Passing It On

This week I've had the privilege to share my love for birds and birding with others on two different occasions. Once in the classroom and once in the field, a good reminder of the well-rounded nature of this hobby. The deeper I get into the world of birding, the more I want to share it with others. I've undoubtedly talked more openly about this hobby/obsession in the last year than ever before, and the response has been interesting. For some its contagious. I've had countless people tell me recently that they pay more attention to birds now than they ever have before because of how much I talk about them - I call that a win! There's even a student on campus who has set up a bird feeder outside his window, and watching his eyes light up as he described his first Eastern Towhee last week has been one of the highlights of my semester.

Of course, others just don't get it. They consistently roll their eyes or make funny faces when I share how I spent my weekend or day off, waiting for the day that I actually going to do something "productive" with my spare time. It hurts a little, not because I'm offended, but just because an appreciation for the natural world in general is on the decline, and I know the joys they're missing out on. Some people refuse to be enchanted.

So, when I was actually asked to come talk about my passion for birding, I couldn't help but jump at the chance!

Monday morning I had the opportunity to spend some time with Class 2 at Clapham School, where my wife works. They're currently doing a unit on birds and asked me to come talk with them about my love for birds and how I got into birding. This was a brilliant, adorable, and inquisitive little group with an impressive knowledge base and eagerness to ask great questions; they were truly a delight to be with.

Unfortunately, the weather prohibited us from getting to go on our scheduled field trip to Lincoln Marsh, so we're rescheduling for later in May. But we still had a productive time looking at field guides and talking through the finer points of bird identification. I was already in love with birds by the time I was their age, so I knew the looks of fascination on their faces as they paged through Sibley for the first time were genuine and full of wonder. They had been already working on the calls of common local birds, and when I quizzed them they were spot on! I got to see the skull of a rat that they extracted from an owl pellet recently - awesome. The class had also memorized a couple poems about birds and enthusiastically recited them for me at the end of our time together. I was thoroughly charmed! Here they are in their natural habitat, kindly welcoming an oversized visitor. Seriously, they're too cute. And now they're a little bit closer to getting hooked on birds.

Then this morning it was on to the bigger kids. Dan Haas teaches at Wheaton Graduate School, home schools his two sons Chris and Ben, and for some reason reads and enjoys my blog. And he's a good friend (not just because he reads my blog). I appreciate Dan because he easily sees beauty in the world, slows down enough to take things in, and has an entire blog devoted to the whimsical. We had been trying to figure out a time to go out together this year, and now that he's on a bird unit with Chris and Ben, we decided to make it happen.

So today before work, we headed to Elsen's Hill, one of my favorite local spots for migrants. And boy did we start out with a bang! At the first pond, there was a decent sized flock of mixed passerines, dominated by Yellow-rumps, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Dan stopped and pointed, asking what was flitting directly above us. I looked up to see a couple Yellow-rumps, then - woah! Cerulean Warbler!! The clean white underside combined with that brilliant blue back and distinct wing bars were unmistakable, but how could one already be around? I got a couple more glimpses of it and ended up seeing it from pretty much every angle, each one confirming that it was a Cerulean, I couldn't believe it! I wish I had managed a picture, but it was moving quickly and the dark, dreary conditions were not optimal for keeping up with little warblers. I still felt weird about having one in April (though it is the last day), so when I got home I was happy to see that someone had a Cerulean in Lake County a couple days ago, too.

The flock also included a Pine, several Palm, and my FOY Nashville Warbler. By the back pond, a Black-and-white and my first Blue-winged of the year sang out. A Prothonotary sang infrequently and actually lead me to a Northern Waterthrush skulking along the shore. Everything else was pretty normal and expected, and the conditions grew rainier the longer we stayed. All in all the birds were present, they just weren't very cooperative this morning. Still a solid outing my book though!

Thanks to those who let me come spend some time sharing one of my passions this week. I hope some are lucky enough to fall into the world of birding and never look back!

ABA 2014: 237

Illinois 2014: 215

DuPage, IL: 109

2014: The Potential of 500 in the ABA Area

Virtually everything I've posted so far this year has pertained to my effort at 300 species in Illinois in 2014, and rightfully so as this is where I've spent the bulk of my time, and it is still my ultimate goal for the year. But as Summer approaches, I'm having to stay focused in order to keep up with migration here while preparing for a couple out of state trips coming soon. One of the principles for doing an Illinois Big Year - any state level Big Year, really - is to minimize travel in May. I'm not following that rule. Instead I'm going to Arizona with my dad. The trip will be a week long and is somehow only three (insanely busy) weeks away, so in the down time I don't have I'm starting to work through this book with a tantalizing cover.

Having only been to Arizona once before, I probably have 20 lifers coming my way that week, which will hopefully include that persistent Sinaloa Wren and maybe another rarity or two!

Between Illinois, Arizona, and a couple trips home to Washington (including two weeks in July), I was thinking that 450 could be a possibility for my 2014 ABA year list, which had me rather excited. I began the year with 528 on my ABA life list, and I was pretty sure I would be hitting 550 by the end of it, which again had me exited.

