Little Birder: April Weekend Trip

The sleeping was dismal at best. More like non-existent. We quickly learned that, on a 40 degree night, the car is no warmer than a tent. Both of us struggled to get to sleep, and even when we managed to doze off, it seemed like it was for no more than 10-15 minutes at a time, either the cold or uncomfortable position rousing us time and time again. Andrew would turn the car on intermittently so we could warm up a bit. Layers were added. But it was still pretty miserable.

Around 4:30 Andrew decided to let the car run for a little longer, and we both actually managed to fall asleep.

Until 5:00.

At 5:00 we were woken up again, though this time for a different reason. All of a sudden there was a flashlight shining in the car and a firm knock on the window.

Police officer. Of course.

Understandably, she was curious about the situation. Two guys sleeping in a running car in a gravel lot off the side of the road on National Wildlife Refuge property - she had cause for suspicion. Thankfully, she was quite kind and her questioning, though quite extensive, was amiable. We explained that we had intended to camp and why we chose to sleep in the car. She took our IDs and went back to her car - I still have a Washington State license so I was nervous that it would make us look even more suspicious.

She returned to our car, handed back our licenses, and explained that we really shouldn't be on National Wildlife Refuge property, but that at this point in the morning it was ok if we stayed. That was generous. And she joked that we probably wouldn't be going back to sleep anyway after being startled awake in such a peculiar way. She was right.

And she concluded with this gem: "Well, you don't seem like mass murderers, and I believe what you're saying. Right or wrong, I'm going to believe you." Quite the compliment.

This actually makes two decisive birding affirmations that I have received from cops in the past few years. One was a Walworth County, Wisconsin cop who explained to a disgruntled neighbor simply, "Nah, I think he's a legit birder." (I had been making the locals nervous by chasing Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings around some rural roads.)

So one officer has called me a legit birder, and now another has gone an extra step and declared that Andrew and I are not mass murderers. Really racking up the PD praise, wouldn't you say?

There wasn't a great deal of time for our non-arrested and un-ticketed selves to take in the fact that we had just been woken up by a cop, because we were about to get hit with a tidal wave of birdsong. We tried to get our wits about us as we prepared our cups of Starbucks Iced Via.

Then, the pre-dawn chorus erupted faster than you can say "Prothonotary," and the glories of birding southern Illinois in late April were upon us in a rather potent fashion. A couple Barred Owls - those caterwauling denizens of the south - sounded off. Our first Indigo Bunting of the year assured us we had come to the right place for new arrivals. This was followed by a nice surprise and our first buddy list bird of the day: a calling Eastern Whip-poor-will! After missing them the night before, this was a fantastic boost to begin the day. Not long after, the bold call of a Kentucky Warbler resounded through the forest. Another buddy lister!

Great-crested Flycatcher. Northern Parula. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Wild Turkey. Prothonotary Warbler. We were over 20 species in a matter of minutes; hadn't even left the parking lot. The freight train of Spring bird activity was quickly picking up steam, so we got back in the car and slowly trolled through Crab Orchard, windows down, ears primed, coffee in hand.

The high-pitched, descending song of a Yellow-throated Warbler rang out, shortly accompanied by its lazier counterpart, the Louisiana Waterthrush. Pine Warbler was our third buddy list bird of the day, and the more expected species like Ovenbird, Yellow Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat were conspicuous. A Yellow-throated Vireo was singing, and White-eyed Vireos were all over the place. A Pileated Woodpecker was calling, too.

The year birds were flowing, we had already tallied 34 species, and the sun hadn't even risen yet. This was going to be a good day.

As the sun showed itself for the first time this day, we were pulling into the boat launch ramp off of Spillway Road. Bonaparte's were flying out over the lake, a large group of swallows gathered in nearby trees, and the chorus continued. A Baltimore Oriole sang atop a tree on one side of the parking lot, while an Orchard Oriole did the same on the other side. There was a Green Heron here, too. Tufted Titmouse and Northern Parula were the calls that provided the background noise pretty much everywhere we went. Carolina Wren and Prothonotary Warbler followed close behind.

Somewhere on the drive down the day before, it was as though we crossed an imaginary line and immediately everything turned a bright, fresh green color, which is evident from many of my photos from the trip. This morning was more of the same as birds popped out from the beautiful, lush vegetation.

I don't know just how many more chances I'll get to go back to southern Illinois, so I tried to put a little more effort into getting some decent pictures this time around.

This was the first Prothonotary I got to lay eyes on:

Prothonotary Warbler

Crab Orchard NWR, Williamson Co, IL

April 24, 2015

Northern Parula

Crab Orchard NWR, Williamson Co, IL

April 24, 2015

Carolina Wren

Crab Orchard NWR, Williamson Co, IL

April 24, 2015

Orchard Oriole

Crab Orchard NWR, Williamson Co, IL

April 24, 2015

There were a couple Forster's Terns and American White Pelicans on the other side of the lake, and all of a sudden we were pushing 60 species in the less than two hours we had been up since that rather unexpected awakening. It had been like drinking from a firehose. Even with all the stuff we ended up seeing over the course of the trip, that one stretch was the most intense flurry of birds we experienced. And we didn't even get a chance to process it because things we about to get even crazier.

A little after 7 am, we were pulling into Heron Flats, which Keith McMullen had suggested we check for shorebirds. The first pullout was pretty quiet, so we decided to keep moving. Less than a minute down the road we found a better pullout with a more substantial overlook, so we checked it out.

As the car came to rest in its parking spot, we noticed some white birds out in a field. We assumed they were egrets. Until we put up our binoculars.

Wait.

Are those?

No way.

Oh man.

No.

Whooping Cranes?

Whooping Cranes!

It's pretty much one of the most distinct birds in the states. There's essentially no way to misidentify them. But we still couldn't believe our eyes. We scrambled for our scopes, got the birds in our sights, and absolutely marveled at what we had just found - a flock of five Whooping Cranes (there's one Great Egret in the first pic).

Whooping Cranes

Crab Orchard NWR, Williamson Co, IL

April 24, 2015

While we watched them, a lady pulled up with a big antenna on top of her vehicle. She had helped raise the birds and was tracking them all the way from Florida to Wisconsin. Somehow in my time birding out in the midwest, I had not learned the proper Whooping Crane protocol, which basically includes not reporting them at all. Apparently there are too many absolute idiots out there who want to shoot one of these beauties, so any public word about their present whereabouts is a potential threat. I got a barrage of emails - some kinder than others - alerting me to just this fact. Lesson learned.

This was buddy list bird #289 for us, and my 320th bird for the state of Illinois. There was a nice assortment of waterfowl here, and the best shorebird was a pair of Semipalmated Plovers. We were pulling away by 7:30 to head south to Massac County, kinda in shock from an unforgettable morning.

But it was still early, and there were many birds yet to be seen. On a couple side roads in Massac we picked up our first Blue Grosbeaks of the year and got to watch a Northern Mockingbird put on quite the show.

Blue Grosbeak

Massac Co, IL

April 24, 2015

Northern Mockingbird

Massac Co, IL

April 24, 2015

Then it was on to Ft. Massac State Park, which is a good spot for migrants at the southern tip of the state. It borders the Mississippi so you can see Kentucky from the park grounds. For many birds, this is the first piece of Illinois they see each year.

Some of our additions here included Swainson's Thrush, Fish Crow, Summer Tanager, American Redstart, Tennessee Warbler, and Nashville Warbler. Surprisingly, the gnatcatchers were among the more cooperative birds here.