Cooper's Hawk, Accipiter cooperii

Cooper's Hawk, juvenile{Click on photos for larger versions}
I thought I had done all my hawk watching yesterday while spending a second day in a row at the IBSP Hawk Watch but on my way to Rollins Savanna this morning I saw this Cooper's Hawk perched on power lines. I stopped the car on the side of the road with little real hope of getting a photo as often when stopping near a perched raptor, it will fly off. As you can see, this one didn't!

Cooper's Hawks are considerably larger than their cousin the Sharp-shinned Hawk. Both are in the Accipiter family, as are Northern Goshawks. They all have the same basic body shape and can look very similar in flight (trust me on this one!). The average Cooper's Hawk is 16.5" long, with a wingspan of about 31" and weighs about one pound.

Cooper's Hawk, juvenileTrying to separate Cooper's from Sharp-shinned in flight is something I've become accustomed to while volunteering a the Hawk Watch. The size, flight pattern, head and body shape, tail shape and how the bird looks in flight are all factors. Large 'Sharpies' and small Cooper's Hawks don't quite overlap in length but come close enough to mean size is not a reliable measure - and even hard if there's nothing to compare it to.

This bird is a juvenile, having thin streaks on its breast rather than the red horizontal banding that would be present in an adult. Also, the back is brown instead of blue-gray in an adult. Finally, the eye is yellow instead of the orange or red of an adult. As you may be able to tell from the front and back-on shots, the bird did fly, but not far, stopping again giving me another opportunity to photograph it. Finally it headed straight towards and over my car (wondered what it was doing for a second) and into someone's backyard.

I have often seen Cooper's Hawks at Rollins Savanna. Its impossible to tell if this bird is a resident (possibly fledged in the area) or a migrant. There have often been (and were today) Northern Harriers at Rollins Savanna as well as a pair of Red-tailed Hawks. I just read that in a recent study, 23% of Cooper's Hawks had healed fractures of chest bones due to their crashing through undergrowth after their prey (usually small birds & rodents).

IBSP Hawk Watch, Vesper Sparrow & Northern Shrike

Northern Shrike{Click on the images for larger versions}
The weather wasn't exactly perfect [to say the least] for watching hawks today (strong NE winds and heavily overcast skies - the clouds won't bother the hawks but the NE winds pushes them away from the lake) but as has often been the case, there's more than just hawks to watch. This Northern Shrike has been somewhat resident for some while now at the general area of the Hawk Watch. This was the first time this season that I have seen one and as hawk watching was slow, had an opportunity to get this photo.

The Northern Shrike is rare in the Chicagoland area but is definitely a frequent visitor and I expect there will be others in the area this winter. This bird flew from tree-top to tree-top throughout the morning and appears to be quite happy to stay for an extended period.

A little while after seeing the Northern Shrike we also saw this Vesper Sparrow fly onto the path near the Hawk Watch. When I first saw it, I did a bit of a double-take as I did not expect to see a Vesper Sparrow. I've seen some cool birds at the hawk watch but I thought Vesper Sparrows should be well gone by now. There is one record on eBird for a Vesper Sparrow this late in Illinois. I don't have access to the official records so hopefully someone will let me know the latest record.

Vesper SparrowVesper Sparrows are also rare in Chicagoland although I suspect more accurately they are rarely seen. I have seen more this summer than in all previous years but I have also looked hard in areas that are ideal for them - in particular areas with roads/paths or other open ground near cover. I believe they are relatively common in McHenry County as I have seen several there.

Needless to say, I was pleased to see both the Northern Shrike and the Vesper Sparrow. The hawk count by the time I left was three Sharp-shinned Hawks and one Turkey Vulture -- but that's OK, because that's what Hawk Watching is all about. The count is valid and the data important whether it be 1,000 or 1.

Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus

Purple FinchThe Purple Finch has been one of those birds I've been looking for but seemed never to find. I've seen some birds in the past that I thought may have been Purple Finches but was never sure. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I came upon this bird with 3-4 others at Volo Bog this afternoon.

Although the Purple Finch is listed as 'uncommon' in the Chicagoland area, either I'm looking in the wrong places or its less common than that (I can think of some other birds listed as rare that I see more often!). I'm certainly not complaining about the list...what I'm probably seeing is the documented decline in Purple Finches as they are being squeezed out by the introduced House Finches.

I have House Finches in my feeders all year around and keep looking out for Purple Finches but so far, I've not seen any. I did see my first Dark-eyed Juncos this season at my feeders today. Its nice to have them back!

Horned Grebe, Podiceps auritus

Horned GrebeJeff and I went out today to try to get a couple more state birds for him. We ended up with a day of about 70 species - not bad at this time of year. We started at Fermilab looking for the recently seen Harris' Sparrow. Unfortunately we didn't see that but did see at least four Cackling Geese.

Jeff then convinced me to go to Saganashkee Slough, just in southern Cook County. We were hoping to see a Western Grebe, that Jeff had seen before but I had not. We arrived and were quickly rewarded with some excellent views of the Western Grebe. Those views were followed by views of this and other Horned Grebes, a single Red-necked Grebe and a good number of Common Loon on the slough along with some Ring-necked Duck and Scaup. . I was also rewarded with some excellent flight and sitting views of several Bonaparte's Gulls.

The Saganashkee Slough (how do you say slough anyway??) is a very large area and its a challenge to bird it even with a fairly powerful telescope. There are several spots to stop and view the lake and it was clear that what's needed more than anything is patience!

