The Shorebirding Continues

After discussing with my friend Isoo last night, I thought today I would bird the Calumet marshes before to school to see if shorebirds or other migrants were around. I started with Big Marsh off Stony Island Ave where there was a moderate productivity of birdlife. AMERICAN COOT:

SPOTTED SANDPIPER:

NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW:

CHIPPING SPARROW:

SONG SPARROW:

My first GREEN HERON of the year:

American Beaver — cool!

MUTE SWAN:

CASPIAN TERN:

I am overjoyed whenever I can get photos of any rail (they are tough little marsh-dwellers to photograph). Here are a few SORA who allowed for some decent snaps:

SAVANNAH SPARROW:

PALM WARBLER:

AMERICAN GOLDFINCH:

Next stop: Indian Ridge Marshes where the only noteworthy birds were a few more calling Sora and this PIED-BILLED GREBE:

Then, it was off to Hegewisch Marsh Park where a NORTHERN FLICKER was there to greet me:

And a SWAMP SPARROW:

Painted Turtles:

WOOD DUCK:

It was a nice treat to get a brief look at two GADWALL before they spooked:

Some nice views of BLUE-WINGED TEAL:

Then, I was overjoyed to find my sixth warbler species of the spring flitting in the treetops: NASHVILLE WARBLER! Characteristics for identification include the white eye-ring (visible in the first photo), the rufous crown (visible in the second photo), and the lemon-yellow underside.

So here is my revised Spring 2020 warbler list:

1. Ovenbird
2. Louisiana Waterthrush: DuPage County, April 4
3. Northern Waterhthrush
4. Golden-winged Warbler
5. Blue-winged Warbler
6. Black-and-White Warbler
7. Prothonotary Warbler
8. Tennessee Warbler
9. Orange-crowned Warbler: Oak Park alley, April 24
10. Nashville Warbler: Hegewisch Marsh, April 27
11. Connecticut Warbler
12. Mourning Warbler
13. Kentucky Warbler
14. Common Yellowthroat
15. Hooded Warbler
16. American Redstart
17. Cape May Warbler
18. Cerulean Warbler
19. Northern Parula
20. Magnolia Warbler
21. Bay-breasted Warbler
22. Blackburnian Warbler
23. Yellow Warbler
24. Chestnut-sided Warbler
25. Blackpoll Warbler
26. Black-throated Blue Warbler
27. Palm Warbler
28. Pine Warbler: Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve, April 18
29. Yellow-rumped Warbler: Thatcher Woods, April 4
30. Yellow-throated Warbler
31. Townsend’s Warbler BONUS RARITY: Deer Grove Forest Preserve, April 17
32. Black-throated Green Warbler
33. Canada Warbler
34. Wilson’s Warbler

EASTERN BLUEBIRD:

One notable unphotographed bird here was a heard-only, grunting VIRGINIA RAIL.

And I made a quick stop at Burnham Prairie Nature Preserve where I only managed a photo of this FIELD SPARROW — then it was time to head home.

Of course, after stepping outside the car at home, I took a few minutes to scan my surroundings and upon hearing the piercingly high-pitched call of a BROAD-WINGED HAWK, I trained my camera at the sky and snapped this photo of one sailing quickly away from me. Yeah, you’ll just have to believe me on this one.

But, the fun was not over yet! During theory class, I received word from my friend Jake C about three Long-billed Dowitchers up in Techny Basin in Glenview. So, of course, after theory I hopped in the car to twitch them! Upon arriving, a gale force wind was blowing with a light rain and a lonely KILLDEER was on the mudflat to greet me. The weather was miserable.

And then I saw them — LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS! These beautiful shorebirds are not common by any means; the last time I saw them was at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (which I miss so dearly) in New York City (where they are a bit more common). These dowitchers can be separated from their look-alike Short-billed cousins by their extensive salmon wash they have on the underside, extending to a rust-brown belly, as well as barring on the flanks. They are incredible birds!

A few times, a LESSER YELLOWLEGS also joined the fun:

NORTHERN SHOVELER:

BLUE-WINGED TEAL:

Another rare bird that has been recently hanging around Techny Basin that I saw was an AMERICAN BLACK DUCK (one of three actually) — not a rare bird in the winter, but certainly unexpected in late April!

Of course, the birding didn’t stop there because I had noticed the rain let up, and since waze convenintly routed me past Thatcher Woods on the way home, I made an unplanned stop there to search for migrants. And migrants there were! BROWN CREEPER:

EASTERN PHOEBE:

BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER:

COOPER’S HAWK:

And my first CHIMNEY SWIFTS of the year, hooray!

So a great day! Bird-of-the-day to the Long-billed Dowitchers with runners-up to the Nashville Warbler & Broad-winged Hawk. Stay tuned: tomorrow I return to Bartel Grassland in hopes of a stray Yellow Rail, LeConte’s Sparrow, Ring-necked Pheasant, or any other grassland/wetland speciality that might be lurking around. Keep it up, spring migration!

Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1114 Species