North Central Illinois Ornithological Society

This morning, I received a call from Mike Descamps. He saw and photographed an American Bittern at Rock Cut SP yesterday. Thanks to Mike for letting me know.

This is the time when waders start post-breeding dispersal and begin to wander around. With all of the recent rain, local wetlands are filling up with water, which is likely to attract wading birds.

The water levels at Nygren have been good for shorebirds recently, although the number and variety of species haven’t been good yet.

At the last meeting, it was decided to do a field trip to Rock Cut SP. No leader was assigned. 7 of us showed up by the dam parking lot at the pre-determined hour of 0730 and just took a mosey down the trails below the dam. It was raining lightly, so umbrellas were open. By 1000, several people had to leave, but 4 continued over to the Hart Road parking lot on the west side.

A total of 76 species were recorded, although I am including a couple I heard while driving in on the north entrance road before we met, like Cerulean Warbler.
Highlights included Wilson’s, Canada, Magnolia, Blackpoll, and Blue-winged Warblers, both Alder (5) and Willow (3) Flycatchers, and a White-eyed Vireo. Some of the 4 at Hart Road also had a very brief look at a Swainson’s Hawk that soared toward, and then banked away, from us as we were standing on Hart Road in the equestrian parking lot area looking and listening to the WE Vireo. I got a very brief look before it disappeared behind the trees in the hedge row and continued to fly away from us to the south, so the views from behind weren’t particularly good. A large buteo, with long wings that were pretty pointed, thin in proportion to that of Red-tail, held in slight dihedral. My brief look included a the underwings, with the dark flight feathers on both wings in contrast to off-white underwing coverts. When last seen, it was moving south and disappeared behind a tree line.

A lone Ruddy Duck was on the lake. 4 Spotted Sandpipers flew by, and 2 Ring-billed Gulls were on the rocky island until they were flushed off by fishermen in a boat.

No Olive-sided, Acadian, or Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, Bell’s Vireos, Yellow-breasted Chats or cuckoos of either species were recorded.

Spent 75 minutes at Rock Cut on my way to the office this morning. Highlights were 4 Cerulean Warblers, 2 White-eyed Vireos, 1 Philadelphia Vireo, 1 N. Parula (heard) 1 Hooded Warbler, and 1 Black-billed Cuckoo.

The Ceruleans were calling from their “usual” spot just N of the dam by the 1st parking lot, plus at the Plum Grove Nature Preserve plus from the oaks on the ridge above the creek as you walk west on the hard surface trail.

The W-E Vireos were at the junction of the hard surface trail and the first dirt path to the north below the spillway.

The cuckoo was calling from the ridge above the stream.

It was also nice to see Margy Rand and the cars of two other birders in the dam parking lot! congrats to John Longhenry on finding a N. Parula!

I headed to Rock Cut SP at lunch time today to look for migrants. Since the wind was strong from the east, I decided to bird below the dam along the creek. Rather than use the bike path on the north side, I used a foot trail on the south side of the creek. (Park in the lot across the road from the picnic area south of the dam).

There were a lot of warblers below the dam. There were also a lot of gnats down there. Most numerous, of course, were Yellow-rumped Warblers, followed closely by Yellow. Then, things started to spread out. Nashvilles were singing up a storm. A N. Parula chimed in frequently, plus several Black-throated Greens. A Chestnut-sided only called a few times, but then the Tennessees warmed up and really got going. Then, a Mourning Warbler called several times from the thickets on the north side of the creek, plus Blackpoll, N. Waterthrush, Palm, Black & White, and Redstart. A Veery arrived and departed. Then, among many Baltimore Orioles, an Orchard appeared.

While I was there, a male Pileated Woodpecker flew in with a large grub in its bill. It perched on a tree about 50′ from me and ate it. Having not had lunch yet, I envied the woodpecker.

It was a very lo-cal way to spend the lunch hour!

