can spot. After work, I picked up Joe Phipps at his apartment, and we drove to Chataqua to see the Sabine's Gulls. We started at the beer can spot, where Joe found one, but the light was terrible so we drove to the Roundtree Trail where we could see the gulls feeding in flight on the other side of the lake. We were both able to see at least two separate Sabine's Gulls feeding in flight through our scopes. Sabine's Gull was a lifer for both of us, and Illinois #325 for me.

Brant in Hammond, IN

On Saturday, September 17, Carrie and I drove up to St. Anne's, IL for a little boy's third birthday party. It was the birthday party of Preston Watford, son of Justin and Allison Watford. We left the party during lunch so that we could stick to our diet, and we ate at a nearby Subway.

Then we drove a little over an hour to Hammond, IN to look for a Brant, which had been reported by Marion Miller on Facebook. The Brant was found by an Indiana birder, but Marion had chased it and reported her sighting on her own page.

When we arrived at the parking area that was plotted on the map on ebird, we were on the wrong side of the golf course from where Marion had seen the bird. She had seen it on the West side of the golf course, but we were parked on the East side. However, there was a paved nature trail from the parking area that took you West between the fenced in golf course and Lake George. We decided to walk to the other side of the golf course on the path instead of driving back around. As we walked the path, we saw two lone scopes sitting on the path, which indicated that the birders had walked off the path to observe something on the lake. I looked at the lake through the vegetation and immediately saw the Brant swimming with four Canada Geese.

Carrie and I were able to get great looks at the bird while talking with the other birders. It was an easy lifer for both of us, and it's a good thing we did not get back in the car and try to drive to the other side, or we might have had a hard time finding the bird.











I did not realize that this goose species was so small until I actually saw this one with the Canada Geese. It was also interesting to compare the gray feathers on this bird to the browner feathers on the wings of the Canada Geese.

Broad-winged Hawk in Gridley, IL

On Friday, September 16, while I was on my way home from work, driving past the cemetery in Gridley, I noticed a raptor in a tree in the cemetery. I drove back and discovered that the raptor was a juvenile Broad-winged Hawk, and I took several photos of the bird.

Common Ringed-Plover in Illinois

On Wednesday, September 14, while I was at work, I received a text from my friend Joe Phipps about a rare vagrant to the continental United States. A Common Ringed-Plover had been found the previous day by Gary Soper. Joe told me the bird was found in a flooded corn field not far from where I work. I looked up the coordinates on the map, and the bird was just a little over an hour away, but I had a session with a family scheduled that evening so I could not go after work. I asked my director if I could leave for a few hours since I would be working late, and he gave me the go ahead, and I headed out to the site after lunch.

The identification of the bird was not quite nailed down yet because of its similarities to Semipalmated Plover. Common Ringed-Plover has a thicker ring around the neck than semipalmated. It has a black eye ring instead of a yellow one like the eye ring on a Semipalmated. Also, the space between the inner toes and the middle toes of the Common Ringed-Plover is not webbed, while the space between the inner and middle toes of the Semipalmated Plover is webbed. Finally, the two birds have different songs. The bird in question had a black eye ring, and a thick black band around the neck, but no one had been able to get a good photo of the space between the inner and middle toes.

While I was on my way, Matt Fraker had managed to get a recording of the bird's song, which made the identification pretty certain, and by the next day, Gary Soper had posted a killer shot of the bird's toes, showing that there was no webbing between the inner and middle toes of the bird.

When I arrived at the location of the bird, there were probably about 20 birders present. Paul Greenberg was there, and I heard someone say that it was his 400th bird in Illinois. I was able to quickly get on the bird and the Red-necked Phalarope that was also present, and I was able to take several photos of the bird.













This was the first sighting of Common Ringed-Plover in Illinois and only the seventh in the continental U.S.

Reeve (Female Ruff) in Woodford County, IL

On July 16, Ted Hartzler found a Reeve at the El Paso Sewage Treatment Center. Carrie and I had searched for a male Ruff with Joe Phipps and Don Hartzler at Emiquon NWR about a week and a half earlier without success. Joe had seen that bird that weekend, but Carrie and I did not have a chance to look for it again before it was gone. Saturday was the perfect day to get news of another opportunity at a lifer for both Carrie and I. So when we received word about this bird, we drove to El Paso where we met Joe Phipps, Ted Hartzler, and Angelo Caparella. When Joe and Carrie and I pulled up, Ted and Angelo had the Reeve in their scopes. We were able to have extended, close looks at this bird. And while we were there, Dustin Holschuh and Andy Sigler also came to see the bird.





Here is a look at the characteristic white U-shape on the tail of this bird.



And here are a few more shots . . .

Common Terns in McLean County, IL

On Wednesday, September 30, I stopped by the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds after work, and I was surprised to find a Common Tern. I had recently seen my lifer Common Terns at Carlyle Lake earlier in the month, but this was my first Common Tern in McLean County. Common Tern is a difficult bird to see in McLean County. I had seen many Caspian, Forster's, and Black Terns, but no Commons. Here are a few photos of this bird, but has a dark carpel bar, a long black-tipped bill, and a primaries extending past the tail.







The next day after work, I stopped by again, but the Common Tern was not there. So I decided to check the buoys by the water pump house at Evergreen Lake. On my way to Evergreen I remembered the buoys by the spillway at Lake Bloomington. So I stopped there first and found another Common Tern. This one did not have dark carpal bars yet, but face pattern and long primaries ruled out Forster's, while the bill length and dark primaries ruled out Arctic.