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11 May IBET Lost glasses at Jarvis/ No Sightings [Owen McHugh ] 11 May IBET Little Red Schoolhouse ["judyfruin" ] 11 May IBET IL SBC, Lake Co, Rollins Savanna FP [] 11 May IBET spring bird count Palos/Orland ["Wes Serafin" ] 11 May IBET: May 11 birds from Chicago's lakefront [] 11 May IBET Meacham Grove, May 9th ["katelyn.beaty" ] 11 May IBET Montrose Beach -Caspian Terns 5/11 am [Steve Huggins ] 11 May IBET Montrose 5/10 [] 11 May IBET Woodford Co. Mackinaw Bluffs SBC [Matthew Winks ] 11 May IBET Woodford Co. Mackinaw Bluffs SBC [Matthew Winks ] 11 May IBET Calumet Area Spring Count (5-10-08) [Walter Marcisz ] 11 May IBET Brown County spring bird count ["Tony Ward" ] 11 May RE: IBET Martin Houses on Wooded Island need volunteers! ["Carolyn A. Marsh" ] 11 May IBET Bbackyard Bonanza in Mundelein -- lots of activity [Ms Sheryl DeVore ] 11 May IBET The Spring Count in southeast DuPage [] 11 May Re: IBET Black-billed cuckoo, Waterfall Glen [] 11 May IBET swainson's warbler---no ["bik_horus" ] 11 May IBET Black-billed cuckoo, Waterfall Glen [Vicky Sroczynski ] 11 May IBET Conkey, Turtlehead, Swallow Cliff, Maple Lake Spring Count ["Beth Simkins" ] 11 May IBET Saturday in southern DeKalb County ["Darrell Shambaugh" ] 11 May IBET 5 Siskins at feeders in Gurnee ["Jim Solum" ] 11 May IBET Midewin Harris' Sparrow on Saturday [cindy alberico ] 11 May IBET Martin Houses on Wooded Island need volunteers! ["q4birds" ] 11 May IBET Kankakee Co Spring Count [Jed Hertz ] 11 May IBET Nachusa Grasslands [John Heneghan ] 10 May IBET huge Caspian Tern count and other highlights from Evanston [Josh Engel ] 11 May IBET Chicago Botanic Gardens, 5/10 a.m. [] 11 May IBET Air Station Prairie, 5/10 a.m. [] 11 May IBET Techny Basin Conservation Area SBC, 5/10 a.m. [] 10 May IBET North Pond, Spring Count Highlights [Steve Huggins ] 10 May IBET Elsen's Hill Area (DuPage Co. SBC) - 25 sp. of Warblers [Eric Secker ] 10 May IBET NW Cook County, Sat. 10 May 2008 ["Geoffrey A. Williamson" ] 10 May IBET Great Black-backed Gull and Blue Grosbeak, Cook Co. - 10 May 2008 ["Nicholas Block" ] 10 May IBET Common Loon, Black Tern at Pella Pond [Urs Geiser ] 10 May IBET LaBagh early afternoon [Jill Niland ] 11 May IBET cerulean warblers in St Charles ["mayhill10" ] 10 May IBET NE Lake Co SBC highlights-Red Crossbills & Pine Siskins ["Jim Solum" ] 10 May IBET Piatt County: Robert Allerton Park, May 5 ["Jane Ward" ] 10 May IBET YELLOW RAIL Chain O Lakes State Park [Matthew Fletcher ] 10 May IBET Sightings @ Botanic Gardens Magnolia warbler? ["jfrankfurter" ] 10 May IBET sorry [Grant Simon ] 10 May IBET Lake County, 5/10 [Robert Hughes ] 10 May IBET harris' sparrow-north pond yellow crowned - montrose [Grant Simon ] 10 May IBET Palos area (SW Cook County) May 10 ["Craig & Barb Thayer" ] 10 May IBET Montrose Harbour correction ["toffeeman26" ] 10 May IBET Labagh Woods and Montrose Harbour ["toffeeman26" ] 10 May IBET wooded isle jackson park chicago Il [Paul Doughty ] 10 May IBET Waukegan Black-legged Kittiwake, 5/10 p.m. [Robert Hughes ] 10 May IBET Sora Rail Video Wilkinson-Renwick Marsh Nature Preserve, Dekalb County ["Bill" ] 10 May IBET Black-legged Kittiwake Waukegan beach ["bruceheimer" ] 10 May IBET Lost Cell Phone @ Montrose Bird Sanctuary ["marshallbsegal" ] 10 May IBET Lost Motorola cell phone @ Montrose [] Subject: IBET Lost glasses at Jarvis/ No Sightings From: Owen McHugh <artbirds AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 15:25:26 -0700 (PDT) Hello Ibeters: A few days ago I found a pair of glasses along the north fence of the Jarvis Bird Sanctuary in Lincoln Park Chicago. On the good chance that they might belong to a birder let me describe them. The glasses are bifocals with brown frames. They are in a Lenscrafters dark cloth case. Contact me if they might be yours. Owen McHugh Artbirds AT Sbcglobal.net Subject: IBET Little Red Schoolhouse From: "judyfruin" <judyfruin AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 21:01:33 -0000 We were in Lemont yesterday. Apparently the Little Red Schoolhouse will reopen today. Yesterday (Saturday) there were two Osprey over the lake. I understand they have erected a pole hoping to get a nest. Also pair of Orioles and 4 red grossbeaks and red bellied woodpecker at feeder and in the area. Judy Fruin McHenry County Subject: IBET IL SBC, Lake Co, Rollins Savanna FP From: djohnsoda AT comcast.net Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 20:56:03 +0000 11 May 2008 Fellow Ibeters, As most have posted, in spite of the late SBC date, birding in northern Illinois was tedious and slow yesterday, 10 May 2008, particularly in the passerine department, the cold and northerly winds basically shut down migration except for some waterbirds like loons and terns which seemed to be moving in spite of the weather. However, I was able to "eek" out 104 species, for the SBC so far, with 88 species being recorded at Rollins Savanna Lake County F.P. alone--thanks to Richard Biss and Robert Hughes--helping out--with great birding skills!We did remarkably well! Here, then, are our totals for the day: Location: Rollins Savanna Observation date: 10 May 2008 Number of species: 88 36 Canada Goose 2 Mute Swan 5 Wood Duck 16 Gadwall (inc. 4 on Third Lake) 2 American Wigeon 45 Mallard 21 Blue-winged Teal 2 Green-winged Teal 5 Ring-necked Duck 1 Lesser Scaup 5 Bufflehead 10 Ruddy Duck 1 Common Loon 6 Pied-billed Grebe 1 American Bittern (thank you! Robert Hughes!) 2 Great Blue Heron 3 Great Egret 1 Turkey Vulture 1 Northern Harrier (immature) 1 Cooper’s Hawk 2 Red-tailed Hawk 1 American Kestrel 3 Virginia Rail 13 Sora 67 American Coot 2 Sandhill Crane 5 Killdeer 3 Spotted Sandpiper 11 Lesser Yellowlegs 1 Solitary Sandpiper 7 Least Sandpiper 3 Wilson’s Snipe 1 American Woodcock 2 Wilson’s Phalarope (thank you! Robert Hughes!) 4 Ring-billed Gull 1 Caspian Tern 2 Black Tern 2 Mourning Dove 8 Chimney Swift 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 4 Eastern Kingbird (sitting on top of the cattails in big lake marsh) 1 Warbling Vireo 2 Blue Jay 1 Horned Lark 2 Purple Martin 22 Tree Swallow 7 Bank Swallow 1 Cliff Swallow 8 Barn Swallow 1 Black-capped Chickadee 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 5 House Wren 3 Sedge Wren 1 Marsh Wren 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 15 American Robin 2 Gray Catbird 2 Brown Thrasher 10 European Starling 1 Nashville Warbler 3 Yellow Warbler 11 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1 Black-throated Green Warbler 20 Palm Warbler 21 Common Yellowthroat 2 Field Sparrow 97 Savannah Sparrow 1 Grasshopper Sparrow 11 Henslow's Sparrow 18 Song Sparrow 3 Lincoln's Sparrow 12 Swamp Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 4 White-crowned Sparrow (Eastern) 2 Northern Cardinal 203 Bobolink 69 Red-winged Blackbird 9 Eastern Meadowlark 14 Yellow-headed Blackbird 32 Common Grackle 15 Brown-headed Cowbird 1 Orchard Oriole (male) 3 Baltimore Oriole 2 House Finch 2 American Goldfinch 6 House Sparrow Other stops: 1 Redhead (male, Highland Lake) 1 Double-crested Cormorant (Long Lake) 1 Herring Gull (Diamond Lake) 2 Downy Woodpecker (one at Gages Lake) 1 Hairy Woodpecker (Reed Turner Woodland) 2 Belted Kingfisher 2 Great Crested Flycatcher (one at Gages Lake) 2 American Crow 1 Blue-headed Vireo (Reed Turner Woodland) 1 Eastern Bluebird (Reed Turner Woodland) 6 Cedar Waxwing 1 Swainson's Thrush (near Honey Lake) 1 Scarlet Tanager (Reed Turner Woodland) 3 Chipping Sparrow 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Reed Turner Woodland) 2 Indigo Bunting (Reed Turner Woodland) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ILbirds/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ILbirds/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:ILbirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com mailto:ILbirds-fullfeatured AT yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ILbirds-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Subject: IBET spring bird count Palos/Orland From: "Wes Serafin" <w.serafin AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 15:25:14 -0500 Amar Ayyash and Steve Ambrose joined me for the spring bird count. Highlights are: McGinnis Slough 1 HORNED GREBE breeding plumage 6 SORA 5 PIED BILLED GREBE 1 NORTHERN SHOVELER 18 RUDDY DUCKS Palos West Elementary Slough 1 SORA 14 PURPLE MARTINS there are probably twice that number here 1 BLACK CROWNED NIGHT HERON Orland Grasslands 7 BOBOLINKS 2 GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS 4 SAVANNAH SPARROWS 2 CLAY COLORED SPARROWS Palos Residential 3 BROADWING HAWKS 2 RED HEADED WOODPECKERS 2 RED BREASTED NUTHATCHES 5 NOTHERN PARULA 1 SUMMER TANAGER female at Paddock Woods 16 species of warbler Happy Mothers Day to all moms! Wes Serafin Orland Pk SW Cook County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET: May 11 birds from Chicago's lakefront From: birdchris AT aol.com Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 16:23:33 EDT Geoff and I birded in heavy rain and hideous winds at Montrose on Sunday, May 11 and saw two Common Terns on the beach among about 25 Caspian Terns at about 6:30 a.m. Shorebirds present were a Dunlin, a Least Sandpiper and two Spotted Sandpiper. Land birding was poor at Montrose, although we turned up a Veery, a Woodthrush and a Sedge Wren on the west (sheltered) side of the Magic Hedge. The Yellow-crowned Night-heron still was present at the Waveland Golf Course Pond. We checked the south end of North Pond for the Harris' Sparrow and didn't find it. Terrestrial birding was even worse at this location than at Montrose and aside from numerous White-crowned Sparrows and a few Swamp and White-throated Sparrows, only saw a Tennessee Warbler, a Yellow Warbler and three Yellow-rumped Warblers. Christine Williamson Chicago, Cook County birdchris AT aol.com **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Meacham Grove, May 9th From: "katelyn.beaty" <katelyn.beaty AT gmail.