Then last week, out of nowhere, a really cheap trip to Florida in June landed in our laps. Jen will be attending a conference, and I'll be attending to Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, Gray Kingbirds, American Oystercatchers and the like, then we'll spend a couple extra days together which will hopefully include squeezing in a trip to Key West! With this recent development, I put together a list of birds I'm likely to get this year and found the list to substantially exceed 500. Seeing 500 in the ABA in a calendar year is one of my dreams, and now it looks like it just may come to fruition much sooner than I expected. There's another 20 lifers waiting for me in Florida, too, which could put me near 575 by the end of the year. Crazy.

A week in Arizona in May; a week in Florida in June; two weeks in Washington in July. All of these are great for my ABA year list and will likely get me to 500, but how will they effect on my Illinois Big Year effort? I don't think it'll be detrimental, and here's why. First of all, I'm not trying to break any records in Illinois. 300 has been my goal all along and I'm sticking to it. Also, I take off for Arizona on May 18th. By that point, I should have the bulk of migrants taken care of, except maybe Connecticut Warbler, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and a couple others. But I'll still have the last few days of May back in Illinois, which would be a good time to pick up either of those, and anything else that has still evaded me to that point. And, if worst comes to worst, I can track most of these migrants down when they ome back through in the Fall (had to do that with Black-throated Blue last year and it was nerve racking, but it worked out).

My absence for a little portion of June is pretty inconsequential. It's not a prime time for vagrants, and I'll have ample time to clean up breeding specialities across the state before and after Florida. My trip to Washington in July is similar, though shorebirds start coming back then - if something rare shows up during that stretch, it seems unlikely that it'll stick around long enough for me to get it. But, come July, I should be around 285-290 in Illinois, with a few shorebird holes to fill (and, let us not forget, I don't even have a frickin siskin yet! Or redpoll. Or crossbill. Or saw-whet.) and the entirety of Fall and Winter rarity season ahead. So, as long as the majority of the remaining Illinois rarities for 2014 don't show up in single mixed flock during one of my stints (wink wink) away, I should be in pretty good shape, and my Illinois year list should go largely unscathed.

300 in Illinois.

500 in the ABA.

2014 is truly shaping up to be a Big Year for this Littlebirder!

Whalon Willets

My mouth watered all day as I went from meeting to meeting to meeting while watching reports of Willets along the lakefront steadily come in. Surely there had to be one nearby, but with my packed schedule I wasn't going to be able to do anything about it anyway. Then Andrew texted me that Jeff Smith had found some at Whalon Lake, which is less than a half hour away from Wheaton's campus. I still couldn't find a way to squeeze it in to my day though. Then miracle of all miracles, my afternoon class turned out to just be a workshop time. I pounded out what I needed to get done and headed off.

I pulled into Whalon with my window down, and as I approached the lake I could hear a shorebird-like call that I couldn't quite place - superficially like a yellowlegs, but not quite right for one. I looked up to see a substantial flock of large shorebirds gliding over the lake. When I got the binoculars on them, I saw uniform gray bodies interrupted by handsome patches of black and white in the wings - Willets, and 51 of them no less! I figured there was a pretty good chance of them lingering long enough for me to get to see them, but I had no idea how many to expect! Here they are in flight.

Willets

Whalon Lake, Will Co, IL

April 28, 2014

For the second time in as many days, timing worked out perfectly for me to get a nice addition to the year list. In looking at my list of 212 so far, I can already tell that hitting 300 is most likely going to be a matter of which shorebirds I can or cannot see, so I don't take these for granted at all!

I met up with Vida and Andrew at Whalon, and we decided to hop across the county line to see if any Willets had showed up at the 83rd St fluddle. Somehow, there were 51 just a mile away in Will County, but none whatsoever in DuPage. We did have a couple singing Yellow Warblers and a Black-and-White though.

ABA 2014: 234

Illinois 2014: 212

DuPage, IL: 102

Will, IL: 100

Jackson Park Piping Plovers

I took a quick trip down to Springbrook Prairie today, where the harsh mid-afternoon sun and gusty winds did little to help me find any birds. But the trip was not all in vain, as it put me in a good position to act on a message I was about to receive. Scott, Andrew, and I had been texting for a little while when up came an off topic text from Scott - "PIPLs at 63rd st beach." Paul Clyne had just reported them on IBET. With nothing holding my attention at Springbrook, I checked out Google maps to see I was only 40 mins away from this downtown location and headed there immediately. These guys are usually one day wonders in my experience, and I couldn't guarantee another shot at them that would be this convenient.

I arrived at the beach after an easy drive into the city and began scoping the shoreline. First to the west - nothing. Then to the east - nothing. Then back to the west - nothing again. Hmm. Surely they weren't already gone, right? I started walking towards the dunes, then remembered that the last time I had seen a Piper on a beach, it actually spent most of its time away from the shoreline. So I set the scope up again to scan back to my west, and as I looked away from the water, I quickly came upon three light little fluff balls with orange bills and black collars hunkered down in the wind. Yes!

