On Saturday, October 6, Carrie and I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary. Carrie wanted to spend part of the day birding with me, and I was happy to oblige. We began with a little birding from our window. I saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch land on the peanut feeder as I was loading the car. It was probably the same one that has woken me up almost every morning for the past three weeks: "Yenk, yenk, yenk!" Carrie did not see it, but we both saw the Carolina Wren, which alternated between the peanut feeder and the brush pile.
Once the car was loaded, we drove to the Kenneth L. Schroeder Wildlife Sanctuary near Randolph. As we were driving into the sanctuary, we immediately noticed what seemed to be hundreds of Yellow-rumped Warblers. We parked the car and walked back to the rows of trees near the entrance. The Yellow-rumpeds were flying back and forth between the cedar trees and the soy beans. They ate the berries on the cedar trees.
We also saw White-crowned and Chipping Sparrows, heard White-throated Sparrows, and saw two Dark-eyed Juncos. Just as we were about to head South, we saw Matthew Winks drive in. He lead us to a prairie South of the creek and West of the road to look for LeConte's Sparrow. We had one or two probable LeConte's, but the birds would not sit still for us.
As we continued, we had Song and Swamp Sparrows, a couple of Solitary Sandpipers and a Palm Warbler in the wetland area, and a Great Blue Heron flying up out of the creek to the East. The wind was not horrible, but it seemed to be having some effect on the birds. A little disappointed with the number of species we had, Carrie and I parted ways with Matthew and headed to Centennial Park in Heyworth.
When we arrived at Heyworth, we noticed a Great Blue Heron in the lake and then an Eastern Phoebe Northeast of the lake. Highlights of our walk around the lake included a beautiful Nashville Warbler, Hermit Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Belted Kingfisher, a surprising Green Heron, two or three Eurasian Tree Sparrows, and the Scarlet Tanager and Northern Flicker shown below.
We had a slightly longer and certainly more interesting list at Centennial than at Schroeder. A little tired, we returned home for lunch and more anniversary festivities including the movie "Taken 2," shopping, and Sushi!
The next morning, I went on the JWP Audubon Ewing Bird Walk before church. Carrie did not join me. Perhaps it was because of the cold weather that only four of us showed up--Dale Birkenholz, Angelo Capparella, Les Allen, and I. We had a large number of Hermit Thrushes, but also a Gray-cheeked and a Swainson's. We also had more of the same birds Carrie and I had seen at Centennial on Saturday--Scarlet Tanager, Nashville Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a Belted Kingfisher. Other warblers included Yellow-rumpeds, Orange-crowned, Magnolia, and Tennessee (though I did not see the Tennessee myself). There were also two Red-breasted Nuthatches, a Brown Creeper, several Carolina Wrens, a couple of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, and this male Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
After church, Carrie and I went to her parents house for lunch. The feeders there are positioned close to the house so I was able to take some shots. First I photographed one of two White-crowned Sparrows I saw.
A little later, a White-throated Sparrow flew in.
Next I noticed a partially leucistic female House Sparrow.
When we returned home, the Carolina Wren was at the peanut feeder and there were Chipping and White-throated Sparrows near brush pile and in the yard.
I decided to head back to Schroeder and try for LeConte's again while Carrie was taking a nap. I'm pretty sure LeConte's were there, but again they would not sit still so I was unable to get on one of them. The only thing I was able to photograph in the prairie was this Savannah Sparrow.
As I headed South toward the wetlands however, some pishing turned up a lot of birds including a Field Sparrow, a Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrows, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Tennessee Warbler, and several Swamp Sparrows.
As I walked between the wetlands, my pishing agitated this Marsh Wren, which came up for a few shots.
The South lagoon once again had Great Blue Heron, Solitary Sandpiper, and Killdeer. Then on my way back to the car, I photographed this Orange-crowned Warbler.
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