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 19:58:21 -0000 I visited Meacham Grove in DuPage County last Friday evening. Highlights were 5 BALTIMORE ORIOLES, a NASHVILLE WARBLER, and three pairs of WOOD DUCKS. Other birds seen included: 1 green heron 3 red-bellied woodpecker 1 downy woodpecker 1 least flycatcher 1 gray catbird 2 eastern bluebird 1 common yellowthroat 1 american redstart 5-6 palm warbler 1 eastern towhee barn swallows bank swallows blue-gray gnatcatchers Good birding, Katelyn Beaty DuPage County Subject: IBET Montrose Beach -Caspian Terns 5/11 am From: Steve Huggins <sjhuggins1209 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 12:39:31 -0700 (PDT) I braved the wind and rain at 11am this morning and headed out to Montrose hoping for shorebirds - there were none! Barely being able to stand up in the impressive winds I was able to count 245 Caspian Terns and 10 Forster's Terns on the beach. Steve Huggins http://www.pbase.com/sjhuggins Chicago, IL ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: IBET Montrose 5/10 From: MHKIWI AT aol.com Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 15:27:28 EDT There was a Baird's Sandpiper on the beach shortly after 7:00 AM. Only other notable sightings were a first year male Orchard Oriole, a Clay-colored Sparrow and the almost complete absence of warblers with 4 species (Yellow, Yellowthroat, Redstart and Ovenbird). As others have noted, the Yellow-crowned Night Heron was present at the Golf Course Pond. Michael Hogg Northbrook **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Woodford Co. Mackinaw Bluffs SBC From: Matthew Winks <fluidfive AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 13:22:30 -0500 Sorry that format looked terrible....trying the plain text format. Woodford County Mackinaw Bluffs Corridor Spring Bird Count summary Matthew Winks and I covered the Corridor yesterday (Woodrum Tract, South Chinquapin, Mercier Impoundment, Fraker Farm, North Chinquapin, Letcher Basin, Ridgetop Nature Preserve). Despite barely managing 100+ species -- always a good day -- it was painful. Neotropical migrant flocks were sparse to non existent, and only one single flock the entire day had singing birds present, essentially killing any birding by ear on the warblers. Good shorebird habitat was also sparse to non existent, leaving us dry on both shorebirds and waterfowl. Todd Bugg, reporting to us for a McLean Co summary, also noted that poor numbers were the consensus, with sparse migrants and few good numbers of anything. I would love to see a McL Co summary if anyone gets a chance. I know that along with the Weth Harris's Sparrow, and Pete Fenner's Woodford Co Harris's Sparrow, Bugg started his day with TWO (and of course, had to call us -- you always know when a fellow counter is calling before 7am it's something good that you don't really want to know about). So, everyone -- GET FAMILIAR WITH HARRIS'S SPARROW AND REALLY LOOK THROUGH YOUR WHITE- CROWNED SPARROW FLOCKS. This huge sparrow is hard to miss -- you'd be more likely to overlook Bigfoot in your yard. Other count notes: Some migrants just had not arrived out here (cuckoo's, Sedge Wren,). The first Dickcissel was here, regretting it today I'm sure. Sora numbers, at 7, were solid. We had one big pipit flock. The best surprise of the day was the sparrow scene at Letcher Basin. Vesper, Lark, Savanna, Grasshopper, Field, and Chipping were all present in some numbers. This wonderful basin (258 acres of which 52 are owned by us and 206 are owned by the ParkLands Foundation) will become something fabulous as the conservation restoration continues. The property is accessible and foot traffic is welcome. Location: Mackinaw Bluffs Corridor Observation date: 5/10/08 Number of species: 103 Canada Goose 26 Wood Duck 11 Mallard 4 Ring-necked Pheasant 15 Wild Turkey 4 Double-crested Cormorant 2 Great Blue Heron 5 Turkey Vulture 33 Cooper's Hawk 2 Broad-winged Hawk 1 Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern) 13 American Kestrel 3 Sora 7 Killdeer 7 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Solitary Sandpiper 4 Rock Pigeon 2 Eurasian Collared-Dove 4 Mourning Dove 19 Barred Owl 2 Chimney Swift 3 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2 Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-headed Woodpecker 15 Red-bellied Woodpecker 23 Downy Woodpecker 14 Hairy Woodpecker 2 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 9 Eastern Wood-Pewee 2 Least Flycatcher 2 Eastern Phoebe 5 Great Crested Flycatcher 9 Eastern Kingbird 14 White-eyed Vireo 4 Yellow-throated Vireo 3 Warbling Vireo 5 Red-eyed Vireo 4 Blue Jay 28 American Crow 7 Horned Lark 1 Tree Swallow 12 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 6 Barn Swallow 14 Black-capped Chickadee 18 Tufted Titmouse 24 White-breasted Nuthatch 13 Carolina Wren 2 House Wren 30 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 16 Eastern Bluebird 19 Veery 1 Gray-cheeked Thrush 1 Swainson's Thrush 2 Wood Thrush 8 American Robin 37 Gray Catbird 24 Northern Mockingbird 1 Brown Thrasher 5 European Starling 65 American Pipit 52 Tennessee Warbler 12 Orange-crowned Warbler 1 Nashville Warbler 14 Northern Parula 5 Yellow Warbler 4 Chestnut-sided Warbler 5 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 43 Black-throated Green Warbler 3 Blackburnian Warbler 1 Palm Warbler 8 Cerulean Warbler 1 Black-and-white Warbler 2 American Redstart 5 Ovenbird 1 Northern Waterthrush 2 Kentucky Warbler 1 Common Yellowthroat 32 Scarlet Tanager 2 Eastern Towhee 20 Chipping Sparrow 14 Field Sparrow 49 Vesper Sparrow 9 Lark Sparrow 7 Savannah Sparrow 11 Grasshopper Sparrow 14 Henslow's Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 11 Lincoln's Sparrow 4 Swamp Sparrow 9 White-throated Sparrow 25 White-crowned Sparrow (Eastern) 55 Northern Cardinal 15 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 24 Indigo Bunting 30 Dickcissel 1 Red-winged Blackbird 76 Eastern Meadowlark 28 Common Grackle 28 Brown-headed Cowbird 40 Orchard Oriole 3 Baltimore Oriole 17 American Goldfinch 41 House Sparrow 5 Matt Fraker Woodford Co 05/10/08 reported on 05/11/08 Subject: IBET Woodford Co. Mackinaw Bluffs SBC From: Matthew Winks <fluidfive AT hotmail.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 13:01:46 -0500 Woodford County Mackinaw Bluffs Corridor Spring Bird Count summary Matthew Winks and I covered the Corridor yesterday (Woodrum Tract, South Chinquapin, Mercier Impoundment, Fraker Farm, North Chinquapin, Letcher Basin, Ridgetop Nature Preserve). Despite barely managing 100+ species -- always a good day -- it was painful. Neotropical migrant flocks were sparse to non existent, and only one single flock the entire day had singing birds present, essentially killing any birding by ear on the warblers. Good shorebird habitat was also sparse to non existent, leaving us dry on both shorebirds and waterfowl. Todd Bugg, reporting to us for a McLean Co summary, also noted that poor numbers were the consensus, with sparse migrants and few good numbers of anything. I would love to see a McL Co summary if anyone gets a chance. I know that along with the Weth Harris's Sparrow, and Pete Fenner's Woodford Co Harris's Sparrow, Bugg started his day with TWO (and of course, had to call us -- you always know when a fellow counter is calling before 7am it's something good that you don't really want to know about). So, everyone -- GET FAMILIAR WITH HARRIS'S SPARROW AND REALLY LOOK THROUGH YOUR WHITE- CROWNED SPARROW FLOCKS. This huge sparrow is hard to miss -- you'd be more likely to overlook Bigfoot in your yard.Other count notes: Some migrants just had not arrived out here (cuckoo's, Sedge Wren,). The first Dickcissel was here, regretting it today I'm sure. Sora numbers, at 7, were solid. We had one big pipit flock. The best surprise of the day was the sparrow scene at Letcher Basin. Vesper, Lark, Savanna, Grasshopper, Field, and Chipping were all present in some numbers. This wonderful basin (258 acres of which 52 are owned by us and 206 are owned by the ParkLands Foundation) will become something fabulous as the conservation restoration continues. The property is accessible and foot traffic is welcome.Location: Mackinaw Bluffs CorridorObservation date: 5/10/08Number of species: 103Canada Goose 26Wood Duck 11Mallard 4Ring-necked Pheasant 15Wild Turkey 4Double-crested Cormorant 2Great Blue Heron 5Turkey Vulture 33Cooper's Hawk 2Broad-winged Hawk 1Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern) 13American Kestrel 3Sora 7Killdeer 7Spotted Sandpiper 1Solitary Sandpiper 4Rock Pigeon 2Eurasian Collared-Dove 4Mourning Dove 19Barred Owl 2Chimney Swift 3Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2Belted Kingfisher 1Red-headed Woodpecker 15Red-bellied Woodpecker 23Downy Woodpecker 14Hairy Woodpecker 2Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 9Eastern Wood-Pewee 2Least Flycatcher 2Eastern Phoebe 5Great Crested Flycatcher 9Eastern Kingbird 14White-eyed Vireo 4Yellow-throated Vireo 3Warbling Vireo 5Red-eyed Vireo 4Blue Jay 28American Crow 7Horned Lark 1Tree Swallow 12Northern Rough-winged Swallow 6Barn Swallow 14Black-capped Chickadee 18Tufted Titmouse 24White-breasted Nuthatch 13Carolina Wren 2House Wren 30Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 16Eastern Bluebird 19Veery 1Gray-cheeked Thrush 1Swainson's Thrush 2Wood Thrush 8American Robin 37Gray Catbird 24Northern Mockingbird 1Brown Thrasher 5European Starling 65American Pipit 52Tennessee Warbler 12Orange-crowned Warbler 1Nashville Warbler 14Northern Parula 5Yellow Warbler 4Chestnut-sided Warbler 5Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 43Black-throated Green Warbler 3Blackburnian Warbler 1Palm Warbler 8Cerulean Warbler 1Black-and-white Warbler 2American Redstart 5Ovenbird 1Northern Waterthrush 2Kentucky Warbler 1Common Yellowthroat 32Scarlet Tanager 2Eastern Towhee 20Chipping Sparrow 14Field Sparrow 49Vesper Sparrow 9Lark Sparrow 7Savannah Sparrow 11Grasshopper Sparrow 14Henslow's Sparrow 2Song Sparrow 11Lincoln's Sparrow 4Swamp Sparrow 9White-throated Sparrow 25White-crowned Sparrow (Eastern) 55Northern Cardinal 15Rose-breasted Grosbeak 24Indigo Bunting 30Dickcissel 1Red-winged Blackbird 76Eastern Meadowlark 28Common Grackle 28Brown-headed Cowbird 40Orchard Oriole 3Baltimore Oriole 17American Goldfinch 41House Sparrow 5Matt FrakerWoodford Co05/10/08 reported on 05/11/08 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Calumet Area Spring Count (5-10-08) From: Walter Marcisz <wmarcisz AT att.