The Illinois List

Birdingonthe.Net

Recent Postings from
The Illinois List

Updated on Friday, November 20 at 02:41 PM ET
The most recently received Mail is at the top.

20 Nov IBET IOS Fundraising Tour to Mexico Jan 2010 (NO SIGHTINGS) ["Michael L. P. Retter" ]
20 Nov Re: IBET Loggerhead Shrike. Midewin National tall grass prairie [Robert Hughes ]
20 Nov IBET Loggerhead Shrike. Midewin National tall grass prairie [Bronson Ratcliff ]
20 Nov IBET Re: Might be a common bird, but not sure? Catbird ["q4birds" ]
20 Nov IBET Might be a common bird, but not sure? ["Matthews, Meg" ]
20 Nov IBET NORTHERN GOSHAWK, Lee County ["maury" ]
20 Nov IBET Whooping Cranes,Nygren Wetlands ["Steve" ]
20 Nov IBET Various Stops In DuPage County ["YeanetteJ" ]
19 Nov IBET: Tundra Swans at Carson Slough (aka Denny Road Marsh) ["Darrell Shambaugh" ]
19 Nov IBET Sand Lake Tundra Swans [Beau Schaefer ]
19 Nov IBET: Pauld Douglas FPD birds ["stecstan" ]
19 Nov IBET Re: no sighting, Cackling Geese ["woodthrusheola8" ]
19 Nov IBET 1st year Bald Eagle. Perched in Hopkins Park area [Bronson Ratcliff ]
19 Nov IBET Chicago Trib story about birds and building strikes ["B.G. Sloan" ]
19 Nov IBET Backyard Report, Chicago Northside ["kinfinch" ]
19 Nov IBET Where do Chicago-nesting RB Gulls winter? (NO SIGHTINGS) [Walter Marcisz ]
19 Nov IBET Glaucous Gull in Lake County ["bissbirds AT juno.com" ]
19 Nov Re: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) ["Daniel & Barbara Williams" ]
19 Nov IBET Re: Cackling Goose Please agree to disagree and post no more on the subject ["q4birds" ]
19 Nov IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) ["tvlewin AT sbcglobal.net" ]
19 Nov IBET Rollins Savanna 7:00am Thursday 11/19 -Tundra Swans (Bad Weather-Good Birds) ["tvlewin AT sbcglobal.net" ]
19 Nov IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) ["calcariusp" ]
19 Nov IBET California Gull photos (and other Lake County birds) ["ericwalt40" ]
18 Nov IBET Common Loons [bob shelby ]
18 Nov IBET: Shabbona Lake Black Scoters ["Darrell Shambaugh" ]
18 Nov Re: IBET RE: WHOOPS Cackling Geese ["B.G. Sloan" ]
18 Nov IBET Whoopers still at Nygren []
18 Nov IBET Injured Canada Goose at NI ["Jennifer Schmidt" ]
18 Nov IBET Third lake correction [Beau Schaefer ]
18 Nov Re: IBET Kankakee: Continuing NRW Swallow (2) + Palm Warbler [Jed Hertz ]
18 Nov IBET Lake County Tundra Swans, Black Scoter [Beau Schaefer ]
18 Nov IBET Kankakee: Continuing NRW Swallow (2) + Palm Warbler [Jed Hertz ]
18 Nov IBET RE: WHOOPS Cackling Geese ["Michael L. P. Retter" ]
18 Nov RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) ["Michael L. P. Retter" ]
18 Nov RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) ["Mcmullen, Keith A MVS" ]
18 Nov IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) ["ericwalt40" ]
18 Nov IBET "Photo Quiz" of Childish Measure For Charity (no sightings) ["prairie oak" ]
18 Nov IBET Fraker Rainy Day Miscellany (no sightings) []
18 Nov IBET Re:: more info on Rockton Whooping Cranes ["Leslie" ]
18 Nov IBET IOS Field Trips (no sightings) [Robert Hughes ]
17 Nov Re: IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09 [Paul Clyne ]
17 Nov IBET Tundra swans correction Ari [ari shavit ]
17 Nov IBET Tundra swans on route38 [ari shavit ]
17 Nov Re: IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09 [Paul Clyne ]
17 Nov IBET Montrose Pier - Buffleheads [Steve Spitzer ]
17 Nov IBET Whoopers at Nygren []
17 Nov IBET : more info on Rockton Whooping Cranes ["Daniel & Barbara Williams" ]
17 Nov IBET Purple finch, hermit thrush, LE owl, Krider's hawk [Bronson Ratcliff ]
17 Nov IBET Whooping Cranes at Nygren this AM - YES [Craig Taylor ]
17 Nov IBET PIWO report from McLean Co. ["Michael L. P. Retter" ]
16 Nov IBET Gillson Park on Monday []
16 Nov Re: IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning. [Karen Lund ]
16 Nov IBET: Black Scoters at Shabbona Lake 11/16/09 late afternoon ["Darrell Shambaugh" ]
16 Nov Re: IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning. ["Daniel & Barbara Williams" ]
16 Nov Re: IBET RE: whooping Cranes in illinois []
16 Nov IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09 ["prairie oak" ]
16 Nov IBET Kankakee Co: NRW Swallow + Ross's Goose [Jed Hertz ]
16 Nov IBET Tundra Swans, Cook County [Mark Bowman ]
16 Nov IBET Tundra Swans ["Wes Serafin" ]
16 Nov Re: IBET RE: whooping Cranes in illinois [Chris Kelly ]
16 Nov IBET RE: whooping Cranes in illinois [Dave Briddon ]
16 Nov RE: IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning. ["John Adams" ]
16 Nov IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning. [Jeff Haake ]
16 Nov IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning. []
16 Nov IBET North. Shrike, Baird's Sandpiper, etc. in western IL [Jim Mountjoy ]
16 Nov IBET:Sangamon Co. Vireos [Beckie Dyer ]
16 Nov IBET Sandhill Cranes in Minooka [John Jaeger ]
16 Nov IBET Illinois RBA - November 15, 2009 [Sulli Gibson ]
15 Nov IBET: Kendall and Will Counties ["Darrell Shambaugh" ]
16 Nov IBET VARIOUS STOPS KANE AND DUPAGE COUNTIES ["YeanetteJ" ]
15 Nov Re: IBET FW: Nygren - Whooping Cranes ["B.G. Sloan" ]
15 Nov IBET FW: Nygren - Whooping Cranes [Jeff Haake ]
15 Nov Re: IBET FW: Nygren - Whooping Cranes ["Daniel & Barbara Williams" ]
15 Nov IBET hawk watch ["Yellowstart5" ]
15 Nov IBET Lakefront and Rollins Savanna Sunday morning [Jim Solum ]
15 Nov IBET Gillson Park Tundra Swans, 11/15 a.m. [Robert Hughes ]

Subject: IBET IOS Fundraising Tour to Mexico Jan 2010 (NO SIGHTINGS)
From: "Michael L. P. Retter" <mlretter AT yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:41:16 -0800 (PST)

The Illinois Ornithological Society invites you to tour Oaxaca in southern Mexico for Legendary Birds and Temples! We have just a few spots open for this trip as well as the extension. This is a fantastic value! For all the details, an in-depth itinerary with photos and booking/legal information go to: http://www.illinoisbirds.org/IOS_Oax_2010_itinerary.pdf Get your reservations in ASAP. Call 1-800-348-5941. There is limited space left! This trip is limited to a minimum of 6 and maximum of 8 people. From Oaxaca City: Legendary Birds and Temples: 16-24 Jan 2010 (9 days) Oaxaca has the biggest bird list of any Mexican state, and of the nearly 700 species recorded ~100 are Mexican endemics. With impressive ruins, a bustling capital city rich in commerce and architecture, a vibrant native culture, warm and friendly locals and world-famous food, Oaxaca offers even the non-birder much to write home about. On a couple days, afternoon birding is optional, and those wishing to take it easy or sight-see may do so. On our tour of Oaxaca we’ll explore a variety of habitats for endemics and specialty birds including Red Warbler, Black-crested Coquette, Dwarf Jay and Keel-billed Toucan. We will also search among the ancient ruins of Monte Alban for White-throated Towhee, Blue Mockingbird, Gray Silky-flycatcher, Varied Bunting, and Slaty Vireo. Trip Extension: The Pacific Coast and Isthmus 24-31 Jan 2010 (7 additional days) The Pacific Coast and Isthmus extension focuses on the endemic birds of the Pacific Slope and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The former has some of the world's most beautiful beaches and birds, such as Orange-breasted Bunting and Red-breasted Chat. A short pelagic trip targets birds like Red-billed Tropicbird and Townsend’s Shearwater. On the Isthmus, we’ll search for Rosita’s Bunting in the arid foothills, Giant Wren on the verdant Soconusco Plain, and Nava’s Wren in lush, Gulf-slope rainforest. Other possibilities include Black Hawk-Eagle, Long-tailed Manakin, and Lovely Cotinga. For all the details, an in-depth itinerary with photos and booking/legal information go to: http://www.illinoisbirds.org/IOS_Oax_2010_itinerary.pdf Get your reservations in ASAP. Call 1-800-348-5941. There is limited space left! This trip is limited to a minimum of 6 and maximum of 8 people. ====================== Michael Retter, IOS Field Trip Chairperson Michael L. P. Retter --------------------------------- W. Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., IN mlretter AT yahoo.com home: 765.838.3152 cell: 309.824.7317 http://xenospiza.com/ Tour Leader, Tropical Birding http://www.tropicalbirding.com/ -----------------------------------
Subject: Re: IBET Loggerhead Shrike. Midewin National tall grass prairie
From: Robert Hughes <rhughes.enteract AT rcn.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:24:53 -0600

>Eastern Kingbird 1 (also near bunkers) getting late in season also Really? Are you sure about the ID on this? Robert D. Hughes Chicago, Illinois
Subject: IBET Loggerhead Shrike. Midewin National tall grass prairie
From: Bronson Ratcliff <ovenbirdman AT hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:20:38 +0000

Hey guys, got to go out 7 a.m. today and find some interesting things amongst the hunters at midewin and desplaines prairies. First thing i had a male kestrel(1/4 mile away)flush a Loggerhead Shrike near the bunkers. couldnt manage a photo ..Then rest of list follows: Loggerhead Shrike 1 (late count) Northern Mockingbird 2 Eastern Kingbird 1 (also near bunkers) getting late in season also Fox sparrow 1 Northern Harrier 3 Red tailed hawk 19! (covered over quite some territory) Sharp shinned hawk 1 Ring necked pheasant 3 not much else out of usual still looking for golden eagle, maybe prairie falcon if lucky! or whatever else i can get. had a couple deer. lone 10pt buck almost got capped in front of me. 3 coyote.. good birding to you all.- Bronson Ratcliff, Kankakee IL, 60901 _________________________________________________________________ Bing brings you maps, menus, and reviews organized in one place. http://www.bing.com/search?q=restaurants&form=MFESRP&publ=WLHMTAG&crea=TEXT_MFESRP_Local_MapsMenu_Resturants_1x1 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Re: Might be a common bird, but not sure? Catbird
From: "q4birds" <q4birds AT yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:55:22 -0000

HI, Yes, catbirds nest in the summer but occasionally one will over winter, this could also a straggling migrant. Keep an eye open. ;-) Sue Friscia Alsip --- In ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com, "Matthews, Meg" wrote: > > I'm new to Chicago and the Midwest, so this might only be an exciting > bird for yours truly - but there's a gray catbird hanging out in the > bushes near the Museum Park Metra stop (on the southeast side of the > pedestrian walkway, next to the first tunnel underpass beneath S > Columbus). I thought these guys only summered here - am I mistaken? > > > > Thanks from a newbie! > > > > Meg Matthews > > Sustainability Coordinator > > Shedd Aquarium > > 312-692-3365 > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >
Subject: IBET Might be a common bird, but not sure?
From: "Matthews, Meg" <mmatthews AT sheddaquarium.org>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:02:30 -0600

I'm new to Chicago and the Midwest, so this might only be an exciting bird for yours truly - but there's a gray catbird hanging out in the bushes near the Museum Park Metra stop (on the southeast side of the pedestrian walkway, next to the first tunnel underpass beneath S Columbus). I thought these guys only summered here - am I mistaken? Thanks from a newbie! Meg Matthews Sustainability Coordinator Shedd Aquarium 312-692-3365 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET NORTHERN GOSHAWK, Lee County
From: "maury" <maurybrucker AT insightbb.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:02:54 -0000

We spotted an adult Northern Goshawk about 1 mile south of Steward. We turned around at Steward on I 39 to make another pass and confirmed the sitting bird with the scope. Watch out for the heavy traffc on the interstate. Also, we found 2 Black Scoters at Shabbana Lake off the Shabbana Grove Picnic area near the dam. Maury Brucker
Subject: IBET Whooping Cranes,Nygren Wetlands
From: "Steve" <fishn51 AT comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:20:06 -0000

The 5 Whooping Cranes flew into Nygren Wetlands at 4pm yesterday with numerous flocks of Sandhills. Also present earlier, were 10 Tundra Swans. Steve Patterson Illini Images Oglesby,Ill http://www.flickr.com/photos/illini-images/
Subject: IBET Various Stops In DuPage County
From: "YeanetteJ" <btbwarbler AT comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:52:35 -0000

Made a few stops on my way home from work today & picked up some nice birds in the process. Here is my list: Pratts Wayne Woods FP, Harrier Lake (Blue Barn Lake): REDHEAD PIED-BILLED GREBE NORTHERN SHOVELER MALLARD AMERICAN KESTREL RED-TAILED HAWK CANADA GOOSE West Branch FP: BELTED KINGFISHER DOWNY WOODPECKER MALLARD Pella Ponds & DuPage Tech Park Ponds: HOODED MERGANSER BUFFLEHEAD PIED-BILLED GREBE RING-NECKED DUCK MALLARD AMERICAN COOT RED-TAILED HAWK Fermi GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (7) COMMON GOLDENEYE RING-NECKED DUCK MALLARD CANADA GOOSE Good Birding! Yeanette Johnson Western Aurora, Kane County
Subject: IBET: Tundra Swans at Carson Slough (aka Denny Road Marsh)
From: "Darrell Shambaugh" <d.shambaugh AT mchsi.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:56:16 -0600

About 3:00 PM Thursday there were 5 TUNDRA SWANS at Carson Slough. One Cygnet was with 4 adults. Also present were 8 AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS. Some other places I checked: Peck Lake Every November there is a day (or several) that this lake is completely covered with CANADA GEESE. I was there about 2:30 today and there were geese coming in constantly. Tonight or tomorrow may be that big Canada Goose day there. The only other species I saw was a female-type HOODED MERGANSER. All the geese were Canadas. No Cackling, Greater White-fornted, or Snows were there. Caledonia subdivision, on Wheaton Drive, north of Yorkville in Kendall County had about 40 MALLARDS. Eldamain Marsh, on Eldamain Road north of Route 34 had coots and Mallards. North of the railroad tracks, on the first road that goes west from Eldamain there were ~200 CANADA GEESE and ~20 CACKLING GEESE. Darrell Shambaugh Somonauk, DeKalb County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Sand Lake Tundra Swans
From: Beau Schaefer <beauschaefer AT sbcglobal.net>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:12:40 -0600

Not quite as dazzling as it was yesterday but at Sand Lake in Gurnee there were 2 TUNDRA SWANS mixed in with the 18 MUTE SWANS. Druce Lake had 6 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, 2 COMMON MERGANSERS, 5 COMMON GOLDENEYES, and 7 BUFFLEHEADS. Good Birding! Beau Schaefer beauschaefer AT sbcglobal.net Round Lake Beach, IL Lake Co [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET: Pauld Douglas FPD birds
From: "stecstan" <stecstan AT sbcglobal.net>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:52:24 -0000

Paul Douglas FPD, wetland- Rain all morning, 50 degs. no wind. No ice on the wetland the entire fall season. Coot 141 Mallard 18 Canada Goose 22 Gadwall 4 Bufflehead 2 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Northern Shoveller 4 Hooded Merganser 3 Ring-necked Duck 5 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Mourning Dove 1 Starling 40 Stan Stec Arlington Heights Cook
Subject: IBET Re: no sighting, Cackling Geese
From: "woodthrusheola8" <woodthrusheola8 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:17:22 -0000

