Author Archives: Amy

Three strikes

If you’ve read other blogs from attendees of the Midwest Birding Symposium, you already know that a Kirtland’s Warbler was spotted at East Harbor State Park on Friday, and ended up being seen by a good many of the attendees. This was a life bird for many, and it would have been for us, too, if we hadn’t missed it. If you’re not sure why this was such a spectacular sighting, read Laura’s blog post here.

When Bill Thompson came to the stage after Jim McCormac’s talk, Birding Ohio’s Lake Erie Shore, he barely got out the words “There’s a Kirtland’s Warbler at East Harbor State Park” before people started trotting out to their cars. We hesitated, and then I fumbled when writing down directions which Bill kindly repeated a couple of times. I didn’t have to worry about finding the park though – there was a steady stream of traffic flowing from Lakeside to East Harbor. Where else was there to go, after that announcement?

SIGN
“Follow trail to next marker for last sighting of Kirtland’s Warbler”
>

We followed the signs to a clump of about 20 birders clogging the trail. When we arrived, we learned that the bird had not been seen for the last 10 or so minutes. I overheard someone talking on the phone. He said that he was standing with “150 or so of my birding friends.”

Waiting for Kirtland's Warbler

I thought this was a funny bit of hyperbole, but didn’t think much about it until we walked further down the trail a few minutes later. Ah, there was everyone. There were groups of birders everywhere I turned. Far down the path, off the path in the bushes to the left, off the path under the trees to the right. I had thought 150 was an exaggeration, but it may have actually been conservative.

Waiting for Kirtland's Warbler

Waiting for Kirtland's Warbler

Waiting for Kirtland's Warbler

We searched for about 40 minutes before heading back to Lakeside to have lunch. During the afternoon’s first program, Arthur learned that the warbler had been seen once more. Again, foolishly, we hesitated, and again we arrived just minutes after the last sighting of the bird. All was not lost though, as this proved to be the one time I got to meet, extremely briefly, both Sharon (aka Birdchick) and John (aka Born Again Birdwatcher).

Favorite Tree
Checking the warbler’s favorite tree Saturday morning

We tried again for the Kirtland’s Warbler first thing Saturday morning, but the bird was not seen again after Friday afternoon, so that was our strike three. But the chase is part of the fun, and I don’t regret a moment of our search. We’ll see a Kirtland’s, some day.

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Glen Chilton, Duck P.I.

The Curse of the Labrador Duck

Today we attended a lecture given at the Field Museum in Chicago by noted ornithologist Glen Chilton, who was speaking on his new book, The Curse of the Labrador Duck: My Obsessive Quest to the Edge of Extinction. Chilton has spent the last 10 years or so, on and off, chasing down the last remaining museum pieces, study skins and eggs of this duck that went extinct in the 1870’s. During his extremely entertaining lecture, he explained how he came to take on the project and shared a few of the adventures he had along the way to finding the 50-some birds and handful of remaining eggs that reside in museums (and other places) around the world.

Labrador Ducks
The Field Museum’s pair of Labrador Ducks

At the beginning of his talk, Dr. Chilton praised the Field Museum as one of the top 5 natural history museums in the world. Also among his top 5 is our old favorite, Naturalis, in our former hometown of Leiden (the mention of Leiden elicited a quiet “woo hoo” from your blogger). After the lecture Dr. Chilton signed his book and when it came our turn we mentioned our former time in Leiden. He again praised Naturalis and told us a bit more about the two Labrador Ducks that are in the museum’s possession.

Labrador Duck trading card
Circa 1970 trading card featuring the Labrador Duck

Chilton is pretty sure he tracked down all of the remaining examples of the Labrador Duck still in existence. He’s so sure that he’s offering a $10,000 reward for anyone that can produce a duck he didn’t manage to find (restrictions, of course, apply).

Reward for Labrador Duck
Reward for ‘new’ Labrador Duck

Dr. Chilton will be making more appearances for his book in the coming weeks, in Seattle, Denver and Portland (Portland Audubon Society), before returning to Australia. I highly recommend his lively and interesting lecture. I’ve read the first few chapters of the book and will post a review when I’m done (so far, thumbs up).

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MBS Road Trip & Sunset Boat Cruise

Arby, Arthur and I hit the road for the Midwest Birding Symposium Thursday morning at 7:40am – a bit later than we aimed. When Arby reminded us ten minutes down the road that we forgot a few of his essentials, we had to turn back. Finally we were on our way for real at 8am, hairbrush and imported hairball remedy safely in Arby’s luggage.

After we dropped Arby off at camp (my parent’s house) we headed east towards Lakeside, Ohio. Lakeside is a six hour drive from our house, according to Google maps and our trusty TomTom GPS navigator. We meant to allow extra time for pitstops, but when we stopped for lunch at 12:20pm we realized it was 1:20pm and we lost an unplanned hour with the timezone change. A brief panic ensued but we were making good time and there was nothing to do but press on.

