On Monday, I missed many of the great number of migrants at Ewing Park, while I was at work, but I did stop by in the evening after work and picked up some nice birds, including Blue-headed Vireo, Great Crested Flycatcher, Black-and-white Warbler, and Ovenbird. The Ovenbirds were particularly fun to watch and photograph even though the lighting was bad.
I also had great numbers of Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers. The highlight of my evening, however, was when I was walking through the meadow area, and I turned around and looked up behind me. High up in a dead tree back behind the bridge in Hedge Apple Woods, I saw a large bird that appeared to be a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. When I put my binoculars on the bird, I realized it was a bird I had diligently searched for throughout the winter and missed--a Merlin. Merlins are not easy to see in McLean County, and this bird was a lifer for me. I managed to get a little closer and take some poorly lit shots before a crow mobbed the Merlin off of its perch.
I was also surprised to see a Solitary Sandpiper in the creek. That might have been my first shorebird at Ewing. My totals for the evening are below.
Ewing Park (Bloomington), McLean, US-IL
Apr 30, 2012 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Protocol: Area
6.0 ac
24 species
Mallard 1
Merlin 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 5
Black-capped Chickadee 1
House Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
American Robin 18
Gray Catbird 1
Ovenbird 3
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 40
Yellow-rumped Warbler 20
Chipping Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 6
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
American Goldfinch 2
I was off work the next morning so I returned to Ewing hoping some of the previous days migrants I had missed were still hanging around. When I arrived, I ran into Given Harper and we spent a couple of hours birding together. The cool thing about birding with Given, other the fact that he is a generous person with an amiable personality and a great conversationalist, is that he is a biology professor at Illinois Wesleyan and, therefore, is so much better at identifying birds than I am, particularly by vocalization. I really enjoyed birding with Given. I had actually already learned some bird vocalizations from him, while he was teaching his students last year at Ewing Park. I hope that is okay since I was not paying to audit the course. We had a nice morning with a small variety of warblers. I picked up Golden-winged, Nashville, Yellow, and Black-throated Green Warblers, Scarlet Tanager, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Given got on a couple of species I missed, including Red-eyed Vireo, Blue-winged Warbler, and Chestnut-sided Warbler (which he not only saw, but also recognized by its song). One of our best birds was a Red-headed Woodpecker in a tree beside the playground at the park entrance. Given had recently reported a Red-headed Woodpecker in his yard not far from Ewing.
For a short time we were joined by another good friend of mine, Dave Weth. Dave, who always has his smile on and has a gift for making people feel at ease, is an outstanding photographer and posts excellent photos on Facebook. After Dave joined us, we had a pair of Eastern Kingbirds up in the field above the creek, and we watched a crow go after the Solitary Sandpiper, which was still in the creek. Below is my list from the morning not including the additional birds that Given saw.
Ewing Park (Bloomington), McLean, US-IL
May 1, 2012 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Area
7.0 ac
28 species (+1 other taxa)
Mallard (Domestic type) 2
Green Heron 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Eastern Kingbird 2
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 8
House Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Eastern Bluebird 1
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 30
Gray Catbird 5
Ovenbird 2
Golden-winged Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 3
Yellow Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 25
Yellow-rumped Warbler 60
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Chipping Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 4
Scarlet Tanager 3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 3
American Goldfinch 2
As Given and I were leaving the park, the rain was coming down hard. After getting lunch I picked up my friend and birding mentor Les Allen, and we headed back to Ewing Park. The only species I picked up this time around was a female Common Yellowthroat, thanks to help from Wes Kolb, another friend who was in the park when we arrived. We also picked up a couple more birders both whom I also consider friends and birding mentors--Dale Birkenholz and Matthew Winks. Though surrounded by more experienced and knowledgeable birders, I still missed the Blue-winged Warbler that Wes saw and the Prothonotary that Matthew and Les saw. Missing the Prothonotary Warbler was somewhat disappointing since I have never seen one, but that leaves one to keep looking for. I am learning that when watching warblers and vireos, you cannot expect to see every bird seen by everyone in your party, and your party will likely miss some of the birds you see as well.
Les, Wes, and I went to Hidden Creek Nature Sanctuary in Normal after we left Ewing Park. There I picked up Veery, American Redstart, Orange-crowned Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Yellow-throated Vireo, and Indigo Bunting. I missed Blue-winged, which Les saw and Blackburnian, which Wes saw, but I was not disappointed. It was a great day of sharing birds with friends.
While on the subject of Ewing Park, I thought I would post a few photos I took there earlier this Spring. On March 25, I photographed this Field Sparrow. One or two of them could be heard singing from the tree tops at Ewing from the end of March throughout April. Until this year, I had never seen a Field Sparrow at Ewing.
We also had several Fox Sparrows at Ewing throughout March. If you miss these early migrants in March, you may not see them until the Fall. This last one I saw there on March 31 was taking a bath in the stream. Fox Sparrows are pretty close to the top of my list when it comes to Sparrows.
In late March and early April, there seemed to be an unusually large number of Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches, and Purple Finches hanging around at Ewing. I think it had something to do with the trees budding early because March was so warm. This allowed me good looks at Pine Siskins, which are not always easy to find in McLean County, and Purple Finches, which I had never before seen in the state.
I believe there must be at least a couple of pairs of Brown Thrashers nesting at Ewing this year. I saw one pair mating, and since then, they have certainly hung around long enough to get a good start on a clutch.
With all the creeks and streams at Ewing, Eastern Phoebes are also regular visitors in migration.
The Merlin I had on Monday evening is one of many raptors to visit the park this Spring including Barred and Great Horned Owl, Red-tailed, Cooper's, and Broad-winged Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, and this Northern Goshawk.
On April 9, I saw a flock of Cedar Waxwings feeding in the trees along the creek.
This American Robin I photographed at Ewing appears to have been injured on the breast. Still it was an irresistable subject in such great light as was the American Crow also below.
Although not a great picture, this was my first photo of a Winter Wren. I saw this bird on April 21 and it was strangely the only Winter Wren I saw in the park this year.
Both kinglets, Hermit Thrushes, Blue-gray gnatcatchers, and Yellow-rumped Warblers all arrived before May.
There were a few other warblers that showed up early, and here is one of many Broad-winged Hawks I have seen flying around in the park this Spring.
Although the migration in April was slow, Ewing had some nice birds to offer. Now that migration has picked up, stay tuned for more!
No comments:
Post a Comment