And I think Bernie Sloan makes a good point. My years of birding are half of his but it has only been in the last couple years that separating out Cackling geese from the lot has come into vogue. Prior to that, separating out Richardson's was the sport of IORC level birders. Little gossling birders like me never made a peep with regard to such things. As for my neck of the woods, southern IL counties (or southernmost as I refer to them), consider that may CBC counts have way few participates than those mid state or northern counties. Same for the number of birders in general and more specifically for number of southernmost birders who keep records of sightings. (If IOS has 650 members, probably fewer that 50 hail from south of I 64 and probably only half of those keep any type of seasonal sighting records.) I think it was last year's Jackson County cbc,or around that time, that I witnessed a flock of approx. 25 geese that were all Cackling geese. Frankly, I questioned whether to note them at all, assuming that the record would not be accepted, until I spoke to a more experienced birder who said that it was not unlikely to have a small flock of only Cackling geese. > > Heck, I've been an avid birder in east central Illinois for 30+ years, and it's only relatively recently that I've known to look for Cackling/Richardson's Geese among the Canadas. > > Bernie Sloan > > --- On Wed, 11/18/09, Michael L. P. Retter wrote: > > > From: Michael L. P. Retter > Subject: IBET RE: WHOOPS Cackling Geese > To: "IBET" > Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 5:56 PM > > > > > > > Apologies... that should have read: > May I suggest that the majority of CBC-attendees do not know how to tell a Richardson's Goose from a CANADA Goose, and that, therefore, negative data from CBCs as they apply to Cackling/Richardson 's Geese is probably of little if any use. > > Michael L. P. Retter > > ------------ --------- --------- --- > > W. Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., IN > > mlretter AT yahoo.com > > home: 765.838.3152 > > cell: 309.824.7317 > > http://xenospiza. com/ > > Tour Leader, Tropical Birding > > http://www.tropical birding.com/ > > ------------ --------- --------- ----- > > --- On Wed, 11/18/09, Michael L. P. Retter wrote: > > From: Michael L. P. Retter > Subject: RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) > To: "IBET" > Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 4:55 PM > > May I suggest that the majority of CBC-attendees do not know how to tell a Richardson's Goose from a Cackling Goose, and that, therefore, negative data from CBCs as they apply to Cackling Geese is probably of little if any use. > > Michael L. P. Retter > > ------------ --------- --------- --- > > W. Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., IN > > mlretter AT yahoo.com > > home: 765.838.3152 > > cell: 309.824.7317 > > http://xenospiza. com/ > > Tour Leader, Tropical Birding > > http://www.tropical birding.com/ > > ------------ --------- --------- ----- > > --- On Wed, 11/18/09, Mcmullen, Keith A MVS wrote: > > From: Mcmullen, Keith A MVS > Subject: RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) > To: "ericwalt40" , ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com > Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 4:30 PM > > > > Might I suggest we get Craig and Tim to skip a dilly bar or two (sorry, Tim!) > > and drive a little further south (gas might be cheaper, Craig!) and see if > > they can get some data on CACKLING GEESE in the underbirded counties of SE > > Illinois. > > It's just a suggestion and for those that can not tell, I AM trying to throw > > in some humor whether called for or not. > > IF I offend someone, I apologize in advance. > > Good birdings! > > Keith McMullen > > O'Fallon, IL > > warbler7 AT sbcglobal. net > > -----Original Message----- > > From: ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com [mailto:ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com] On Behalf Of > > ericwalt40 > > Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4:23 PM > > To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com > > Subject: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) > > It's not clear to me what in this below post actually diminishes my > > thought/theory regarding Cackling Geese being most regular in distribution > > and numbers in the western regions of IL (specifically areas west of Hwy > > 39/Hwy 55 or Rockford-Bloomingto n-Springfield- St. Louis). In fact, getting > > only small numbers of 3-6 Cackling Geese in east-central and upper > > southeastern IL (and basically none on the majority of published CBC's in > > those regions) would only add more strong objective data in support of my > > former post. > > I did previously note that the National Audubon Society's published CBC data > > shows that Cackling Geese are being found in the deeper Southern IL CBC's > > (although some counts haven't yet recorded it and others don't find it > > annually). A reasonable theory would be that in this `goose heaven' region > > from Carlyle Lake south to Mermet Lake, one would expect the highest counts > > for IL of Cackling Geese in latter Fall and Winter, yet the NAS CBC (and > > Meadowlark Fall data) indicate otherwise. > > If Steve's subjective statements that he encounters Cackling Geese in "large > > numbers" and is "relatively easy to locate" in the deep southern IL CBC's, > > then one would have to subjectively describe Cackling Goose on some of the IL > > River CBC's as `abundant' and `extremely easy' to find. But why use > > subjective statements when there's objective data to compare? The published > > CBC facts show the highest overall maximum counts in the last 5 years are not > > from deep Southern IL for this species. > > I did note that the top 10 top IL Fall high counts were from the western > > region I've described and this empirical data is easily obtained by a > > researcher reviewing `Meadowlark' publications. On the other side of the > > state, in the Southeastern section (specifically the 8 county area of > > Wayne-Edwards south to Pope-Hardin) , Cackling Geese can be very challenging > > to find. I've not seen/heard of published data or even birding posts of even > > good-sized flocks, let alone even irregular sightings mentioned of this > > species down there. That's just an objective reality. > > One last interesting field observation relates to Edgar County. Between 20-24 > > waterfowl species overwinter in this county, yet Cackling Goose not only can > > be challenging to get, they are also the rarest of the 5 geese for that > > county (Ross's is easier!). The CBC in that county still hasn't recorded > > Cacklers yet. With Edgar being the epicenter of a number of waterfowl species > > in east-central IL, one can't use the subjective theory that Cacklers would > > be present if there was just water to hold them (which is using Null data to > > support the opposite of the empirical data results). A better theory to > > support the current objective data is that Cacklers are just hard to come by > > in most places and mainly in very low numbers for much of even that part of > > the state. > > Eric Walters > > Zion, IL > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >
Subject: IBET 1st year Bald Eagle. Perched in Hopkins Park area
From: Bronson Ratcliff <ovenbirdman AT hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:58:22 +0000

hey, just felt like mentioning this morning i had a 1st year Bald Eagle perched on 9500E rd. just off 4000S by the hill we see Blue Grosbeak during summer. It was just perched preening its feathers with its LARGE bill. When i first saw it i said eagle, but after a few moments i noticed the bill was too large for a Golden Eagle, but that was the first time I've seen a bald eagle perched in 'open' country. I tried to make it into a Gold Eagle, but my imaginary couldn't do such blasphemy. Plus when it opened its wings it had alot of white and the tail wasn't banded. head was too big. good birding to everyone! - Bronson Ratcliff Kankakee IL, 60901 _________________________________________________________________ Windows 7: It works the way you want. Learn more. http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_evergreen:112009v2 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Chicago Trib story about birds and building strikes
From: "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:51:02 -0800 (PST)

� http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/family/chi-1115-birdmigratenov15,0,6325117.story � Bernie Sloan [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Backyard Report, Chicago Northside
From: "kinfinch" <kinfinch AT sbcglobal.net>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:07:52 -0000

Hello Everyone, I have an OVENBIRD in my backyard. Also, one Eurasian Collard Dove. This weekend past there was a Great Horned Owl. Karen Mansfield CHicago, IL West Walker Cook Co
Subject: IBET Where do Chicago-nesting RB Gulls winter? (NO SIGHTINGS)
From: Walter Marcisz <wmarcisz AT att.net>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:05:19 -0800 (PST)

Apparently, at least some�Ring-billed Gulls from Chicago-area nesting colonies winter in Florida. The following passage is�taken from the Florida report in the latest issue of North American Birds (Volume 63, No. 2, page 249): � "Single patagial-tagged Ring-billed Gulls were photographed at Gamble Rogers S.R.A., Flagler, 23 Dec and at Titusville 19 Feb (CT); Tague received information from Thomas W. Seamans, wildlife biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that these gulls were tagged at Chicago, IL in 2007/2008, and that the Titusville gull was likely a female tagged at L. Calumet colony on 10 May 2007. A presumed ad. Laughing Gull X Ring-billed Gull hybrid was photographed at Flamingo, Everglades N.P., Monroe in early Feb (LaM, fide LA)." � I include the last part about the hybrid because�over the last six years, at least one apparent adult Laughing X Ring-billed Gull hybrid has been repeatedly�seen�during the spring and summer months in southeastern Chicago and adjacent northwest Indiana (locations include the KFC Restaurant at 106th & Indianapolis Blvd. in Chicago; Calumet Park, Chicago; and the Hammond Marina in�Hammond IN). In addition, an adult Laughing Gull on a nest with one egg was found by the USDA at�L. Calumet in Chicago in June of 2007. So, I have to wonder�-did the Laughing X Ring-billed Gull hybrid reported in Florida also have origins in the Chicago area? � In addition, FYI�the latest issues of�both Birding magazine and North American Birds�indicate that the journal North American Birds (1973 - 2007) is now permanently archived online in searchable format at the following link: � http://tiny.cc/GHYjK � Walter Marcisz Chicago, Cook Co. � � �� [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Glaucous Gull in Lake County
From: "bissbirds AT juno.com" <bissbirds@juno.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:33:44 GMT

This morning in our yard I had an adult Glaucous Gull and Snow Bunting moving south. Not many migrants today. I was looking for Swans, but didn't see any. Richard Biss Lake Villa Lake County bissbirds AT juno.com ____________________________________________________________ Doctorate Degrees Online Boost your career with an online doctoral degree. Enroll today! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/c?cp=S5p0NHO9ZR9qWsKCeW5L6gAAJ1CWSGz09q2C3oGH9ck5uWf7AAQAAAAFAAAAAPeT2z4AAAMlAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAyOQAAAAA= [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Re: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long)
From: "Daniel & Barbara Williams" <twotringas AT gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:31:48 -0600

Yeah, really, guys, enough is enough. Let your keyboards cool off for a couple of weeks. Barbara Williams Rockford On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 9:08 AM, tvlewin AT sbcglobal.net < tvlewin AT sbcglobal.net> wrote: > > > > > Hey guys, > > Please keep the posts in the spirit of the IBET forum..we can disagree on > the identifications(that is fun)but stay away from the personal banter back > and forth. One of the things that has attracted me as a relatively new > birder is the good-natured and positive support I get when I ask "stupid" > questions. > > New birders are often directed to this forum and it is a way of drawing new > support to Birding in Illinois. > > Tom Lewin-Grayslake > > > --- In ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com , "calcariusp" > wrote: > > > > What is clear to me is that Mr. Walters seems to forget everything that > he has written in previous posts about his experience and his > characterization with Cackling Goose migration in Illinois. And as long as > he CONTINUES to characterize my comments as wrong, I will continue to refute > his comments with very specific information that anybody can check on for > themselves in the proper venues, to see that his information is wrong. With > each post I have picked specific things about the species that he has talked > about and either been wrong about, or does not have near enough experience > in eastern Illinois compared to a number of birders, including myself, and I > have addressed them specifically. Mr. Walters does not bother to address > those specific topics in his following posts. He also conveniently picks and > chooses the aspects of their migration through the state that he wishes to > pontificate on, ignoring the obvious blunders of his previous statements, > which I have pointed out and corrected in my future post about the species. > I believe I made it quite clear in my last post on this thread, that I agree > that some of the bigger numbers of Cackling Geese migrate down the Illinois > and Mississippi River valleys�as I pointed out in my last post that that is > because they are going to their main wintering areas in the Mississippi > River valley in states farther to the south. My main disagreements have > always been with his assessment of Cackling Goose distribution and > commonality in eastern Illinois (which Mr. Walters often conveniently > forgets about). A beginning birder would not be surprised that the farther > away you get from a species main range (whether migratory or as a resident), > there will be fewer and fewer of that species found. Birders other than > those traveling all around the state, to add species to their lists in the > game of county bird listing, can also equally deduce a species migratory > status and distribution. People like myself who have also traveled the state > extensively with my job and through recreational birding, over the course of > 35 years, am one of those people, and don't need a person like Mr. Walters > passing judgment on my past observations. > > > > I also take exception to the comments directed at me in his posts (as he > mentions me by name), in which he imparts a greater knowledge of the species > in the part of the state that I have lived in for five decades (east-central > Illinois). And I quote from his first post, "When you get to the eastern > edge of IL, I've found them to be quite hard to come across." When I made > comments after this that this species is not that hard to find in the > eastern part of the state, Walters again conveniently changes his story to > the SOUTHeastern part of the state, meanwhile still telling me how wrong I > am. Again quoting from Walters next post, "I would still disagree with > Steve's eastern evaluation of Cackling Geese in eastern sectors of IL, east > of the IL River�.." I think many folks out there would feel that this was > quite the arrogant statement (not to mention rude, from someone who doesn't > live in the part of the state that he claims to have better knowledge of! He > continues, "To wit, I suspect I've traveled quite a bit more in Edgar, > Clark, Crawford, Lawrence and Wabash than Steve has and these are all > counties east of and heading directly south of Champaign." In this post, > Walters has now forgetten about Kankakee, Iroquois, Vermilion and other > counties in east-central Illinois which his previous statements encompassed > (you don't get any farther east in Illinois than these counties without > going into Indiana), and instead he talks about all of the other counties > south of here (which he didn't specify in his first post that I was > responding to). Again, he says that he has more experience with them in > areas that he thinks he has traveled in more than me (and AGAIN, I would > say, how does he know???). > > > > In my last post, after reading this from Mr. Walters, "I got all my CBC > data from the National Audubon Society site, which is publicly available, so > the numbers I did notate are all verifiable for those interested in checking > them out�.. In the last 5 years of data, counts in Vermilion (2), Piatt, > Clark, Edgar, Coles and Cumberland have gone 0 for 5. For all of these > counts, getting a Cackler would be a new count circle bird!" > > > > After that, I again pointed out that he is simply wrong, and does not > have his facts right. Besides the fact that I have helped on the two > Vermilion County CBCs that he talks about (for the last 25-35 years), and > compile one of them, I went to the National Audubon CBC website and found > three years with Cackling Goose records, despite Mr. Walters saying they > have never been recorded on the CBC. Of course, I knew this because I have > always been the compiler for that CBC. > > I also pointed out that in the past winter 3 of the top four Cackling > Goose high counts came from well east of the Illinois River, including two > counties that border the Indiana line, despite Mr. Walters characterization > that, "the top 15 high counts for Cackling Geese in a typical IL late Fall > and early Winter, at least 10 and probably a dozen would come from west of > the IL River." > > > > In one of his latest posts, Mr. Walters questions how many counties I > have seen Cackling Geese in, when, in his words, "I've looked for them on a > number of trips spanning many years in different seasons and I still need > that species on the county list for the good majority of those counties, and > my guess is that Steve also hasn't seen this species in most Se. IL counties > either". As another person tried to point out to Mr. Walters, if you live in > the county all the time, just because you don't see the species every day, > doesn't mean that species is rarely found. In Mr. Walters case, it just > means he wasn't in the county on the right day. Don't try to make it > something more complicated than that! > > In his latest post, now Mr. Walters is down to nit-picking about my > sightings, in his words, "in east-central and upper southeastern IL", so now > he is just down to a few counties in far southeastern Illinois! He also > confronts me on my "subjective" use of the words, "relatively easy to > locate", and says that there are , in his words, more "objective data to > compare" my observations to. First, I would ask you if you would consider > after not having been in an area for a year, then on the first day back in > that area, I see a small number of Cackling Geese, mixed in among multiple > flocks of Canada Geese, was that not pretty easy?? All I had to do was look > through a few flocks of Canada Geese to find some Cacklings! I did the same > thing the next time I was in southeastern Illinois a couple months later. > Yeah, I consider that pretty easy Mr. Walters. Although you make it fairly > obvious through your comments that because you THINK that you travel in that > part of the state more than I (and AGAIN, how would you know??) since YOU > don't see Cackling Geese in eastern or southeastern Illinois, they are > obviously very rare there (since as you say, you haven't seen any there). It > is also obvious to me that you rate your skills at bird observations over > virtually anyone else in the state, no matter how many more years of > experience they have over you. And to be quite honest, through each and > every post that you have made on Cackling Geese, you admit that you are > wrong about NOTHING (even though I have shown that you have been wrong on > several occasions, including something as simple as reading off of the > National Audubon Society CBC web pages! The fact that you disagree with much > of what I and others have stated about Cackling Geese in the part of the > state that we live in, despite yourself living in the far northeast corner > of the state for at least 25 years, shows quite a bit of disrespectful > arrogance, which is the main reason I continue to post on this subject. > Because of this type of behavior, I would advise my fellow IBETers to not > take Walters comments about the birdlife in eastern and southeastern > Illinois with very much seriousness (as he obviously does not take my 35+ > years of experience very seriously!). This topic is not that hard to > understand, and it isn't rocket science or top notch ornithology either, and > the thread should have ended some time back. I'm defending my character with > Mr. Walters seemingly regular onslaughts on the topic of Cackling Goose > distribution. I have plenty of other things to write, see, and talk about > when it comes to birds� but if Mr. Walters wants to continue his never > ending quest to show me how wrong I am, I will continue to point out his > mistakes. Good birding. > > > > Steve Bailey > > Mundelein (Lake Co), formerly a 49 year resident of east-central > Illinois) > > sdbailey AT ... > > > > > [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: ILbirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com 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 Re: Cackling Goose Please agree to disagree and post no more on the subject
From: "q4birds" <q4birds AT yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:28:42 -0000