Piping Plovers

63rd St Beach, Cook Co, IL

April 27, 2014

Piping Plover is a rare but regular visitor in Illinois. It's not a bird you can necessarily count on, but it's one that I had really wanted for my year list. They're also on the endangered species list for North America, so I never take an encounter with them for granted. Getting to spend some time alone on the beach with these little specialties was an awesome experience, and getting to see a female in with the two males was a great treat too. The good birds keep coming!

ABA 2014: 233

Illinois 2014: 211

Cook, IL: 119 (also added Common Loon in the harbor)

Morning in Putnam

With Jen hosting a baby shower in the morning, I had this Saturday morning free for some birding. Andrew and I were planning on using the time to check out some locations in Will County for migrant passerines and resident specialties, but a report of a Marbled Godwit at Hennepin-Hopper caused a last minute change of plans as we decided to head west to Putnam County. Unfortunately, the godwit had not lingered, or at least it wasn't visible while we were there. There were still a few highlights though as we raked in 71 species at Hennepin alone, along with several year birds.

While scoping from the parking area, Andrew spotted this American Bittern flying out across the marsh.

American Bittern

Hennepin-Hopper, Putnam Co, IL

April 26, 2014

This was one of 7 shorebird species present.

Solitary Sandpiper

Hennepin-Hopper, Putnam Co, IL

April 26, 2014

From the parking area, we could hear our first Common Gallinules of the year trumpeting in the marsh, and this one eventually showed itself.

Common Gallinule

Hennepin-Hopper, Putnam Co, IL

April 26, 2014

A Warbling Vireo sang continually, as did Common Yellowthroats, both indicators of migrants being on the move. We walked along the marsh to the observation tower and picked up Green Heron on the way. My FOY Yellow Warbler was singing nearby, the Yellow-headed Blackbirds were conspicuous, and a grand total of 144 Bonaparte's Gulls were out on the lake - I never get tired of seeing them in alternate plumage. Here's the whole checklist.

From there we meandered back to the area that has had nesting Prairie Warblers for a number of years now. We rolled the windows down as I pulled the car up. A couple Field Sparrows called, then the ascending buzzy trill of a Prairie Warbler rang out, score! We got out to find that he was calling right next to the road, where we were treated to excellent views.

Prairie Warbler

Putnam Co, IL

April 26, 2014

While watching him, three Broad-wings flew by, also providing nice looks! You can see this one is still molting a couple primaries on its right wing.

Broad-winged Hawk

Putnam Co, IL

April 26, 2014

On the way home we stopped at a couple La Salle County locations, where we didn't pick up much new. Though at the Lone Point Shelter we did have Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Orange-crowned, Palm, and Common Yellowthroat. The water levels along the river were too high for shorebirds, so we moved on to the La Salle State Wildlife Area. The cooling ponds are difficult to see from the parking lot because of the berms, and we could hear yellowlegs calling, so I did the natural thing and got on the car to scope.

Unfortunately this tactic yielded no new birds, but it's good to know it can be done! All in all it was a nice morning of birding, even though we missed our target bird.

ABA 2014: 232

Illinois 2014: 210

Putnam, IL: 102 (my third county in triple digits this year, and I've only had 3 trips there!)
La Salle, IL: 85

200 and Beyond

One of the things I'm learning over the course of my Illinois big year is that you have to celebrate great birding moments when they happen, then set them aside and refocus because the next good bird could be right around the corner. If you spend too much time dwelling on how good a certain bird was, you could miss something. So, after a fantastic weekend trip, I knew there wasn't time to sit back and think on it too much (during birding hours anyway), especially with new pulses of migrants really starting to hit northern Illinois.

So, Monday morning I was right back at it before going to work. Yellow-headed Blackbirds had been reported in Cook County, and though I had just seen my first ones for the year, I figured it would be a nice bird for my four county patch and a solid county tick. I headed to Paul Douglas Forest Preserve - a drive which accentuated everything I despise about suburb commuting (especially after a weekend of freely roaming about the state). But it was quite worth it.

A good number of lingering waterfowl filled the main pond at the preserve, the best of which were two dingy looking Canvasbacks - a bird I somehow still needed for Cook, so there was tick #1. I walked up to the top of a little knoll to get a better view of the marsh, and it didn't take too much looking to come across the first of three Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Nice! They each let out that familiar squawk, which is surely one of the more cacophonous sounds in the animal kingdom.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Paul Douglas FP, Cook Co, IL

April 21, 2014

As I walked around to get a better view, the "tick-tick tick-i-tick" of a Virginia Rail came from another nearby marsh. This bird did double duty as it was both a year bird and yet another county tick. It was a little difficult at first, but it eventually popped out and showed very well. For a skulky marsh bird, it really is a colorful little guy.

 

Virginia Rail

Paul Douglas FP, Cook Co, IL

April 21, 2014

I was not counting on a year bird this morning, so that was definitely a nice surprise. And, the Virginia made Cook County bird #199. So of course I had to find one more before going home. I made the trek down to 126th St. Marsh after the previous day's report. Much to my delight, it didn't take long at all to find this brilliant Little-blue Heron. County bird #200, another year bird, and the best looks I've had of this species in Illinois - an all around win.