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 10:23:55 -0700 (PDT) Margaret Baker and I visited various Calumet area locations (southeast Chicago & adjacent suburbs) for the Spring Bird Count on Saturday (5/10/08). The morning was great, but by early afternoon things got pretty slow. Bird activity picked up again in the late afternoon, and in the end we had a pretty good day, tallying 99 species. As others have mentioned, Catharus thrushes were basically absent (we found only 1 Swainson's Thrush), and Eastern Kingbird was the only flycatcher we were able to find. The singing male BELL'S VIREO was back at its "usual" location at Hegewisch Marsh. We had fifteen species of warbler and nine shorebird species, with our most outstanding shorebird find being a gorgeous female WILSON'S PHALAROPE at the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant. Two adult LITTLE BLUE HERONS were at the 126th Street Marsh, and another adult LITTLE BLUE HERON was trying its best to swallow a huge Bullfrog at Burnham Prairie Marsh. We arrived at Indian Ridge Marsh South at 2:45 pm, and were surprised to find a very elegant BLACK TERN hawking for insects with swallows over the drainage ditch. A few decades ago these were regular nesters in the area, but now I see them only rarely during migration. The adult YELLOW- CROWNED NIGHT-HERON was also back at Indian Ridge South drainage ditch (at the same location as on 5/4). This bird was also a surprise, as I have checked that spot several times since 5/4, but had been unable to find it. We then checked Deadstick Pond to see if the COMMON MOORHEN reported by Craig T & Tim K on 5/5 was still there. It was! We returned to Indian Ridge South at 5:55 pm, and both the Black Tern and the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron were still there. But that's not all - an adult PEREGRINE FALCON flew by, and a SANDHILL CRANE circled low over the marsh, as if looking for a place to land. Interesting to note that lone, wandering Sandhill Cranes were reported from other Cook Co. locations on Saturday. An OSPREY and various shorebirds were at Harborside Golf Course during our visit. A Ring-billed Gull with orange patagial tags was also at Harborside, along with 3 Ring-billed Gulls that appeared to have been stained with some bright green pigment. All in all, a most interesting day! Canada Goose - 134 Mute Swan - 3 Wood Duck - 2 Gadwall - 5 Mallard - 48 Blue-winged Teal - 4 Northern Shoveler - 3 Ruddy Duck - 3 Pied-billed Grebe - 4 Double-crested Cormorant - 14 Great Blue Heron - 14 Great Egret - 37 Little Blue Heron - 3 Green Heron - 5 Black-crowned Night-Heron - 125 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - 1 Turkey Vulture - 4 Osprey - 1 Red-tailed Hawk - 4 American Kestrel - 6 Peregrine Falcon - 1 Sora - 10 Common Moorhen - 1 American Coot - 54 Sandhill Crane - 1 Killdeer - 30 Lesser Yellowlegs - 9 Solitary Sandpiper - 4 Spotted Sandpiper - 24 Semipalmated Sandpiper - 1 Least Sandpiper - 41 Dunlin - 3 Short-billed Dowitcher - 3 Wilson's Phalarope - 1 Ring-billed Gull - 806 Herring Gull - 2 Caspian Tern - 8 Black Tern - 1 Rock Pigeon - 20 Mourning Dove - 23 Monk Parakeet - 5 Chimney Swift - 195 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 Downy Woodpecker - 11 Hairy Woodpecker - 1 Northern Flicker - 6 Eastern Kingbird - 4 Bell's Vireo - 1 Warbling Vireo - 22 Red-eyed Vireo - 1 Blue Jay - 4 American Crow - 4 Purple Martin - 8 Tree Swallow - 81 N. Rough-winged Swallow - 23 Bank Swallow - 20 Barn Swallow - 58 Black-capped Chickadee - 2 House Wren - 20 Marsh Wren - 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 3 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 8 Swainson's Thrush - 1 American Robin - 117 Gray Catbird - 21 Brown Thrasher - 1 European Starling - 121 Blue-winged Warbler - 1 Golden-winged Warbler - 1 Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 Nashville Warbler - 7 Northern Parula - 1 Yellow Warbler - 66 Yellow-rumped Warbler - 12 Black-throated Green Warbler - 2 Blackburnian Warbler - 1 Palm Warbler - 14 Bay-breasted Warbler - 1 Black-and-White Warbler - 3 Ovenbird - 2 Northern Waterthrush - 18 Common Yellowthroat - 21 Eastern Towhee - 2 Chipping Sparrow - 3 Savannah Sparrow - 8 Song Sparrow - 69 Swamp Sparrow - 5 White-throated Sparrow - 9 White-crowned Sparrow - 28 Northern Cardinal - 33 Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 3 Indigo Bunting - 1 Red-winged Blackbird - 233 Common Grackle - 110 Brown-headed Cowbird - 47 Baltimore Oriole - 20 House Finch - 14 American Goldfinch - 43 House Sparrow - 107 Areas visited: Indian Ridge Marsh, Heron Pond, Deadstick Pond, Beaubien Woods F.P., Hegewisch Marsh, 126th Street Marsh, Calumet Water Reclamation Plant, O'Brien Lock & Dam, Burnham Prairie Marsh, Big Marsh, Harborside International Golf Course. Walter Marcisz, Chicago, Cook Co. wmarcisz AT att.net [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Brown County spring bird count From: "Tony Ward" <tward3 AT mchsi.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 12:23:21 -0500 Mike Ward and I had a good day for the brown county spring bird count. We tallied 157 species for the day. We missed last years high count by one. The best bird of the day by far was a Bewicks Wren,which was a first for the count. Other highlights included: 7 duck species Prairie Falcon 3 King Rails 3 Virginia Rails 14 shorebird spcies including a calling Upland Sandpiper, 6 Dunlin, 2 Long-billed Dowitchers responding to playback,and White-rumped sandpiper. Friday afternoon we had 1 Whimbrel and 1 Willet which were absent on count day. 5 vireo species 27 warbler species Good numbers of both Tanagers 10 sparrow species Bobolinks Western Meadowlark Even though we had good birds it is hard not to look at the easy misses. For example: Eastern screech owl Nighthawk Hairy Woodpecker Least Flycatcher Mockingbird Blue-headed Vireo Another Warbler or 2 And the biggest miss Grasshopper sparrow Maybe next year, Tony Ward tward3 AT mchsi.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: RE: IBET Martin Houses on Wooded Island need volunteers! From: "Carolyn A. Marsh" <cmarshbird AT prodigy.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 12:05:37 -0500 There is a martin landlord at Jackson Park; the same one for many years now. Any monitoring of the houses must be coordinated with her. I gave the contact information to a birder who is willing to help the martins. After complaints made to me, I reluctantly contacted the person in charge and she said that she has been taking care of the houses for three weeks now. The problem is that she and her friends have feelings that prevent them from evicting House Sparrows and starlings. From the beginning when the houses were first installed there, only one birder (he went on vacation the first summer and then moved), no Jackson Park birders wanted to take care of the houses. I had to go and take care of them at times at the request of the Chicago Park District Natural Areas director. I wonder what is happening with the South Shore Cultural Center martin houses since I no longer care for the three houses there. The biggest problem there was that the park grass mower bent/broke the wheel handle that lowered the houses. Many times I was afraid my wrists would get sprained from lowering the heavy wooden houses (not the light-weight aluminum houses) when the handle was bent and could spin out of control. The CPD had outside contractors helping with the houses and we thought the problem was solved when the space under the houses was filled with wood chips to eliminate the need for the mowing. However, the next year, the mowing continued and two of the three houses' handles were bent useless and dents were made in the martins poles to show how close the mower was to the martin houses. The CPD natural areas director changed frequently after Mary V. left. They seemed over loaded with "restoring" burning, and planting grant projects. At the same time, at every place where martins houses were installed by the CPD, birders have declined to maintain the houses leaving other volunteers to do their best. Carolyn Marsh, a Purple Martin Steward for 10 years. _____ From: ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of q4birds Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 7:09 AM To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com Subject: IBET Martin Houses on Wooded Island need volunteers! Hi all, It was brought to my attention that the MARTIN'S on Wooded Island need a new monitor or several people who will pitch in to help keep the starlings and house sparrows out and the martins in. I already have one volunteer but he can't go every day. If you are interested in helping, please contact me personally by email. Thanks Sue Friscia Listowner [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Bbackyard Bonanza in Mundelein -- lots of activity From: Ms Sheryl DeVore <sheryl_1956 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 09:34:23 -0700 (PDT) First, we had nice diversity at theSpring Bird Count yesterday at RyersonWoods, which included Nan and Luke Buckhartdt, Laurel Ann Kaiser (my sister), Suzanne Checchia, Marj Lundy, Steve Bailey and me. Steve and I later birded Ethel's Woods. Details later when we compile the results.   Now for some exciting backyard birding on a windy, wet, blustery Sunday.  Two male BALTIMORE ORIOLES, a GRAY CATBIRD and a female SUMMER TANAGER have been feasting on grape jelly in a feeder. From a distance, the female tanager was assumed to be a female Baltimore Oriole, but Steve, who leaves no bird unturned, went outside, heard the tell-tale "chip-i-tuc," brought his scope inside, and sure enough it was a female SUMMER TANAGER. New yard bird for us!! This bird has no wing bars, a reddish tail,  a yellow-silvery, large bill (Steve says the bill is between ivory and yellow- colored, what does he know? ;-) In addition, the female PURPLE FINCH was feeding on sunflower seeds, while a male INDIGO BUNTING was feeding on thistle -- many AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and HOUSE FINCHES are feeding, too. The catbird was singing at the top of the serviceberry.  