Lucky for us both Google and TomTom underestimated the maximum allowable speed for the final miles of the journey, so our last hour took only 15 minutes and we made it to Lakeside with time to spare. We picked up the key to our cottage at 409 Maple, fetched our registration packet, and even had time to walk out of the Lakeside grounds to pick up a half gallon of milk. We arrived at Lakeside’s dock to catch the Goodtime I for a two hour cruise on Lake Erie.

GOODTIME_I
The Goodtime I approaches the dock at Lakeside

BOARDING
Birders boarding the boat

A Goodtime was had by all. Especially the Ring-billed Gulls.

GULLS2

GULLS1

More MBS to come…

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One site, two habitats

On Sunday, September 13th we took our last field trip of the IAS Fall Gathering. We joined about a dozen other birders and leader Jeff Sanders at Waukegan Beach for some shorebirding and warblering.

FOG

It was our first visit to Waukegan Beach and we were treated to some great birds. The morning started foggy, but by the time we reached our spot at the end of the pier it started to clear up.

CLEAR

On the beach closest to us we spotted a pair of Sanderlings busy scooting about. They weren’t too shy and one even jumped on the pier for some scurrying action.

Sanderling

SAND2

Arthur spotted a lone bird on the far beach which turned out to be our lifer American Avocet. Later, a Hooded Merganser flew in and we spotted a couple of Gadwall.

Closer to the harbor a small wooded park provided habitat for migrating songbirds. The trees and shrubs were full of warblers and other birds including our first fall Red-breasted Nuthatch.

LOOKING

TREES

Here’s our trip list:
1 Canada Goose
2 Northern Shoveler
3 Hooded Merganser
4 Double-crested Cormorant
5 American Avocet
6 Killdeer
7 Greater Yellowlegs
8 Sanderling
9 Ring-billed Gull
10 American Herring Gull
11 Downy Woodpecker
12 Least Flycatcher
13 Cedar Waxwing
14 Red-breasted Nuthatch
15 Brown Thrasher
16 Grey-cheeked Thrush
17 Swainson’s Thrush
18 American Robin
19 Nashville Warbler
20 Blackpoll Warbler
21 Cape May Warbler
22 Yellow-rumped Warbler
23 Palm Warbler
24 American Redstart
25 Chipping Sparrow
26 Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Posted in Illinois Audubon, Lake-Cook Audubon | Leave a comment

Mettawa Manor

I had a great time at the Midwest Birding Symposium, and will have some blog posts to share with you about the weekend. But first I’ve still got a couple of short posts to wrap up our birding from the previous weekend at the Illinois Audubon Fall Gathering

After our afternoon field trip on Saturday, all participants of the gathering headed to a wine and cheese reception at Mettawa Manor, an historic 65-acre estate.

Upon arrival we were offered handouts which described the history of the estate.


The main house and grounds were built in 1927, as a gift to Elizabeth Morse upon her marriage to William Covington. They were part of a larger family compound that included two other homes, various outbuildings and nearly 100 acres of land. Elizabeth and William Covington raised five children in their home, and used it and the gardens, designed by Swain Nelson & Sons Co., to create a wonderful “country life” only 40 minutes from the center of Chicago. They entertained extensively, holding a 60th wedding anniversary party that is still talked about. Upon Elizabeth Convington’s death at the age of 86 in 1990, the house and 9 acres of land were put on the market.

Since then the new owners have worked to restore and freshen the estate as well as reacquire additional acres of land. The manor and grounds were absolutely beautiful – and a joy to explore.

CARTS

Besides a lovely selection of snacks and wine, we got to enjoy the grounds of this beautiful property. Tram tours were given every 10 minutes but attendance was so high that not everyone was able to tour the grounds this way. Arthur and I elected to walk on the prairie and forest trails that crisscrossed the property. Birds seen included Flicker, Red-tailed Hawk, American Goldfinches, and Blue Jay.

PATH

The gracious owners had invited us to make ourselves at home and so when we came upon a treehouse in the woods, we had to have a look at the elevated view.

TREEHOUSE

Back at the gardens we tried raspberries and blueberries right off the bush, and freshly fallen pears were begging to be tasted. All of the garden delights were free from pesticides and extremely tasty.

VEGETABLES

We passed through the formal flower garden as we returned to the house.

GARDEN

Our visit to Mettawa Manor was quite a coup for the local host Audubon club and a perfect bridge between the day’s field trips and the evening banquet.

FLOWERS

Posted in Illinois Audubon, Lake-Cook Audubon | Leave a comment

Quickie from the MBS

A quick post from the MBS! We made it to the Midwest Birding Symposium, but I have been suffering from lack of web access.

Lakeside is a perfect location for birding camp, and we’re having loads of fun. The birding is great, the speakers are awesome and the organization is impressive.

