Birds of Illinois

I knew the weather was going to be good for birding today so I got up early and headed to Glacial Park in McHenry County to see what new migrants had turned up. It was a little cool when I arrived at 6:30AM but clear blue skies and birds everywhere.....

The first and most obvious birds were the many Bobolink. The males were flying and singing all over the place. The burn that was done earlier this year seems to have paid off for the Bobolink and their breeding grounds are significantly larger than they were last year. Male Bobolink's look like they have a yellow afro on the back of their head and their song is beyond description. But they are attractive birds. The one pictured below looks like he could use some dental floss!

Yellow Warbler Yellow Warbler

White-rumped Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper

Sandhill Crane Sandhill Crane

Common Yellowthroat Common Yellowthroat

Tennessee Warbler Tennessee Warbler

White-rumped Sandpiper (L) and Least Sandpiper (R) White-rumped Sandpiper (L) and Least Sandpiper (R)

BobolinkBobolink

Henslow's Sparrow Henslow's Sparrow

Common Yellowthroat Common Yellowthroat

As I walked towards the marsh a pair of Sandhill Cranes flew in and landed quite close to me. I assume they hadn't seen me but they may have just decided I wasn't a threat. In any case, I had an opportunity to squeeze off a few shots before I walked away and left them to feed. The sandhills are a wonderful rusty color at this time of year.

At the marsh there were five species of shorebirds. In the order I saw them, Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper and White-rumped Sandpiper. I'm not sure what the odds are of seeing White-rumped in two locations in three days - but I bet its not good. This one was happily feeding along the edge of the open water. Its amazing how much this area has greened up. The water level has dropped a little but there's still plenty and there were a pair each of Mallard and Blue-winged Teal floating around on it.

On the way to the marsh and I seen and heard plenty of Common Yellowthroat and Yellow Warblers, both common in this area. I found a spot they seemed to like and waited. Eventually I was rewarded with several shots of the females (the males weren't as brave!). Conversely, the Common Yellowthroat males were the only gender I saw of this species.

Next, on to the grassland area that's part of my breeding bird survey. I had hoped to find Henslow's Sparrows but for a good long while it wasn't looking good. I had by this time missed the best part of the day but persevered until I saw a small sparrow fly from close to me. After some hunting, I found the Henslow's Sparrow hiding out in a small bush. Later in the season these are much noisier than they are now. The Henslow's are very secretive so I was thrilled to get this photo op! This Henslow's Sparrow looks like he's tuning up for an opera. But given his call, it will be a very short part!

Finally, I headed into the wooded area to see what was around. I was greeted by the sound of a singing Brown Thrasher but it was the three-part call of the Tennessee Warbler that got my attention. It was calling over and over from a honeysuckle. Eventually he (it was a male) came out into a sunny area where I got a few brief shots before he headed back inside.