HOUSE WRENS also singing. Also, probable BLUE-HEADED VIREO singing. RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS< mostly females, are feeding. And one or two COMMON GRACKLES are still around. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS are still hanging around and feeding on cracked corn, also a SONG SPARROW. Two BLUE JAYS also enjoying the feast. A female MALLARD has found a comfortable spot beneath four tall Norway spurces to rest. I"m sure the fact the we have put corn down there attracted here. In fact, last night after the SBC, she led a male around our feeders, from one to next pecking beneath the ground. Finally, Mr. Mallard said I'm tired of this and led her away. He usually stays behind her, follows her lead and watches for predators while she eats. So we have blue, bright yellow, muted yellow, deep orange, black, gray, red, brown, light raspberry, colors from the birds along with the greens of trees, white trillium, in the yard -- I LOVE SPRING COLORS!! Now we are hearing a sound that resembles very much the Peter Peter Peter of a TUFTED TITMOUSE. We are having a disagreement -- Steve says titmouse. I say it's a goofy oriole. Steve will probably be right. So far, no sign of the RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES at the feeder today. Have they left? Yesterday, my sister in Hawthorn Woods had three male YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, along with INDIGO BUNTING! Happy backyard spring birding.   Sheryl DeVore and Steve Bailey Mundelein, Illinois Sheryl De Vore Mundelein, Illinois sheryl_1956 AT yahoo.com Subject: IBET The Spring Count in southeast DuPage From: BFisher928 AT aol.com Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 11:42:54 EDT Karen and I birded Maple Grove and then Woodridge FPs Saturday AM for our area captain Jim Green. Notable at Maple Grove were singing Mourning and Cerulean Warblers. Woodridge was notable for a different reason: The total absence of treetop warblers! I walked the west side of Black Partridge Creek with bisects Woodridge and this beautiful oak/hickory woodland was totally devoid of warblers foraging in the trees. Not one single warbler did I see or hear. Finally, crossing the creek to join Karen (who had walked the east side), I heard and saw a N. Waterthrush, which Karen of course had already seen and counted. Also noteworthy - these 2 wooded preserves produced exactly 2 thrushes, excluding robins. Vicky S already mentioned our great look at a Black-billed Cuckoo in the Poverty Prairie area in the afternoon. It was neat to watch the bird extracting caterpillars from a small 'tent' as bicyclists whizzed by right underneath. In that area, I also had a brief, distant look at a N. Mockingbird (there was a Mocker in the same area last year, north of the model airplane field near the fence bordering Argonne) and a closer look at a silent Clay-colored Sparrow. Other birds of note at waterfall Glen FP from talking to Jim Green: a flyover Merlin, Sandhill Cranes, Barred Owls and a Pileated Woodpecker east of Sawmill Creek, and a good number of Prothonotary Warblers setting up housekeeping down where the creek joins the DesPlaines. Regards Bob Fisher Downers Grove DuPage County ************** Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: Re: IBET Black-billed cuckoo, Waterfall Glen From: eclipseaddict AT aol.com Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 11:33:14 EDT Hi, We did the Spring Bird Count in McHenry Co yesterday and had a Black Billed Cuckoo eating tent caterpillars at Hollows Conservation Area in Cary. Vicki Buchwald _eclipseaddict AT aol.com_ (mailto:eclipseaddict AT aol.com) In a message dated 5/11/2008 9:30:26 A.M. Central Daylight Time, vsroczynski AT comcast.net writes: Hello, I didn't see many of this species posted from counts yesterday, but Bob Fisher and I, and an interested bicyclist, got long looks at a black-billed cuckoo near tent caterpillars, just off the path, east of the model airplane field, Poverty Prairie at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve, DuPage County. This was about 3:30 yesterday afternoon. Vicky Sroczynski Darien DuPage County ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET swainson's warbler---no From: "bik_horus" <rlshonkw AT uchicago.edu> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 14:58:48 -0000 John Duran and I made a noble, but vain attempt in the rain (from 7:05-8:25 AM) to find the Swainson's Warbler at Thatcher Woods Forest Preserve in the area south of the nature museum along the river. Here is what we did see: Great Blue Heron---1 Mallard---2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet---1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher---1 Veery---3 Swainson's Thrush---3 Gray-cheeked Trush---1 A. Robin---6 Gray Catbird---1 Black-and-white Warbler---1 Ovenbird---4 Brown-headed Cowbird---3 Randy Shonkwiler Hyde Park/Chicago Subject: IBET Black-billed cuckoo, Waterfall Glen From: Vicky Sroczynski <vsroczynski AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 09:30:26 -0500 Hello, I didn't see many of this species posted from counts yesterday, but Bob Fisher and I, and an interested bicyclist, got long looks at a black-billed cuckoo near tent caterpillars, just off the path, east of the model airplane field, Poverty Prairie at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve, DuPage County. This was about 3:30 yesterday afternoon. Vicky Sroczynski Darien DuPage County Subject: IBET Conkey, Turtlehead, Swallow Cliff, Maple Lake Spring Count From: "Beth Simkins" <luvfreebirds AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 14:30:06 -0000 Saturday, May 10, 2008 What a beautiful day for a spring count! Cary Hillegonds joined Sue Friscia and I in the morning to bird Conkey and Turtlehead. Cary is an awesome birder and he picked up some great birds! Conkey was really happening and there were many warblers. In the afternoon Sue and I birded other places including Swallow Cliff and Maple Lake. Highlights include: 22 species of warblers including Pine, Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Northern Parula, Blackburnian, Cape May, Bay-breasted, Louisiana Waterthrush, Palm Warbler (109), Yellow-rumped Warbler (50) 5 Vireo species Red-breasted Nuthatch (2) Clay-colored Sparrow (Thanks Cary!)(at Turtlehead Lake) Orchard Oriole (Turtlehead Lake) Pileated Woodpecker (Swallow Cliff) Summer Tanager pair (Maple Lake area) Hooded Merganser female (Maple Lake area) We had 92 species for the total. We were surprised we did not get Brown Thrasher (Huh?), Terns, Common Nighthawk, Hairy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, water birds (many people were at the lakes since it was nice out). Beth Simkins beths04 AT wowway.com Subject: IBET Saturday in southern DeKalb County From: "Darrell Shambaugh" <d.shambaugh AT mchsi.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 09:00:48 -0500 My area in Southern DeKalb County for the Statewide Spring Bird count was not so good. Total species count was 78. I poached a few later in the day to give me a personal list of 85 species. How many of these will go into the SBC list remains to be seen. Sannuak Foreset Preserve wasn’t nearly as birdy as it was earlier in the week. 11 species of Warblers were all I could find. The high count for any species was PALM WARBLER, with 2. My personal highlight was seeing a pair of YELLOW-THROATED VIREOS in the same tree. I heard a CAROLINA WREN calling, and found several ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS. A VEERY and a SWAINSON’S THRUSH made an appearance. A SPOTTED SANDPIPER was along the Somonauk Creek, but there were no herons and only 1 MALLARD. Other notable misses were Scarlet Tanager, Brown Thrasher, Tufted Titmouse, and most of the flycatchers except EASTERN PHOEBE and GREAT CRESTED. Even the normally boisterous Belted Kingfishers were hiding out. I gave it my best Ralph Kramden impersonation, standing in front of their nest hole, saying, “It sure would be nice to see a kingfisher” over and over in increasingly louder voice. (This was before the fishermen showed up) The Kingfishers played the Ed Norton role perfectly and made no appearance, no matter how many times I said the line. Maybe no fishermen was a bad sign. I’ve seen one particular fisherman at Sannauk almost every year since I’ve been doing the count, but not this year. Usually, he’s already there when I get there about 5:00 AM. I don’t know his name, but we always exchange greeting and make small talk. He likes the dawn chorus and thinks the raucous kingfishers are pretty cool. I heard the EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES in Somonauk when I went home to make more coffee about 10:30. At a private marsh on Pine Road north of Somonuak I got the best bird of the day, an AMERICAN WOODCOCK. I flushed it from a ¼ acre of trees that usually has a bunch of warblers, Scarlet Tanagers, orioles, and Solitary Sandpipers. This year it had a SWAINSON’S THRUSH, a YELLOW WARBLER, and an AMERICAN REDSTART. I guess this was pretty good in comparison to the rest of the day’s count. Also at this marsh were LINCOLN’S SPARROW, MARSH WRENS, lots of SWAMP SPARROWS, about 7 SORA, and a VIRGINIA RAIL. There were two PECTORAL SANDPIPERS in a wet field south of this marsh. I tried a woodlot on the north side of County Line Road by Leland that has produced good birds on bad days in the past, but not this year. Only SONG SPARROWS, robins, GRAY CATBIRDS and HOUSE WRENS were of interest. Even Goble Road, the second-best birding road in DeKalb County behind McGirr Road didn’t have anything. Of course the wind was blowing about 25 MPH by the time I got on it. I stopped many times on Goble Road and other roads trying to find a Horned Lark but failed. I did get four EASTERN SCREECH OWLS to respond to the Ipod. Two were on Shabbona Grove Road in the woodlot between Howison and Governor Beverage Roads. One flew right up to me and sat there looking at me while another one called off in the distance. A GREAT HORNED OWL started calling at Sannauk about 8:30 AM. I went back there about 9:30 PM and tried to call it, but failed. I think I scared all the kids making out away. Darrell Shambaugh Somonauk, DeKalb County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET 5 Siskins at feeders in Gurnee From: "Jim Solum" <Solum11 AT msn.