On April 15th, (I know! sorry for the late post!) I lead a bird walk to McClaughry Springs Woods and Orland Grasslands for the Whimbrel Birders Club. The group met at McClaughry bright and early at 7:00, hoping to pick up three targets for this location: the Pileated Woodpecker, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Carolina Wren. These are all very special birds to he the Chicago area because these birds tend to avoid urban areas and are very hard to find anywhere in Cook County. Being one of the most remote preserves in the area, McClaughry is one of the only places to pick up these species. In fact, the waterthrush and the wren are both nesting here! During migration, this forest preserve can be one of the most exciting places to visit.
Just as I pulled into the parking lot, a completely unexpected PURPLE FINCH made an appearance, which was also a lifer for me! Originally, my life list was thought to be at 799, but after realizing a mistake in my list I had to subtract a species from it. So, the purple finch made for my 799th life bird, and a great start to the walk. Sorry for the distant photo.
Just as I pulled into the parking lot, a completely unexpected PURPLE FINCH made an appearance, which was also a lifer for me! Originally, my life list was thought to be at 799, but after realizing a mistake in my list I had to subtract a species from it. So, the purple finch made for my 799th life bird, and a great start to the walk. Sorry for the distant photo.
To make it even better, just as I was doing an intro to the walk, a CAROLINA WREN interrupted me with its loud tea-kettle tea-kettle tea-kettle call. We located the bird just across the street, sitting out on a branch giving the group great views. Then suddenly, this juvenille SHARP SHINNED HAWK darted out of the woods. This is the Cooper's Hawk's (a much more common bird) closest relative; as a matter of fact, they look so similar that they can only be identified by size (the sharp shinned is much smaller). Cooper's Hawks stay year round, but these guys only come through during migration.
After a very productive half hour in the parking lot, we started walking along the creek, searching for our second target, the Louisiana Waterthrush. Although, it has "thrush" in its name, this bird is actually a species of warbler that prefers to hang around areas that contain bodies of water. While watching for the bird along the banks of the creek, we saw this EASTERN PHOEBE, the first flycatcher to come back after winter and one of the largest:
Since there are many times where birders come here and only hear the waterthrush, I decided to play the call for the group. Apparently, the actual waterthrush heard the recording that I was using as an example and he seemed to be calling back by the parking lot. We ran back to find the waterthrush siting in a tree above the creek, giving the group great views and photo ops. This was also my 800th life bird, so it was a very exciting moment for me!
I almost had a panic attack when I then heard "PILEATED WOODPECKER flying in!" Thanks to Oliver Burrus for calling him out. We had picked up all three targets! Many birders come here to try to see all three of these birds, and almost always miss at least one of them. Rarely ever do birders see all three, so we were incredibly lucky to hear and see all three right by the parking lot. The rest of the walk got us WOOD DUCKS, BELTED KINGFISHERS, a very early BLUE HEADED VIREO, followed by a BLUE GREY GNATCATCHER, and much more. This was probably the best morning the preserve has had all year.
Our next stop was to Orland Grasslands. This location is a great birding spot, and its short grasslands and marshes provide habitat for several ducks, shorebirds, and sparrows. Here, we hoped to pick up our target bird, the Smith's Longspur. These longspurs are colorful sparrow-like birds that summer in the subarctic tundra, and spend their winter in the great plains in the center of the U.S. They are very hard to find, but we do get some that stop by at Orland Grasslands on their way north every spring. Frustratingly, most of the birds that we saw were birds we flushed from the grass, making it hard to get photos and positive IDs. One bird that did cooperate was this nice FIELD SPARROW:
A little bit less cooperative (Could not seem to find a place to land) but still nice, were these PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, my first shorebird of the year other than a Killdeer, a type of plover which comes almost 3 months before all the other shorebirds do.
And, not surprisingly, KILDEER were one of the most common birds of the day.
Although getting everyone in the group on every bird was hard, we still all got brief views of SOLITARY SANDPIPER, WILSON'S SNIPE, and, SORA, followed by a flock of 8 HORNED LARK. One of the most exciting birds of the day and another year bird for me was this VESPER SPARROW:
We saw many more birds such as RUDDY DUCK, SAVANNAH SPARROW, SWAMP SPARROW, and RING NECKED DUCK, but failed to kick up a Smith Longspur. Although it may appear like an underwhelming birding spot, this grassland still brought us many incredible birds!
After I officially wrapped up the walk, many other birders continued birding and apparently had 2 Smith's Longspur just as I pulled out of the parking lot. It was frustrating I did not get to see one, but i'm still glad that most of the group did. Overall it was a fantastic walk, and we tallied up 50 species and found all of the day's targets, something I really did not expect. The best part of the day for me (obviously) was finally making it to 800 after being in the high 700s for several months. Bird of the day to the Louisiana Waterthrush, runners up were the Pileated Woopecker and Blue Headed Vireo! Stay tuned, because the most exciting time of the year for birding is coming upon us in just 2 weeks! If you live in the Chicago area and would like to join me on one of my walks, my next one will be to Montrose Point on April 30, 2017. To find out more go to whimbrelbirders.com.
Life List 800 (2 additional life birds as of April 15, 2017) To see more of my photography, look me up at birder03 on instagram!
Life List 800 (2 additional life birds as of April 15, 2017) To see more of my photography, look me up at birder03 on instagram!