Floating down the Des Plaines
River Grove, IL
Saturday 16 May 2020
59 °F
Today I decided to hit another migrant trap, LaBagh Woods, to check for warblers and other songbirds during this peak migration time of May. Unfortunately, it was quieter than I hoped, but there were still some birds around — here is a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW:
Female BALTIMORE ORIOLE:
FIELD SPARROW:
COOPER’S HAWK.
I very closely missed seeing a Bay-breasted Warbler and saw a BLUE-WINGED, but other than that it was quite quiet so I decided to head home. Then, a thought occurred to me: it was the perfect (not too warm or cold) spring day to float down the Des Plaines River on my inflatable kayak searching for migrants! So, my dad drove me up to Schiller Woods South where, after inflating the kayak, I embarked on my voyage down the mighty Des Plaines!
It included many tight crossings below bridges due to the extremely high water level, but it also aided my bird finding since I was able to easily navigate in and out of the river and the floodplain to search for pockets of warblers when I heard areas with birdsong.
And warblers there were! Although photographing from a kayak presented unique challenges, the birds got much closer to me than when I am standing up! Super cool — here is a BLACK-THROATED GREEN. I had another day of over 20 warbler species today!
GOLDEN-WINGED:
CHESTNUT-SIDED:
BLACKBURNIAN:
TURKEY VULTURE:
LEAST FLYCATCHER:
CAPE MAY WARBLER:
After a good amount of spishing, I was able to draw in a nice mixed flock of warblers including my first photographed BAY-BREASTED of spring, this incredibly-beautiful male bird. This is definitely one of my favorite birds.
A late HERMIT THRUSH was very cool to see:
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT downstream from me.
Then, all the sudden, I faced a major dilemma: the hissing sound of an air leak came from my kayak right while I was headed straight for another tight bridge crossing — yikes! I slowed down the kayak with my oars, grabbed hold of the bridge, pushed upstream with all my might, and with a rush of adrenaline, paddled upstream and towards the nearest bank I could find. Thankfully, I made it to shore without sinking, tipping over, or losing my phone or camera. Whew!
So, I called my dad and he agreed to come pick me up where I had landed with my busted kayak (La Framboise Reserve in River Grove). We came to the conclusion that we had filled the kayak too tightly with air since it appeared that one of the air stoppers had broken off.
As a silver lining, getting off at La Framboise Reserve allowed me to photograph a stunning RED-HEADED WOODPECKER while portaging the busted kayak to the nearest road.
When all that was said and done, I noticed quite a bit of bird activity around home so I stopped to check the elm trees across the alley from my house, where I promptly found a regal GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER, my first sighting ever for my yard:
And a brilliant male SCARLET TANAGER — no matter how “common” this bird may be in places, my breath will always be taken away by this stunner.
And I was able to track down the telltale “Bee bz bz bz!” song to a male GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER, a federally near-threatened species and an annual occurrence in the elms across from my yard — soooo awesome.
Then, after a solid afternoon nap, I led my first Oak Park Bird Walk of the season to eight eager (mask-wearing) participants. We found a good number of birds including ten warbler species. Here is a SWAINSON’S THRUSH:
Female BLACKBURIAN WARBLER:
And the magnificent male:
EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE:
This BLUE-WINGED WARBLER gave the walkers great looks.
NASHVILLE WARBLER:
And we ended the walk on the 800 block of Fair Oaks Avenue, admiring this second-year female COOPER’S HAWK (not a full adult because of yellow eyes & vertical breast striping).
What an awesome day! Bird-of-the-day to the Bay-breasted with runner-up to the backyard Golden-winged Warbler.
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1115 Species
I went to the LaBagh Woods by paddling my <a href="https://kayakszone.com/best-fishing-kayaks-under-300/">smart kayak</a>. Having watched various species sparrow, cooper's Hawk & Golden-winged, I have been charmed very much. I will never forget the sweet memory of LaBagh Woods. Getting your blog, I feel like going there again. Keep up the good posting, Henry! Thanks a lot...
by Amzad Kayaker