Earlier this month I went on the Illinois Young Birders weekend trip to Dixon Waterfowl Refuge in central Illinois. These weekend trips with the Illinois Young Birders are my favorite of all the ILYB field trips because we get to do great birding for 2 days and be social in between outings.
After we arrived and settled into the bunkhouse, we began our walk deep into the wetlands in search of grassland species. Despite it being over 90 degrees, we were still able to pick up several birds, which included my first ORCHARD ORIOLE of the year; this was the highlight of the walk for me. We started off the walk with good views of common species such as INDIGO BUNTING, NORTHERN ROUGH WINGED SWALLOW, EASTERN WOOD PEWEE and BALTIMORE ORIOLE. As we got deeper in to the wetlands, we found some lesser common species like this DICKCISSEL:
After we arrived and settled into the bunkhouse, we began our walk deep into the wetlands in search of grassland species. Despite it being over 90 degrees, we were still able to pick up several birds, which included my first ORCHARD ORIOLE of the year; this was the highlight of the walk for me. We started off the walk with good views of common species such as INDIGO BUNTING, NORTHERN ROUGH WINGED SWALLOW, EASTERN WOOD PEWEE and BALTIMORE ORIOLE. As we got deeper in to the wetlands, we found some lesser common species like this DICKCISSEL:
We also saw this HENSLOW'S SPARROW, which is the most elusive sparrow that can be found within these grasslands. These birds often stay hidden in the grass low to the ground, so I was lucky to get shots of him sitting up singing!
On the way back, we decided to stop at an abandoned barn to check for Barn Owl (and I'm pretty sure you can tell how the bird got its name). Although we never found the owl, we did find a Barn Owl feather as well as owl pellets and a parts of a goose's wing, telling us that there were certainly owls in the barn recently. Upon further inspection of the pellets, we found out that they were Great Horned Owl pellets. All birds fear the Great Horned Owl (even other owls) and they are at the top of the food chain. In the end, we came to the conclusion that the Barn Owl that was previously in here was likely eaten by the Great Horned :(
Since it was sweltering hot outside and the birds were quieting down, we went back and had lunch, then played home run derby and even drove to the nearby town of Peru to play some Pokemon Go while the adults had a siesta. Here is a view of the grasslands from the bunkhouse in which we all stayed.
Since it was sweltering hot outside and the birds were quieting down, we went back and had lunch, then played home run derby and even drove to the nearby town of Peru to play some Pokemon Go while the adults had a siesta. Here is a view of the grasslands from the bunkhouse in which we all stayed.
After it cooled down a bit more, we headed out birding again. We drove past the observation tower to the boat launch. We arrived to find this Painted Turtle in the parking lot:
We walked 2 miles and saw no new birds at all, and we were all getting discouraged. It wasn't until we were nearly back at the parking lot when things started to get interesting. We had incredible views of a YELLOW BREASTED CHAT which was awesome because they are really hard to find in Northeastern Illinois.
This was followed by a RUBY THROATED HUMMINGBIRD sitting on its delicate nest, which is something none of us, including our leader Mathew Cvetas, have ever seen!
Here's a YELLOW WARBLER bringing lunch back to its chicks:
LARK SPARROW:
We came home and had a nice spaghetti dinner then headed out to try to find a few more bird before the sun went down. As we pulled into the turn off to the observation tower every car in the line screeched to a stop. The crew in the lead car got out and began taking pictures. We knew something was up so we all quickly hopped out and there, just sitting on the side of the road, was a BARRED OWL! Unfortunately, the Grackles and Black Birds in the area were not fans and chased him off before I got a picture. Nonetheless, it was just a random surprise because Matthew actually spotted the bird fly over his car! After that, we climbed to the top of the observation deck to scan for waterfowl. Here's a picture of the sun setting over Dixon Waterfowl Refuge with the observation tower in the forefront.
Although we did not get too lucky with the waterfowl, we did see a RED HEADED WOODPECKER pop its head out of its nest hole.
Now that is was dark, we moved on to Putnam County Conservation Area where we topped the night off with a calling EASTERN WHIP POOR WILL! Although that was the end of our birding for the day, but not the end of our adventure.
