Nighttime Rail Search & Afternoon Herping
Cook County, IL
Thursday 23 April 2020
45 °F
Yesterday, my friends Jake, Eddie, Isoo, and I joined forces to search for the elusive Yellow Rail at Bartel Grassland in southern Cook County, IL. Although all of our plodding around the wet grassland did not yield a single Yellow Rail (they are very shy and uncommon), we did have several other marsh species in the night including VIRGINIA RAILS & SORA, HENSLOW’S SPARROW, AMERICAN WOODCOCK, WILSON’S SNIPE, and BLUE-WINGED TEAL. So some good species, even if most of them were heard-only!
Today, I wanted to do some herping (finding reptiles/amphibian) so I headed to Cook County’s oldest forest preserve, Deer Grove, where amazingly the Townsend’s Warbler from last week has remained in place! So, I hoped to find that bird as will as hopefully some salamanders (by flipping over fallen logs, etc).
My day started with a HERMIT THRUSH in the backyard, always a good sign:
And one of my first birds at Deer Grove was a pair of GREAT HORNED OWLS! Sooooo cool!
Bye there!
A mixed flock of passerines was around, which was a good sign for finding the Townsend’s. BROWN CREEPER:
And an even better sign was the presence of warblers, including YELLOW-RUMPED:
And my first PALM since returning home:
Then, a little yellow bird flitted into my sight and lo and behold, the TOWNSEND’S WARBLER appeared out of nowhere! Truly magical — WHAT A BIRD! Every time I see one of these beauties I count myself immensely lucky.
Cute little WINTER WREN:
HERMIT THRUSH:
Despite flipping over what seemed like a hundred logs (and in great, boggy forested habitat), I couldn’t find any salamanders or otherwise any herps apart from the Painted Turtles:
Anyone have a flower ID? These were tiny and beautiful.
SWAMP SPARROW:
My next stop was for shorebirds but, despite great habitat and conditions, I only found a few KILLDEER. Here is a glimpse of the habitat:
A quick stop at Buttonbush Slough yielded a heard-only SORA and this SWAMP SPARROW. Unfortunately, no Yellow Rail — hah!
Then, I headed to McClaughry Springs Woods to try some more herping and to see what forest birds I could find. WOOD DUCKS:
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET:
TUFTED TITMOUSE, always a nice bird to see in Cook County:
EASTERN PHOEBE:
And this Accipiter flew by at one point. COOPER’S HAWK with a full crop, I think.
And my favorite bird at McClaughry was a regal male PILEATED WOODPECKER, a really nice bird to see anywhere, in Cook County or not. Such prehistoric creatures!
Bird-of-the-day to the Townsend’s Warbler with runners-up to the Great Horned Owl & Pileated Woodpecker. Stay tuned for more adventures!!!
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1113 Species (no life birds today)
I believe your flower is Bloodroot. We continue to enjoy your posts daily.
by Judy Fitchett