Thank you everyone, for your comments and insights, but I don't see anyway this will have a conclusion that everyone will be happy with, so please end the discussion of this on IBET now. Feel free to get together back channel and resolve your differences. Happy Thanksgiving Sue Friscia list owner --- In ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com, "calcariusp" wrote: > > What is clear to me is that Mr. Walters seems to forget everything that he has written in previous posts about his experience and his characterization with Cackling Goose migration in Illinois. And as long as he CONTINUES to characterize my comments as wrong, I will continue to refute his comments with very specific information that anybody can check on for themselves in the proper venues, to see that his information is wrong. With each post I have picked specific things about the species that he has talked about and either been wrong about, or does not have near enough experience in eastern Illinois compared to a number of birders, including myself, and I have addressed them specifically. Mr. Walters does not bother to address those specific topics in his following posts. He also conveniently picks and chooses the aspects of their migration through the state that he wishes to pontificate on, ignoring the obvious blunders of his previous statements, which I have pointed out and corrected in my future post about the species. I believe I made it quite clear in my last post on this thread, that I agree that some of the bigger numbers of Cackling Geese migrate down the Illinois and Mississippi River valleys�as I pointed out in my last post that that is because they are going to their main wintering areas in the Mississippi River valley in states farther to the south. My main disagreements have always been with his assessment of Cackling Goose distribution and commonality in eastern Illinois (which Mr. Walters often conveniently forgets about). A beginning birder would not be surprised that the farther away you get from a species main range (whether migratory or as a resident), there will be fewer and fewer of that species found. Birders other than those traveling all around the state, to add species to their lists in the game of county bird listing, can also equally deduce a species migratory status and distribution. People like myself who have also traveled the state extensively with my job and through recreational birding, over the course of 35 years, am one of those people, and don't need a person like Mr. Walters passing judgment on my past observations. > > I also take exception to the comments directed at me in his posts (as he mentions me by name), in which he imparts a greater knowledge of the species in the part of the state that I have lived in for five decades (east-central Illinois). And I quote from his first post, "When you get to the eastern edge of IL, I've found them to be quite hard to come across." When I made comments after this that this species is not that hard to find in the eastern part of the state, Walters again conveniently changes his story to the SOUTHeastern part of the state, meanwhile still telling me how wrong I am. Again quoting from Walters next post, "I would still disagree with Steve's eastern evaluation of Cackling Geese in eastern sectors of IL, east of the IL River�.." I think many folks out there would feel that this was quite the arrogant statement (not to mention rude, from someone who doesn't live in the part of the state that he claims to have better knowledge of! He continues, "To wit, I suspect I've traveled quite a bit more in Edgar, Clark, Crawford, Lawrence and Wabash than Steve has and these are all counties east of and heading directly south of Champaign." In this post, Walters has now forgetten about Kankakee, Iroquois, Vermilion and other counties in east-central Illinois which his previous statements encompassed (you don't get any farther east in Illinois than these counties without going into Indiana), and instead he talks about all of the other counties south of here (which he didn't specify in his first post that I was responding to). Again, he says that he has more experience with them in areas that he thinks he has traveled in more than me (and AGAIN, I would say, how does he know???). > > In my last post, after reading this from Mr. Walters, "I got all my CBC data from the National Audubon Society site, which is publicly available, so the numbers I did notate are all verifiable for those interested in checking them out�.. In the last 5 years of data, counts in Vermilion (2), Piatt, Clark, Edgar, Coles and Cumberland have gone 0 for 5. For all of these counts, getting a Cackler would be a new count circle bird!" > > After that, I again pointed out that he is simply wrong, and does not have his facts right. Besides the fact that I have helped on the two Vermilion County CBCs that he talks about (for the last 25-35 years), and compile one of them, I went to the National Audubon CBC website and found three years with Cackling Goose records, despite Mr. Walters saying they have never been recorded on the CBC. Of course, I knew this because I have always been the compiler for that CBC. > I also pointed out that in the past winter 3 of the top four Cackling Goose high counts came from well east of the Illinois River, including two counties that border the Indiana line, despite Mr. Walters characterization that, "the top 15 high counts for Cackling Geese in a typical IL late Fall and early Winter, at least 10 and probably a dozen would come from west of the IL River." > > In one of his latest posts, Mr. Walters questions how many counties I have seen Cackling Geese in, when, in his words, "I've looked for them on a number of trips spanning many years in different seasons and I still need that species on the county list for the good majority of those counties, and my guess is that Steve also hasn't seen this species in most Se. IL counties either". As another person tried to point out to Mr. Walters, if you live in the county all the time, just because you don't see the species every day, doesn't mean that species is rarely found. In Mr. Walters case, it just means he wasn't in the county on the right day. Don't try to make it something more complicated than that! > In his latest post, now Mr. Walters is down to nit-picking about my sightings, in his words, "in east-central and upper southeastern IL", so now he is just down to a few counties in far southeastern Illinois! He also confronts me on my "subjective" use of the words, "relatively easy to locate", and says that there are , in his words, more "objective data to compare" my observations to. First, I would ask you if you would consider after not having been in an area for a year, then on the first day back in that area, I see a small number of Cackling Geese, mixed in among multiple flocks of Canada Geese, was that not pretty easy?? All I had to do was look through a few flocks of Canada Geese to find some Cacklings! I did the same thing the next time I was in southeastern Illinois a couple months later. Yeah, I consider that pretty easy Mr. Walters. Although you make it fairly obvious through your comments that because you THINK that you travel in that part of the state more than I (and AGAIN, how would you know??) since YOU don't see Cackling Geese in eastern or southeastern Illinois, they are obviously very rare there (since as you say, you haven't seen any there). It is also obvious to me that you rate your skills at bird observations over virtually anyone else in the state, no matter how many more years of experience they have over you. And to be quite honest, through each and every post that you have made on Cackling Geese, you admit that you are wrong about NOTHING (even though I have shown that you have been wrong on several occasions, including something as simple as reading off of the National Audubon Society CBC web pages! The fact that you disagree with much of what I and others have stated about Cackling Geese in the part of the state that we live in, despite yourself living in the far northeast corner of the state for at least 25 years, shows quite a bit of disrespectful arrogance, which is the main reason I continue to post on this subject. Because of this type of behavior, I would advise my fellow IBETers to not take Walters comments about the birdlife in eastern and southeastern Illinois with very much seriousness (as he obviously does not take my 35+ years of experience very seriously!). This topic is not that hard to understand, and it isn't rocket science or top notch ornithology either, and the thread should have ended some time back. I'm defending my character with Mr. Walters seemingly regular onslaughts on the topic of Cackling Goose distribution. I have plenty of other things to write, see, and talk about when it comes to birds� but if Mr. Walters wants to continue his never ending quest to show me how wrong I am, I will continue to point out his mistakes. Good birding. > > Steve Bailey > Mundelein (Lake Co), formerly a 49 year resident of east-central Illinois) > sdbailey AT ... >
Subject: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long)
From: "tvlewin AT sbcglobal.net" <tvlewin@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:08:24 -0000

Hey guys, Please keep the posts in the spirit of the IBET forum..we can disagree on the identifications(that is fun)but stay away from the personal banter back and forth. One of the things that has attracted me as a relatively new birder is the good-natured and positive support I get when I ask "stupid" questions. New birders are often directed to this forum and it is a way of drawing new support to Birding in Illinois. Tom Lewin-Grayslake --- In ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com, "calcariusp" wrote: > > What is clear to me is that Mr. Walters seems to forget everything that he has written in previous posts about his experience and his characterization with Cackling Goose migration in Illinois. And as long as he CONTINUES to characterize my comments as wrong, I will continue to refute his comments with very specific information that anybody can check on for themselves in the proper venues, to see that his information is wrong. With each post I have picked specific things about the species that he has talked about and either been wrong about, or does not have near enough experience in eastern Illinois compared to a number of birders, including myself, and I have addressed them specifically. Mr. Walters does not bother to address those specific topics in his following posts. He also conveniently picks and chooses the aspects of their migration through the state that he wishes to pontificate on, ignoring the obvious blunders of his previous statements, which I have pointed out and corrected in my future post about the species. I believe I made it quite clear in my last post on this thread, that I agree that some of the bigger numbers of Cackling Geese migrate down the Illinois and Mississippi River valleys�as I pointed out in my last post that that is because they are going to their main wintering areas in the Mississippi River valley in states farther to the south. My main disagreements have always been with his assessment of Cackling Goose distribution and commonality in eastern Illinois (which Mr. Walters often conveniently forgets about). A beginning birder would not be surprised that the farther away you get from a species main range (whether migratory or as a resident), there will be fewer and fewer of that species found. Birders other than those traveling all around the state, to add species to their lists in the game of county bird listing, can also equally deduce a species migratory status and distribution. People like myself who have also traveled the state extensively with my job and through recreational birding, over the course of 35 years, am one of those people, and don't need a person like Mr. Walters passing judgment on my past observations. > > I also take exception to the comments directed at me in his posts (as he mentions me by name), in which he imparts a greater knowledge of the species in the part of the state that I have lived in for five decades (east-central Illinois). And I quote from his first post, "When you get to the eastern edge of IL, I've found them to be quite hard to come across." When I made comments after this that this species is not that hard to find in the eastern part of the state, Walters again conveniently changes his story to the SOUTHeastern part of the state, meanwhile still telling me how wrong I am. Again quoting from Walters next post, "I would still disagree with Steve's eastern evaluation of Cackling Geese in eastern sectors of IL, east of the IL River�.." I think many folks out there would feel that this was quite the arrogant statement (not to mention rude, from someone who doesn't live in the part of the state that he claims to have better knowledge of! He continues, "To wit, I suspect I've traveled quite a bit more in Edgar, Clark, Crawford, Lawrence and Wabash than Steve has and these are all counties east of and heading directly south of Champaign." In this post, Walters has now forgetten about Kankakee, Iroquois, Vermilion and other counties in east-central Illinois which his previous statements encompassed (you don't get any farther east in Illinois than these counties without going into Indiana), and instead he talks about all of the other counties south of here (which he didn't specify in his first post that I was responding to). Again, he says that he has more experience with them in areas that he thinks he has traveled in more than me (and AGAIN, I would say, how does he know???). > > In my last post, after reading this from Mr. Walters, "I got all my CBC data from the National Audubon Society site, which is publicly available, so the numbers I did notate are all verifiable for those interested in checking them out�.. In the last 5 years of data, counts in Vermilion (2), Piatt, Clark, Edgar, Coles and Cumberland have gone 0 for 5. For all of these counts, getting a Cackler would be a new count circle bird!" > > After that, I again pointed out that he is simply wrong, and does not have his facts right. Besides the fact that I have helped on the two Vermilion County CBCs that he talks about (for the last 25-35 years), and compile one of them, I went to the National Audubon CBC website and found three years with Cackling Goose records, despite Mr. Walters saying they have never been recorded on the CBC. Of course, I knew this because I have always been the compiler for that CBC. > I also pointed out that in the past winter 3 of the top four Cackling Goose high counts came from well east of the Illinois River, including two counties that border the Indiana line, despite Mr. Walters characterization that, "the top 15 high counts for Cackling Geese in a typical IL late Fall and early Winter, at least 10 and probably a dozen would come from west of the IL River." > > In one of his latest posts, Mr. Walters questions how many counties I have seen Cackling Geese in, when, in his words, "I've looked for them on a number of trips spanning many years in different seasons and I still need that species on the county list for the good majority of those counties, and my guess is that Steve also hasn't seen this species in most Se. IL counties either". As another person tried to point out to Mr. Walters, if you live in the county all the time, just because you don't see the species every day, doesn't mean that species is rarely found. In Mr. Walters case, it just means he wasn't in the county on the right day. Don't try to make it something more complicated than that! > In his latest post, now Mr. Walters is down to nit-picking about my sightings, in his words, "in east-central and upper southeastern IL", so now he is just down to a few counties in far southeastern Illinois! He also confronts me on my "subjective" use of the words, "relatively easy to locate", and says that there are , in his words, more "objective data to compare" my observations to. First, I would ask you if you would consider after not having been in an area for a year, then on the first day back in that area, I see a small number of Cackling Geese, mixed in among multiple flocks of Canada Geese, was that not pretty easy?? All I had to do was look through a few flocks of Canada Geese to find some Cacklings! I did the same thing the next time I was in southeastern Illinois a couple months later. Yeah, I consider that pretty easy Mr. Walters. Although you make it fairly obvious through your comments that because you THINK that you travel in that part of the state more than I (and AGAIN, how would you know??) since YOU don't see Cackling Geese in eastern or southeastern Illinois, they are obviously very rare there (since as you say, you haven't seen any there). It is also obvious to me that you rate your skills at bird observations over virtually anyone else in the state, no matter how many more years of experience they have over you. And to be quite honest, through each and every post that you have made on Cackling Geese, you admit that you are wrong about NOTHING (even though I have shown that you have been wrong on several occasions, including something as simple as reading off of the National Audubon Society CBC web pages! The fact that you disagree with much of what I and others have stated about Cackling Geese in the part of the state that we live in, despite yourself living in the far northeast corner of the state for at least 25 years, shows quite a bit of disrespectful arrogance, which is the main reason I continue to post on this subject. Because of this type of behavior, I would advise my fellow IBETers to not take Walters comments about the birdlife in eastern and southeastern Illinois with very much seriousness (as he obviously does not take my 35+ years of experience very seriously!). This topic is not that hard to understand, and it isn't rocket science or top notch ornithology either, and the thread should have ended some time back. I'm defending my character with Mr. Walters seemingly regular onslaughts on the topic of Cackling Goose distribution. I have plenty of other things to write, see, and talk about when it comes to birds� but if Mr. Walters wants to continue his never ending quest to show me how wrong I am, I will continue to point out his mistakes. Good birding. > > Steve Bailey > Mundelein (Lake Co), formerly a 49 year resident of east-central Illinois) > sdbailey AT ... >
Subject: IBET Rollins Savanna 7:00am Thursday 11/19 -Tundra Swans (Bad Weather-Good Birds)
From: "tvlewin AT sbcglobal.net" <tvlewin@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:25 -0000

Rollins is really picking up in terms of waterfowl migration. I went to the main pond off Drury Lane this morning and was greeted by a hundred geese taking off in groups of 20-30 in V formations. In the past few years, I have not seen many Green Winged Teals but today I saw 20-30 on the lake. As I was leaving , I saw a large formation of Swans and looked at the beaks...Black. I was thinking they could be Tundra or Whoopers (but unlikely so many Whoopers) and then I heard them calling and it was Tundra Swans. Two V formations of about 16 Tundra Swans flew over calling. Main sightings: * 32 Tundra Swans * Green Winged Teals * American Widgeon * American Coots-abundant * Canada Geese--a few looked smaller but I will have to go to the guides to figure out if any were Cackling Geese * Great Blue Heron * Herring Gulls * Buffleheads(10-15) * Hooded Mergandsers(10) Bad Weather and Good Birds today! Tom Lewin-Grayslake [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long)
From: "calcariusp" <sdbailey AT mail.inhs.uiuc.edu>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:26:49 -0000

What is clear to me is that Mr. Walters seems to forget everything that he has written in previous posts about his experience and his characterization with Cackling Goose migration in Illinois. And as long as he CONTINUES to characterize my comments as wrong, I will continue to refute his comments with very specific information that anybody can check on for themselves in the proper venues, to see that his information is wrong. With each post I have picked specific things about the species that he has talked about and either been wrong about, or does not have near enough experience in eastern Illinois compared to a number of birders, including myself, and I have addressed them specifically. Mr. Walters does not bother to address those specific topics in his following posts. He also conveniently picks and chooses the aspects of their migration through the state that he wishes to pontificate on, ignoring the obvious blunders of his previous statements, which I have pointed out and corrected in my future post about the species. I believe I made it quite clear in my last post on this thread, that I agree that some of the bigger numbers of Cackling Geese migrate down the Illinois and Mississippi River valleys�as I pointed out in my last post that that is because they are going to their main wintering areas in the Mississippi River valley in states farther to the south. My main disagreements have always been with his assessment of Cackling Goose distribution and commonality in eastern Illinois (which Mr. Walters often conveniently forgets about). A beginning birder would not be surprised that the farther away you get from a species main range (whether migratory or as a resident), there will be fewer and fewer of that species found. Birders other than those traveling all around the state, to add species to their lists in the game of county bird listing, can also equally deduce a species migratory status and distribution. People like myself who have also traveled the state extensively with my job and through recreational birding, over the course of 35 years, am one of those people, and don't need a person like Mr. Walters passing judgment on my past observations. I also take exception to the comments directed at me in his posts (as he mentions me by name), in which he imparts a greater knowledge of the species in the part of the state that I have lived in for five decades (east-central Illinois). And I quote from his first post, "When you get to the eastern edge of IL, I've found them to be quite hard to come across." When I made comments after this that this species is not that hard to find in the eastern part of the state, Walters again conveniently changes his story to the SOUTHeastern part of the state, meanwhile still telling me how wrong I am. Again quoting from Walters next post, "I would still disagree with Steve's eastern evaluation of Cackling Geese in eastern sectors of IL, east of the IL River�.." I think many folks out there would feel that this was quite the arrogant statement (not to mention rude, from someone who doesn't live in the part of the state that he claims to have better knowledge of! He continues, "To wit, I suspect I've traveled quite a bit more in Edgar, Clark, Crawford, Lawrence and Wabash than Steve has and these are all counties east of and heading directly south of Champaign." In this post, Walters has now forgetten about Kankakee, Iroquois, Vermilion and other counties in east-central Illinois which his previous statements encompassed (you don't get any farther east in Illinois than these counties without going into Indiana), and instead he talks about all of the other counties south of here (which he didn't specify in his first post that I was responding to). Again, he says that he has more experience with them in areas that he thinks he has traveled in more than me (and AGAIN, I would say, how does he know???). In my last post, after reading this from Mr. Walters, "I got all my CBC data from the National Audubon Society site, which is publicly available, so the numbers I did notate are all verifiable for those interested in checking them out�.. In the last 5 years of data, counts in Vermilion (2), Piatt, Clark, Edgar, Coles and Cumberland have gone 0 for 5. For all of these counts, getting a Cackler would be a new count circle bird!" After that, I again pointed out that he is simply wrong, and does not have his facts right. Besides the fact that I have helped on the two Vermilion County CBCs that he talks about (for the last 25-35 years), and compile one of them, I went to the National Audubon CBC website and found three years with Cackling Goose records, despite Mr. Walters saying they have never been recorded on the CBC. Of course, I knew this because I have always been the compiler for that CBC. I also pointed out that in the past winter 3 of the top four Cackling Goose high counts came from well east of the Illinois River, including two counties that border the Indiana line, despite Mr. Walters characterization that, "the top 15 high counts for Cackling Geese in a typical IL late Fall and early Winter, at least 10 and probably a dozen would come from west of the IL River." In one of his latest posts, Mr. Walters questions how many counties I have seen Cackling Geese in, when, in his words, "I've looked for them on a number of trips spanning many years in different seasons and I still need that species on the county list for the good majority of those counties, and my guess is that Steve also hasn't seen this species in most Se. IL counties either". As another person tried to point out to Mr. Walters, if you live in the county all the time, just because you don't see the species every day, doesn't mean that species is rarely found. In Mr. Walters case, it just means he wasn't in the county on the right day. Don't try to make it something more complicated than that! In his latest post, now Mr. Walters is down to nit-picking about my sightings, in his words, "in east-central and upper southeastern IL", so now he is just down to a few counties in far southeastern Illinois! He also confronts me on my "subjective" use of the words, "relatively easy to locate", and says that there are , in his words, more "objective data to compare" my observations to. First, I would ask you if you would consider after not having been in an area for a year, then on the first day back in that area, I see a small number of Cackling Geese, mixed in among multiple flocks of Canada Geese, was that not pretty easy?? All I had to do was look through a few flocks of Canada Geese to find some Cacklings! I did the same thing the next time I was in southeastern Illinois a couple months later. Yeah, I consider that pretty easy Mr. Walters. Although you make it fairly obvious through your comments that because you THINK that you travel in that part of the state more than I (and AGAIN, how would you know??) since YOU don't see Cackling Geese in eastern or southeastern Illinois, they are obviously very rare there (since as you say, you haven't seen any there). It is also obvious to me that you rate your skills at bird observations over virtually anyone else in the state, no matter how many more years of experience they have over you. And to be quite honest, through each and every post that you have made on Cackling Geese, you admit that you are wrong about NOTHING (even though I have shown that you have been wrong on several occasions, including something as simple as reading off of the National Audubon Society CBC web pages! The fact that you disagree with much of what I and others have stated about Cackling Geese in the part of the state that we live in, despite yourself living in the far northeast corner of the state for at least 25 years, shows quite a bit of disrespectful arrogance, which is the main reason I continue to post on this subject. Because of this type of behavior, I would advise my fellow IBETers to not take Walters comments about the birdlife in eastern and southeastern Illinois with very much seriousness (as he obviously does not take my 35+ years of experience very seriously!). This topic is not that hard to understand, and it isn't rocket science or top notch ornithology either, and the thread should have ended some time back. I'm defending my character with Mr. Walters seemingly regular onslaughts on the topic of Cackling Goose distribution. I have plenty of other things to write, see, and talk about when it comes to birds� but if Mr. Walters wants to continue his never ending quest to show me how wrong I am, I will continue to point out his mistakes. Good birding. Steve Bailey Mundelein (Lake Co), formerly a 49 year resident of east-central Illinois) sdbailey AT mail.inhs.uiuc.edu
Subject: IBET California Gull photos (and other Lake County birds)
From: "ericwalt40" <ericwalters7 AT sbcglobal.net>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:57:52 -0000

