Western Meadowlarks in Woodford County

On June 29, I read a post by Dr. Angelo Capparella of ISU on the Google Central Illinois Birding Group site. His post included the following about Western Meadowlarks in Woodford County.

After getting skunked several times, I finally got a good day this morning to do the BBS route from Minonk to Lake Bloomington. If you are looking for Western Meadowlarks to study, check out the Woodford County stretch of 3100E between 1600N and 1450N (latter not an actual road). Every year I get them in this approximate stretch, and this year at my 4 stops I had a total of 6. You can’t miss their vocalizations, and you can watch them perched on power lines. Be cautious of the latter as occasionally you can have an Eastern Meadowlark within the mix, although they do seem to segregate partially along this stretch.

After reading this, I decided to attempt to locate these Western Meadowlarks as this species would be a lifer for me. I drove through the area the next day and also counted at least six based on vocalizations alone. I heard at least five different vocalizations--at least three different songs, the "churt" sound, and the rattle. I also did hear a couple of Eastern Meadowlarks along this stretch. I was able to photograph four of the six Westerns I both saw and heard vocalizing, and I captured several of the vocalizations on video.

Here is a photo of bird #1 and a video of the bird singing in between "churts."





Here is bird #2. This bird was singing a different song.





Bird #3 was only vocalizing the "churt."





Bird #4 sang a different song than the first two, but it only vocalized the "churt," while I was recording it. It sounds like an Eastern Meadowlark is chattering nearby at the beginning of this video.





I wish I had had more time and to study and record the different vocalizations of these birds. If anyone else is interested in seeing and hearing them, here is a map to the location. They are along Woodford 3100 E Rd. between 1400 N Rd. and 1600 N Rd.

https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=40.8121203,-88.951664&ll=40.8121203,-88.951664

This post was written and published on August 4, 2013.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Western Kingbirds in Havana, IL

Monday, June 18, was my lucky day. I first realized this when they gave me a free frozen fruit drink thing at McDonald's. "Here, this is extra!" the guy said. Then by the time I was slurping up the last bit of frozen whatever fruit that was and wiping the biscuit crumbs off my mouth i, I drove past that little fluddle on Highway 29 near Gridley en route to work--the fluddle that has been really delivering this Spring/Summer (Dunlin, Least, Pectoral, and in June Semipalmated Sandpiper and Black Tern).

"What was that?" I thought. "That was a big shorebird!! That's a new McLean County bird for me . . . a new state bird."

It was a Black-necked Stilt. We don't see many of these in McLean County. Fortunately, I was able to see it again in the afternoon when the light was somewhat better.



Then while at work, I saw a post on Illinois Birder's Forum about a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and two Western Kingbirds at the Ameren Electric Substation in Havana and decided to head to Havana after work. I noticed there were some other nice birds reported in the area as well. I called Les Allen to see if he was available to go along. Then on my way home, I invited two other friends after finding out surprisingly that they were free as well--Wes Kolb and Joe Phipps. We packed out the Malibu and headed West from McLean. We arrived at the 1500 Rd./ 97 intersection by 6:30 p.m., and counted 15 Cattle Egrets (another state bird for me), 2 Solitary Sandpipers, and a Black-necked Stilt in the flooded field.



Next, we drove ahead to the Ameren substation and saw the Western Kingbirds and the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (a lifer for me). These birds flew back and forth between the fenced in machinery and the power lines. I was able to get photos of the Western Kingbirds and their nest.





. . . and of course a few of the Scissor-tail



There was also another Black-necked Stilt in the fluddle across the road from the substation. From Havana, we drove to the board walk by the visitor's center at Emiquon. As we walked around the wetland, Les and I saw two Least Bitterns (another state bird for me) flying away. We also had a couple of terns fly over--probably Forster's.

Next we drove to Sand Ridge, where we had eight Whip-poor-wills (another lifer for me) after dark. We heard at least six, saw one on the road, and had one almost fly in the car on the driver's side. Here is a recording. Enjoy!



Each of the four of us had at least one lifer from this trip.

I wanted to take Carrie to see these birds over the weekend, but we needed to paint the dining room. We were able to finish this job, however, in time to leave by 4:30 p.m. on Saturday to go to Havana in hopes that Carrie would see some of the same birds. When we arrived at the intersection of 1500 and 97, there were no stilts or Cattle Egrets. We continued to the substation where we saw one Western Kingbird and then two. This bird was a lifer for Carrie. Carrie had seen a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Texas, but it was just a flyover. Suddenly as we were looking for the Scissor-tail it appeared out of nowhere hovering overhead in the wind, and it eventually landed on the fence around the machinery. When we drove by the intersection again, there were two Cattle Egrets, but still no stilts. We pretty much followed the same itinerary that Les, Wes, and Joe, and I had followed on Monday night. Although we were unable to see any Least Bitterns at Emiquon, we heard three Common Gallinules and had good looks at a female Baltimore Oriole and a Black-necked Stilt that Carrie saw spotted out in the middle of the wetland. The Cliff and Barn Swallows were also flying in close to offer good looks. Then, after dark, we drove back through Sand Ridge State Forest where we heard seven Whip-poor-wills and saw one on the road. Whip-poor-will was another lifer for Carrie. What an awesome day!