Although I have seen three or four Pine Siskins in McLean County this year, I had never seen one in our yard until Saturday. Carrie and I enjoyed a little bird watching in our yard before I left to check out White Oak Park. The best birds we had were Cooper's Hawk and White-breasted Nuthatch. I thought I had seen a Pine Siskin or two on the ground beneath the feeders but I was not sure until I was backing out of the driveway. And there they were on the sock feeder with the American Goldfinches feeding on the thistle. Excitedly, I drove as close as I could get to the feeder in my car and snapped some shots.
Then I backed up and called Carrie who was still in the house so that she could see them from the dining room window. Pine Siskin was a lifer for her. After we both had long looks, I left for White Oak Park.
The only ducks present on the lake at White Oak were Mallards, but it did not take long to find a Common Loon, which is pretty good for this small lake. I called Carrie to inform her that I had located a loon on the loose at the park. She had never seen one so she joined me at the park. By the time she got there I had lost the loon because it was spending so much time under water. Thankfully, we were able to find the bird and eventually it stayed up long enough for Carrie to get a good look through the scope at her second lifer of the day.
After Carrie saw the loon, I stopped by the pond at Heartland Community College at Matthew Winks' suggestion. Aside from the plethora of Canada Geese and Mallards, there were three Canvasbacks, four Ring-billed Ducks, five Ruddy Ducks, a Pied-billed Grebe, and a Snow Goose. I also drove to Evergreen Lake. To my dismay the roads into most of the park were blocked off for hunting.
Not long after I had returned home the Pine Siskins had returned. I watched them through our window trying to compete with the goldfinches for a spot on the sock. The goldfinches kept chasing them away so they ended up on our other finch feeder. I had walked out on the front porch and was just about to take another shot when all of the birds suddenly flew away. Then I saw something swoop down. It was a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and it was eye to eye with me.
We both had good looks at each other before he flew into the neighbors yard across the street to terrorize the birds at their feeders. I guess I'm glad I don't raise my own chickens. I find it amusing that this raptor used to be commonly referred to as the "Chicken Hawk." I wonder if he could take down prey as large as a chicken, why he did not seem interested in the Fox Squirrels in my yard, and they did not seem concerned about him. This raptor must just prefer the taste of fowl.
Late Sunday morning, Carrie and I did a little more bird watching from our window. We did see the Pine Siskins again, but they did not seem to make it to our feeders. One of our favorite guests, a Red-bellied Woodpecker was enjoying a long meal at our peanut feeder, stealing one nut at a time and returning again and again. One little goldfinch came right up to the safflower seed feeder by our window and seemed to be eyeing its reflection in the window. It even hovered like a hummingbird while looking at itself in the glass. Click on the picture below to see more.
I decided to go outside to top off some of the feeders and take some pictures of the birds in our yard. Notice the red belly on this Red-bellied Woodpecker.
This Downy also took his turn at the peanut feeder and spent some time on the trunk of the cedar eating off the bark butter I had spread in the knots.
When I was filling the feeders, this Fox Squirrel was staring me down, and our White-breasted Nuthatch landed about two or three feet from my face and eventually made its way to the peanut feeder. Everyone seemed hungry for peanuts.
Since Evergreen Lake was closed off, I decided to visit Dawson Lake at Moraine View State Park (also in McLean County). After I arrived, I quickly found eight or nine female or juvenile Northern Shovelers in the pond beside the bridge next to Tanglewood Trail. From the bridge I also saw a duck swimming alone far off in the lake in the direction of the visitor's center, but it was backlit. I tried walking back along the road thinking I would be able to walk into the woods and see it from the shore, but the growth was too thick along the shore so I headed back after seeing a Song Sparrow and having a near collision with a Blue Jay.
I continued around the lake and found Canada Geese, Mallards, a few Pied-billed Grebes, a female Ruddy Duck or two, and an American Coot. While I was watching the Ruddy Duck, the Pied-billed, and the coot through the scope, I saw ten Hooded Mergansers. These were my first of the season. Only one adult male was in the group. The rest of them were females or juveniles.
As I continued around the lake, I came across seven or eight Wild Turkeys crossing the road. I'm not sure why they crossed.
As I approached the visitor's center again in my car, I saw these two White-tailed Deer. There were a lot of deer in the park. I guess all of the hunters were at Evergreen.
I decided to check the lake across from the visitor's center for ducks. I thought perhaps the mysterious lone duck I had seen before from the other side might be closer to this shore. By this time the sun was covered by clouds and it would be getting dark soon. As I approached through the woods toward the shore with my scope, I saw a large group of Mallards, but there was a smaller duck with them. Was it a Ruddy Duck? A few of them near the shore were alarmed by my presence and flew away. The others further out took off with them, but the lone duck remained. This duck's tail was sticking straight up in the air like a Ruddy Duck, but it seemed to have vertical rather than horizontal stripes on its cheek. I went back to the car to get my Sibley Guide. I suspected it might be a Surf Scoter. When I returned to the scope, it was swimming further away and getting harder to see. Suddenly it took off and flew to the other end of the lake toward the cove by Tanglewood Trail where I had first seen it if it was the same duck. I packed up and drove to the parking area by Tanglewood Trail. I walked slowly toward the cove. The duck emerged from the brush right beside the shore. It was only a few yards away from me so I dropped to my knees hoping not to flush it. It was indeed a female Surf Scoter.
I did not attempt many photos because I was afraid it would see me and flush. I snuck away from the shore so that I could call Les Allen, who needed this bird for his McLean County big year. Les was planting garlic when I called and it did not seem he would be able to make it. I went back to see if the bird was still where I had left it. It was gone. I was about to leave the park when I got a call from Sheila Allen, that Les was on his way. So I continued around the lake looking for the bird. Almost all the way around again, I saw a group of Mallards and geese in the lake beside Honker's Island Picnic Area. When I got my scope on the group, I relocated the Surf Scoter swimming with them. While I was waiting for Les, the bird moved into another cove where I could not see it, but I was able to drive around to the cove and relocate it again. Just as I found it, Les arrived and we both got nice looks though it was getting dark. The bird eventually moved back to the shore by Honker's Island Picnic Area, where it stayed for a while before it flew off low to the other end of the lake.
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