I found and photographed a California Gull at Winthrop Harbor's North Point Marina (Lake County) midday on November 17th. Photos and ID help for this species along with field summaries of other species from this area can be found here: http://www.ilbirds.com/index.php?topic=29169.0 Eric Walters Zion, IL
Subject: IBET Common Loons
From: bob shelby <bobshelby_1956 AT hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:17:37 -0600

Leroy Harrison and I observed over 250 Common Loons on East Fork Lake yesterday and this morning in Richland County. In Lawrence Co. at Chauncey Marsh, we found 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler. Bob Shelby West Salem,Edwards County (Southeastern Illinois) bobshelby_1956 AT hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Windows 7: I wanted simpler, now it's simpler. I'm a rock star. http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?h=myidea?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_myidea:112009 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET: Shabbona Lake Black Scoters
From: "Darrell Shambaugh" <d.shambaugh AT mchsi.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:23:29 -0600

The BLACK SCOTERS were still at Shabbona Lake (DeKalb County, near the town of Shabbona) this afternoon. While trying to photograph them I discovered there are FIVE of them! Two were together swimming northwest and three were feeding along the shore near the point of rocks that jut out into the lake near the Shabbona Grove picnic shelter. In the hour I was there, all five were simultaneously above water only once, for a few seconds. There were not too many other ducks and water birds today. I found about 300 AMERICAN COOTS, 50 MALLARDS, about 400 CANADA GEESE (including flyovers), about 15 CACKLING GEESE, 4 NORTHERN SHOVELERS, 5 GADWALL, 2 LESSER SCAUP, the COMMON MERGANSER (with the adult male body and the brown head), 5 PIED-BILLED GREBES, and 3 HORNED GREBES. The Cackling Geese were at the west end of the lake. I didn't walk far enough to see how many were "around the corner." There were 2 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and at least 5 GREAT BLUE HERONS on the trees and shore line. Other than about 50 AMERICAN CROWS, the only other birds I saw or heard were a BELTED KINGFISHER on the lake and several RING-NECKED PHEASANTS calling at the pond by the entrance. Darrell Shambaugh Somonauk, DeKalb County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Re: IBET RE: WHOOPS Cackling Geese
From: "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:35:21 -0800 (PST)

I think Michael Retter makes a very good point here. Heck, I've been an avid birder in east central Illinois for 30+ years, and it's only relatively recently that I've known to look for Cackling/Richardson's Geese among the Canadas. Bernie Sloan --- On Wed, 11/18/09, Michael L. P. Retter wrote: From: Michael L. P. Retter Subject: IBET RE: WHOOPS Cackling Geese To: "IBET" Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 5:56 PM Apologies... that should have read: May I suggest that the majority of CBC-attendees do not know how to tell a Richardson's Goose from a CANADA Goose, and that, therefore, negative data from CBCs as they apply to Cackling/Richardson 's Geese is probably of little if any use. Michael L. P. Retter ------------ --------- --------- --- W. Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., IN mlretter AT yahoo.com home: 765.838.3152 cell: 309.824.7317 http://xenospiza. com/ Tour Leader, Tropical Birding http://www.tropical birding.com/ ------------ --------- --------- ----- --- On Wed, 11/18/09, Michael L. P. Retter wrote: From: Michael L. P. Retter Subject: RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) To: "IBET" Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 4:55 PM May I suggest that the majority of CBC-attendees do not know how to tell a Richardson's Goose from a Cackling Goose, and that, therefore, negative data from CBCs as they apply to Cackling Geese is probably of little if any use. Michael L. P. Retter ------------ --------- --------- --- W. Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., IN mlretter AT yahoo.com home: 765.838.3152 cell: 309.824.7317 http://xenospiza. com/ Tour Leader, Tropical Birding http://www.tropical birding.com/ ------------ --------- --------- ----- --- On Wed, 11/18/09, Mcmullen, Keith A MVS wrote: From: Mcmullen, Keith A MVS Subject: RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) To: "ericwalt40" , ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 4:30 PM Might I suggest we get Craig and Tim to skip a dilly bar or two (sorry, Tim!) and drive a little further south (gas might be cheaper, Craig!) and see if they can get some data on CACKLING GEESE in the underbirded counties of SE Illinois. It's just a suggestion and for those that can not tell, I AM trying to throw in some humor whether called for or not. IF I offend someone, I apologize in advance. Good birdings! Keith McMullen O'Fallon, IL warbler7 AT sbcglobal. net -----Original Message----- From: ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com [mailto:ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com] On Behalf Of ericwalt40 Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4:23 PM To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com Subject: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) It's not clear to me what in this below post actually diminishes my thought/theory regarding Cackling Geese being most regular in distribution and numbers in the western regions of IL (specifically areas west of Hwy 39/Hwy 55 or Rockford-Bloomingto n-Springfield- St. Louis). In fact, getting only small numbers of 3-6 Cackling Geese in east-central and upper southeastern IL (and basically none on the majority of published CBC's in those regions) would only add more strong objective data in support of my former post. I did previously note that the National Audubon Society's published CBC data shows that Cackling Geese are being found in the deeper Southern IL CBC's (although some counts haven't yet recorded it and others don't find it annually). A reasonable theory would be that in this `goose heaven' region from Carlyle Lake south to Mermet Lake, one would expect the highest counts for IL of Cackling Geese in latter Fall and Winter, yet the NAS CBC (and Meadowlark Fall data) indicate otherwise. If Steve's subjective statements that he encounters Cackling Geese in "large numbers" and is "relatively easy to locate" in the deep southern IL CBC's, then one would have to subjectively describe Cackling Goose on some of the IL River CBC's as `abundant' and `extremely easy' to find. But why use subjective statements when there's objective data to compare? The published CBC facts show the highest overall maximum counts in the last 5 years are not from deep Southern IL for this species. I did note that the top 10 top IL Fall high counts were from the western region I've described and this empirical data is easily obtained by a researcher reviewing `Meadowlark' publications. On the other side of the state, in the Southeastern section (specifically the 8 county area of Wayne-Edwards south to Pope-Hardin) , Cackling Geese can be very challenging to find. I've not seen/heard of published data or even birding posts of even good-sized flocks, let alone even irregular sightings mentioned of this species down there. That's just an objective reality. One last interesting field observation relates to Edgar County. Between 20-24 waterfowl species overwinter in this county, yet Cackling Goose not only can be challenging to get, they are also the rarest of the 5 geese for that county (Ross's is easier!). The CBC in that county still hasn't recorded Cacklers yet. With Edgar being the epicenter of a number of waterfowl species in east-central IL, one can't use the subjective theory that Cacklers would be present if there was just water to hold them (which is using Null data to support the opposite of the empirical data results). A better theory to support the current objective data is that Cacklers are just hard to come by in most places and mainly in very low numbers for much of even that part of the state. Eric Walters Zion, IL [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Whoopers still at Nygren
From: <astraight4 AT verizon.net>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:32:58 -0600

I drove up to Nygren about 4p.m. and the Whoopers were there. There were on the East side and with sun setting and shinning onto that area, it was a really nice sight. I had left, it was getting dark, and got a call later that 3 SHORT-EARED OWLS had made an appearance right after I left!. Anne Straight Forreston, IL (Ogle County)
Subject: IBET Injured Canada Goose at NI
From: "Jennifer Schmidt" <jvs AT uic.edu>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:09:49 -0600

There was a Canada Goose at Northerly Island this morning with fishing line or something similar wrapped tightly around his right leg; probably the bird Steve Spitzer saw at Montrose. The leg looks to be in bad shape, and the line is cutting pretty deeply. The bird isn't putting much weight on that leg, but he's fully flighted. We made a capture attempt but he was with two other birds and they all flushed into the harbor. It would be good to keep an eye out for this bird, he may weaken to the point where he's catchable. Jennifer Schmidt Chicago/Evanston, Cook County IL _ _ _ _ _ Jennifer V. Schmidt, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biological Sciences University of Illinois at Chicago 900 S. Ashland Avenue, M/C 567 Chicago, IL 60607 Phone 312-996-5655 Fax 312-413-2691 E-mail jvs AT uic.edu [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Third lake correction
From: Beau Schaefer <beauschaefer AT sbcglobal.net>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:25:33 -0600

The Black Scoter and Tundra Swans I reported from Third Lake were actually on Druce Lake to the southeast. Sorry for the error. Beau Schaefer beauschaefer AT sbcglobal.net Round Lake Beach, IL Lake Co [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Re: IBET Kankakee: Continuing NRW Swallow (2) + Palm Warbler
From: Jed Hertz <jhh_60910 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:20:43 -0800 (PST)

Hi again, I forgot to mention I tied my record high count of Carolina Wren (10) today (previous record of ten was on 10/27/06 also at LeVasseur Park/Perry Farm). Jed Hertz Kankakee, Kankakee Co, IL (60 mi South of Chicago) Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhertz/ Give "ebird" a try: http://ebird.org/content/ebird --- On Wed, 11/18/09, Jed Hertz wrote: From: Jed Hertz Subject: IBET Kankakee: Continuing NRW Swallow (2) + Palm Warbler To: "IBET" Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 5:05 PM Hi all, Wed 18-Nov-09: Kankakee Co: I made a few stops this morning around the Kankakee area and found 52 species including my latest Northern Rough-winged Swallow (ad + imm) (continuing at Kankakee Metro-Sewer) , and a Palm Warbler on the fenceline also at Metro-sewer.   Others of note: a Common Loon at Beckman Park (rare here), my 2nd latest Dunlin continues at flooded farm field, and 4 species of goose. BTW: I had a Rough-legged Hawk (Light Morph) yesterday east of town - about a month later then my 2006 early record for my survey area. Here's the run-down: IL, Beckman Park, Kankakee, Kankakee County 1 ¨ ¨ 1 Common Loon ¨ basic; 0705H; Rare on the river (1 of 15 sightings in Kankakee Co in 8 yrs); photo IL, Justine Drive House, Kankakee 12 1430-1530H_OC_ 48_SSW 5. ¨ ¨ 1 Red-tailed Hawk ¨ imm; ¨ ¨ 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker ¨ Male ¨ ¨ 1 Downy Woodpecker ¨ Female ¨ ¨ 2 Blue Jay ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Tufted Titmouse ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 White-breasted Nuthatch ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 White-throated Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Dark-eyed Junco ¨ ¨ ¨ 6 Northern Cardinal ¨ ¨ ¨ 24 House Finch ¨ ¨ ¨ 12 American Goldfinch ¨ ¨ ¨ 80 House Sparrow ¨   IL, LeVasseur Park-Perry Farm, Kankakee Co 43 0750-1210H (1.5 W)_OC_47-48_ SSW 0-10_E Chipmunk (2)_Beaver_Wt Deer (2)_Red Squirrel_River Normal. ¨ ¨ 72 Canada Goose ¨ ¨ ¨ 68 Mallard ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Ring-necked Pheasant ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Wild Turkey ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Pied-billed Grebe ¨ pond ¨ ¨ 1 Great Blue Heron ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Cooper's Hawk ¨ ad ¨ ¨ 1 Red-tailed Hawk ¨ ad ¨ ¨ 12 American Coot ¨ Quarry ¨ ¨ 4 Sandhill Crane ¨ FO ->SE ¨ ¨ 4 Ring-billed Gull ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Rock Pigeon ¨ ¨ ¨ 52 Mourning Dove ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Red-headed Woodpecker ¨ ¨ ¨ 9 Red-bellied Woodpecker ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Downy Woodpecker ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Hairy Woodpecker ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Northern Flicker ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 Blue Jay ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 American Crow ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallow ¨ ad + imm (molting) at 0930H over Metro-sewer tanks; My latest. ¨ ¨ 3 Black-capped Chickadee ¨ ¨ ¨ 6 White-breasted Nuthatch ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Brown Creeper ¨ ¨ ¨ 10 Carolina Wren ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Hermit Thrush ¨ plaintive "peew" ¨ ¨ 42 American Robin ¨ ¨ ¨ 64 European Starling ¨ ¨ ¨ 62 Cedar Waxwing ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Palm Warbler ¨ Brown (Western); Tail pumping noted; Metro-sewer fenceline w/YeruWa; My latest by 15 days; photo ¨ ¨ 4 American Tree Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 2 Song Sparrow ¨ One singing. ¨ ¨ 9 White-throated Sparrow ¨ ¨ ¨ 44 Dark-eyed Junco ¨ ¨ ¨ 26 Northern Cardinal ¨ ¨ ¨ 13 Red-winged Blackbird ¨ ¨ ¨ 3 Purple Finch ¨ heard "pik" and sighted ¨ ¨ 3 House Finch ¨ ¨ ¨ 8 American Goldfinch ¨ ¨ ¨ 42 House Sparrow ¨   IL, Kankakee Co 11 1220-1245H (1.3 D)_OC_48_SSW 5. ¨ ¨ 3 Snow Goose ¨ 3 LM + DM ¨ ¨ 3 Ross's Goose ¨ LM ¨ ¨ 24 Cackling Goose ¨ ¨ ¨ 454 Canada Goose ¨ ¨ ¨ 4 Mallard ¨ ¨ ¨ 6 Northern Shoveler ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 American Kestrel ¨ ¨ ¨ 26 Killdeer ¨ ¨ ¨ 1 Dunlin ¨ My 2nd latest (11/19/02 latest) ¨ ¨ 3 American Crow ¨ ¨ ¨ 200 European Starling ¨ Jed Hertz Kankakee, Kankakee Co, IL (60 mi South of Chicago) Photos: http://www.flickr. com/photos/ jhertz/ Give "ebird" a try: http://ebird. org/content/ ebird [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Lake County Tundra Swans, Black Scoter
From: Beau Schaefer <beauschaefer AT sbcglobal.net>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:14:15 -0600

Never was the adage, "bad weather, good birds" more true for me than it was today. And to think I almost went straight home. Foolishness. I stopped at Butler Lake on the campus of Libertyville High School and saw a few white swans. Normally, this is no issue since there are about 7 or 8 MUTE SWANS that have been hanging out for a couple of weeks. Nevertheless, I scoped 'em out and sure nuff there were 2 adult TUNDRA SWANS at the west end of the pond. I got excellent looks at the yellow mark beneath the eye to make sure they weren't Trumpeters. From here I stopped at Independence Grove and Rt. 45 marsh but found little of interest other than 2 CACKLING GEESE at In.Grove. On the way home I stopped at Third Lake off of rt. 45. I scanned the lake and saw 4 swans at the north end. I know they weren't mutes but light was failing and they were far away, so they could have been Trumpeters though that's not as likely. I also saw a rather close brown duck that looked like it had a pale cheek. Could it be my nemesis, the black scoter? The scope view was clear and confirmed a female BLACK SCOTER! Lastly I stopped at Sand Lake on Grand Ave. Even though it was pretty dark at this time (4:45pm), I wanted to see if there were any swans. I've seen up to 8 mute swans on this lake, as well, and I'm sure some mutes were in there, but the vast majority of the 62!!!! that I could see had black bills. A pretty awesome end of the day! Good Birding! Beau Schaefer beauschaefer AT sbcglobal.net Round Lake Beach, IL Lake Co [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Kankakee: Continuing NRW Swallow (2) + Palm Warbler
From: Jed Hertz <jhh_60910 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:05:02 -0800 (PST)