Little-blue Heron

126th St. Marsh, Cook Co, IL

April 21, 2014

On the way home I stopped by McClaughery Springs where I added some more Cook year birds, and the loooong overdue Eastern Bluebird tick. I was also treated to three Louisiana Waterthrushes and a Pine Warbler. Look how that white supercilium pops on the final bird.

Louisiana Waterthrushes

McClaughery Springs, Cook Co, IL

April 21, 2014

So that outing left me at 199 for the year in Illinois, where I had to sit for another day. On Tuesday I made a quick trip out to Kane, where I picked up my first Yellow-headed Blackbird for the county at Pingree Grove Marsh. From there I headed out to Burlington to look for the Swainson's Hawk which had already been seen a couple days prior. As I arrived, a large raptor-like bird soared low across the road in front of me, but it just turned out to be a Turkey Vulture. I turned the corner to find another raptor gliding along, but it was a Cooper's Hawk. Even with all that, it only took 5 minutes of scanning from the road to spot a buteo high above the woodlot. As it banked, I noticed a white band at the base of its tail, then from the other angle I saw a stark, dark head and chest that stood out against the white underside of the bird. I had my Swainson's Hawk, #200 for the year! It took a couple minutes to get a satisfactory look at all the field marks, then just like last year, in the ensuing shuffle of grabbing my camera for a shot, the thing disappeared. I'll get a pic of it one of these days, but I was just relieved to have found it so quickly! I was able to manage a shot of a nearby Vesper Sparrow, though.

Vesper Sparrow

Burlington, Kane Co, IL

April 22, 2014

Wednesday was packed with work, but Thursday morning I had a chance to get out briefly. I hadn't been to Elsen's Hill in a long time, and as it's one of my favorite local spots, I was curious to see what was in. The place was mildly birdy, but a lone Palm Warbler was a nice year bird. I'm surprised it was my 11th warbler of year, as it's usually one of the first 3 or 4. The plentiful White-throats and Yellow-rumps were looking nice, too.

White-throated Sparrow

Elsen's Hill, DuPage Co, IL

April 24, 2014

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Elsen's Hill, DuPage Co, IL

April 24, 2014

I decided to spend my Friday morning down at Montrose, which I hadn't seen in over a month. The WNW winds from the night before seemed to make it a good time to be on the lakefront, which indeed turned out to be the case. After a few hours at Montrose and North Pond, I picked up 6 new birds for the year and another nice Cook County lifer. In these few hours, I was struck by how different the birding felt here as compared to the long hours of scouring prairie backroads the weekend before. Everything was easy to see, within a contained area, and most of it even cooperated for a photo. It's definitely a different brand of birding, and I like having a balance of different styles to keep me from getting in a rut.

Swallows were moving in good numbers this morning, and among the Tree, Rough-wings, and Barns I picked out my first Bank of the year, completing that family already. This Eastern Kingbird wasn't a year bird for me, but it was a nice find nonetheless.

Eastern Kingbird

Montrose, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

A little flock of warblers included Yellow-rumps, a couple Palms, and a Common Yellowthroat. Brown Thrashers and Hermit Thrushes were around in good numbers and quite conspicuous, as were the Swamp and White-throated Sparrows.

Hermit Thrush

Montrose, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

White-throated Sparrow

Montrose, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

I met David Antieau while there and we had a nice time talking a birding together. We came upon this active little Orange-crowned Warbler, which is one of the brighter individuals I can remember seeing in Illinois, and another year bird.

Orange-crowned Warbler

Montrose, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

Around the corner we found a Gray Catbird skulking back in a bush, a FOY for both of us.

Gray Catbird

Montrose, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

Al Stokie had mentioned seeing a Northern Waterthrush earlier, and Michelle Devlin managed to relocate it for us, yet another year bird! After this successful start, I headed to North Pond and was happy to see Al pointing at the Northern Mockingbird which was still hanging around. A nice county bird for Cook. With Chimney Swifts flying over and a Green Heron along the shore, the place seemed fairly birdy, so I walked the trail around the pond to see what I could find and ended up getting great looks at a bunch of nice looking birds.

Northern Mockingbird

North Pond, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

Red-breasted Merganser

North Pond, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

This little guy popped around quickly, but I managed a couple nice shots. I don't think I've photographed one out in the open in the sun like this before, so that was a nice little treat.

Winter Wren

North Pond, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

Always hard to go wrong with one of these beauties:

Hooded Merganser

North Pond, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

I don't think I've seen many young male Wood Ducks before, and I've definitely never caught one at this light before. The iridescent colors shining off its wings and the splotch of green on top of its head both stuck out to me. What a cool looking duck.

Wood Duck

North Pond, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

And here's what he'll look like before too long:

Wood Duck

North Pond, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

This Black-and-white put on quite the little show for me too!

Black-and-white Warbler

North Pond, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

A familiar flutter went out across the pond and I immediately recognized its flight as belonging to my FOY Spotted Sandpiper.