Eastern Towhee, Pipilo erythrophthalmus

Eastern TowheeWhat do you do on a sunny Sunday morning in fall? What else but go out birding! The call of the wild (well, as wild as Glacial Park is in fall) was too much so I went back there to a different area from where I recently found the Le Conte's Sparrows to see what else I could find. While Glacial Park isn't huge, it has a variety of different habitat from marshes and grassland to woods and glacial kames (hence the name!). The Le Conte's were in the grasslands so I headed for the woods.

It was still quite early and frosty so the birds were a little slow getting up but it was immediately obvious that there were plenty of sparrows around and also plenty of juncos, which I had not seen until Sunday. I sure made up for it though with over fifty of them on my walk around.

As I came to the woods I heard then saw this Eastern Towhee. I've been a little confused by these birds before as the first time I saw one was right at the top of a tree. Since then I've seen them where they normally hang out, low down and on the ground feeding in their preferred scrubby habitats. This one popped out long enough for me to get this shot - its not great but I wasn't totally disappointed.

The red eye of this adult male was very obvious in the early morning light. The towhee is actually one of the sparrows although somehow calling it a sparrow just doesn't feel right!

White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys

White-crowned SparrowI went out with Jeff again Sunday to look at the Le Conte's Sparrows and see what else we could find. We didn't find anything spectactular but in the Washington St parking lot of Rollins Savanna were a good number of White-crowned Sparrows - mostly these first-winter birds like this one.

The most common call from these birds at this time of year is a 'pink' - fairly non-descript. However every so often you'll hear a feeble version of their regular call. I've read this is the first-year male birds practising their call...makes sense to me. The first-year birds have a brown/buff crown where the adults would have a black/white crown (hence the name!). The younger birds are supposed to have black streaking on the breast although to be honest until looking this bird up, I didn't realize there was a big difference.

White-crowned SparrowLike most other sparrows in our area, the White-crowned is migratory, breeding up in Canada. Its winter range ends approximately at the Illinois/Wisconsin border. I've certainly had white-crowned's visiting my feeders during much of winter.

Le Conte's Sparrow, Ammodramus leconteii

Le Conte's Sparrow[Click on the photos for hi-resolution versions] I had not been to Glacial Park in a while and made up my mind yesterday that it was high time I went back. So, not very early this morning I headed there with no particular goal in mind other than to see what I could see.

I had not gone far when I was attracted by a mixed flock of White-crowned and Song Sparrows. While attempting to photograph them, I noticed a smaller, almost orange sparrow. I had recently seen a Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow and thought it may have been another when I realized that it lacked the gray nape of the Nelson's and was in fact a Le Conte's Sparrow!!

I was particularly pleased to see a Le Conte's as I had not seen one in the past. I know they have been seen recently in other areas but I'm not much of a twitcher so I hadn't gone chasing them. Soon after I saw the first, I discovered that there were at least three Le Conte's as well as Lincoln's White-crowned, Savannah, Field and Swamp Sparrows.Le Conte's Sparrow

OK, so now I had seen this sparrow, I had to photograph it and knowing these little guys, it was more than likely I was going to get lots of photos of grass. However, much to my surprise and delight the birds decided to sit in some [relatively] good photographic areas and I managed to get these shots. Let me tell you, its just as well I shoot on digital because if it was film it would have cost me a fortune!!

Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula

Ruby-crowned KingletI went back to Volo Bog this afternoon to see what else I could find to photograph (yes, it was a photography trip more than a birdwatching trip). It wasn't a great day - but for a Fall day I can't really complain.

I was struck by the number of Hermit Thrushes there again today - I've never seen so many in one place. As you can tell from the photo, also present were two Ruby-crowned Kinglets, including this male with its crest conveniently raised for my photo. I've seen the red crest on these birds many times but rarely as clearly as on this one.

Kinglets are tiny, similar to the Australian Thornbills (e.g. Yellow-rumped Thornbill as photographed by Alan Fletcher). The body shape and bill do differ somewhat but I can't think of any other American bird I regularly see that's closer. As with many fall migrants, these birds rarely call but occasionally one will hear the very high pitched tseeee call note.

Golden-crowned KingletI only saw 18 species this afternoon, which by all accounts isn't many at this time of year. However, I did get a few decent photos (IMHO) so it wasn't a complete bust. This Golden-crowned Kinglet was not with the Ruby-crowned although I have seen several mixed flocks recently. This one was with a flock of approximately six birds on the edge of an oak wood.

Brown Creeper, Certhia americana

Brown CreeperWith the weather being near on perfect yesterday, I could not resist the opportunity to go out and attempt to get some pictures of birds that I hadn't already seen.

As it turns out, the weather (clear blue skies with a light southerly breeze and about 70°F) and the birding were perfect, and while there wasn't a huge abundance of species, there were several that seemed determined to get within camera range - this Brown Creeper being one of them.

Many of my previous shots have been of the back of the bird as it hugged a tree. This bird, as you can see, stopped briefly for a portrait. I like this angle better than the otherwise typical side-on shot because you can see both the back and the profile of the head & throat. Understanding of course that birds rarely perform on cue, I was very pleased when this one stopped for this single shot (don't worry, I have others of its back!!).

This bird, along with many Hermit Thrush and a Carolina Wren, both Kinglets and tons of White-throated Sparrows, were all at Volo Bog State Natural Area, just off US 12 in Volo (south of Home Depot). This is a great area but for unknown reasons opens late (around 8AM) and closes early (last night 6PM). The area is managed from Moraine Hills State Park a little further south, which doesn't help. Hopefully it will remain open!