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 08:58:22 -0500 Boy am I glad the count was yesterday! But it may be a good day to be at the lakefront. I was surprised that the blustery weather this morning brought 5 PINE SISKIN to our feeding station. We've been down to 1-2 individuals since that last warm front last week but apparently others are in our area (I highly doubt the ones at Bowen Park flew 5 miles to our feeders :). Good Birding! Jim & Kayce Solum solum11 AT msn.com Gurnee Lake County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Midewin Harris' Sparrow on Saturday From: cindy alberico <strix_nebulosa AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 05:45:26 -0700 (PDT) Hello all, Glenn Johnson, Bobbie (sorry I don't know your last name), and I did the bird count on the west side of Midewin in the morning. Some of the highlights include a handsome HARRIS' SPARROW hanging out with a group of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. Also seen were 2 BLUE GROSBEAKS, a very vocal BELL'S VIREO, and about 6 or so UPLAND SANDPIPERS that were both seen and heard. There were huge numbers or BOBOLINKS, EASTERN KINGBIRDS, EASTERN MEADOWLARKS and GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS but probably the biggest miss of the day was no Loggerhead Shrikes. Cindy Alberico Crest Hill Will County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Martin Houses on Wooded Island need volunteers! From: "q4birds" <q4birds AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 12:09:11 -0000 Hi all, It was brought to my attention that the MARTIN'S on Wooded Island need a new monitor or several people who will pitch in to help keep the starlings and house sparrows out and the martins in. I already have one volunteer but he can't go every day. If you are interested in helping, please contact me personally by email. Thanks Sue Friscia Listowner Subject: IBET Kankakee Co Spring Count From: Jed Hertz <jhh_60910 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 04:47:11 -0700 (PDT) Hi all, Sat 10-May-08: Mostly Kankakee LeVasseur Park/Perry Farm + Parts of Pembroke Twp: Good weather made for a fine day to be in the field. Waterfowl, raptors, shorebirds, and flycatchers were a challenge, but the CERULEAN WARBLER and two SUMMER TANAGER made my day. Here's my list IL, Eastern Kankakee County 54 1355-1700H (1/2 mi Walk + 49.4 mi Drive)_Cld/Sun_67-70_SE 5-15. ¨ ¨ 4 Mallard ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Ring-necked Pheasant ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Northern Bobwhite ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Great Blue Heron ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 GREAT EGRET ¨ Aroma Park Pond on Birchwood Lane. ¨ ¨ 4 Turkey Vulture ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Red-tailed Hawk ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Killdeer ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Rock Pigeon ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE ¨ Boy Scout Rd ¨ ¨ 7 Mourning Dove ¨ ¨ ¨ 28 Chimney Swift ¨ ¨ ¨ 12 Red-headed Woodpecker ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Northern Flicker ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Eastern Phoebe ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Great Crested Flycatcher ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Eastern Kingbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Warbling Vireo ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Blue Jay ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 American Crow ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Horned Lark ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Northern Rough-winged Swallow ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 Barn Swallow ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Tufted Titmouse ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Carolina Wren ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 House Wren ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Eastern Bluebird ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Veery ¨ ¨ ¨ 32 American Robin ¨ ¨ ¨ 5 Gray Catbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Brown Thrasher ¨ ¨ ¨ 72 European Starling ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Common Yellowthroat ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 SUMMER TANAGER ¨ Males; one sighted + one calling "pituk" ¨ ¨ 13 Eastern Towhee ¨ ¨ ¨ 7 Chipping Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 14 Field Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 VESPER SPARROW¨ ¨ ¨ 2 LARK SPARROW ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Savannah Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Song Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Swamp Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 White-throated Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 White-crowned Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeak ¨ ¨ ¨ 11 Red-winged Blackbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Eastern Meadowlark ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 WESTERN MEADOWLARD ¨ Momence Sod Farm ¨ ¨ 38 Common Grackle ¨ ¨ ¨ 14 Brown-headed Cowbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Baltimore Oriole ¨ ¨ ¨ 13 American Goldfinch ¨ ¨ ¨ 22 House Sparrow ¨ IL, Justine Dr., Kankakee 18 ¨ ¨ 2 Mallard ¨ Red Fox ¨ ¨ 6 Mourning Dove ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD ¨ together ¨ ¨ 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Blue Jay ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Tufted Titmouse ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 White-breasted Nuthatch ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Gray Catbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Chipping Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 30 White-throated Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 White-crowned Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 6 Northern Cardinal ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 Rose-breasted Grosbeak ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Common Grackle ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Brown-headed Cowbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 6 House Finch ¨ ¨ ¨ 5 American Goldfinch ¨ ¨ ¨ 7 House Sparrow ¨ IL, LeVasseur Park-Perry Farm, Kankakee Co 87 0430-1215H + 1830-2010H (4 mi Walk + 13.9 mi Drive)_Sun_37-64_NE-SE 0-10_Wt Deer (12)_E Chipmunk_Coyote. ¨ ¨ 12 Canada Goose ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 Wood Duck ¨ ¨ ¨ 46 Mallard ¨ some fledglings ¨ ¨ 1 Hooded Merganser ¨ F ¨ ¨ 4 Ring-necked Pheasant ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Great Blue Heron ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Green Heron ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Turkey Vulture ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Cooper's Hawk ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Red-tailed Hawk ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Killdeer ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Spotted Sandpiper ¨ ¨ ¨ 5 Ring-billed Gull ¨ ¨ ¨ 13 Rock Pigeon ¨ ¨ ¨ 9 Mourning Dove ¨ ¨ ¨ 34 Chimney Swift ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Belted Kingfisher ¨ ¨ ¨ 6 Red-headed Woodpecker ¨ ¨ ¨ 7 Red-bellied Woodpecker ¨ ¨ ¨ 7 Downy Woodpecker ¨ ¨ ¨ 6 Northern Flicker ¨ ¨ ¨ 5 Least Flycatcher ¨ ¨ ¨ 5 Eastern Phoebe ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Eastern Kingbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 White-eyed Vireo ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Yellow-throated Vireo ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Blue-headed Vireo ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Warbling Vireo ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Red-eyed Vireo ¨ ¨ ¨ 7 Blue Jay ¨ ¨ ¨ 9 American Crow ¨ ¨ ¨ 7 Tree Swallow ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 Northern Rough-winged Swallow ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Bank Swallow ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Barn Swallow ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Tufted Titmouse ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 White-breasted Nuthatch ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Carolina Wren ¨ ¨ ¨ 12 House Wren ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Eastern Bluebird ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Veery ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Gray-cheeked Thrush ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Swainson's Thrush ¨ ¨ ¨ 26 American Robin ¨ ¨ ¨ 12 Gray Catbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Brown Thrasher ¨ ¨ ¨ 52 European Starling ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Cedar Waxwing ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Tennessee Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 10 Nashville Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Northern Parula ¨ ¨ ¨ 5 Yellow Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 Chestnut-sided Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 6 Magnolia Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Cape May Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 34 Yellow-rumped Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Black-throated Green Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Blackburnian Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 14 Palm Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Blackpoll Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 CERULEAN WARBLER ¨ Male heard and sighted; 0620 - 0720H; recorded. ¨ ¨ 3 Black-and-white Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 7 American Redstart ¨ 1 female ¨ ¨ 6 Ovenbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 Northern Waterthrush ¨ ¨ ¨ 12 Common Yellowthroat ¨ ¨ ¨ 12 Chipping Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 9 Field Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 22 Song Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Lincoln's Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Swamp Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 44 White-throated Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 White-crowned Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 DARK-EYED JUNCO ¨ Same location as 5/6/08; my latest by 4 days. ¨ ¨ 14 Northern Cardinal ¨ ¨ ¨ 10 Rose-breasted Grosbeak ¨ ¨ ¨ 7 Indigo Bunting ¨ ¨ ¨ 60 Red-winged Blackbird ¨ 50 at airport pond. ¨ ¨ 4 Eastern Meadowlark ¨ one at airport pond. ¨ ¨ 64 Common Grackle ¨ ¨ ¨ 18 Brown-headed Cowbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 5 ORCHARD ORIOLE ¨ ¨ ¨ 13 Baltimore Oriole ¨ ¨ ¨ 32 American Goldfinch ¨ 10 at airport pond. ¨ ¨ 32 House Sparrow ¨ Take Care. Jed Hertz Kankakee, IL (Kankakee County)(60 mi South of Chicago) Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhertz/ Give "e-bird" a try: http://www.ebird.org/BCN/index.