We came back to the bunkhouse that night to find a car parked in the lot and the lights in the house on. Something wasn't right here. Matthew was the first one to step into the house, and I followed. We walked into the living room to find two big guys lying on the couches, and they did not look very friendly. Matthew began telling them that the house we had rented the house for the weekend, and that they had to leave, but they didn't seem to be responding. I turned around and told all the people entering the house to go back outside, that there were two possibly dangerous men crashing on our couches. All of the dad's walked in to deal with them, including Eddie's dad who was holding the metal bat we were playing baseball with earlier. I remember seeing these men come into the parking lot earlier when we were leaving after dinner, though I guess I didn't really put much thought into it. But still, what kind of people see a parking lot with 6 cars in it and then see a house that was obviously being used and think its fine to just walk in? After giving it some more thought I decided they fell into one of the following categories:
1. Mental
2. Druggies (my guess)
3. Just didn't give a crap
They were not leaving and they were trying to feel us out by making conversation and asking questions. If it were an honest mistake (which it wasn't) they would be like "I'm so sorry, we'll leave immediately."
After about 20 minutes, the dads eventually got em out. The men climbed into their jeep and pulled out of the parking lot, only to stop their car behind the barn so we couldn't see them. What were they doing? Loading their shotguns so they could come back and shoot us? After several long minutes, they finally made it to the main road only to TURN BACK AROUND and drive back to the bunkhouse. Me and the other young birders found it slightly amusing at first, but seeing how the parents reacted, we quickly scattered and hid behind the cars. It turns out, one of the men just forgot his pillow. Nonetheless it was a weird situation, and I'm pretty sure we all slept restlessly that night.
We woke up bright and early the next morning with in the hope of finding more waterfowl, unlike the night before. This day we had much more luck! We were able to see AMERICAN COOT, RUDDY DUCK, BLACK NECKED STILT, and 7 COMMON GALLINULE (although they aren't common)! I was determined to leave with some nice photographs, and managed to snap a few nice pics of this COMMON YELLOWTHROAT!
We came back to the bunkhouse that night to find a car parked in the lot and the lights in the house on. Something wasn't right here. Matthew was the first one to step into the house, and I followed. We walked into the living room to find two big guys lying on the couches, and they did not look very friendly. Matthew began telling them that the house we had rented the house for the weekend, and that they had to leave, but they didn't seem to be responding. I turned around and told all the people entering the house to go back outside, that there were two possibly dangerous men crashing on our couches. All of the dad's walked in to deal with them, including Eddie's dad who was holding the metal bat we were playing baseball with earlier. I remember seeing these men come into the parking lot earlier when we were leaving after dinner, though I guess I didn't really put much thought into it. But still, what kind of people see a parking lot with 6 cars in it and then see a house that was obviously being used and think its fine to just walk in? After giving it some more thought I decided they fell into one of the following categories:
1. Mental
2. Druggies (my guess)
3. Just didn't give a crap
They were not leaving and they were trying to feel us out by making conversation and asking questions. If it were an honest mistake (which it wasn't) they would be like "I'm so sorry, we'll leave immediately."
After about 20 minutes, the dads eventually got em out. The men climbed into their jeep and pulled out of the parking lot, only to stop their car behind the barn so we couldn't see them. What were they doing? Loading their shotguns so they could come back and shoot us? After several long minutes, they finally made it to the main road only to TURN BACK AROUND and drive back to the bunkhouse. Me and the other young birders found it slightly amusing at first, but seeing how the parents reacted, we quickly scattered and hid behind the cars. It turns out, one of the men just forgot his pillow. Nonetheless it was a weird situation, and I'm pretty sure we all slept restlessly that night.
We woke up bright and early the next morning with in the hope of finding more waterfowl, unlike the night before. This day we had much more luck! We were able to see AMERICAN COOT, RUDDY DUCK, BLACK NECKED STILT, and 7 COMMON GALLINULE (although they aren't common)! I was determined to leave with some nice photographs, and managed to snap a few nice pics of this COMMON YELLOWTHROAT!
After a nice breakfast back at the bunkhouse, we set out do do some birding outside of the refuge at Miller Anderson Woods. Although birding was tough because the birds were hard to see, we were able to hear PILEATED WOODPECKER, AMERICAN REDSTART, and YELLOW THROATED VIREO. I also got nice views of ACADIAN FLYCATCHER and my first YELLOW BILLED CUCKOO of the year! Miller Anderson was also full of cool moths and butterflies.
As soon as we got back, we found a baby RED WINGED BLACKBIRD on the ground that got lost from its parents. I was even able to pick him up! I'm certainly hope that his parents ended up finding him in the end.
Sadly, the weekend was coming to a close and we had one last game of home run derby and one last lunch together before we left. It was an amazing weekend and we saw nearly 80 species. Big thanks to Matthew Cvetas for organizing the trip. I can't wait until next year!
Life List: 802 (added American Woodcock earlier in June) To see more of my photography, look me up at birder03 on Instagram!
Life List: 802 (added American Woodcock earlier in June) To see more of my photography, look me up at birder03 on Instagram!
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