Hi all, � Wed 18-Nov-09: Kankakee Co: � I�made a few stops�this morning around the Kankakee area and found 52 species including my latest Northern Rough-winged Swallow (ad + imm) (continuing at�Kankakee Metro-Sewer),�and a�Palm Warbler on the fenceline also at Metro-sewer.��Others of note: a Common Loon at Beckman Park (rare here), my 2nd latest�Dunlin continues at flooded farm field, and 4 species of goose. � BTW: I had a Rough-legged Hawk (Light Morph) yesterday east of town - about a month later then my 2006 early record for my survey area. � Here's the run-down: � IL, Beckman Park, Kankakee, Kankakee County 1 � � � 1 Common Loon � basic; 0705H; Rare on the river (1 of 15 sightings in Kankakee Co in 8 yrs); photo � IL, Justine Drive House, Kankakee 12 1430-1530H_OC_48_SSW 5. � � � � 1 Red-tailed Hawk � imm;� � � � 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker � Male � � � 1 Downy Woodpecker � Female � � � 2 Blue Jay � � � � � 1 Tufted Titmouse � � � � � 2 White-breasted Nuthatch � � � � � 1 White-throated Sparrow � � � � � 2 Dark-eyed Junco � � � � � 6 Northern Cardinal � � � � � 24 House Finch � � � � � 12 American Goldfinch � � � � � 80 House Sparrow �� IL, LeVasseur Park-Perry Farm, Kankakee Co 43 0750-1210H (1.5 W)_OC_47-48_SSW 0-10_E Chipmunk (2)_Beaver_Wt Deer (2)_Red Squirrel_River Normal. � � � 72 Canada Goose �� 68 Mallard � � � � � 2 Ring-necked Pheasant � � � � � 1 Wild Turkey � � � � � 1 Pied-billed Grebe � pond � � � 1 Great Blue Heron � � � � � 1 Cooper's Hawk � ad � � � 1 Red-tailed Hawk � ad � � � 12 American Coot � Quarry � � � 4 Sandhill Crane � FO ->SE � � � 4 Ring-billed Gull � � � � � 2 Rock Pigeon � � � � � 52 Mourning Dove � � � � � 1 Red-headed Woodpecker � � � � � 9 Red-bellied Woodpecker � � � � � 4 Downy Woodpecker � � � � � 2 Hairy Woodpecker � � � � � 4 Northern Flicker � � � � � 8 Blue Jay � � � � � 8 American Crow � � � � � 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallow � ad + imm (molting) at 0930H over Metro-sewer tanks; My latest.� � � � 3 Black-capped Chickadee � � � � � 6 White-breasted Nuthatch � � � � � 3 Brown Creeper � � � � � 10 Carolina Wren � � � � � 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet � � � � � 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet � � � � � 1 Hermit Thrush � plaintive "peew" � � � 42 American Robin � � � � � 64 European Starling � � � � � 62 Cedar Waxwing � � � � � 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler � � � � � 1 Palm Warbler � Brown (Western); Tail pumping noted; Metro-sewer fenceline w/YeruWa; My latest by 15 days; �photo � � � 4 American Tree Sparrow � � � � � 2 Song Sparrow � One singing. � � � 9 White-throated Sparrow � � � � � 44 Dark-eyed Junco � � � � � 26 Northern Cardinal � � � � � 13 Red-winged Blackbird � � � � � 3 Purple Finch � heard "pik" and sighted � � � 3 House Finch � � � � � 8 American Goldfinch � � � � � 42 House Sparrow �� IL,�Kankakee Co 11 1220-1245H (1.3 D)_OC_48_SSW 5. � � � � 3 Snow Goose � 3 LM + DM � � � 3 Ross's Goose � LM � � � 24 Cackling Goose � � � � � 454 Canada Goose � � � � 4 Mallard � � � � � 6 Northern Shoveler � � � � � 1 American Kestrel � � � � � 26 Killdeer � � � � � 1 Dunlin � �My�2nd latest (11/19/02�latest)� � � � 3 American Crow � � � � � 200 European Starling � � Jed Hertz Kankakee, Kankakee Co, IL (60 mi South of Chicago) Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhertz/ Give "ebird" a try: http://ebird.org/content/ebird [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET RE: WHOOPS Cackling Geese
From: "Michael L. P. Retter" <mlretter AT yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:56:39 -0800 (PST)

Apologies...that should have read: May I suggest that the majority of CBC-attendees do not know how to tell a Richardson's Goose from a CANADA Goose, and that, therefore, negative data from CBCs as they apply to Cackling/Richardson's Geese is probably of little if any use. Michael L. P. Retter --------------------------------- W. Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., IN mlretter AT yahoo.com home: 765.838.3152 cell: 309.824.7317 http://xenospiza.com/ Tour Leader, Tropical Birding http://www.tropicalbirding.com/ ----------------------------------- --- On Wed, 11/18/09, Michael L. P. Retter wrote: From: Michael L. P. Retter Subject: RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) To: "IBET" Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 4:55 PM May I suggest that the majority of CBC-attendees do not know how to tell a Richardson's Goose from a Cackling Goose, and that, therefore, negative data from CBCs as they apply to Cackling Geese is probably of little if any use. Michael L. P. Retter --------------------------------- W. Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., IN mlretter AT yahoo.com home: 765.838.3152 cell: 309.824.7317 http://xenospiza.com/ Tour Leader, Tropical Birding http://www.tropicalbirding.com/ ----------------------------------- --- On Wed, 11/18/09, Mcmullen, Keith A MVS wrote: From: Mcmullen, Keith A MVS Subject: RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) To: "ericwalt40" , ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 4:30 PM Might I suggest we get Craig and Tim to skip a dilly bar or two (sorry, Tim!) and drive a little further south (gas might be cheaper, Craig!) and see if they can get some data on CACKLING GEESE in the underbirded counties of SE Illinois. It's just a suggestion and for those that can not tell, I AM trying to throw in some humor whether called for or not. IF I offend someone, I apologize in advance. Good birdings! Keith McMullen O'Fallon, IL warbler7 AT sbcglobal. net -----Original Message----- From: ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com [mailto:ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com] On Behalf Of ericwalt40 Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4:23 PM To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com Subject: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) It's not clear to me what in this below post actually diminishes my thought/theory regarding Cackling Geese being most regular in distribution and numbers in the western regions of IL (specifically areas west of Hwy 39/Hwy 55 or Rockford-Bloomingto n-Springfield- St. Louis). In fact, getting only small numbers of 3-6 Cackling Geese in east-central and upper southeastern IL (and basically none on the majority of published CBC's in those regions) would only add more strong objective data in support of my former post. I did previously note that the National Audubon Society's published CBC data shows that Cackling Geese are being found in the deeper Southern IL CBC's (although some counts haven't yet recorded it and others don't find it annually). A reasonable theory would be that in this `goose heaven' region from Carlyle Lake south to Mermet Lake, one would expect the highest counts for IL of Cackling Geese in latter Fall and Winter, yet the NAS CBC (and Meadowlark Fall data) indicate otherwise. If Steve's subjective statements that he encounters Cackling Geese in "large numbers" and is "relatively easy to locate" in the deep southern IL CBC's, then one would have to subjectively describe Cackling Goose on some of the IL River CBC's as `abundant' and `extremely easy' to find. But why use subjective statements when there's objective data to compare? The published CBC facts show the highest overall maximum counts in the last 5 years are not from deep Southern IL for this species. I did note that the top 10 top IL Fall high counts were from the western region I've described and this empirical data is easily obtained by a researcher reviewing `Meadowlark' publications. On the other side of the state, in the Southeastern section (specifically the 8 county area of Wayne-Edwards south to Pope-Hardin) , Cackling Geese can be very challenging to find. I've not seen/heard of published data or even birding posts of even good-sized flocks, let alone even irregular sightings mentioned of this species down there. That's just an objective reality. One last interesting field observation relates to Edgar County. Between 20-24 waterfowl species overwinter in this county, yet Cackling Goose not only can be challenging to get, they are also the rarest of the 5 geese for that county (Ross's is easier!). The CBC in that county still hasn't recorded Cacklers yet. With Edgar being the epicenter of a number of waterfowl species in east-central IL, one can't use the subjective theory that Cacklers would be present if there was just water to hold them (which is using Null data to support the opposite of the empirical data results). A better theory to support the current objective data is that Cacklers are just hard to come by in most places and mainly in very low numbers for much of even that part of the state. Eric Walters Zion, IL [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long)
From: "Michael L. P. Retter" <mlretter AT yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:55:13 -0800 (PST)

May I suggest that the majority of CBC-attendees do not know how to tell a Richardson's Goose from a Cackling Goose, and that, therefore, negative data from CBCs as they apply to Cackling Geese is probably of little if any use. Michael L. P. Retter --------------------------------- W. Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., IN mlretter AT yahoo.com home: 765.838.3152 cell: 309.824.7317 http://xenospiza.com/ Tour Leader, Tropical Birding http://www.tropicalbirding.com/ ----------------------------------- --- On Wed, 11/18/09, Mcmullen, Keith A MVS wrote: From: Mcmullen, Keith A MVS Subject: RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) To: "ericwalt40" , ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 4:30 PM Might I suggest we get Craig and Tim to skip a dilly bar or two (sorry, Tim!) and drive a little further south (gas might be cheaper, Craig!) and see if they can get some data on CACKLING GEESE in the underbirded counties of SE Illinois. It's just a suggestion and for those that can not tell, I AM trying to throw in some humor whether called for or not. IF I offend someone, I apologize in advance. Good birdings! Keith McMullen O'Fallon, IL warbler7 AT sbcglobal. net -----Original Message----- From: ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com [mailto:ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com] On Behalf Of ericwalt40 Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4:23 PM To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com Subject: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) It's not clear to me what in this below post actually diminishes my thought/theory regarding Cackling Geese being most regular in distribution and numbers in the western regions of IL (specifically areas west of Hwy 39/Hwy 55 or Rockford-Bloomingto n-Springfield- St. Louis). In fact, getting only small numbers of 3-6 Cackling Geese in east-central and upper southeastern IL (and basically none on the majority of published CBC's in those regions) would only add more strong objective data in support of my former post. I did previously note that the National Audubon Society's published CBC data shows that Cackling Geese are being found in the deeper Southern IL CBC's (although some counts haven't yet recorded it and others don't find it annually). A reasonable theory would be that in this `goose heaven' region from Carlyle Lake south to Mermet Lake, one would expect the highest counts for IL of Cackling Geese in latter Fall and Winter, yet the NAS CBC (and Meadowlark Fall data) indicate otherwise. If Steve's subjective statements that he encounters Cackling Geese in "large numbers" and is "relatively easy to locate" in the deep southern IL CBC's, then one would have to subjectively describe Cackling Goose on some of the IL River CBC's as `abundant' and `extremely easy' to find. But why use subjective statements when there's objective data to compare? The published CBC facts show the highest overall maximum counts in the last 5 years are not from deep Southern IL for this species. I did note that the top 10 top IL Fall high counts were from the western region I've described and this empirical data is easily obtained by a researcher reviewing `Meadowlark' publications. On the other side of the state, in the Southeastern section (specifically the 8 county area of Wayne-Edwards south to Pope-Hardin) , Cackling Geese can be very challenging to find. I've not seen/heard of published data or even birding posts of even good-sized flocks, let alone even irregular sightings mentioned of this species down there. That's just an objective reality. One last interesting field observation relates to Edgar County. Between 20-24 waterfowl species overwinter in this county, yet Cackling Goose not only can be challenging to get, they are also the rarest of the 5 geese for that county (Ross's is easier!). The CBC in that county still hasn't recorded Cacklers yet. With Edgar being the epicenter of a number of waterfowl species in east-central IL, one can't use the subjective theory that Cacklers would be present if there was just water to hold them (which is using Null data to support the opposite of the empirical data results). A better theory to support the current objective data is that Cacklers are just hard to come by in most places and mainly in very low numbers for much of even that part of the state. Eric Walters Zion, IL [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: RE: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long)
From: "Mcmullen, Keith A MVS" <Keith.A.Mcmullen AT usace.army.mil>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:30:52 -0600

Might I suggest we get Craig and Tim to skip a dilly bar or two (sorry, Tim!) and drive a little further south (gas might be cheaper, Craig!) and see if they can get some data on CACKLING GEESE in the underbirded counties of SE Illinois. It's just a suggestion and for those that can not tell, I AM trying to throw in some humor whether called for or not. IF I offend someone, I apologize in advance. Good birdings! Keith McMullen O'Fallon, IL warbler7 AT sbcglobal.net -----Original Message----- From: ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ericwalt40 Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 4:23 PM To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com Subject: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long) It's not clear to me what in this below post actually diminishes my thought/theory regarding Cackling Geese being most regular in distribution and numbers in the western regions of IL (specifically areas west of Hwy 39/Hwy 55 or Rockford-Bloomington-Springfield-St. Louis). In fact, getting only small numbers of 3-6 Cackling Geese in east-central and upper southeastern IL (and basically none on the majority of published CBC's in those regions) would only add more strong objective data in support of my former post. I did previously note that the National Audubon Society's published CBC data shows that Cackling Geese are being found in the deeper Southern IL CBC's (although some counts haven't yet recorded it and others don't find it annually). A reasonable theory would be that in this `goose heaven' region from Carlyle Lake south to Mermet Lake, one would expect the highest counts for IL of Cackling Geese in latter Fall and Winter, yet the NAS CBC (and Meadowlark Fall data) indicate otherwise. If Steve's subjective statements that he encounters Cackling Geese in "large numbers" and is "relatively easy to locate" in the deep southern IL CBC's, then one would have to subjectively describe Cackling Goose on some of the IL River CBC's as `abundant' and `extremely easy' to find. But why use subjective statements when there's objective data to compare? The published CBC facts show the highest overall maximum counts in the last 5 years are not from deep Southern IL for this species. I did note that the top 10 top IL Fall high counts were from the western region I've described and this empirical data is easily obtained by a researcher reviewing `Meadowlark' publications. On the other side of the state, in the Southeastern section (specifically the 8 county area of Wayne-Edwards south to Pope-Hardin), Cackling Geese can be very challenging to find. I've not seen/heard of published data or even birding posts of even good-sized flocks, let alone even irregular sightings mentioned of this species down there. That's just an objective reality. One last interesting field observation relates to Edgar County. Between 20-24 waterfowl species overwinter in this county, yet Cackling Goose not only can be challenging to get, they are also the rarest of the 5 geese for that county (Ross's is easier!). The CBC in that county still hasn't recorded Cacklers yet. With Edgar being the epicenter of a number of waterfowl species in east-central IL, one can't use the subjective theory that Cacklers would be present if there was just water to hold them (which is using Null data to support the opposite of the empirical data results). A better theory to support the current objective data is that Cacklers are just hard to come by in most places and mainly in very low numbers for much of even that part of the state. Eric Walters Zion, IL
Subject: IBET Re: Cackling Goose info (No sightings, long)
From: "ericwalt40" <ericwalters7 AT sbcglobal.net>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:22:42 -0000

It's not clear to me what in this below post actually diminishes my thought/theory regarding Cackling Geese being most regular in distribution and numbers in the western regions of IL (specifically areas west of Hwy 39/Hwy 55 or Rockford-Bloomington-Springfield-St. Louis). In fact, getting only small numbers of 3-6 Cackling Geese in east-central and upper southeastern IL (and basically none on the majority of published CBC's in those regions) would only add more strong objective data in support of my former post. I did previously note that the National Audubon Society's published CBC data shows that Cackling Geese are being found in the deeper Southern IL CBC's (although some counts haven't yet recorded it and others don't find it annually). A reasonable theory would be that in this `goose heaven' region from Carlyle Lake south to Mermet Lake, one would expect the highest counts for IL of Cackling Geese in latter Fall and Winter, yet the NAS CBC (and Meadowlark Fall data) indicate otherwise. If Steve's subjective statements that he encounters Cackling Geese in "large numbers" and is "relatively easy to locate" in the deep southern IL CBC's, then one would have to subjectively describe Cackling Goose on some of the IL River CBC's as `abundant' and `extremely easy' to find. But why use subjective statements when there's objective data to compare? The published CBC facts show the highest overall maximum counts in the last 5 years are not from deep Southern IL for this species. I did note that the top 10 top IL Fall high counts were from the western region I've described and this empirical data is easily obtained by a researcher reviewing `Meadowlark' publications. On the other side of the state, in the Southeastern section (specifically the 8 county area of Wayne-Edwards south to Pope-Hardin), Cackling Geese can be very challenging to find. I've not seen/heard of published data or even birding posts of even good-sized flocks, let alone even irregular sightings mentioned of this species down there. That's just an objective reality. One last interesting field observation relates to Edgar County. Between 20-24 waterfowl species overwinter in this county, yet Cackling Goose not only can be challenging to get, they are also the rarest of the 5 geese for that county (Ross's is easier!). The CBC in that county still hasn't recorded Cacklers yet. With Edgar being the epicenter of a number of waterfowl species in east-central IL, one can't use the subjective theory that Cacklers would be present if there was just water to hold them (which is using Null data to support the opposite of the empirical data results). A better theory to support the current objective data is that Cacklers are just hard to come by in most places and mainly in very low numbers for much of even that part of the state. Eric Walters Zion, IL xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --- In ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com, "calcariusp" wrote: > > Since this topic has been broached yet again, I will pass on a few more bits of info that I came across while helping Sheryl work on the next (winter) issue of the Meadowlark ornithological journal, as well as some other info that I wasn't going to mention �until this topic has once again arisen from the same person. In the field notes for last winter, the three highest counts did not come from western Illinois, but from areas well east of the Illinois River in McLean, Kankakee, and Will Counties (the latter two closer to the Indiana line than our border states to the west. Since the author of these Cackling Goose threads initially stated "when you get to the eastern edge of IL, I've found them to be quite hard to come across", then this was later amended to southeastern Illinois (not to include northern Illinois sites east of the Illinois River), after it was shown that there are actually good numbers east of the Illinois River, here are a few more records of note. These numbers and locations seem to contradict Mr. Walters statement, "Maybe another way of saying this would be that of the top 15 high counts for Cackling Geese in a typical IL late Fall and early Winter, at least 10 and probably a dozen would come from west of the IL River". The statement was made that "Cackling can be very hard in much of that terrain (southeastern Illinois), certainly a highlight bird" and I'm not sure if Steve has ever birded in deep Southeastern IL during late Fall and winter, but Cackling is very hard down there, I still need that species on the county list for the good majority of those counties (and my guess is that Steve also hasn't seen this species in most Se. IL counties either). > > Just to set the record straight, I have birded all of the mentioned counties in southeastern Illinois a fair bit, in most/all seasons, but especially in summer/winter. I have helped on the Prairie Ridge Christmas Bird Count off and on for at least 10-15 years or more, in the heart of the area being talked about. Just last year, I had 6 Cackling Geese on that CBC with a friend, and on another winter trip last winter had a small number of Cackling Geese on my drive home down the interstate (not even birding...not too hard!) in three other southeastern counties on my way home in Marion, Clay and Effingham Counties. Friends and I also had 3 Cackling Geese on the Champaign County CBC in far eastern Illinois. > > As to Cackling Goose records found on other Christmas Bird Counts, the aforementioned author states, "In the last 5 years of data, counts in Vermilion (2), Piatt, Clark, Edgar, Coles and Cumberland have gone 0 for 5. For all of these counts, getting a Cackler would be a new count circle bird"! As the compiler (since 1984) of one of the two Vermilion County CBCs that Mr. Walters is talking about, I can tell you that Mr. Walters is simply wrong. We have recorded Cackling Geese on three of the past four years counts (2 on the 2005-06 CBC, 6 on the 2006-07 CBC, and 8 on last years count). If I spent more time going through all of the Canada Goose flocks that I see during the day of the CBC, these numbers would likely be higher. We also likely would have had them in previous years on this (and other counts), had Cackling Goose been a full species in earlier years. Just for your information, Vermilion County lies right next to the Indiana line, in extreme east-central Illinois. One only has to look through a large flock of Canada Geese in migration or winter, and they will likely find a few Cackling Geese in Vermilion county or elsewhere. I have also helped on the other Vermilion County CBC (that Mr. Walters mentions) for at least 35 years, and likely one of the reasons for not finding any Cackling Geese on that CBC is that the count circle has very little water within it, except for the Vermilion River (no lakes with only a few small ponds), and so even Giant Canada Geese are fairly rare. > > The author is correct in that many of the biggest flocks of Cackling Geese travel through the west-central part of the state�,along with the biggest flocks of Snow Geese (and thus Ross's Geese), as well as the largest numbers of Greater White-fronted Geese (likely as well as many of the smaller, migratory races of Canada Geese) to their traditional wintering areas in the Mississippi River bottomland areas of the far southern U.S. and areas farther west. I encounter large numbers of all of these species every year (and have for years) on three far southern Illinois CBCs that I have been helping on for ~ 35 years. It is relatively easy to locate both Cackling and Ross's Geese (as well as hundreds or thousands of Greater White-fronted Goose) on these CBCs, where their numbers have risen dramatically the last ten years. > > And lastly, again quoting from Mr. Walters Cackling Goose posts, "To wit, I suspect I've traveled quite a bit more in Edgar, Clark, Crawford, Lawrence and Wabash than Steve has and these are all counties east of and heading directly south of Champaign. Cackling can be very hard in much of that terrain, certainly a highlight bird." Although I question Mr. Walters conclusions to these statements (and how would he know???), I say again that his above statement is likely correct, if you are simply doing a one or two day quick trip through the area, even if you have been doing it for 20-30 years, as my friend Matthew Winks also just stated. I do wonder how a good birding friend of mine Leroy Harrison would feel about this topic, since he has lived and birded in all of the above counties for 35+ years. Unfortunately, he does not have easy (any?) internet access, and so does not subscribe to IBET. I would respect his conclusions about Cackling Goose status in that area though (since he lives there and birds the area all the time, and has his whole life), although his and my birding friend in that area of the state, Bob Shelby, could also likely shed some light on the subject. Sorry for taking up so much IBET space on the topic, but felt I needed to set the record a little more straight on the matter, since my name and birding experience with the topic seemed to come up involving this species, in a less than respectful way. Good birding! > > Steve Bailey > Mundelein (Lake County, but formerly east-central Illinois for 49 years) > sdbailey AT ... >
Subject: IBET "Photo Quiz" of Childish Measure For Charity (no sightings)
From: "prairie oak" <frakerpovc AT aol.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:25:20 -0000