LAKESIDE
The pier at Lakeside from which we boarded the Goodtime I for Thursday night’s cruise

Posted in Festivals & Events | 1 Comment

Our visit to Barnswallow, A Wild Bird Concern

Continuing with the Illinois Audubon Fall Gathering posts, our afternoon field trip on Saturday was a visit to Barnswallow, a wild bird rehabilitation center located near Wauconda. Owner and chief operator Linda showed us around her home where she cares for injured raptors and other wild birds.

Linda was still caring for several late songbird chicks and she told us about the current patients: Cedar Waxwings; Northern Cardinals; and Chimney Swifts. Linda’s target species are primarily raptors, but all patients are welcome at Barnswallow. This season she had an inordinate amount of songbirds to care for.

Besides learning about what goes on at Barnswallow, we were able to meet a few of the resident birds who were presented with the help of some of Linda’s young volunteers.

Linda’s got a first-class rehab facility set up in her home and it was a pleasure to visit her and see the great work she’s doing. You can visit Barnswallow on the web to learn more.

As I didn’t want to use flash during the presentation, most of my photos turned out blurry, but here are a few of the resident birds we got to meet.

Here Linda stands in the clinic with three of her young volunteers, each handling a bird.

Clinic at Barnswallow

This is Carson, an American Kestrel.

Carson the American Kestrel

This is Hubie, an Eastern Screech Owl. Hubie was in the middle of molting so he looked a little scruffy.

Hubie the Eastern Screech Owl

This is Griffin, a Barred Owl who was injured by colliding with a car.

Griffin the Barred Owl

This is Boopie, a Northern Saw-whet Owl.

Boopie the Northern Saw-whet Owl

Here are a few more photos from Barnswallow that I found on Flickr. They come from the account of JanetandPhil and were taken in March 2009.

2009-03-28 Barnswallow - A Wild Bird Concern 12
2009-03-28 Barnswallow – A Wild Bird Concern 12 by JanetandPhil, Creative Commons on Flickr

2009-03-28 Barnswallow - A Wild Bird Concern 4
2009-03-28 Barnswallow – A Wild Bird Concern 4 by JanetandPhil, Creative Commons on Flickr

2009-03-28 Barnswallow - A Wild Bird Concern 9
2009-03-28 Barnswallow – A Wild Bird Concern 9 by JanetandPhil, Creative Commons on Flickr

2009-03-28 Barnswallow - A Wild Bird Concern 8
2009-03-28 Barnswallow – A Wild Bird Concern 8 by JanetandPhil, Creative Commons on Flickr

Posted in Illinois Audubon, Lake-Cook Audubon, Rehabilitation | Leave a comment

Foggy morning @ IBSP

Last weekend the Illinois Audubon Fall Gathering was hosted by our local Lake-Cook Chapter. Unfortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it!) we joined late in the birding season last spring and were not at all involved in the planning, which was absolute perfection. We were embarrassed to have been praised on the organization by birders from other chapters who read our name tags. I only wish we could have taken credit, because the Lake-Cook chapter really rocked it.

For our first field trip Saturday morning we arrived at Illinois Beach State Park, which was covered in fog. From the Hawk Watch pavilion we looked out over the meadow before our morning walk started.

foggy meadow

Our walk on the north side of the state park was not too birdy, but the fog did lift and we did have a pleasant stroll.

Path at Illinois Beach State Park

BIRDERS

Clear sky

We returned to visit the hawk watchers at their pavilion. The fields were no longer foggy.

FIELD

The IBSP Hawk Watch is lucky to have a large pavillion they use during the season, which provides shelter from rain, snow or sun.

PAVILLION

We visited for a bit before it was time to head out to our afternoon appointment — with lunch taken on the run!

Posted in Illinois, Illinois Audubon, Lake-Cook Audubon | 1 Comment

American Avocet

We walked out on to the pier and looked back at the beach.

Waukegan Beach

Through our bins we saw a thin, long-legged bird standing alone, apart from the gulls and geese. An American Avocet. I mean, OMG, an AMERICAN AVOCET !! best bird of the weekend wooo!!

American Avocet

It stood still on the beach for a time, then scooted across the sand towards our pier, still very far from our group. It fed for a few moments when suddenly a person walking on the beach spooked it. The bird took flight over Lake Michigan.

We all watched it circle away from the beach. It turned back and I think I may have held my breath. It landed on the other side of the pier. It marched towards us until it was just a few feet from the pier. We got to spend some quality time with this life bird.

AVOCET2

AVOCET3

American Avocet

American Avocet

American Avocet

American Avocet

We attended the Illinois Audubon Society Fall Gathering this weekend, and this Avocet was one of the star birds. We certainly picked the right field trip for this morning! More to come on the fest.

For more bird photos from around the world, visit Bird Photography Weekly.

Posted in Bird Photography Weekly, Illinois Audubon, Lake-Cook Audubon, Life List | 10 Comments