Spotted Sandpiper

North Pond, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

Right as I was about to leave, some movement in a brush pile caught my attention. I got the binoculars on it to see the bright red-brown and prominent black spots of a Wood Thrush. I always love a good look at this brilliantly marked thrush.

Wood Thrush

North Pond, Cook Co, IL

April 25, 2014

In the afternoon, I picked up my Kane County Pine Warbler at Fabyan Forest Preserve after a tip from Scott Cohrs. And with that, I had picked up 10 year birds and a handful of really nice county ticks in a matter of 5 days. The floodgates of migration haven't opened up yet, but the hints of the coming onslaught are still enjoyable!

ABA 2014: 229

Illinois 2014: 207

Cook, IL: 117
Kane, IL: 103

Easter Weekend Trip

Where to start? I've blogged much less in April, not necessarily because I've birded more, but because my birding has been more concentrated over the course of a few trips. This last Thursday-Saturday was the most recent excursion. In the week leading up to it, I added Louisiana Waterthrush, Hooded Warbler, and best of all, LeConte's Sparrow - all in Kane County - bringing my total for the year up to 170.

Andrew and I had been planning this trip since last Fall, when we put together a list of targets and started to conceive of a route that could give us a good shot at those species. It had been over a month since we last birded together, too, so the buddy list was definitely ready for another bump. At last, April 17th came - a day which began for me at 5 am with writing a 7 page paper, followed by a meeting from 9-11. Andrew picked me up and we were on the road at 11:05, filled with anticipation for whatever may lie ahead. What followed in the next 2 1/2 days was a combination of surprising finds, listing milestones, and all around quality birding experiences.

Here's how it went down:

Thursday, April 17: Arcola and Bartel. Our target list included rails, so we had a number of marshes on the list to check. The first was Arcola Marsh, a convenient stop just off I-57 on the way south. A group of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers seemed a little out of place, but they were a nice treat nonetheless. The large pond was loaded with a surprising number and array of waterfowl. The first surprise came when I spotted a flock of geese that turned out to be Greater White-fronts, which should definitely be out of this area by now.

Greater White-fronted Geese

Arcola Marsh, Douglas Co, IL

April 17, 2014

On the trip down, we had been talking about the Eared Grebe reports that had come in across the state recently, and how so few of them truly excluded Horned Grebe in their descriptions. We'd each had separate experiences already this year in which a Horned Grebe gave us pause immediately after coming up from diving, as its shape can be skewed in such circumstances. We also share a frustration with such reports that lack photo documentation - of course it's not always possible to get a photo, but most of the time it is, and it really doesn't take much to capture an identifiable shot.

Rant over.

Anyway, as we were combing through the large group of waterfowl, I came across a familiar profile. I watched the bird for a few moments then said "Speaking of grebes that aren't Horned Grebes, I've got an Eared Grebe. An actual Eared Grebe." Great moment, and a fantastic bird to kickstart the trip! This is a pretty lame shot, but notice the sharp, pointed bill, super skinny neck, the peaked head, and the body, which I always consider to look "fluffier" than that of a Horned. It's not in full alternate plumage, but you can see a few golden plumes coming in on the side of the head.

Eared Grebe

Arcola Marsh, Douglas Co, IL

April 17, 2014

Shortly after I started whistling the call of a Sora, only to have one respond immediately from the marsh with its explosive descending call. A couple quick year birds, and our birding magic was in full swing.

Our next stop was Lake Mattoon, which we had never even heard of before, but we saw it on the map and thought it may be worth checking. There wasn't a whole lot around, but a nice flock of blackbirds greeted us in the marina parking lot, including about 15 Rusty Blackbirds.

Rusty Blackbird

Lake Mattoon, Cumberland Co, IL

April 17, 2014

Andrew scoped the lake, and I picked through the blackbirds, and found exactly what I was looking for. Up in a grassy patch, a really glossy blackbird with a blue/purple hue and white eye stuck out to me - Brewer's Blackbird! Year bird for Andrew, and my best look at one yet this year.

Brewer's Blackbird

Lake Mattoon, Cumberland Co, IL

April 17, 2014

We county listed from the highway and backroads our whole way down, pretty much continually submitting and sharing checklists, and noted that this makes road trips go by so much faster than usual. A flock of American Golden Plovers was an expected but nice addition in Shelby County. Then before we even knew it, we were in Marion County. A couple hours of daylight still remained, so our plan was to scope out the Bartel area to give ourselves an idea of what we would be doing in the morning. 

We tossed around the thought of whether prairie chickens would be out in the late afternoon or not. The answer came quickly as we scanned the field where I had them last summer and boom - there was a male right out in the open. We were thrilled at this easy find, and got out the scopes to enjoy the sight up close. There ended up being two males and two females, and the outstanding part was that the males were doing their full display! Usually you have to get up hours before dawn, then sit in a cramped blind in the dark for a while before getting to see this display, but we were getting our own show in full afternoon sunlight. I'll never forget it.

