When I heard that the next Illinois Young Birders trip was to Starved Rock, I knew I needed to go. My dad could not take me, but thanks to Matthew and Jake Cvetas I was able to tag along with them. I woke up bright and early on Sunday, well before sunrise, to make the 2 hour trek down to Starved Rock SP in LaSalle County. Starved Rock is one of Illinois most beautiful and most popular state parks. Its many canyons hold great hiking trails, not to mention the park also sits on the Illinois River, which makes Starved Rock a great birding destination! We met up with the Illinois Young Birders at the lock and dam visitor's center at 7:30, where we were treated with great views of AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS (tough to see back in the Chicago area) as well as BALD EAGLES, a bird Starved Rock is known to hold large numbers of. We also had a group of LESSER SCAUP fly overhead as well as 2 small groups of NORTHERN SHOVELER and a GREAT BLUE HERON. After that we drove to the other side of the river to go on a hike. As we were crossing the bridge, I spotted a bird flying over the river adjacent to the car. I though it was a Belted Kingfisher since we were over a river, but it was actually a PILEATED WOODPECKER! These are America's largest woodpeckers, and are really hard to find in the Chicago area as well, making it the first time I have ever seen one in Illinois. Later in the day, we saw 2 more flying by. We then went on a quick hike, where we had a FOX SPARROW, WHITE THROATED SPARROWS, and a CAROLINA WREN. View of the Illinois River from the hiking trail:
Me made our way back down the canyon and did a little bit of birding around the state park visitors center which was surprisingly productive. An unexpected YELLOW BELLIED SAPSUCKER made and appearance as well as a nice SHARP SHINNED HAWK. We also saw a handful of BLACK CAPPED CHICKADEES and, they seemed to be enjoying the sunflower seeds:
DOWNEY WOODPECKERS were also present and feeding:
RED BELLIED WOODPECKER:
WHITE BREASTED NUTHATCH:
We all got back in our cars and headed to Lone Point to look at ducks, picking up GADWALL, AMERICAN KESTREL, and SONG SPARROW on the way. We did a long scan at the point, and successfully picked up more pelicans and eagles. We also saw a larger variety of ducks, with GREEN WINGED TEAL and AMERICAN WIGEON being the highlights. We finished the trip off with a scenic walk through Illinois Canyon:
After the trip was officially wrapped up, Josh Engel, Andrew Aldrich, Sam Hammer, and the Cvetas's and I continued birding around LaSalle County, the highlights of our day still awaiting. On our way to LaSalle Lake, a COOPER'S HAWK made an appearance:
We knew there was a spot by the lake where Snowy Owls have been seen this winter, but since the last one was reported 28 days ago, it was not looking promising. We pulled off along the side of the road and Jake and I were sitting in the car when Matthew yellled SNOWY OWL! We jumped out, and saw the bird sitting on the abandon railroad tracks just where they have been returning to for multiple winters. Then, we thought there may be a second bird, but it was so far away we couldn't tell. We drove over there to find a second bird sitting much closer to the road. Here is a pano to give you a better example of where we were:
Until then, I have not seen a Snowy Owl since 2014. It was one of my best early birding experiences, and it was so great to be able to experience it again!
We were headed back, and that's when Matthew's phone rang. "Were making one last quick stop," he told me. Andrew had gone ahead, and apparently found something good and Matthew told me it was a surprise. We pulled up to a massive flock of HORNED LARK, SNOW BUNTING, and LAPLAND LONGSPUR. Lapland Longspur is a long overdue lifer for me, and I had been hoping to see one all day. It was amazing to finally see this beautiful bird!
What a great day of birding! Huge thanks to the Cvetas's for taking me and making that extra stop for me to get my lifer! Stay tuned for more birding adventures, because migration is approaching and so is a trip to Puerto Pico next week!
Life List 783: Lifers today: Lapland Longspur To see more of my photography, go to this link : https://www.instagram.com/birder03/
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