Yesterday, I drove through Rock Cut SP. Heard 11 Eastern Towhees and at least 6 Field Sparrows in the brushy areas between the 173 entrance and the woods. There was a Common Loon on Pierce Lake. Highlight, though, were 3 Yellow-throated Warblers calling along the loop road on the south side of the lake near the Red Oak picnic area entry and the park maintenance driveway, all in association with White Pines. The Armstrongs and Jim Myers also reported a Pine Warbler from the picnic area south of the dam and an alternate plumage Horned Grebe on Pierce Lake.

This morning, there were 4 Common Loons on the lake with at least 4 Pied-billed Grebes. No sign of the Horned Grebe, but 36 Double-crested Cormorants flew in while I was there. There were 5 birds on the pile of rocks just east of the dam-1 Ring-billed Gull, 1 immature Bonaparte’s Gull moulting into alternate plumage, 2 Forster’s Terns and 1 Common Tern. The Yellow-throated Warblers are still calling in the spots heard yesterday.

I checked Pierce Lake today at lunch time and found 2 Common Loons on Pierce Lake. The ice has melted on Pierce Lake, but about 3/4 of Olson Lake still has a skin of ice.

Other birds on Pierce Lake: E. Phoebe, Tree Swallows, Pied-billed Grebe, 8 Common Goldeneyes, all 3 merganser species (1 Red-breasted and 17 Hooded), multiple Buffleheads and a few L. Scaup.

I took a drive through Rock Cut SP at noon today to check the ice condition of Pierce Lake. There is only a small stretch of open water just south of the dam. The rest of the lake is frozen. In the open water were 8 Hooded Mergansers, 2 Common Goldeneyes (males) 4 Shovelers and a dozen or so Coots. 1 Herring Gull was with 4-5 Ring-bills.

We had twelve participants for this morning’s trip. We started with several locations at Rock Cut State Park, then visited Windsor Lake, Nygren Wetlands and the Howard Farm on Rte. 70.  We finished at about 12:30 with a total of 47 species.

The highlights were six Ross’s Geese at Howard’s Farm. They were in the company of about six Snow Geese, an adult Blue Goose and an immature Blue Goose. Several  flocks of Canada Geese had Cackling Geese mixed in, but also other subspecies of Canada. A flock of about 20 Snow Buntings was seen briefly near the observation deck at Nygren Wetlands.  About 100 Sandhill cranes were seen at Nygren and another fifty or so flew over Howard’s Farm.

The lakes at Rock Cut State Park had three Common Loons, a Pied-billed Grebe, a Horned Grebe, 3 Bonaparte’s Gulls, Bufflehead, Hooded Mergansers, Common Goldeneye and Bald Eagle. But, overall, the waterfowl species diversity was low.

Here’s the morning’s list:

Snow Goose

Ross’s Goose

Cackling Goose

Canada Goose

Mallard

N. Shoveler

Green-winged Teal

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Loon

Horned Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe

Great Blue Heron

Bald Eagle

N. Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Am. Kestrel

Sandhill Crane

Am. Coot

Killdeer

Wilson’s Snipe

Bonaparte’s Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Belted Kingfisher

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

N. Flicker

Horned Lark

Blue Jay

Am. Crow

Black-capped Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

E. Bluebird

Cedar Waxwing

European Starling

N. Cardinal

Am. Tree Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Snow Bunting

Am. Goldfinch

European House Sparrow

The clear sunny day and no weather fronts from the N or NW was a recipe for little raptor movement at Rock Cut. Pierce Lake had a basic plumage Horned Grebe (my first of the fall) and a single Bonaparte’s Gull with a few Ring-bills. Lots and lots of Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers.

Spent about 30 minutes at Rock Cut SP during yesterday’s lunch hour. Migration is happening there. There were 2 Osprey over Pierce Lake. An immature Broad-winged Hawk was soaring and calling over the woods north of the dam.

2 families of Eastern Kingbirds were very active and vocal around the dam parking lot, with adults still being harassed for food by the young birds. Some young male/female Am. Redstarts were at the edge of the woods along the bike trail,

A Ring-billed Gull was on the rocky island just E of the dam, and at least 4 Great Blue Herons were in view along the lake edge. 4 species of swallows were over the lake near the dam.