Greater Prairie Chicken

Karl Bartel Grassland, Marion Co, IL

April 17, 2014

The marsh yielded only a couple Sora in the rail department, though we trekked around a while trying to flush something up. We had an Eastern Towhee, Chipping, Field, Song, Swamp, Savannah, White-throated, and our first Henslow's Sparrow of the year, not a bad sparrow list. On the way to Stephen Forbes State Park, Andrew picked out a small flock of American Golden Plovers, which included one really nice looking male. What a remarkably striking bird!

American Golden Plover

Marion Co, IL

April 17, 2014

Having already nailed the prairie chickens, the plans for the next morning had opened up, and as we drove around Stephen Forbes Thursday evening it quickly became apparent that it had a great deal of potential. So we decided to use the evening hours before us to try for rails, then to do the park in the morning. Before heading out for rails, Andrew spotted a Barred Owl in a tree near the road, and we made a quick stop where we discovered an Eastern Screech Owl wailing in the distance.

Rails were probably our biggest bust of the trip, as we couldn't come up with anything other than Sora. Neither of us had been to Farina Wetland before, so when we arrived we truly had no idea what we were looking at. In the dark, it was difficult to determine the habitat, but it seemed it was better suited for shorebirds than rails. So we left, and decided we should check it out the next day. While here, our only Great-horned Owl of the trip called from a nearby farm.

We headed back to the Bartel Marsh, where the Henslow's Sparrow from earlier was still calling well after dark - when do those things sleep? The Sora from earlier called, but still no other luck in the rail department. This secured our plans to do Stephen Forbes in the morning. We stayed the night there in a little cabin, which was much like camping indoors, campfire smell and all. It definitely wasn't the best night of sleep I've had, but it did the job.

Friday, April 18: Marion to Jasper to Clinton. 5:40 am, my final moments of sleep and the pre-dawn silence are broken by a descending whistle from a nearby creek. 

"Hey Josh?" Andrew inquires from across the room, trying to determine if the call is coming from outside or if I'm working on my warbler songs at this particular moment. 

"Louisiana Waterthrush?" I posit. 

"Great minds." Andrew replies. 

And that's how our day began. I must say, a Louisiana Waterthrush makes a very pleasant alarm clock.

This was still 45 minutes before the sun came up, so we gradually woke up, gathered our things, and had about 20 species within earshot by the time we started off to troll the roads of the park, including our first Broad-winged Hawk of the year. The birds rolled in quickly as Yellow-throated Warblers and Northern Parulas sang from the roadside trees, while Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers filled in much of the space remaining in the air waves.

The Cattail Trail proved most productive, as our FOY Warbling and Yellow-throated Vireos sang away.

Yellow-throated Vireo

Stephen Forbes SP, Marion Co, IL

April 18, 2014

The path led back to a little slough, and on the descent we could hear a familiar call resounding - Prothonotary Warbler! Though familiar, I admit it took me hearing it a couple times to clear out the cobwebs from last year and recognize what it was. In the same slough were our FOY Solitary Sandpipers and a couple Rusty Blackbirds.

Solitary Sandpiper

Stephen Forbes SP, Marion Co, IL

April 18, 2014

Prothonotary Warbler

Stephen Forbes SP, Marion Co, IL

April 18, 2014

The Marion County backroads were also productive bird-wise, though we did have a rather interesting encounter with a local. After pulling down a road, we noticed it was a dead end (a dead end which had our only White-crowned Sparrows of the trip), so we turned around. On the way out, a car was coming our way; the driver caught our attention and asked us to stop. Apparently he'd been following us for a while (what better way to spend a beautiful Friday morning than stalking strangers with binoculars, right?) and was not impressed by our erratic, bird-finding driving - which was of course a huge issue on virtually empty country roads. Of more concern to this disgruntled older man was the fact that we had driven down the private road on which we were currently having this exchange. "It's a very private road," he emphasized. "You need to be very careful on private roads out here," he added creepily. He kept trying to determine where we going, and despite Andrew's poised and consistent answers, this man seemed to only get more pissed off the longer the conversation went. We eventually just drove off, utterly confused by the situation, and grateful the crazy man didn't have a firearm on hand (or at least that we didn't provoke its presence). On the way out, we checked the signage on the road, and of course found nothing demarcating it as private. We couldn't figure out what this guy's deal was - seriously, of all the crap he had laying out across his yard and along the road, what were we going to want to take? Would he miss it even if we did? Whatever. This is sorta par for the course when birding in the boonies. For whatever reason, the further you get from civilization, the more paranoid people get about others being near their stuff (something that is rarely the case with downtown city dwellers, who often let birders traipse across their yards in search of continuing rarities). If that's not counterintuitive, I don't know what is.

Anyway, there were Wild Turkeys nearby, a snappy looking pair of Red-shouldered Hawks perched together momentarily, and a nice little flock of American Pipits as well.

American Pipit

Marion Co, IL

April 18, 2014

Red-shouldered Hawk

Marion Co, IL

April 18, 2014

After Marion County, we hopped back up to Farina Wetland, which had a strange combination of wonderful habitat and very few birds. I'm sure something good will be showing up there soon. From there we headed east, with a productive stretch through Clay County which including our FOY Northern Bobwhite near the road.