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Nachusa Grasslands From: John Heneghan <johnhens AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 03:37:46 -0700 (PDT) I participated in the Spring Bird Count at Nachusa Grasslands yesterday in Ogle County. As others mentioned in other posts, not a spectacular day for warblers. Highlights include many Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, a Scarlet Tanager, Towhees, Indigo Buntings, Bobolinks, Chats, Yellowthroats, Yellow Warblers, Nashville Warblers and an Ovenbird. Swainson's Thrush were seen also. Sparrows included Field, Lark, Grasshopper and Henslow's and Swamp. I was excited to see/hear 2 Bell's Vireo's. Noticeably absent were hawks. At the end of a nice day, we were treated to 5 Sandhill Cranes which came gliding in to a gentle stop. It was a pleasant day to be Outside, I am glad we did the count yesterday and not today!!! John Heneghan La Fox, Kane County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET huge Caspian Tern count and other highlights from Evanston From: Josh Engel <jengel5230 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 23:11:36 -0700 (PDT) I arrived well before sunrise at Northwestern (in Evanston) this morning for the spring bird count and was immediately inundated by flock after flock of Caspian Terns. Between 5:15 and 5:55 I counted 848 Caspian Terns flying north. That's one bird every 2.8 seconds, on average--a constant, spectacular stream of huge red bills and raucous calls. Over 300 of the birds flew by before the first golden piece of the sun showed above the horizon. After 5:55 the movement slowed down considerably and I was finally able to look at something else! Besides the Great Black-backed Gull at Northwestern that Nick Block posted about earlier, other highlights from the day included the continuing Hooded Warbler at Perkin's Woods; a flyby Northern Shoveler at Northwestern; and three Orchard Orioles at Gillson Park (in Wilmette). As most other people have commented, the birding was slow. Migrant passerines were very thinly distributed and were as notable for what was absent as for what was seen. I saw only 14 species of warblers on the day, of which the most common was Common Yellowthroat (19 at Northwestern alone). I managed all four Catharus thrushes (Gray-cheeked and Hermit at Harbert Park), but only five total individuals. I saw only two species of vireo and no buntings, grosbeaks, or tanagers, and with fourteen species of warblers several expected species were missing, perhaps most notably Black-throated Green. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day to be birding and even on a slow day during migration there are some interesting birds around. Good birding, Josh Engel Evanston (at the moment)/Cape Town, South Africa (usually) jengel5230 AT yahoo.com Guide, Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: IBET Chicago Botanic Gardens, 5/10 a.m. From: sulli.gibson AT comcast.net Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 03:59:23 +0000 May 10 2008 - I birded the Chicago Botanic Gardens this afternoon (5/10/08) with Chuck Holland. Our highlights are as follows: 1 Pied-billed Grebe 7 Purple Martin 2 Orchard Oriole (m/f) 1 Bobolink (in the prairie) Good birding! -- Sulli Gibson Cook County, IL sulli.gibson AT comcast.net Subject: IBET Air Station Prairie, 5/10 a.m. From: sulli.gibson AT comcast.net Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 03:51:18 +0000 May 10 2008 - I birded Air Station Prairie with Chuck Holland this morning (5/10/08). Surprisingly, no Rails, Swamp Sparrows, or Marsh Wrens were seen. The AMERICAN WOODCOCK was sheltering young under its wings. Our highlights are as follows: 1 Solitary Sandpiper 1 American Woodcock (sheltering young) 1 Belted Kingfisher 3 Eastern Meadowlark (all singing) Full list: Location: Air Station Prairie, Glenview Observation date: 5/9/08 Number of species: 22 Canada Goose 3 Mallard 7 Green Heron 2 Killdeer 2 Spotted Sandpiper 1 SOLITARY SANDPIPER 1 AMERICAN WOODCOCK 1 (young have hatched, she was sheltering them under her wings, we watched from a distance for a short amount of time to minimize disturbance) Ring-billed Gull 2 Mourning Dove 3 BELTED KINGFISHER 1 Warbling Vireo 2 Tree Swallow 4 American Robin 6 European Starling 4 Common Yellowthroat 1 Savannah Sparrow 3 Song Sparrow 2 Red-winged Blackbird 9 EASTERN MEADOWLARK 3 (all singing) Common Grackle 5 American Goldfinch 5 House Sparrow 2 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/bcn) Good birding! -- Sulli Gibson Cook County, IL sulli.gibson AT comcast.net Subject: IBET Techny Basin Conservation Area SBC, 5/10 a.m. From: sulli.gibson AT comcast.net Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 03:45:24 +0000 May 10 2008 - I covered Techny Basin Conservation Area in the Spring Bird Count this morning (5/10/08). I birded with Chuck Holland. We started at sunrise. Our highlights are as follows: 3 Black-crowned Night-Heron (in a different roosting location) 1 Solitary Sandpiper 8 Warbling Vireo (high count for Techny) 1 Gray-cheeked Thrush (probably not many of these seen today) 1 Brown Thrasher 1 Magnolia Warbler (ad. male) 1 Grasshopper Sparrow (singing male, this time on the western rim unlike last year) Full List: Location: Techny Basin Conservation Area Observation date: 5/9/08 Number of species: 41 Canada Goose 7 Wood Duck 2 Mallard 8 Great Blue Heron 2 Great Egret 1 Green Heron 1 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON 3 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Killdeer 5 Spotted Sandpiper 3 SOLITARY SANDPIPER 1 Ring-billed Gull 4 Rock Pigeon 3 Mourning Dove 7 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 3 Eastern Kingbird 2 WARBLING VIREO 8 Blue Jay 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1 Barn Swallow 4 GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 1 American Robin 17 Gray Catbird 1 BROWN THRASHER 1 European Starling 13 Yellow Warbler 2 MAGNOLIA WARBLER 1 Palm Warbler 6 Common Yellowthroat 1 Savannah Sparrow 4 GRASSHOPPER SPARROW 1 Song Sparrow 3 White-throated Sparrow 1 White-crowned Sparrow (Eastern) 4 Red-winged Blackbird 19 Common Grackle 9 Baltimore Oriole 5 House Finch 3 American Goldfinch 13 House Sparrow 1 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/bcn) Good birding! -- Sulli Gibson Cook County, IL sulli.gibson AT comcast.net Subject: IBET North Pond, Spring Count Highlights From: Steve Huggins <sjhuggins1209 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 20:27:14 -0700 (PDT) As everywhere else on the lakefront today North Pond area was quieter than what we hope for at this time of the year, however there were a few highlights that included: Harris's Sparrow -1 Black-throated Blue Warbler -1m Yellow-throated Vireo - 2 Blue-headed Vireo -1 Red-breasted Nuthatch -1 Wood Thrush -2 Swainson's Thrush -1 (only cathurus of the whole day!) Louisiana Waterthrush -1 Orange-crowned Warbler - 6 Orchard Oriole - 1imm male At South Pond, (plus the rowing canal bordering LSD) Northern Shoveler -1m BC Night Heron - 46 Caspian Tern -44 (possibly many more - 44 was a max count at one time) Forster's Tern -1 Common Tern-1 Woodpecker's (1 downy and 1 flicker) and Thrushes (2 Wood and 1 Swainson's) were almost no existent today. Apart from White-crowns and White-throats, numbers of sparrows were also very low. Fifteen species of warblers was also tough going. Bring on the south winds please! The Harris's Sparrow continues to entertain at times way too close to focus on. I was able to get a couple of shots in better light today! Take a look at http://www.pbase.com/sjhuggins or http://www.pbase.com/sjhuggins/image/96869293 & http://www.pbase.com/sjhuggins/image/96869299 cheers Steve Huggins Chicago, IL ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: IBET Elsen's Hill Area (DuPage Co. SBC) - 25 sp. of Warblers From: Eric Secker <esecker AT bcnbirds.org> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 22:17:28 -0500 We concentrated our birding at Elsen's Hill this morning for the Spring Bird Count (also visiting Lincoln Marsh, West DuPage Woods, and Winfield Mounds later in the day). Most of the warblers and other woodland migrants listed below are from Elsen's. Some of the best birds were seen by the parking lot when we arrived around 6:30am and included WILSON'S WARBLER, CANADA WARBLER, MOURNING WARBLER, and a heard-only WORM-EATING WARBLER that refused to come out of the bushes. Other good birds at Elsen's included a RUSTY BLACKBIRD, the RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, TUFTED TITMOUSE, a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW singing in one of the small fields. We also had a second TUFTED TITMOUSE at Winfield Mounds (first time we have had them in two different locations in our count area). There were very good numbers of ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS, TENNESSEE WARBLERS, NASHVILLE WARBLERS. Elsen's was also magical later in the evening around 5pm. We had wonderful, close, eye-level looks at silent warblers in the Hawthorn trees by the parking lot and elsewhere. Three stunning SCARLET TANAGERS were also back again this evening, feeding low in the Hawthorns in the restored fen area. I had 104 species