On Saturday, December 18, while Bloomington birders were participating in the Christmas Bird Count, Carrie and I drove to a family Christmas gathering in Avon, IL. We saw numerous Hawks and Kestrels on the way. I had to be at work by 5:00 p.m., so I had to start back early, leaving Carrie to ride back with her parents. On my way back, just West of the London Mills water tower on 116, I saw a Bald Eagle at the bottom of the bank beside the road to my right. I pulled off just ahead and walked toward the Eagle. Then I saw two Bald Eagles, an adult and a first year Eagle, fly from the bank into the trees.
For two years, I have tried to take a good picture of a Ring-necked Pheasant in the snow. There is something strikingly beautiful about the contrast of the bright iridescent colors of a male pheasant against a background of white, or in this case, a white snow covered ground. This year having a camera with 20x optical zoom helped me accomplish my goal, but there also seems to be a surplus of pheasants this year, which made it easier as well. I have never seen this many Pheasants in Flanagan and Gridley since I moved to Illinois in 2005. Of course, I probably haven't been looking that long. On Friday, December 10, I had the day off and the ground was covered with snow so I set out in my car to accomplish my goal. At about 10:35 a.m. on the side of the road extending from the Flanagan/Gridley blacktop (Ford Rd./300 Rd.) just South of 24 in Gridley, IL, I saw the first two Pheasants of the day. They were hens, but I was not disappointed.
I continued North on the Gridley/Flanagan Black Top (Ford St./300 Rd.). As I continued, I passed several flocks of about 30 Horned Larks. Nearer to Flanagan than Gridley, I noticed a group of three Pheasant roosters. The first one I photographed had no tail. I thought this very strange until a farmer later told me that the Pheasant's tail feathers sometimes freeze to the ground and they pull them off trying to get free. I continued to drive back and forth on 400, 600, and 700 road. The area was thick with Horned Larks, and a couple of American Kestrels were perching on the power lines.
As I drove South toward Meadows on 700 Rd., I observed a group of hens and roosters in a fenced in field. Next, I saw three roosters in the road. As I approached slowly in my car, they returned to the field and walked parallel to the road as I followed them.
Walking on the snow did not seem particularly easy for these guys. This one appears to have belly-flopped.
Near Meadows, I encountered a large group of roosters and hens close to the road. This brought my Pheasant count to 35 for the day.
Walking in the snow may be a little difficult for Pheasants, but not so difficult as for this young Opossum. He had a difficult time walking away from the road when he saw me approaching. There seemed to be no place for him to hide in the snow covered field. Finally, he stood still for the camera.
On the morning of Tuesday, December 14th, I observed two Eastern Meadowlarks, two Lapland Longspurs, and a few American Tree Sparrows along with the usual fare of Horned Larks. One of the Meadowlarks was beside County Highway 29, near the Merwin Preserve. The other was beside the Gridley/Flanagan Blacktop.
Later in the day, my friend and I counted 97 Ring-necked Pheasants along or near 700 Rd. in the same area, North of Meadows. While we were counting them from the car, a farmer drove up to us. He was very friendly, but wanted to make sure we weren't "road-siding." I showed him my camera, and he seemed relieved. He said the snow was not good for the Pheasants because it made it difficult for them to find food. He was feeding them corn. This explained why there were so many along the edge of the road. He said he used to hunt them, but always took care of them as well. He was the farmer who explained why some of the Pheasants didn't have tails as I mentioned above. It was nice to see that someone was taking care of the Pheasants under these difficult conditions.