Greetings, everyone -- I forgot to link a rather silly exercise I put on IBF a few days ago that is to raise money for the Cranes we are all following right now. The money is raised -- I'm just trying to have a little fun in the process. The link is at: http://www.ilbirds.com/index.php?topic=29120.0 Thanks! Matt Fraker
Subject: IBET Fraker Rainy Day Miscellany (no sightings)
From: frakerpovc AT aol.com
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:15:43 -0500

Greetings, all -- In appreciation of Paul Clyne's response to my sightings, I would like to proffer some further comments. With amusing intent intended, I wish to introduce Paul to the dash many of us refer to as a "hyphen": e.g.: "-" With such grammatically correctional amusement in mind, I would seek such correction in his note of my mention of "Redheads..." I believe I referred to the natural interactive occurrence as involving 'Red-heads"; note the hyphen. To truly appreciate the hyphen's importance in bird nomenclature, one only needs to try and find "Northern Rough-winged Swallow" on the VIREO website. Also note that when I went to Google "Red-head" to prove my point, neither Aythya Divers nor woodpeckers were presented as browsing options. Note also that I am not offering anything that did present as a browsing option to our IBET viewing public, even though some Finnish options were available. I think I have an idea for a new list in Joe Lill's "Lister's Corner"... During my day, I did see some Aythya Divers commonly known as Ring-necked Ducks. And yes, they were annoyed by three facts: 1. They hate their genus name. Although "Aythya" is attributed to Jaeger in 1955 from the Greek word "aithya", which means, "seabird", it actually came from Alexander Wilson who was childishly messing around with a fellow scientist by holding their tongues between their thumb and forefinger while yelling, "I Hate You!" at each other. Divers have paid a price ever since. {I can't believe how many of you just did this and realized I'm dead on.} 2. Aythya actually do despise Titmice and other Paridae, but true science will never uncover the reason why. HINT: It has to do with Roswell... OOPS -- I'm sorry, Paul -- Ros-Well. 3. They are envious that Googling "Ring-necked" is a lot more boring than Googling "Chickadee" or "Titmice". Now, regarding Cackling Geese.... I wouldn't dare. Matt Fraker McLean County 11/18/09 -----Original Message----- From: Paul Clyne To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com; prairie oak Sent: Tue, Nov 17, 2009 10:32 pm Subject: Re: IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09 Evidently I pushed the wrong button. I was aiming for the Fraker reply button. My apologies to those who waded through Finnish word associations in search of an answer to an unposed question. paulclyne2000 AT yahoo.com --- On Tue, 11/17/09, Paul Clyne wrote: From: Paul Clyne Subject: Re: IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09 To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com, "prairie oak" Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 7:57 PM Hey Matt, Paragraph two mentions a couple of Redheads, but in your species recap for the day you cite a different member of that genus. I assume you meant to write, "I had a couple of Ring-necked Ducks flying about with one of them annoyingly (and amusingly) chasing some Titmice that had moved in." I know that Chickadees and Scaup find one another mutually amusingly annoying (possibly connected to ID issues), but when I googled "Aythya Titmouse inter-annoyance" the leading link was mostly gibberish from Helsinki. You may be on to something previously known only to Finnish poets huddled over avian cadavers in museum drawers under the interminable gloom of the Scandinavian winter.... I look forward, as always, to the next chapter. Paul paulclyne2000 AT yahoo.com --- On Mon, 11/16/09, prairie oak wrote: From: prairie oak Subject: IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09 To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com Date: Monday, November 16, 2009, 5:44 PM Greetings, everyone -- Well I guess this is what I get for complaining about great weather and birding doldrums. So as punishment, I went out into this blustery spitting mess for about three hours today from 1:15 to 4:30pm. The best activity was early on in the North Oak Timber. I had a couple of Red-heads flying about with one of them annoyingly (and amusingly) chasing some Titmice that had moved in. I also had a tree top Golden-crowned Kinglet flock that became very quiet when a Northern Shrike flew in and landed in the top of one of the oaks. This bird sat there, looking around in the high winds, tail flipping around, then flew off to the north. Soon after, I found an adult Bald Eagle soaring over The Pond. I did not locate any Long-eared Owls at The Pond today. Other than some Fox Sparrows, the Denman Creek area was pretty quiet. By the time I was returning to the north side of the Farm, winds had really picked up and I was getting blasted by a pretty good rain. I guess I'll have to enjoy the Leonid Meteor Shower inside tonight with some red grape -- just because you can't see it doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Totals are below. Matt Fraker Woodford Co 11/16/09 Location: Fraker Farm Observation date: 11/16/09 Number of species: 26 Ring-necked Duck 2 Bald Eagle 1 Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern) 2 Mourning Dove 4 Red-headed Woodpecker 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker 4 Downy Woodpecker 8 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Shrike 1 Blue Jay 16 American Crow 34 Black-capped Chickadee 16 Tufted Titmouse 10 White-breasted Nuthatch 4 Brown Creeper 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet 7 European Starling 2 Cedar Waxwing 17 Fox Sparrow 9 Song Sparrow 1 Dark-eyed Junco 48 Northern Cardinal 5 Red-winged Blackbird 15 House Finch 1 American Goldfinch 2 House Sparrow 6 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Re:: more info on Rockton Whooping Cranes
From: "Leslie" <lcc0920 AT ameritech.net>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:26:40 -0600

Thanks for posting this - very interesting and exciting! Leslie Cummings Wheaton DuPage County ____________________________________________ Every time a bell rings, I drink some Christmas wine. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET IOS Field Trips (no sightings)
From: Robert Hughes <rhughes.enteract AT rcn.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:37:11 -0600

Now that the 2009 IOS field trip season is over I thought I'd remind everyone that trip lists for each field trip are available on the IOS Web site. An Excel spreadsheet of all IOS field trip lists and totals is also available for downloading. Follow the link below. http://www.illinoisbirds.org/fieldtrips.html Robert D. Hughes Chicago, Illinois IOS Webmaster: http://www.illinoisbirds.org/
Subject: Re: IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09
From: Paul Clyne <paulclyne2000 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:32:16 -0800 (PST)

Evidently I pushed the wrong button. I was aiming for the Fraker reply button. My apologies to those who waded through Finnish word associations in search of an answer to an unposed question. paulclyne2000 AT yahoo.com --- On Tue, 11/17/09, Paul Clyne wrote: From: Paul Clyne Subject: Re: IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09 To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com, "prairie oak" Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 7:57 PM Hey Matt, Paragraph two mentions a couple of Redheads, but in your species recap for the day you cite a different member of that genus. I assume you meant to write, "I had a couple of Ring-necked Ducks flying about with one of them annoyingly (and amusingly) chasing some Titmice that had moved in." I know that Chickadees and Scaup find one another mutually amusingly annoying (possibly connected to ID issues), but when I googled "Aythya Titmouse inter-annoyance" the leading link was mostly gibberish from Helsinki. You may be on to something previously known only to Finnish poets huddled over avian cadavers in museum drawers under the interminable gloom of the Scandinavian winter.... I look forward, as always, to the next chapter. Paul paulclyne2000 AT yahoo.com --- On Mon, 11/16/09, prairie oak wrote: From: prairie oak Subject: IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09 To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups .com Date: Monday, November 16, 2009, 5:44 PM Greetings, everyone -- Well I guess this is what I get for complaining about great weather and birding doldrums. So as punishment, I went out into this blustery spitting mess for about three hours today from 1:15 to 4:30pm. The best activity was early on in the North Oak Timber. I had a couple of Red-heads flying about with one of them annoyingly (and amusingly) chasing some Titmice that had moved in. I also had a tree top Golden-crowned Kinglet flock that became very quiet when a Northern Shrike flew in and landed in the top of one of the oaks. This bird sat there, looking around in the high winds, tail flipping around, then flew off to the north. Soon after, I found an adult Bald Eagle soaring over The Pond. I did not locate any Long-eared Owls at The Pond today. Other than some Fox Sparrows, the Denman Creek area was pretty quiet. By the time I was returning to the north side of the Farm, winds had really picked up and I was getting blasted by a pretty good rain. I guess I'll have to enjoy the Leonid Meteor Shower inside tonight with some red grape -- just because you can't see it doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Totals are below. Matt Fraker Woodford Co 11/16/09 Location:    Fraker Farm Observation date:    11/16/09 Number of species:    26 Ring-necked Duck    2 Bald Eagle    1 Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern)    2 Mourning Dove    4 Red-headed Woodpecker    2 Red-bellied Woodpecker    4 Downy Woodpecker    8 Hairy Woodpecker    1 Northern Shrike    1 Blue Jay    16 American Crow    34 Black-capped Chickadee    16 Tufted Titmouse    10 White-breasted Nuthatch    4 Brown Creeper    1 Golden-crowned Kinglet    7 European Starling    2 Cedar Waxwing    17 Fox Sparrow    9 Song Sparrow    1 Dark-eyed Junco    48 Northern Cardinal    5 Red-winged Blackbird    15 House Finch    1 American Goldfinch    2 House Sparrow    6     [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Tundra swans correction Ari
From: ari shavit <arinok4 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:05:07 -0800 (PST)

In the photos�i wrote Dekalb county but actualy its on the Kane county side,but its very close to both.�� Ari [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Tundra swans on route38
From: ari shavit <arinok4 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:40:27 -0800 (PST)

On my way to work this afternoon� there were 3� tundra swans near the fluddle on� 38 and swanson rd.There were 2 adults� and a cygnet.�� Ari Shavit� Dekalb county � http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery20 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Re: IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09
From: Paul Clyne <paulclyne2000 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:57:11 -0800 (PST)

Hey Matt, Paragraph two mentions a couple of Redheads, but in your species recap for the day you cite a different member of that genus. I assume you meant to write, "I had a couple of Ring-necked Ducks flying about with one of them annoyingly (and amusingly) chasing some Titmice that had moved in." I know that Chickadees and Scaup find one another mutually amusingly annoying (possibly connected to ID issues), but when I googled "Aythya Titmouse inter-annoyance" the leading link was mostly gibberish from Helsinki. You may be on to something previously known only to Finnish poets huddled over avian cadavers in museum drawers under the interminable gloom of the Scandinavian winter.... I look forward, as always, to the next chapter. Paul paulclyne2000 AT yahoo.com --- On Mon, 11/16/09, prairie oak wrote: From: prairie oak Subject: IBET Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09 To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, November 16, 2009, 5:44 PM Greetings, everyone -- Well I guess this is what I get for complaining about great weather and birding doldrums. So as punishment, I went out into this blustery spitting mess for about three hours today from 1:15 to 4:30pm. The best activity was early on in the North Oak Timber. I had a couple of Red-heads flying about with one of them annoyingly (and amusingly) chasing some Titmice that had moved in. I also had a tree top Golden-crowned Kinglet flock that became very quiet when a Northern Shrike flew in and landed in the top of one of the oaks. This bird sat there, looking around in the high winds, tail flipping around, then flew off to the north. Soon after, I found an adult Bald Eagle soaring over The Pond. I did not locate any Long-eared Owls at The Pond today. Other than some Fox Sparrows, the Denman Creek area was pretty quiet. By the time I was returning to the north side of the Farm, winds had really picked up and I was getting blasted by a pretty good rain. I guess I'll have to enjoy the Leonid Meteor Shower inside tonight with some red grape -- just because you can't see it doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Totals are below. Matt Fraker Woodford Co 11/16/09 Location:    Fraker Farm Observation date:    11/16/09 Number of species:    26 Ring-necked Duck    2 Bald Eagle    1 Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern)    2 Mourning Dove    4 Red-headed Woodpecker    2 Red-bellied Woodpecker    4 Downy Woodpecker    8 Hairy Woodpecker    1 Northern Shrike    1 Blue Jay    16 American Crow    34 Black-capped Chickadee    16 Tufted Titmouse    10 White-breasted Nuthatch    4 Brown Creeper    1 Golden-crowned Kinglet    7 European Starling    2 Cedar Waxwing    17 Fox Sparrow    9 Song Sparrow    1 Dark-eyed Junco    48 Northern Cardinal    5 Red-winged Blackbird    15 House Finch    1 American Goldfinch    2 House Sparrow    6
Subject: IBET Montrose Pier - Buffleheads
From: Steve Spitzer <steven0703 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:25:17 -0800 (PST)

Hi Birders. There were ten Buffleheads using the circle at the end of the pier as a quiet zone during the heavy rain and winds this afternoon.� There were about twenty Mallards by the beach end of the pier also.� Nothing else of note.� Two pictures at the link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/60572205 AT N00/4112856105/ Steve Spitzer, Chcago, Cook [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Whoopers at Nygren
From: <astraight4 AT verizon.net>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:46:26 -0600

We got to Nygren around 10a.m. and a few minutes later 5 WHOOPING CRANES came in. They were reported after Dawn and had left (to feed, I assume). They stayed until 12:45p. They came in and landed where there were a few SANDHILLS. More Sandhills came in to join them. Around 12:44 two of the Whoopers flew and then 1 more joined them. Some of the Sandhills flew and then the remaing 2 Whoopers and the rest of the Sandhills. Some people came and went over this almost 3 hrs. They did not seem to be bothered by us as they went about feeding, interacting with each other and sometimes with the Sandhills. At times some of them would throw their head back and "Whoop". Barb Williams was there and she had already taken note of the bands, etc. Also there were 20 TUNDRA SWANS when we got there (some of these left later), BLACK DUCKS with loads of MALLARDS, NO. PINTAIL, NO. SHOVELER, COOTS, WILSON'S SNIPE, KILLDEER, BALD EAGLE, RED-TAIL, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, RING-BILLED GULLS. Thanks, Craig for posting. Anne Straight Forreston, IL (Ogle County)
Subject: IBET : more info on Rockton Whooping Cranes
From: "Daniel & Barbara Williams" <twotringas AT gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:37:52 -0600