of birds personally, including 25 species of warblers (and 25 ticks and 7.8 miles of walking) Double-crested Cormorant - 2 Great Blue Heron - 5 Great Egret - 1 Green Heron - 1 Canada Goose - 23 Wood Duck - 2 Mallard - 37 Cooper's Hawk - 1 Red-shouldered Hawk - 1 (Elsen's in p.m.) Red-tailed Hawk - 2 Killdeer - 4 Spotted Sandpiper - 1 Ring-billed Gull - 2 Rock Pigeon - 3 Mourning Dove - 8 Great Horned Owl - 2 Chimney Swift - 6 Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 16 Downy Woodpecker - 8 Hairy Woodpecker - 2 Northern Flicker - 5 Willow Flycatcher - 1 Least Flycatcher - 2 Eastern Phoebe - 1 Eastern Kingbird - 5 Great Crested Flycatcher - 5 Tree Swallow - 8 Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 2 Barn Swallow - 27 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 6 Cedar Waxwing - 6 House Wren - 12 Marsh Wren - 5 Gray Catbird - 24 Brown Thrasher - 1 Eastern Bluebird - 4 Veery - 5 (4 at Elsen's back pond) Swainson's Thrush - 1 Wood Thrush - 1 American Robin - 39 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 27 Black-capped Chickadee - 12 Tufted Titmouse - 2 (Elsen's, Winfield Mounds) White-breasted Nuthatch - 6 Blue Jay - 26 American Crow - 7 European Starling - 7 House Sparrow - 10 Yellow-throated Vireo - 5 Blue-headed Vireo - 1 Warbling Vireo - 3 Red-eyed Vireo - 5 Purple Finch - 1 House Finch - 2 American Goldfinch - 25 Blue-winged Warbler - 2 Golden-winged Warbler - 2 Tennessee Warbler - 41 Orange-crowned Warbler - 3 (far back end of Elsen's, Lincoln Marsh) Nashville Warbler - 17 Northern Parula - 1 Yellow Warbler - 3 Chestnut-sided Warbler - 6 Magnolia Warbler - 7 Cape May Warbler - 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler - 67 Black-throated Green Warbler - 2 Blackburnian Warbler - 4 Palm Warbler - 38 Bay-breasted Warbler - 4 Blackpoll Warbler - 3 Black-and-white Warbler - 9 American Redstart - 3 Worm-eating Warbler - 1 Ovenbird - 4 Northern Waterthrush - 4 Mourning Warbler - 1 Common Yellowthroat - 6 Wilson's Warbler - 2 Canada Warbler - 1 Scarlet Tanager - 5 Eastern Towhee - 4 Chipping Sparrow - 2 Clay-colored Sparrow - 1 (Elsen's) Field Sparrow - 13 Savannah Sparrow - 7 Henslow's Sparrow - 1 (Winfield Mounds) Grasshopper Sparrow - 2 (Winfield Mounds) Song Sparrow - 19 Lincoln's Sparrow - 1 Swamp Sparrow - 3 White-crowned Sparrow - 1 White-throated Sparrow - 52 Northern Cardinal - 30 Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 19 Indigo Bunting - 31 Red-winged Blackbird - 175 Eastern Meadowlark - 1 Rusty Blackbird - 1 Common Grackle - 20 Brown-headed Cowbird - 18 Baltimore Oriole - 13 Orchard Oriole - 1 -------------- Eric Secker Wheaton, DuPage Co. Subject: IBET NW Cook County, Sat. 10 May 2008 From: "Geoffrey A. Williamson" <geoffrey.williamson AT comcast.net> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 22:06:57 -0500 Donna Motherway, Tony Szabados, Jenny Vogt, and I birded in northwest Cook County for the spring count, covering Baker's Lake and environs, plus Deer Grove West and Deer Grove East Forest Preserves. I also stopped at the O'Hare Ponds on my way back into the city. Our best birds were two AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS on Baker's Lake at the start of the day, two CATTLE EGRETS that flew in to land on the rookery island at Baker's Lake, a lone SANDHILL CRANE that flew east past Baker's Lake, and a PINE SISKIN that briefly stopped at the oak savanna just west of Baker's Lake. Other birds of note were a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK at Deer Grove West near the lakes, and HOODED WARBLERS at each of two different spots along the main trail in the northwest corner of Deer Grove West. We tallied good numbers of SORAS (19 of them) plus four VIRGINIA RAILS, the rookery was flush with many DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and GREAT EGRETS, and SEDGE WREN numbers were good (with 15, at Younghusband Prairie and at Deer Grove East). Shorebirds were nearly absent everywhere (including the O'Hare Ponds, which had just a single KILLDEER). We felt like birds were hard to come by all day, but we ended up with 100 species, which is about average for species diversity in our territory. Given that the count was at the end of the 4-10 May period, we were expecting better though. Good birding, Geoff Geoffrey A. Williamson Chicago, Cook County, Illinois geoffrey.williamson AT comcast.net IOS: http://www.illinoisbirds.org COS: http://www.chicagobirder.org Subject: IBET Great Black-backed Gull and Blue Grosbeak, Cook Co. - 10 May 2008 From: "Nicholas Block" <nlb.birder AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 20:48:58 -0500 Hello all, I birded today with John Bates, Jason Weckstein, and Josh Engel for the Spring Bird Count, mostly in Grant Park and Evanston. Overall, bird activity was very low, and we really had to work to build up our lists. The most notable birds seen today were toward the end of the day with Josh: Great Black-backed Gull - a first-cycle bird seen on the beach just north of Northwestern University at ~5:00 PM Blue Grosbeak - the continuing female at the south end of Loyola Park at ~6:30 PM Other highlights included a couple Grasshopper and Clay-colored Sparrows at Northerly Island and a Sora in the hedges in the middle of Grant Park. -- Nick Block Chicago Cook County nlb.birder AT gmail.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Common Loon, Black Tern at Pella Pond From: Urs Geiser <ugeiser AT xnet.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 20:31:36 -0500 The BLACK TERN reported earlier from Pella Pond (off Fabyan Rd. between West Chicago and Geneva, just barely in DuPage Co.) was still present Saturday evening. More surprising was a non-breeding plumage COMMON LOON! Highlights from the Spring Bird Count earlier in the day include a KENTUCKY WARBLER off the Prairie Path (Timber Ridge F.P./Kline Creek Farm boundary), an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER in the southwest section of Timber Ridge F.P., and two HOODED MERGANSER in a private pond in the woods along Indian Knoll Rd. in Winfield (all in DuPage Co.). -- Urs Geiser (ugeiser AT xnet DOT com) Woodridge (DuPage Co.), IL, USA Subject: IBET LaBagh early afternoon From: Jill Niland <bwwarbler AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 18:17:34 -0700 (PDT) After helping with the bird count along the Chicago River, I checked LaBagh and quickly found a male blue winged, but not the golden winged warbler, as well as a few other species: black throated green, chestnut sided, redstart, a dozen palms and a number of magnolias. Other birds included great crested flycatcher and indigo bunting. On my way home on Foster Ave, about a block west of Western Ave., a sandhill crane circled, trying to catch a thermal. I pulled over and watched it as two gulls appeared to try to drive it away. Jill Niland Chicago --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET cerulean warblers in St Charles From: "mayhill10" <mayhill10 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 01:11:42 -0000 Today, May 10, Ginny Widrick and I had 4 singing cerulean warblers for the bird count, 2 each at Norris Woods Park and Tekawitha Woods Forest Preserve, both in St Charles. A West Chicago birder at Tekawitha stated that he had 6 ceruleans there an hour earlier. Hopefully they will stay around for a few days. We also had a blue wing warbler with them at Tek. Julie Long, St Charles Subject: IBET NE Lake Co SBC highlights-Red Crossbills & Pine Siskins From: "Jim Solum" <Solum11 AT msn.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 20:10:00 -0500 Kind of sounds more like a Christmas Bird Count but even though our small group of three only tallied just over 100 species on the Spring Bird Count today, we did have a few "winter specialties" highlighting our list. The best bird by far was the 9 RED CROSSBILLS feasting together in the south end of Illinois Beach State Park! A nice sight for us all especially Beau who added a new lifer to his list! -It should be noted that this is the restricted access area south of the Dead River. I just received word this week from IDNR and IBSP when I got our permit for the count that ALL past permits as of this week have been revoked. No new passes are being issued unless the IDNR and IBSP deem it a necessity. Other birds seen include 5 PINE SISKINS and only TWO were at my house! The other 3 were at Bowen Park in Waukegan where they are obviously still visiting one of the many feeders at the homes on the bluff overlooking the park. Shorebirds included 12 SANDERLING and 2 DUNLIN that Danny Diaz spotted north of the Dead River. Passerine highlights included our annual CAROLINA WREN east of Bowen Park and a beautiful BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER feeding and singing in a very hard to get to spot at Larsen Park in Waukegan. I found out that my balance isn't as good as I thought as I tried to cross the flowing creek at a log jam to get to the little bugger and half fell in. Could've been the mat that looked like a concrete slab that slide out from under me when I jumped on it! But it was worth it to get photos of him from 8 feet away! Overall the weather was pleasant and it was a great day to be out! Good Birding! Jim Solum solum11 AT msn.com Gurnee Lake County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Piatt County: Robert Allerton Park, May 5 From: "Jane Ward" <jward199 AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 19:30:43 -0500 Monday, May 5, I visited Allerton Park. It was a beautiful morning, with Blue Bells and Blue-eyed Mary wildflowers carpeting the forest floor. On the east side of the Sangamon River I saw two Barred Owls, one by the Schroth Interpretive Trail and the other was by the Lost Garden. I also found two male Summer Tanagers. Catbirds were everywhere I went. Photos are posted here: http://walkwithmepart2.blogspot.com/2008_05_05_archive.html -- Jane Ward Peoria, Illinois http://walkwithmepart2.blogspot.com/ Subject: IBET YELLOW RAIL Chain O Lakes State Park From: Matthew Fletcher <matthew_fletcher AT comcast.net> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 19:00:14 -0500 Of the 112 species we recorded on the Spring Count today, the highlight