Northern Bobwhite

Clay Co, IL

April 18, 2014

Jasper County was our primary destination for the mid-morning, and between Prairie Ridge, Robert Ridgeway Grasslands, and the backroads, we pulled in 72 species, all of which were ticks for me as I had never set foot in the county before.

Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs

Robert Ridgeway Grasslands, Jasper Co, IL

April 18, 2014

I'm still learning my snakes; I think this is an Eastern Garter. Comments and info always welcome.

Snake

Robert Ridgeway Grasslands, Jasper Co, IL

April 18, 2014

Working the backroads of prairie country can be tiring at times, but it does eventually pay off. A little riparian area yielded our FOY Common Yellowthroat and a White-eyed Vireo - always an enjoyable call to listen to. Andrew spotted one of our main targets for the trip, a pair of Loggerhead Shrikes, working a brushy fence line. We got these birds in the scope and studied them for a little while, pointing out just how different they look than their Northern relatives - much thicker mask, entirely encapsulating the eye, stocky profile, dark gray back, clean breast, and a flat, disproportionately large head. It was a rewarding moment after what felt like an eternity in the car.

Loggerhead Shrikes

Jasper Co, IL

April 18, 2014

We had missed Upland Sandpiper and rails, but otherwise we were making good time and finding great birds. Given our proximity to Lake Carlyle, and the amount of daylight we still had remaining, we decided to make that our next destination. We began on the Fayette County side, where we had a couple nice finds on the way to the lake, including a flock of 60 American Pipits and a Barred Owl that Andrew spotted sitting in the open in the middle of the afternoon.

Northern Mockingbird

Fayette Co, IL

April 18, 2014

Barred Owl

Fayette Co, IL

April 18, 2014

American Pipit

Fayette Co, IL

April 18, 2014

When we got to the Patoka Access I quickly spotted three Forster's Terns flying by - didn't expect to have them before Caspians this year.

Forster's Tern

Lake Carlyle, Fayette Co, IL

April 18, 2014

It was clear that a distant sandbar had significant numbers of shorebirds, so we walked that direction to get a better look. On the way, Andrew stopped dead in his tracks. "Baby fox! Do you see it?" He pointed forward to a den where two fuzzy little heads were poking out to see what was going on. I had never seen baby foxes in the wild before, and it was without a doubt one of the cutest things I have ever witnessed! They were shy, but quite accommodating when it came to having their picture taken. Is this not adorable?

Baby Red Fox

Lake Carlyle, Fayette Co, IL

April 18, 2014

Among the usual, recurring shorebirds we already had on the trip, a couple Semipalmated Plovers and Dunlin made nice additions to the trip and year lists. We figured Whitetail Access would be an appropriate next stop, and this turned out to be a great choice. This is where we had all the shorebirds last Fall on the IOS trip, and the same was true this weekend. From the trail, we could see a distant mudflat full of shorebirds on the other side of a berm, and I had a peep that made me think Baird's. So we approached quietly and managed to get to the berm without flushing everything. There were about 400 Pectoral Sandpipers, and picking through them produced more Dunlin and Semipalmated Plovers, as well as a single Least and Baird's Sandpiper. It felt so good to have a huge shorebird flock to pick through, and to experience the benefits of spending so much time on them last Fall.

Pectoral (left) and Baird's (right) Sandpiper

Whitetail Access, Clinton Co, IL

April 18, 2014

Lesser Yellowlegs

Whitetail Access, Clinton Co, IL

April 18, 2014

Pectoral Sandpiper (left) and Dunlin (right)

Whitetail Access, Clinton Co, IL

April 18, 2014

Semipalmated Plover

Whitetail Access, Clinton Co, IL

April 18, 2014

As we left this area, we had a couple hours of daylight left. We drove around the south side of the lake, where we had a Yellow-throated Warbler singing. At the Lake Carlyle Marina, we were surprised (though not really surprised after this winter) that this funny looking duck was still lingering around in mid April.

White-winged Scoter

Lake Carlyle, Clinton Co, IL

April 18, 2014

Our final stop of the day was Eldon Hazlet State Park where there was little of note, with the one exception of the huge numbers of Bonaparte's Gulls coming back to the lake to roost for the evening. Many of them were in alternate plumage, making it a remarkable spectacle. It's the biggest numbers of this species that Andrew and I have ever seen. These pics don't do the situation justice, but if you click on them to make them larger it should help.

Bonaparte's Gulls

Lake Carlyle, Clinton Co, IL

April 18, 2014

The day drew to an end, and we had to decide where to go for the night in order to set ourselves up for some good birding Saturday. Mason and Fulton counties seemed a reliable place to target, so we got a hotel in Lincoln. On the way there, we tallied things up and realized we had already seen 117 birds on the trip. What would another day of birding one of Illinois' most magical birding locales do for us? That remained to be seen.

Saturday, April 19: Mason and Fulton to Putnam. We "slept in" Saturday morning till 6:45, which was not intentional, but also not detrimental to the day's plans. We're pretty sure we were the better for it because we felt rested and ready for another day full of good birds, which is exactly what was before us. I try to explain to my non-birding friends that 6:45 a.m. is sleeping in, they don't seem to get it though.