We recorded the bands on the five birds that are being seen (still present in the late afternoon today) at Nygren Wetlands and reported them to the International Crane Foundation. Here is their response: Thank you so much for contacting us about the 5 whooping cranes you observed and for recording all of the color bands on their legs. Crane #1 is 29-08, Crane #2 is 12-07, Crane #3 is 8-05, Crane #4 is 1-04, and Crane #5 is 14-05. This is an unusual grouping because these birds were not associating with each other prior to starting migration on Sunday. #�s 1-04 & 8-05 are a breeding pair, 1-04 is a 5 year old male, and 8-05 is a 4 year old female. They spend the winter in TN and nested unsuccessfully for the second time this spring. They started migration from the Necedah NWR on Sunday AM but not with the other birds. #�s 12-07 & 14-05 are a 2 and 4 year old male who only recently joined up when they both moved south from where they�d spent the spring and summer. We didn�t know they were migrating on Sunday � just that they were no longer at their last known location but I�m guessing they actually did fly Sunday AM, otherwise I�m not sure how all these birds met up and ended up at the same place � even so it still seems pretty unlikely and yet pretty cool that these 5 all ended up together. I think 12-07 & 14-05 both spent last winter at separate locations in FL � they�ll probably go back to FL but they�re not as locked in on a winter location as the pair mentioned above. #29-08 is a 1 year old male � he learned how to migrate south last fall behind ultralight aircraft so this is his first fall migration on his own. I would normally expect him to return to FL and to the area he spent last winter in the release pen but he may be influenced by these other birds that he�s traveling with so we�ll have to wait and see. He started migration from near Necedah Sunday AM but wasn�t with the pair so somewhere along the way all 5 of these birds � probably originally in 3 separate groups met up in the air and all ended up at the same place. It�s unclear to me from other reports we�ve gotten whether these birds are still there or if they�ve moved on. If you visit this area again or hear of any reports of these or any whooping cranes please let me know. Also please let me know if you have any questions about these birds, I�m happy to answer them or at least try. Thanks again, Sara Sara Zimorski Aviculturist/WCEP Tracking and Winter Management Team Co-chair International Crane Foundation E11376 Shady Lane Road/P.O. Box 447 Baraboo, WI 53913-0447 USA 608-356-9462 x154 / Fax: 608-356-9465 Visit our website! www.savingcranes.org [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: ILbirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com 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 Purple finch, hermit thrush, LE owl, Krider's hawk
From: Bronson Ratcliff <ovenbirdman AT hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:27:23 +0000

Long time no post! Today i went out to the perry farm metro sewer area and and saw plenty of birds, but had a few nice sightings in the mix. had a small group of white-throat sparrows and a Hermit thrush in the mix. Stood around and heard then saw three Purple Finch. Walked around- found a Long Eared Owl with a pheasant under it. Had a couple deer hangin nearby. Then earlier today before the perry farm walk, had 18 Wild Turkey off boy scout rd. and 500-600 cowbird near Rt. 1 Yesterday 11/16- had a pair of Pileated Woodpecker at Lasalle F&W area (indiana i believe) and had a juve Horned Grebe there as well Saturday 11/14- had a Krider's hawk adult. faint orangy color in the tail(Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie) joliet, IL Then October 12th(a long month ago) had a flock of 40-ish Greater White-Fronted Geese fly overhead while i was working on a roof in Kankakee near Limestone School. ...and off hand i cant remember anything else ive seen lately worth mentioning. So that will conclude my amazing summary of feathered findings! -Bronson Ratcliff Kankakee IL, 60901 _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft's powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141664/direct/01/ http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141664/direct/01/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Whooping Cranes at Nygren this AM - YES
From: Craig Taylor <tnemec1 AT ameritech.net>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:18:31 -0800 (PST)

Anne Straight just called me to report that 5 WHOOPING CRANES just landed at Nygren in Winnebago County a few minutes ago and are visible from the observation pavilion. She is making note of the leg bands. Craig Taylor La Grange, IL [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET PIWO report from McLean Co.
From: "Michael L. P. Retter" <mlretter AT yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:58:46 -0800 (PST)

Sorry for the belated report (I was in S Texas), but this email was sent to me 11/14. _________________ I would like to report (with much excitement!) a rare bird sighting for Mclean County.... a PILEATED WOODPECKER!! I saw in this morning at around 8:00 a.m. on one of the trails at Sugar Grove Nature Center. First I saw it flying away, a big black woodpecker with white on the edges of the wings and a red crest. It was making a pileated's noise as it flew away. I was so excited that I ran off the trail in pursuit for a better look, where I got a very good look at it on the side of a tree--definitely a pileated (red crest, face pattern, etc.) I wonder if it's here to stay for a while? _________________ To the best of my knowledge, there are only 2 or 3 prior records of the species in McLean Co. Michael L. P. Retter --------------------------------- W. Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., IN mlretter AT yahoo.com home: 765.838.3152 cell: 309.824.7317 http://xenospiza.com/ Tour Leader, Tropical Birding http://www.tropicalbirding.com/ -----------------------------------
Subject: IBET Gillson Park on Monday
From: BFisher928 AT aol.com
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:02:44 EST

Mike Madsen, Bob Erickson, Andy Sigler and I spent several hours at Gillson on Monday, hoping the strong NE winds would blow some good birds past our vantage point next to the building at the north end of the beach. We weren't disappointed (well, maybe a little, as we all hoped for a flyby jaeger but never saw one). Highlights included two first winter Black-legged Kittiwakes, the 1st one quite distant but the 2nd one flying at close range just beyond where the surf was breaking onto the beach. All 3 scoter species provided excellent close scope views as they flew by, 8 White-winged, 2 Black and 3 Surf. A pair of Long-tailed Ducks also flew by, as did a flock of 60 Redheads, and 40+ Tundra Swans. The expected Gr. Scaup, mergs and C. Goldeneyes were also seen. C. Loons flew back and forth in some numbers. We did not see any Red-throated Loons but did spot one interesting loon that was clearly smaller than the adjacent C. Loon. Since Tuesday's winds are predicted to be stronger than Monday, perhaps the passing show will be even better than today. Regards Bob Fisher Downers Grove DuPage County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Re: IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning.
From: Karen Lund <catbirder AT verizon.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:46:44 -0800 (PST)

There is a form on the Operation Migration website to report sightings. Leg band information would be helpful. http://www.fws.gov/midwest/whoopingcrane/sightings/sightingform.cfm Karen Lund Genoa, DeKalb County catbirder AT verizon.net ________________________________ From: Daniel & Barbara Williams To: Jeff Haake Cc: "ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com" Sent: Mon, November 16, 2009 6:15:04 PM Subject: Re: IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning. Well, this is all very interesting! The folks at Natural Land Institute (property owner) told me that the 5 Whooping Cranes that arrived on Sunday (11/15) afternoon around 1:00 p.m. or so were seen departing this morning (11/16) around 0650 (3 Whoopers and all 5 Sandhills) and that the other 2 Whoopers left around 0700. So, when did these other 5 arrive, and from what direction? These may be 5 different cranes, depending on a variety of factors, such as direction, band colors and order on the leg, etc. Did any of you record band colors on each leg? The ICF website also asks to look for thickness of bands (wide or narrow) of each color. Any observations of this information should be reported to ICF as soon as possible. Photos? I'm sure that they would like those, too. Thanks for your help. Dan Williams Rockford (and NLI board member) On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 4:00 PM, Jeff Haake wrote: > > > At least 5 birds there as of 4:00 pm > Jeff Haake > Naperville > > Sent from my iPhone > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET: Black Scoters at Shabbona Lake 11/16/09 late afternoon
From: "Darrell Shambaugh" <d.shambaugh AT mchsi.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:40:17 -0600

There were three BLACK SCOTERS above the dam on the east side of the lake about 4:00 PM Monday. Other birds on the lake included 9 HOODED MERGANSERS, 5 NORTHERN SHOVELERS, a few RUDDY DUCKS, 400 AMERICAN COOTS, 5 PIED-BILLED GREBES, 2 HORNED GREBES, 200 CANADA GEESE, and 5 COMMON MERGANSERS. Two DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and 2 GREAT BLUE HERONS were in the trees in the lake. A single SANDHILL CRANE was in the shallows at the west end of the lake. Maybe this is the same goofy Sandhill Crane that was here about two weeks ago. Does anyone else have a thought on the one weird Common Merganser? Its body looks like a male, but it has a brown head. My guess is that it is changing from immature to mature plumage, but I've never seen a brown-headed male before. Is this a plumage seen farther north but not here due to a more complete molt? Darrell Shambaugh Somonauk, DeKalb County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Re: IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning.
From: "Daniel & Barbara Williams" <twotringas AT gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:15:04 -0600

Well, this is all very interesting! The folks at Natural Land Institute (property owner) told me that the 5 Whooping Cranes that arrived on Sunday (11/15) afternoon around 1:00 p.m. or so were seen departing this morning (11/16) around 0650 (3 Whoopers and all 5 Sandhills) and that the other 2 Whoopers left around 0700. So, when did these other 5 arrive, and from what direction? These may be 5 different cranes, depending on a variety of factors, such as direction, band colors and order on the leg, etc. Did any of you record band colors on each leg? The ICF website also asks to look for thickness of bands (wide or narrow) of each color. Any observations of this information should be reported to ICF as soon as possible. Photos? I'm sure that they would like those, too. Thanks for your help. Dan Williams Rockford (and NLI board member) On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 4:00 PM, Jeff Haake wrote: > > > At least 5 birds there as of 4:00 pm > Jeff Haake > Naperville > > Sent from my iPhone > > > [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: ILbirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com 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: Re: IBET RE: whooping Cranes in illinois
From: <astraight4 AT verizon.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:04:37 -0600

Nice to know the Whoopers were still in the area. We stayed for an hour and did not see them. If you stay on the platform this should not disturb them as they were reported back in the marsh. This area is usually used all year for birdwatching, etc. They have closed the trails around so that they will not be disturbed. This wouldn't be too much different from standing on the platform at Necedah and viewing them in the field as we have done. Anne Straight Forreston, IL (Ogle County) ------------------------------------ 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: ILbirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com 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 Fraker Farm Miscellany; Woodford Co; 11/16/09
From: "prairie oak" <frakerpovc AT aol.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:44:46 -0000

Greetings, everyone -- Well I guess this is what I get for complaining about great weather and birding doldrums. So as punishment, I went out into this blustery spitting mess for about three hours today from 1:15 to 4:30pm. The best activity was early on in the North Oak Timber. I had a couple of Red-heads flying about with one of them annoyingly (and amusingly) chasing some Titmice that had moved in. I also had a tree top Golden-crowned Kinglet flock that became very quiet when a Northern Shrike flew in and landed in the top of one of the oaks. This bird sat there, looking around in the high winds, tail flipping around, then flew off to the north. Soon after, I found an adult Bald Eagle soaring over The Pond. I did not locate any Long-eared Owls at The Pond today. Other than some Fox Sparrows, the Denman Creek area was pretty quiet. By the time I was returning to the north side of the Farm, winds had really picked up and I was getting blasted by a pretty good rain. I guess I'll have to enjoy the Leonid Meteor Shower inside tonight with some red grape -- just because you can't see it doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Totals are below. Matt Fraker Woodford Co 11/16/09 Location: Fraker Farm Observation date: 11/16/09 Number of species: 26 Ring-necked Duck 2 Bald Eagle 1 Red-tailed Hawk (Eastern) 2 Mourning Dove 4 Red-headed Woodpecker 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker 4 Downy Woodpecker 8 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Shrike 1 Blue Jay 16 American Crow 34 Black-capped Chickadee 16 Tufted Titmouse 10 White-breasted Nuthatch 4 Brown Creeper 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet 7 European Starling 2 Cedar Waxwing 17 Fox Sparrow 9 Song Sparrow 1 Dark-eyed Junco 48 Northern Cardinal 5 Red-winged Blackbird 15 House Finch 1 American Goldfinch 2 House Sparrow 6
Subject: IBET Kankakee Co: NRW Swallow + Ross's Goose
From: Jed Hertz <jhh_60910 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:41:10 -0800 (PST)

Hi all, � Monday 16-Nov-09: Kankakee Co: 0650-0930H + 1550-1650H (2 D)_OC/Drizzle_4-43_ENE 5-15; � I sighted the following 18 species around a flooded farm field during a morning and late afternoon visit (hoping of SE Owl late, but no luck). � BTW: The Northern Rough-winged Swallow (adult) continues at Metro-sewer. � Here's my list of 18 species: � IL,�Kankakee Co�� 3 Snow Goose � 2 Light Morph + Dark Morph � � � 3 Ross's Goose � photo � � � 63 Cackling Goose � 0830H + 1150H; heard "cackling" as they came in with CanGoo flock. � � � 520 Canada Goose � � � � � 4 American Black Duck � � � � � 160 Mallard � � � � � 8 Northern Shoveler � � � � � 4 Green-winged Teal � � � � � 2 American Kestrel � perched on utility wires 1 mile apart. � � � 122 Killdeer � � � � � 1 Dunlin � Basic; photo � � � 5 Wilson's Snipe � photo � � � 12 Mourning Dove � � � � � 7 American Crow � � � � � 800 European Starling � � � � � 3 American Pipit � � � � � 15 Lapland Longspur � � � � � 3 Red-winged Blackbird � � Jed Hertz Kankakee, Kankakee Co, IL (60 mi South of Chicago) Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhertz/ Give "ebird" a try: http://ebird.org/content/ebird [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Tundra Swans, Cook County
From: Mark Bowman <mark.bowman1858 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:35:53 -0800 (PST)

In Cook County at McGinnis Slough, we found a group of TUNDRA SWANS numbering about 15. This was around noon. At 10 AM we were at Saganshkee Slough and there were 30-40 swans, they stayed put for about 5 minutes and took off. When we came back a few hrs later, the were still not there. They hang far out and so they are very difficult to get close to. I attempted a few photos and posted one of them, it was the best I could do and, as usual, I had no sun!! [one of these days ......] http://www.flickr.com/photos/35384747 AT N03/4110036245/ Mark Bowman, Kane County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Tundra Swans
From: "Wes Serafin" <w.serafin AT comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:00:30 -0600

There were 44 TUNDRA SWANS this afternoon at McGinnis Slough in Orland Pk. They looked like white triangles while feeding like dabbling ducks. At Sag Slough were 58 HOODED MERGANSERS. Wes Serafin Orland Pk SW Cook County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Re: IBET RE: whooping Cranes in illinois
From: Chris Kelly <tomchriskelly AT sbcglobal.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:44:22 -0600

Every year we go through this. Hopefully this introduced eastern migratory flock will one day become self-sustaining and we will not have to be so wary. Chris Kelly, Lombard, IL Present at the chick flyover in Winnebago County IL yesterday Dave Briddon wrote: > > Folks, there has been recently lots of info on the web re these Cranes , > i want to reinforce the comment made by a DNR employee who said, in part: > > "Over the course of the next few months Whooping Cranes will once > again be passing through Indiana. I want to take this opportunity to > remind everyone that the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) > requests that details of sightings not be posted more precise than the > county level while the cranes are present." > > I believe that the WCEP worries about lots of people going to see > migrating Whoopers and disturbing them. > > i believe this applies to Illinois as well !!!!! > thanks for reading this > Dave Briddon > Cook County > > [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: ILbirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com 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 RE: whooping Cranes in illinois
From: Dave Briddon <briddo13 AT yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:38:58 +0000 (GMT)

Folks, there has been recently lots of info on the web re these Cranes , i want to reinforce the comment made by a�� DNR employee who said, in part: "Over the course of the next few months Whooping Cranes will once again be passing through Indiana.� I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) requests that details of sightings not be posted more precise than the county level while the cranes are present." I believe that the WCEP worries about lots of people going to see migrating Whoopers and disturbing them. i believe this applies to Illinois as well !!!!! thanks for� reading this Dave Briddon Cook County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: RE: IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning.
From: "John Adams" <jadams6893 AT sbcglobal.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:13:11 -0600

Five of them arrived about 12:15 directly in front of the observation tower and spent the next hour walking slowly to the east until they were hidden by the foliage. From: ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Jeff Haake Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 4:00 PM To: ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com Subject: IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning. At least 5 birds there as of 4:00 pm Jeff Haake Naperville Sent from my iPhone __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4613 (20091116) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning.
From: Jeff Haake <jeffrey-haake AT ameritech.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:00:05 -0800 (PST)

At least 5 birds there as of 4:00 pm Jeff Haake Naperville Sent from my iPhone
Subject: IBET Whoopers not at Nygren this morning.
From: <astraight4 AT verizon.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:49:52 -0600

Went to Nygren about 9 or so this morning. There were no Whoopers and the Sandhills were gone. There were WILSON'S SNIPE there (at least 6 or more). Should of gone yesterday when Craig called!! At least 150 or more CACKLING GEESE at Howards Farm (on Rt. 70) and one SNOW GOOSE (be aware of the dosmestic geese there). At West Lake Village (near Pecatonica) we had a migrating flyover of 150 SANDHILLS CRANE (these were high, and no Whoopers with them). Anne Straight Forreston, IL (Ogle County)
Subject: IBET North. Shrike, Baird's Sandpiper, etc. in western IL
From: Jim Mountjoy <jmountjo AT knox.edu>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:33:59 -0600

I spent much of Sunday wandering eastward from Galesburg through parts of Knox, Bureau and Stark Counties before reaching the Illinois River, where I was birding primarily in Putnam County. Birding was slow in some areas, but eventually I built up a species list of about 63 species with a few small surprises along the way. Northeast of Victoria, on Coal Road just east of 2000 E, I came across a striking NORTHERN SHRIKE that gave me some nice looks, perching on low forb stalks briefly, then dropping down almost to ground level and flying below the level of the grasses until popping up on the next stalk. In Stark County I was pleased to find 3 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES in the Toulon Cemetery and a PIED-BILLED GREBE near Modena, as they helped confirm that you can find more than 150 species (eventually...) even in Stark County. In southern Bureau County I was mildly surprised to find a lingering RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. Two WINTER WRENS (one in Bureau, the other in Putnam) were more expected, but I suspect they were late migrants rather than birds that might attempt to overwinter, based on the marginal habitat. I was pleased to see one EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE and a flock of ROCK PIGEONS around the grain elevators at Putnam, as both species had evaded me in Putnam County before. (An aside: Craig Taylor's flock of 41 ECDs at Gladstone is an impressive number, but back on Oct. 18 I observed a flock of at least 100 ECDs at Niantic, in western Macon County, the largest flock I have seen to date. Not a Mourning Dove or Rock Pigeon in sight there!) On the other side of the river, Hennepin-Hopper was the birdiest place of the day. There were extensive mudflats there as well as pools of water. Shorebirds were numerous, by mid-November standards, with many KILLDEER and a good scattering of LEAST SANDPIPERS, and about 10 DUNLIN plus 2 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. The highlight was a late BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, which presumably is the same bird reported a week earlier by Mike Madsen & Andy Sigler. Another nice addition was a small flock of 7 TUNDRA SWANS. With clouds and rain, light was failing by the time I made it to Marshall County, but a lovely male HOODED MERGANSER there was a nice last addition to the day. Despite seeing quite a few birds yesterday, my dog walk this morning still produced a couple of species that I did not find on Sunday. I heard one or more PINE SISKINS, only my third record this fall, and when trying to get a look at a siskin I ended up focusing on a FOX SPARROW instead, so a few birds are still moving through. Jim Mountjoy Galesburg IL
Subject: IBET:Sangamon Co. Vireos
From: Beckie Dyer <dyer AT museum.state.il.us>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:17:42 -0600

