Volo Bog April 30th 2007

I was on vacation last week (I'll post more on that soon) but despite taking about 1,000 pictures I still needed to get out again this afternoon and take advantage of the warm weather and good light. Volo Bog is close so I headed there...
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April Big Day

Jeff and I headed out this morning to see what we could see and maybe make something of a Big Day out of the day. To be honest we had no set plan but we did have a vague idea of what we were going to do if we were going to make a big day....
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Rollins Savanna April 15th 2007

Another beautiful Spring morning at Rollins Savanna. I still have a ton of 'real work' (the stuff I get paid for) to do but I snuck out for a couple of hours in the morning to see the Yellow-headed Blackbirds that Jim Solum had recently reported. They were there, being very vocal (not a pretty sound but its unmistakable!)...

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April 10th

With the forecast for the next few days not looking good and with sunny weather this morning, I took a trip back out to Huntley to see if the Bonaparte's Gulls were still there. They were not in the same flooded field as I had seen them on Sunday but there were three of them at the intersection of Union & Rte 47...[Read More...]

Purple Finch & Winter Wren

Jeff and I headed out to Coral Woods in McHenry County today. Its not a very large preserve but it does have a variety of habitat. After seeing several of the usual suspects like Eastern Phoebes, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Eastern Bluebirds, and more, we heard a bird singing that we couldn't immediately identify. I thought it may have been a Purple Finch but then as we approached we heard — then saw — Fox Sparrows. I had pretty much written off the possibility of seeing both Fox Sparrows and Purple Finches but Jeff agreed that it seemed as though there was a call that was similar but not the same as the Fox Sparrows coming from a slightly different direction.

But, we didn't hear the song again so kept on our way. Shortly
afterwards we saw a large group of Fox Sparrows and stopped to look at
them flitting through the trees and on the ground. While looking around
at the sparrows I saw a bird that wasn't
a Fox Sparrow and quickly identified this Purple Finch! We were both
thrilled to see the finch as it was Jeff's first for the state and my
first for the year. I believe that the numbers of Purple Finches in the
state (at least in the North-East) is very low and that populations are
very isolated. They are described as being uncommon - but I have seen
fewer Purple Finches that several of the birds described as rare, like
American Bittern, Bald Eagle, Black Terns, Northern Shrike and Pileated
Woodpeckers - to name a few.

We continued along the path heading back towards the parking lot and came across an even larger flock of Fox Sparrows, numbering well over twenty. Two Swamp Sparrows were mixed in. The Swamp Sparrows haven't gotten their full breeding plumage and are in a state of transitional molt.

We got back to the parking lot and heard a call that sounded suspiciously like a Great Horned Owl so we stopped and looked for a while. We didn't see any owls but while waiting we did see this Winter Wren hopping from log to log and making a chipping call from time to time. Here's a picture of the Winter Wren we saw!


On our way home, we were trying to add to the species list (already over 50) when I saw a bird on the water in Lily Lake in Lakemoor. We stopped to have a look and Jeff said "this would be a great lake for Loons". A few seconds later I said "its a Common Loon!" It turned out to be a beautiful breeding plumage Common Loon! Not a bad way to end the day - but, we weren't done yet. A Mute Swan and Great Egret were at Sullivan Lake adding to a pretty decent day birding. Now if it had only gotten above freezing today...

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Maps of Coral Woods and the many other preserves in McHenry County can be found at http://www.mccdistrict.org/map.htm .

BirdsIllinois.com

I've been wanting to do more with the web than just this blog so I've created a website, which will allow me to have galleries, guides and more. The new website is at www.birdsillinois.com.

I won't be giving up this blog - rather putting different content on the new website. If you get a chance to look, I'd love to hear your feedback! In particular, I'm interested to hear what you're looking for, i.e. stories like I've had on the blog, a 'field guide' with images, detailed information on birds, something else? Put simply, what would you love to have but haven't been able to find yet?