Black Terns, a Bat in the House, and Shorebird Squabbles

This is going to be a mishmash post of all that's been going on this week. I will actually start with Saturday. Carrie and I had planned to meet another family in Springfield, IL for the state fair, but I had a little time in the morning for birding at Ewing Park before it was time to leave. I arrived at 8:30 a.m. and birded for about an hour. I had several Tennessee Warblers, a couple American Redstarts, a Chestnut-sided Warbler, and this first year Nashville Warbler.



I also saw this Empidonax flycatcher and a family of young Baltimore Orioles.





I did not see any birds at the state fair, but Carrie and I greatly enjoyed our time at the state fair with the Kempfs. My favorite part was sharing my funnel cake with their two young children--Titus and Marin. A close second to favorite was watching the llama show, or was it feeding the camel and that funny looking llama with an underbite and an upper lip that felt like two fingers on my hand. On the way back, Carrie and I stopped for gas and saw about ten Common Nighthawks feeding above the gas station.



On Sunday, I made a quick run to Evergreen Lake with Les Allen to search for Matthew Winks's Western Sandpiper. We ran into Ted Hartzler and thought we might have had Winks's bird but could not get a look at it in good light. It was definitely larger than the other peeps including Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Other shorebirds included Pectoral and Solitary Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plover, and of course Killdeer. There were also numerous Caspian Terns, Great Blue Herons, and Great Egrets. I was most intrigued by a pair of Pectoral Sandpipers either fighting or mating. At one point one of them climbed on the other's back and grabbed the back of the other's neck with its bill. Then they both jumped in the air and bumped into each other. They both had their necks lowered and extended, and at times they faced off and flapped their wings at each other. This strange behavior went on for several minutes and after a brief interlude began again but did not last as long the second time.







We also saw similar behavior between two Great Blue Herons. They walked around each other with their bills pointed straight up and rammed at each other in the air.

The next day, on my way home from work, I saw several swallows on the power line on the road beside Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds. I stopped to get a look hoping to find my first of the year Bank Swallow. I was not disappointed. There was just one Bank Swallow in the mixed flock, which also included Cliff, Barn, and Tree Swallows. Here is the Bank Swallow.



And here is a Cliff Swallow sitting next to a Tree Swallow.



As I continued driving, I enjoyed another pleasant surprise.



Since I was working Tuesday evening, I had the morning free to do some birding. I began at Ewing Park and had 30 species including 10 warbler species. Below is my list from the park.

Ewing Park (Bloomington), McLean, US-IL
Aug 21, 2012 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Protocol: Area
4.0 ac
30 species (+2 other taxa)

Mallard 3
Turkey Vulture 8
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 4
Downy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 1
Empidonax sp. 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Warbling Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 10
Blue Jay 4
American Crow 17
Black-capped Chickadee 7
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
House Wren 2
Carolina Wren 1
Swainson's Thrush 1 buffy neck and chest
American Robin 30
thrush sp. 2 not sure what species
Gray Catbird 4
Ovenbird 1
Golden-winged Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 3
Prothonotary Warbler 1
Tennessee Warbler 15
American Redstart 3
Northern Parula 2
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Northern Cardinal 2
Baltimore Oriole 3
American Goldfinch 5

The only decent shot I managed at Ewing was one of this Great Crested Flycatcher



Next I returned to Evergreen Lake hoping to find the Black Tern that Dave Weth had found on Monday afternoon. I had Black Tern in Woodford County last year, but did not have one for McLean County or for the year for that matter. My experience was similar to Dave's. I was checking out the shorebirds when I saw his Black Tern flying next to the edge of the lake, occasionally diving down to the water to feed. I wanted to get a good identification photo, but I could not. After a couple of passes, the tern flew out to a recently formed mudflat surrounded by water. I noticed a second Black Tern with it after it landed and decided to wade out into the lake and onto the flat to try for a better photo. I took off my shoes and socks and started walking. As I approached the water, my feet became emersed in about 6-8 inches of mud. Then I began sloshing through the water with my pant legs rolled up. I made slow progress. Not long after I had begun my approach one of the terns returned to fishing. The other, however, was highly cooperative!







After returning to the shore, I walked along the shore, continuing to observe shorebirds. My feet, which were still bare took some abuse. I stepped on a small piece of wood and some rocks, and gained a bruise, a cut, and a splinter. Fortunately, I was able to avoid the glass. I was rewarded, however, by a Stilt Sandpiper feeding with a group of Pectorals. In case you're wondering, it's the one with the longer bill.







I did see another Common Nighthawk at work and several skunks on the way home after dark, but I thought my adventures were over for the night once I made it home. I thought I heard something at about 2:30 in the morning and got up. Most of the lights were out when I saw something fly from the bathroom into the kitchen downstairs. Was it my imagination, a giant moth, or something sinister? I turned on the lights, and to my horror, I saw a bat fly into the living room. It flew round and round the room, round and round the room. I admit I was a little creeped out. I had never had a bat in the house before. I ducked down and made a beeline for the front door. I opened it up, hoping the bat would fly out, but instead it flew back into the kitchen and went round and round the light fixture, round and round the light fixture.

Carrie was sound asleep, but I had to act fast before it flew upstairs and freaked Carrie out. I did not want to hurt it, but it would not land, and I could not think of anything else to do so I went downstairs and got the broom. On the third swing, I made contact. I did not swing hard, but the bat fell to the ground and lay still. It was alive and conscious, but made no attempt to fly. I wondered if it was even able to take off from a horizontal position.





I gently pushed it onto a paper plate using the broom and set it on the front porch. It still made no effort to fly so I swept it back onto the plate and held the plate up vertically in the air. The bat took off and flew effortlessly toward the trees by the stream. Hurray! I hope the bat will be okay. Carrie woke up when I went to bed so I shared the adventure with her. She was amused, but very happy to share the experience second hand.