Birds of Illinois

My family & I were at Van Patten Woods this afternoon when a flock of Short-billed Dowitchers appeared out of nowhere and started feeding on the edge of Sterling Lake.

Short-billed Dowitcher Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed DowitcherShort-billed Dowitcher

I think they may have been feeding in the long grass where they were all but invisible. Something or someone may have disturbed them. They landed very close to where another family was fishing. As fate would have it, that family was just packing up to leave so went to the car, got my camera and headed over to see if they would be a tolerant of people as they were when they landed near the family.

It turns out they were every bit as tolerant, allowing me to sit on a park table close to the edge of the water while they continued to feed along the edge of the lake. Its just as well the dowitchers were there as we were there fishing and didn't catch a thing! They were a welcome distraction.

I sat for over 45 minutes taking what now looks like a ridiculous number of shots of the dowitchers. While sitting I saw two flocks of terns fly by. One flock was clearly Black Terns but the other appeared to be Common Terns (unfortunately I had my camera but not binoculars so couldn't check the subtle ID indicators - but the tail didn't look exceptionally long and the bill not particularly short).

The shots above are some of my favorite shots from this afternoon. The birds were in different stages of moult but most were well on the way to full breeding plumage. Most of my other Dowitcher photos are from fall, so I was especially pleased to get these ones.