Western KingbirdJeff Skrentny and I spent the entire day birding at Lowden Miller State Forest near Oregon, IL (on the Rock River). We saw 70 species of birds for the entire day! Jeff and I both got several new life species - and we learned a lot about bird calls!!The highlight for me was just as we were leaving, when on the entrance road I saw what I thought was a Great-crested Flycatcher on the power line. I was joking with Jeff about it because he had been wondering why we hadn't seen one all day. As I looked closer, I realized something was wrong so whipped out the field guide and quickly came to the conclusion it was not a Great-crested Flycatcher at all, but a Western Kingbird!
The bird was flying up and down from the power lines to a fence line. We saw it catch an insect of some sort & clean it off quickly (see photo below). As I had never seen a Western Kingbird, I was particularly pleased to see this one. Jeff had also never seen a Western, so it was a fantastic way to end the day!
Other notable species for the day include Bald Eagle, a Wild Turkey with at least 8 young, Acadian Flycatcher, Veery, Scarlet Tanager and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. We also saw several warblers including Blue-winged, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Pine, Prothonotary, Ovenbird, Kentucky, Common Yellowthroat and Hooded! This was easily the best non-migration warbler day I have ever had.
Lowden Miller State Forest turned out to be an excellent place to bird and a place I will definitely return to. For now [almost 18 hours after I got up this morning] I am going to bed....very satisfied!
Western KingbirdWestern Kingbird with insect
0 comments:
Post a Comment