was at 4AM this morning at Chain O Lakes State Park, where a YELLOW RAIL was heard calling from the main marsh, which is south-west of the main entry road, shortly after the Horse Riding entrance. The morning was so still, Jeff Skrentny, Eric Lundquist and I heard the call from the top of the hill next to the horse-riding area. We were able to move much closer, to where the path that crosses the marsh meets the road and heard it calling again. A truly wonderful start to the day, a day that included two species of owl, three Bald Eagles, eleven species of shorebirds, thirteen species of sparrows (including two LARK SPARROWS) and eighteen species of warbler....and boy, are we tired! Regards, Matthew Fletcher Fox Lake, Lake County Subject: IBET Sightings @ Botanic Gardens Magnolia warbler? From: "jfrankfurter" <jfrankfurter AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 23:43:52 -0000 Are Magnolia warblers around here? I believe it's what we saw, but according to my books they shouldn't be around here, true or false? Also saw: 1 green heron, 1 baltimore oriole, 1 male wood duck, 4 mallards, 1 Pied billed grebe 2 goldfinches (although we could hear many more) 2 turkey vultures 2 white crowned sparrows, uncounted: house Sparrows countless grackles many robins some geese house finch (male) That's about it. Have a great weekend, JEF Subject: IBET sorry From: Grant Simon <gsimon1694 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 16:22:17 -0700 (PDT) oops... Grant Simon Chicago,il cook county ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: IBET Lake County, 5/10 From: Robert Hughes <rhughes.enteract AT rcn.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 18:22:15 -0500 I spent the day birding in Lake County. My first stop was Rollins Savanna, my favorite place in northeastern Illinois to look for marsh birds. The water level in the main marsh is very high and there was little in the way of cattail cover. The rail habitat looked excellent, especially around the smaller marshes west of the main marsh. Some of the smaller marshes to the southeast of the main marsh had decent looking shorebird habitat but few shorebirds. My list includes: American Wigeon - 1 male Gadwall - ~10 Ruddy Duck - ~8 Blue-winged Teal - + Green-winged Teal - 1 male Ring-necked Duck - 3 Bufflehead - 4 American Bittern - 1 Lesser Yellowlegs - 1 Wilson's Snipe - 2 Wilson's Phalarope - 2, male and female. Great, close looks. Sora - 10 Virginia Rail - 1 Sandhill Crane - 1 Northern Harrier - 1 immature Henslow's Sparrow - 3 Savannah Sparrow - Lots, too many to count Bobolink - ~40, everywhere Yellow-headed Blackbird - 3 males After Rollins I walked the beach at the South Unit of Illinois Beach State Park. Highlights include: Willet - 1 Brewer's Blackbird - 8 At North Point Marina: Herring Gull - 100s Thayer's Gull - 5, 4 adults and 1 first year Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2, 1 first year and 1 probably second year Caspian Tern - Lots Waukegan Beach was my last stop. Highlights include: Ruddy Turnstone - 1 Black-legged Kittiwake - 1 first year Thayer's Gull - 1 first year Thayer's/Iceland Gull - 1 first year Forster's Tern - + Common Tern - + Caspian Tern - Lots I posted a photo of the Waukegan Thayer's Gull on the Surfbirds Web site. It's right above the photo of the kittiwake. Robert D. Hughes Chicago, Illinois Subject: IBET harris' sparrow-north pond yellow crowned - montrose From: Grant Simon <gsimon1694 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 16:21:21 -0700 (PDT) I went to montrose and north pond today and I found the yellow crowned night heron and harris' sparrow respectively. The yellow crown was in the same tree as the giant snapping turtle on the north east side of the golf course. The harris' sparrow was under the pines in the sw corner of the pond with many white crowned sparrows. Also on m. beach 2 forster's terns were flying around. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Subject: IBET Palos area (SW Cook County) May 10 From: "Craig & Barb Thayer" <bncthay AT aol.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 22:54:59 -0000 For the date bird numbers in the Palos area(McClaughery Spring Woods, Palos Park Woods and Paddock Woods) for today's spring count were disappointing for the area we surveyed. We tallied 18 species of warblers but that number is deceptive since for many species only 1 individual was observed (highest totals were 20 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and 18 PALM WARBLERS).Other warblers included 4 BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS, 1 CERULEAN WARBLER and 2 LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSHES. Other notable(?) totals included 1 OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, 17 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS, 8 SCARLET TANAGERS and 25 ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS. Craig & Barb Thayer Chicago Subject: IBET Montrose Harbour correction From: "toffeeman26" <neil.blackledge AT sjc.ox.ac.uk> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 22:45:55 -0000 That should have read North East side of the golf course pond! Subject: IBET Labagh Woods and Montrose Harbour From: "toffeeman26" <neil.blackledge AT sjc.ox.ac.uk> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 22:38:23 -0000 Labagh Woods was quite birdy this afternoon. In a couple of hours, my wife and I managed to see a number of warbler species, including Golden- Winged (female) and Black-Throated Blue, as well as Yellow-Throated Vireo. We then called at Montrose and immediately found the Yellow- Crowned Night Heron. It was sat in the trees at the north-west side of the golf course pond (4pm). Neil Blackledge Evanston, Cook County Subject: IBET wooded isle jackson park chicago Il From: Paul Doughty <paul AT pkdog.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 17:27:00 -0500 This morning I took out a small group of kids from Suder Montessori Magnet School. Location: Wooded Island's Paul Douglas NP Observation date: 5/10/08 Notes: Our group consisted of 7 children and 7 parents from Suder Montessori Magnet school ranging in age from 2-70 years young. Happy spring bird count! Number of species: 61 Canada Goose 12 Wood Duck 2 Mallard 6 Pied-billed Grebe 1 Double-crested Cormorant 9 Great Blue Heron 1 Green Heron 3 Black-crowned Night-Heron 5 Killdeer 1 Ring-billed Gull 22 Caspian Tern 3 Rock Pigeon 3 Mourning Dove 3 Monk Parakeet 5 Chimney Swift 12 Belted Kingfisher 1 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Olive-sided Flycatcher 1 Least Flycatcher 2 Eastern Phoebe 2 Warbling Vireo 1 Blue Jay 5 American Crow 5 Purple Martin 16 Tree Swallow 7 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 8 Barn Swallow 12 House Wren 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Veery 1 Hermit Thrush 2 American Robin X Gray Catbird 9 European Starling X Tennessee Warbler 1 Yellow Warbler 3 Chestnut-sided Warbler 1 Magnolia Warbler 1 Cape May Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 11 Palm Warbler 12 Ovenbird 1 Northern Waterthrush 5 Common Yellowthroat 6 Eastern Towhee 1 Chipping Sparrow 2 Field Sparrow 1 Savannah Sparrow 1 Song Sparrow 2 Lincoln's Sparrow 1 Swamp Sparrow 3 White-throated Sparrow 26 White-crowned Sparrow (Eastern) 7 Northern Cardinal 5 Red-winged Blackbird 13 Common Grackle X Brown-headed Cowbird 2 Baltimore Oriole 9 American Goldfinch 11 House Sparrow 3 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)  Paul Doughty (773) 320 5119c Picture yourself in a boat on a river... John Lennon [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Subject: IBET Waukegan Black-legged Kittiwake, 5/10 p.m. From: Robert Hughes <rhughes.enteract AT rcn.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 16:56:44 -0500 Thanks to Bruce Heimer for posting the Black-legged Kittiwake. The bird was resting on the bathing beach at Waukegan at about 2:30. I posted a photo on the Surfbirds Web site, URL below. http://surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery20 Robert D. Hughes Chicago, Illinois Subject: IBET Sora Rail Video Wilkinson-Renwick Marsh Nature Preserve, Dekalb County From: "Bill" <meier_b AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 21:24:07 -0000 About 50 seconds of Sora Rail video from today's visit to Wilkinson- Renwick Marsh Nature Preserve. http://www.flickr.com/photos/basicbill/2481500108/ The visit was much less productive than last Tuesday... a few of those clips shown here. (1 minute 17 seconds) http://www.flickr.com/photos/basicbill/2474207519/ Thanks to Tim Vanseghi for identifying the Sora rail from that video. Finally today I ended up at Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve, site of the probable recent Whip-poor-will siting. I wouldn't know a Whip-poor-will if it bit me, and I don't think this is it, but there was a bird singing that I couldn't place. Long range, silhouetted video only, but if someone can help identify it by the voice, I'd appreciate it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/basicbill/2481510776/ (1 minute 26 seconds) Bill Meier St. Charles, IL Kane Subject: IBET Black-legged Kittiwake Waukegan beach From: "bruceheimer" <bruceheimer AT sbcglobal.net> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 19:46:25 -0000 Bob Hughes just called to report a Black-legged Kittiwake on the main beach in Waukegan. The bird was still there. Bruce Heimer Elmhurst,IL Subject: IBET Lost Cell Phone @ Montrose Bird Sanctuary From: "marshallbsegal" <MarshBruce AT aol.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 19:32:02 -0000 I lost my Motorola "candybar" style black cell phone 773 710 3777 AT Montrose Bird Sanctuary on Tues 5/6 or Wed 5/7/08. If you found it, please contact me at 773 327 0777. Thank you. Marshall Segal Subject: IBET Lost Motorola cell phone @ Montrose From: MarshBruce AT aol.com Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 15:27:04 EDT I lost my Motorola "candybar" style black cell phone 773 710 3777 AT Montrose Bird Sanctuary on Tues 5/6 or Wed 5/7/08. If you found it, please contact me at 773 327 0777. Thank you. Marshall Segal **************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]