A report on Vireos in Sangamon Co. On Saturday, November 14, 2009 a White-eyed Vireo was at Lake Springfield in a pine area feeding in brambles and honeysuckle. I photographed it, but it was not the latest record for the county. On Sunday, November 15, 2009 a Warbling Vireo was at the north end of Lake Springfield feeding in honeysuckle and I obtained some photographs in the rain. This vireo was the latest ever for me by one month. *Late records I have for vireos in Sangamon County:* White-eyed Vireo -- December 11,1996 Blue-headed Vireo -- December 11,1992 Warbling Vireo -- November 15,2009 Philadelphia Vireo -- December 10,2003 Red-eyed Vireo -- December 7,2004. H. David Bohlen, Illinois State Museum Springfield, IL bohlen AT museum.state.il.us -- Beckie Dyer Museum Technician Illinois State Museum Research & Collections Center 1011 East Ash Street Springfield, Illinois 62703-3500 Phone: 217-782-7475 Fax: 217-785-2857 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Sandhill Cranes in Minooka
From: John Jaeger <johnajaeger AT gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:08:09 -0600

I was delighted to first hear and then see a small flock of Sandhill Cranes from my home in Minooka yesterday. At about 1:15pm I left my house to go to the car and immediately heard the distinctive calls high above. Once I was able to get my binoculars, I confirmed visually a group of about 60 cranes heading south. I have seen migrating Sandhill Cranes once before in Minooka but this was the first time from my yard (yard bird #64). -- John A. (Jay) Jaeger Minooka, IL Grundy County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Illinois RBA - November 15, 2009
From: Sulli Gibson <sulli.gibson AT comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:32:47 +0000 (UTC)

- RBA * Illinois * Statewide * November 15, 2009 * ILST0911.15 - Species Mentioned (Caps denote review list species): SAGE THRASHER Snow Goose Cackling Goose Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Tundra Swan Pacific Loon Western Grebe Red-necked Grebe Thayer's Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull This is the Rare Bird Report for November 15, 2009. Compiler: Sulli Gibson. Email: sulli.gibson AT comcast.net Species in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS ARE REVIEW LIST SPECIES. Details of these sightings are desired by the Illinois Ornithological Records Committee. Careful observation, not ornithological expertise, is the only qualification for submitting data. For details and pointers, see: http://www.illinoisbirds.org/iorc.html Rare Bird Alert Archives: http://www.illinoisbirds.org/illinois_rare_bird_alert.html SAGE THRASHER: Cook Co (North) - 1 at the SE corner of Northerly Island on 11/11/09 (Karen Mansfield). It was not relocated the next day despite much effort. Snow Goose: DuPage County (North) - 1 blue morph at Fermilab on 11/15/09 (Yeanette Johnson). Lake Co (North) - 1 flying over Rollins Savannah on 11/15/09 (Jim Solum). 1 in the soccer field SW of Route 60 and Waukegan Road (Jeff Sundberg). Cackling Goose: Cook Co (North) - 15 at Maple Lake on 11/15/09 (Craig Thayer). Surf Scoter: Cook Co (North) - 1 male seen from Park Avenue in Highland Park on 11/14/09 (COS group, et al.). Bond/Clinton/Fayette Co (South) - Unspecified number at the Carlyle Sewage Lagoons off of Sand Ridge Road on 11/14/09 (WGNSS group, et al.). Boone Co (Central) - 1 on a private lake on 11/11/09 (Dan Williams). White-winged Scoter: Cook Co (North) - 1 flyby seen from Gillson Park on 11/15/09 (Bob Hughes). Black Scoter: DeKalb Co (North) - Up to 3 have been seen at the SE corner of Shabbona Lake. They were last seen on 11/13/09 (John and Carol Longhenry). Tundra Swan: DuPage County (North) - 31 flying over Fermilab on 11/15/09 (Yeanette Johnson). Lake Co (North) - 14 flying over Rollins Savannah on 11/15/09 (Jim Solum). Cook Co (North) - 57 seen flying E over Lake Michigan from Gillson Park on 11/15/09 (Bob Hughes). Varying numbers have been seen at Saganashkee and McGinnis Sloughs throughout the week by many. About 40 were at Saganashkee Slough on 11/15/09 (Steve Ambrose) and 6 were seen at McGinnis Slough on 11/15/09 (Craig Thayer). Stephenson Co (North) - 13 at Freeport Marsh on 11/14/09 (Eric Walters). Tazewell Co (Central) - A Flight Survey revealed over 700 at the Spring Lake Fish and Wildlife Area earlier in the week. Pacific Loon: Bond/Clinton/Fayette Co (South) - 1 relocated from the Green Meadows parking lot (Dam East Access) on 11/14/09 (WGNSS group, et al.). Red-necked Grebe: DeKalb Co (North) - 1 at Shabbona Lake last seen on 11/14/09 (Yeanette Johnson). It was seen every other day before by others. Western Grebe: Lake Co (North) - 1 flyby seen from the Waukegan Beach Pier on 11/14/09 (Al Stokie, Eric Walters). Thayer's Gull: Lake Co (North) - 5 at North Point Marina on 11/14/09 (COS group, et al.). Lesser Black-backed Gull: Lake Co (North) - 8 at North Point Marina on 11/14/09 (COS group, et al.). - End transcript Sulli Gibson Illinois Ornithological Society Rare Bird Alert www.illinoisbirds.org [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET: Kendall and Will Counties
From: "Darrell Shambaugh" <d.shambaugh AT mchsi.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:39:23 -0600

What started out as an early-morning trip to Wal-Mart and breakfast ended up as a day-long, mostly bridles, trip to Joliet. I walked around Silver Springs State Park and found almost no birds. Five male NORTHERN CARDINALS were a highlight. And only three of them were in a group. Another highlight was a PIED-BILLED GREBE in Mallard Lake. The Minkler Road Quarries (Oswego, Kendall County, at the corner of Minkler Road, Orchard Road, and Route 71) yielded two HOODED MERGANSERS, 5 RUDDY DUCKS, and 8 RING-NECKED DUCKS. The west quarry has a dark green ball floating around about 300 yards from the road. Not nearly as cool as a mannequin, but when you're driving by, its shape makes you think it may be a scoter.. Waa Kee Saw Park and Saw Wee Kee Park didn't have any birds at all except 7 MALLARDS in the Fox River and a Cardinal. On Collins Road (somewhere south of Oswego) I saw a COOPER'S HAWK flying over a pond in a subdivision. A pond in a subdivision south of the Wal-Mart on 127th street west of Route 59 (Will County, north of Plainfield) had about 600 CANADA GEESE and 20 CACKLING GEESE. One of the Cackling Geese was really small, like the size of a Pied-billed Grebe. Just after I crossed Route 59 a flock of 18 SANDHILL CRANES flew over. Turtle Lake, on Airport Road east of Plainfield, had the most surprising bird of the day. I had already seen MUTE SWANS, GADWALL, PIED-BILLED GREBES, MALLARDS, and AMERICAN COOTS, a large white bird flew towards me. At first I thought is one of the swans, but then I notices its long yellow bill and realized it was an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN. Lake Renwick had about ~4000 CANADA GEESE (Reminds me of the old Traffic song "40,000 Canada Geese") 2 CACKLING GEESE, and ~20 RING-NECKED DUCKS. I drove past Operation Migration's campsite south of Somonauk. It's more secluded than ever this year because the corn around the landing strip and hanger is still standing. The only sign they're there is their storage trailer parked by Hoxsey Road. (I've always wanted to all three forms in one sentence:-)) Darrell Shambaugh Somonauk, DeKalb County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET VARIOUS STOPS KANE AND DUPAGE COUNTIES
From: "YeanetteJ" <btbwarbler AT comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:41:03 -0000

Lisa and I spent a good part of the day birding. What a difference a few hours can make in the number of species and sheer numbers of birds. We started the day at Nelson Lake Marsh & ended our day there as well. We checked out a few others spots just to see what was around! Nelson Lake Marsh (AM): SANDHILL CRANES (flyovers on the way to the marsh) RUDDY DUCK RING-NECKED DUCK CANADA GEESE AMERICAN COOTS NORTHRRN HARRIER (west side) Tanner Road Marsh & Surrounding Ponds: MALLARD GREAT BLUE HERON CANADA GEESE PIED-BILLED GREBE AMERICAN COOTS RING-NECKED DUCK NORTHERN SHOVELER AMERICAN BLACK DUCK AMERICAN KESTREL AMERICAN TREE SPARROW (on the way to the marsh) Fermi: 31 TUNDRA SWANS (flyover headed NE very low & very vocal) SNOW GOOSE (adult blue morph) BUFFLEHEAD NORTHERN SHOVELER AMERICAN BLACK DUCK GREAT BLUE HERON EASTERN BLUEBIRD RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER HAIRY WOODPECKER CANADA GEESE Pella Ponds: NORTHERN HARRIER (adult male) HOODED MERGANSER BUFFLEHEAD RING-NECKED DUCK PIED-BILLED GREBE MALLARD AMERICAN COOT AMERICAN KESTREL RED-TAILED HAWK Nelson Lake Marsh (PM visit numbers were definetly up): NORTHERN PINTAIL GADWALL RUDDY DUCK NORTHERN SHOVELER AMERICAN BLACK DUCK GREEN-WINGED TEAL RING-NECKED DUCK MALLARD CANADA GEESE AMERICAN COOT BALD EAGLE SANDHILL CRANE RUSTY BLACKBIRD RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD EUROPEAN STARLING Good Birding, Yeanette Johnson Western Aurora, Kane Co.
Subject: Re: IBET FW: Nygren - Whooping Cranes
From: "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:25:16 -0800 (PST)

There was a recent posting on the Indiana birding list where a DNR employee said, in part: "Over the course of the next few months Whooping Cranes will once again be passing through Indiana.� I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP) requests that details of sightings not be posted more precise than the county level while the cranes are present." I believe that the WCEP worries about lots of people going to see migrating Whoopers and disturbing them. Bernie Sloan Champaign County, IL Monroe County, IN --- On Sun, 11/15/09, Daniel & Barbara Williams wrote: > From: Daniel & Barbara Williams > Subject: Re: IBET FW: Nygren - Whooping Cranes > To: "Craig Taylor" > Cc: "IBET" > Date: Sunday, November 15, 2009, 6:14 PM > Craig et al. > > More than probably not.� They are NOT wild > birds.� All were banded and 1-2 > had radio transmitters.� These are from the Necedah > introduction and are > prior years' birds now migrating on their own.� > Barbara and I noted the band > colors on each leg of all 5 birds, with a note on which > birds had > transmitters.� Barbara will send a note to the Crane > Foundation tomorrow. > Nevertheless, it was fun to see them out there with 5 > Sandhills. At one > point, one of the Sandhills and one of the Whoopers had a > small difference > of opinions regarding space or territory or > something.� The Sandhill was the > aggressor and backed the Whooper off.� Maybe an age > thing, too. > > P.S.� Even though the I-90-/I-39/US 20 interchange > ramp system is now > opened, it is still designated as a construction > zone.��Be careful out > there.� The state police patrolling the zone even > wrote a ticket to someone > for not having a front license plate! > > Dan Williams > > On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 1:46 PM, Craig Taylor > wrote: > > > > > > > OK > > > > I've calmed down and realized these are probably > previous years WI birds > > and not from Texas flock. > > > > I just got an alert from ILRBA that there are 5 > Whooping Cranes at the > > Nygren Wetland in Winnebago County. I thought since > the ultra-light > > birds were in La Salle, these birds must be from > Texas. Not. Well, > > probably not. > > > > Sorry. > > > > Craig A. Taylor > > La Grange, Illinois > > Cook County > > > > "Behold the birds of the air: for they sow not, > neither do they reap, nor > > gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth > them. Matt. 6 : 26 > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Craig Taylor [mailto:tnemec1 AT ameritech.net > > > ] > > Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 1:34 PM > > To: IBET > > Subject: Nygren > > > > From Rockford, take 251 North to Rockton Road exit, > turn west toward > > Rockton, drive through Rockton. The preserve is two > miles west of > > Rockton on the south side of Rockton Road. The first > entrance is only > > open to the public for events and workdays. The second > entrance (across > > from Hansberry Road) has an overlook structure with a > spotting scope and > > is open during daylight hours. > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > > Version: 8.5.425 / Virus Database: 270.14.66/2504 - > Release Date: > > 11/15/09 07:50:00 > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > � � ILbirds-fullfeatured AT yahoogroups.com > > >
Subject: IBET FW: Nygren - Whooping Cranes
From: Jeff Haake <jeffrey-haake AT ameritech.net>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:44:20 -0800 (PST)

Thanks for the post. Whoever is at Nygren Monday, please post if the birds are still present and from where they can best be viewed. Greatly appreciated! Jeff Haake Naperville Sent from my iPhone
Subject: Re: IBET FW: Nygren - Whooping Cranes
From: "Daniel & Barbara Williams" <twotringas AT gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:14:41 -0600

Craig et al. More than probably not. They are NOT wild birds. All were banded and 1-2 had radio transmitters. These are from the Necedah introduction and are prior years' birds now migrating on their own. Barbara and I noted the band colors on each leg of all 5 birds, with a note on which birds had transmitters. Barbara will send a note to the Crane Foundation tomorrow. Nevertheless, it was fun to see them out there with 5 Sandhills. At one point, one of the Sandhills and one of the Whoopers had a small difference of opinions regarding space or territory or something. The Sandhill was the aggressor and backed the Whooper off. Maybe an age thing, too. P.S. Even though the I-90-/I-39/US 20 interchange ramp system is now opened, it is still designated as a construction zone. Be careful out there. The state police patrolling the zone even wrote a ticket to someone for not having a front license plate! Dan Williams On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 1:46 PM, Craig Taylor wrote: > > > OK > > I've calmed down and realized these are probably previous years WI birds > and not from Texas flock. > > I just got an alert from ILRBA that there are 5 Whooping Cranes at the > Nygren Wetland in Winnebago County. I thought since the ultra-light > birds were in La Salle, these birds must be from Texas. Not. Well, > probably not. > > Sorry. > > Craig A. Taylor > La Grange, Illinois > Cook County > > "Behold the birds of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor > gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Matt. 6 : 26 > > -----Original Message----- > From: Craig Taylor [mailto:tnemec1 AT ameritech.net > ] > Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 1:34 PM > To: IBET > Subject: Nygren > > From Rockford, take 251 North to Rockton Road exit, turn west toward > Rockton, drive through Rockton. The preserve is two miles west of > Rockton on the south side of Rockton Road. The first entrance is only > open to the public for events and workdays. The second entrance (across > from Hansberry Road) has an overlook structure with a spotting scope and > is open during daylight hours. > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.425 / Virus Database: 270.14.66/2504 - Release Date: > 11/15/09 07:50:00 > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [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: ILbirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com 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 hawk watch
From: "Yellowstart5" <yellowstart5 AT yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:09:54 -0000

hello ibetors-- at the ibsp hawk watch today, we spotted a personal, all-time late, barn swallow, shivering as he quickly flew south. jeffrey sanders--glenview--no. cook
Subject: IBET Lakefront and Rollins Savanna Sunday morning
From: Jim Solum <Solum11 AT msn.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:15:06 -0600

This morning along the lakefront in Waukegan and Zion things were slow except for hundreds of ducks fling south far out over the lake. At least half were RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, the remaining were SCAUP. At Rollins things were better as I was greeted almost immediately when I got out of the car at Washington Street by 4 TUNDRA SWANS, 2 adult and 2 juvenile flying very high towards the east. I watched them circle and descend when a white bird with black wing-tips caught my peripheral. At first I ignored it as a probable gull but it ended up joining the 4 swan to which THEN I paid attention. A beautiful white phase SNOW GOOSE had joined the flock! The group circled together and one of the juvenile actually had it's legs dangling a bit as it tried to persuade the rest of the group to land. Eventually they all continued eastward with the SNOW GOOSE right in the flock. One of the coolest "mixed flocks" I've ever seen!! Later I had two more flocks VERY high of TUNDRA, 16 then 25, both groups-as usual-flying west to east. Other birds included.. a single SHORT-EARED OWL 1 LAPLAND LONGSPUR 8 SNOW BUNTING 3 HORNED LARK 1 EASTERN BLUEBIRD 2 NORTHERN HARRIER 1 AMERICAN KESTRAL 8 SANDHILL CRANE 5 RUDDY DUCK 19 BUFFLEHEAD 12 HOODED MERGANSER 13 GREEN-WINGED TEAL -many, MANY GADWALL, AMERICAN WIDGEON -literally hundreds of AMERICAN COOT 18 RING-NECKED DUCK 3 PIED-BILLED GREBE -only one species of sparrow, that being AMERICAN TREE. Good Birding! Jim Solum solum11 AT msn.com Gurnee Lake County [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: IBET Gillson Park Tundra Swans, 11/15 a.m.
From: Robert Hughes <rhughes.enteract AT rcn.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:46:43 -0600

Fifty-seven Tundra Swans in 3 groups (38, 11, 8) were seen at Gillson Park in Wilmette this morning. All were flying east and low over Lake Michigan. Other birds seen at Gillson this morning include 1000+ Red-breasted Mergansers, a White-winged Scoter, and 40-50 Common Loons. Robert D. Hughes Chicago, Illinois

Birdingonthe.Net

Recent Postings from The Illinois List

Recent Postings from
The Illinois List