On our drive through Mason County, a roadside pond caught our attention and caused us to turn around. We got out to the sound of Ring-necked Pheasant and Northern Bobwhite calling. While scoping the ponds, Andrew called out, "Hey, Wilson's Phalaropes!" Sure enough, there were three fancy females doing there little spinny phalarope thing. A great surprise bird and a really nice way to kick off the day.

Wilson's Phalaropes

Mason Co, IL

April 19, 2014

This pond was on a side road, and we decided to stay on it and wander our way through Mason County as we had done the day before. Good results followed yet again as we picked up good numbers of Vesper Sparrows and had the pleasant surprise of a Western Meadowlark calling along the side of the road. There were several mockingbirds along the way, and we finally came across a pair of Lark Sparrows, which we had been hoping to encounter on the way at some point.

Lark Sparrow

Mason Co, IL

April 19, 2014

One of the mockingbirds was quite cooperative in the photo department!

bird, mocking something

Mason Co, IL

April 19, 2014

I liked the way this one turned out:

Northern Mockingbird

Mason Co, IL

April 19, 2014

From there it was on to Emiquon, where we were treated to a couple of exciting hours of birding. We picked up our first Eurasian Tree Sparrows of the trip here.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Emiquon NWR, Fulton Co, IL

April 19, 2014

Some of the first shorebirds we saw were these Black-necked Stilts:

Black-necked Stilts

Emiquon NWR, Fulton Co, IL

April 19, 2014

The South Globe provided some great looks at yet more Baird's Sandpipers. Typically a Fall migrant here, this species has shown up in remarkable numbers in Illinois this Spring. It was cool observing the slightly different pattern on the back, especially compared with the fresh juveniles we see in the Fall.

Baird's Sandpipers

Emiquon NWR, Fulton Co, IL

April 19, 2014

After the North/South Globe area, we headed over to the observation deck, where things just kept getting better. Andrew suggested we walk around the marsh. I wasn't sure how productive it would be, but I'm glad we did it anyway. A Sora was calling from the marsh and eventually showed itself. As we came to an opening, Andrew picked out an American Bittern, camouflaged well against the reeds. We got great looks at it before it flushed further out in the marsh, where it was much more difficult to pick out.

Can you see it here?

American Bittern

Emiquon NWR, Fulton Co, IL

April 19, 2014

Sora

Emiquon NWR, Fulton Co, IL

April 19, 2014

From the marsh, we walked north along a grassy path that bordered the lake to the west. We didn't find much new at first. Then Andrew stopped. "Did you hear that?" I hadn't. Then seconds later the dry rattle of a Smith's Longspur came from directly above us! We looked up to see a little orange bird with white secondaries and white outer tail feathers fly by. My camera didn't focus quickly enough, but Andrew managed a couple identifiable shots. Here's one of them:

Smith's Longspur

Emiquon NWR, Fulton Co, IL

April 19, 2014

Quite surprisingly, this was not a year bird for either of us, but it was still a target for our trip and a thrilling find at such an unexpected place - sweet buddy list bird, too! Good times.

At that point, our attention turned to our individual county ticks. The trip had covered a lot of ground and produced way more ticks than we had expected (both county and the bugs actually, which are just about back in full force), and we were both on the brink of significant milestones. So we formulated a plan to work through Peoria and Tazewell Counties on the way to Hennepin-Hopper in Putnam, which we figured would be a nice end to the trip. As we birded on the way up, Andrew passed 5,000, and I passed 4,000 county ticks for Illinois. This was an unexpected accomplishment on this trip, but a fitting one given the amount of work we put in.

At last we arrived at Hennepin, where Caspian Tern and Yellow-headed Blackbird were the final year birds of the trip.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Hennepin-Hopper, Putnam Co, IL

April 19, 2014

An interesting part about this final stop was the shift in waterfowl we observed as compared to what we had seen further south. There were still good numbers of Redhead, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, and Lesser Scaup, and only a few Northern Shovelers and Blue-winged Teal. I love covering enough territory to be able to see these sorts of shifts from one location to the next.

A stop at Greene Valley back in DuPage got us one final bird for the trip: American Woodcock. That brought our total to 136, not bad for 2 1/2 days! Our buddy list also took a significant bump up to 258 after 12 new birds on the trip. Andrew finished at 187 for the year, and I made it to 197.

The trip had a little bit of everything and was satisfying in so many ways. Andrew made the great point on the way home that, besides the prairie chickens which were at a known location, we found all of our own birds. The Eared Grebe, shorebirds, shrikes, bittern, Lark Sparrow, longspur... no directions to any of those, just good planning, good execution, and good timing - and a whole lot of work. We missed a few things, but that's the way birding goes, and it's all stuff I should be able to track down at some point this year.

I've added a few birds since, so here's the quick number breakdown at the end of the trip:

ABA 2014: 219

Illinois 2014: 197

Andrew and Joshua Buddy List: 258