Red-shouldered Hawk and Northern Water Snake on the North Fork of Salt Creek in DeWitt County, IL

On Saturday morning, August 22, I went canoeing with Dan Toohill. I drove to his house near the bottom of McLean County, and we crossed over into DeWitt County in his truck with his canoe in tow to the North Fork Canoe Launch. First we paddled all the way to Clinton Lake about 4 miles to the lake and back. Then we paddled another half a mile in the other direction and then back. So we paddled a total of 5 miles.

On the way to the lake, we heard several birds including Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, and American. We also saw a dozen or more Northern Rough-winged Swallows. Then we came to some flats on the edges of the creek where we first saw Solitary Sandpipers and Killdeers. Then we came to some larger muddy flats where there were Pectoral Sandpipers and a prized Baird's Sandpiper, which was my first for DeWitt County. As we sat in the boat and ate snacks next to the flat where these shorebirds were feeding and preening, we had several Great Blue Herons, a pair of Double-crested Cormorants, several Turkey Vultures, at least a couple of Red-tailed Hawks, and a couple of Red-shouldered Hawks fly over. I included a photo of one of the Red-shouldered Hawks at the top of this post.

Dan got out and dragged the boat a little bit so that we could get through the low water to the lake, where we saw more Great Blue Herons, dozens of Cliff and Barn Swallows, and a lone Tree Swallow. On the way back to the launch we stopped again at the mud flats and saw a Lesser Yellowlegs, several Least Sandpipers, and a Semipalmated Sandpiper or two in addition to the Pectoral Sandpipers and the Baird's.

We also saw a Green Heron sitting in a tree, what sounded like a Blue Grosbeak though I did not get a very good look at it, a pair of Spotted Sandpipers, and a pair of Belted Kingfishers fishing in the creek. Here is one of the Belted Kingfishers.



We passed the launch and continued to a rocky area where we could stop the boat and stretch our legs. A couple came through on their canoes and spotted a snake in a tree, which turned out to be a Northern Water Snake.







I later found out that this species can be pretty aggressive and smelly if you try to grab them. When we got back to the house, Tristan, Dan's wife served us a nice lunch of Pork Chops.