Birding Around the World

TUESDAY, MAY 23:

My last full day in southern Illinois consisted of: you guessed it! More birds and herps! Let’s get right to it:

Started the day off with Tony hiking Wildcat Bluff where we filmed a short segment overlooking the Cache River swamp. The preserve has a small hill prairie that overlooks the swamp:

And of course, we climbed down to herp the swamp below:

One of the many herpetological highlights Wildcat Bluff has to offer is salamanders, and here we have a yearling Marbled Salamander, my F.O.Y. which hadn’t yet developed its thick silvery bands. They have this awkward blotchy appearance (reminiscent of Slimy Sals) during their first year (this specimen matured to its terrestrial form last fall).

And here’s a Northern Slimy Salamander for comparison:

We also flipped this gorgeous Cave Salamander:

And I found this Long-tailed Salamander, one of only a few Tony has ever found here! (Oddly enough, I found another here when I visited in 2020!)

Box Turtles abounded, such as this female:

And the more vibrant male:

Most interesting, though, was this hatchling which Tony spotted — the first wither of us have ever seen out on the crawl! Seeing a young example of this species is always a sure sign of a healthy environment. Amazing!!!

Convict Caterpillars! Fitting name, right?

Midwestern Wormsnake:

And another fossorial species, the Ring-necked Snake:

When we got to Tony’s place, I spotted my LIFER Luna Moth just chilling on his front porch out in the open like this! What?!?! A species I’d been wanting to see forever — so cool!!!

Tony told me that Luna Moths, like Monarchs, have two generations per year. This individual hatched last fall as a caterpillar, but unlike the migratory Monarchs, it spent the winter in a cacoon, and now has emerged in adult form! This can be told by the maroon leading edge of its wings, as opposed to the golden edge found on second-generation individuals hatched later in the summer.

Close-up on the large, leaf-like antennae found on male Lunas:

Size reference!

How cool! A bit of birding around his property yielded this late SWAINSON’S THRUSH:

After a chill early afternoon, I headed out to Mermet Lake for a third time to try for Diamondback Watersnake. Again, Midland Watersnakes proved…common! With 21 found.

And soon, I found my lifer Diamondback Watersnake but to my extreme annoyance, it disappeared underwater as soon as I pivoted in the driver’s seat of the car to get a photo of it. argh!!!!

A periscoping Common Snapping Turtle:

Common Five-lined Skink:

Then, a second Diamondback Watersnake appeared in the water next to the car so I very slowwwly pointed my camera in its direction and got some decent shots!!! Awesome!!! So glad to get photos after missing this species the two previous days.

Note the different, more staggered patterning than the Midland Watersnakes pictured earlier:

And here, you can compare the two species (Diamondback and Common/Midland) side-by-side!

Unfortunately, I went for the catch and fumbled it by the tail so I simply settled for these photos and headed back to Tony’s. There, an EASTERN BLUEBIRD greeted me:

And this Blanchard’s Cricket Frog!

A beautiful pastoral scene to wrap up the evening:

Along with an Eastern Newt:

And this Red-eared Slider that wasn’t thrilled to be rescued from being run over on a country road!

Bird-of-the-day to the late Swainson’s Thrush with runner-up to a heard-only Blue Grosbeak on Tony’s property. Honorable mention to my two stellar non-bird lifers today: Luna Moth and Diamondback Watersnake! An awesome day in the field!

Good birding and herping,
Henry
World Life List: 1151 Species

MONDAY, MAY 22:

Today was my first day of this trip almost completely devoted to herping, and find herps (and some birds too!) I absolutely did! Tony and I headed over to Missouri in hopes of finding Plains Hognose and Southern Water Snakes, both of which would be lifers for me, among other herpetological possibilities such as various Map Turtles and Diamondback Watersnakes.

BLACK-NECKED STILTS found on the way over to our first site, along the highway:

AMERICAN KESTREL:

An early summer herping excursion is not complete without a Red-eared Slider road rescue!

The drive over.

Our first stop was at a sand prairie in hopes for Dusky Hognose, among other things. There were plenty of flowering Prickly Pear Cactus to be had:

While we were flipping for snakes in a large pile of junk, Tony flipped my lifer Eastern Narrowmouth Toad! What an awesome, unique species. These guys are shy and almost impossible to “pin down” to a reliable location, so this was a nice unexpected lifer.

Their defense mechanism is to puff up full of air:

After dipping on Hognose, we headed to a nearby wildlife refuge to try for Southern Watersnakes which according to Tony are quite common there. This buzzy NORTHERN PARULA was singing above the trail:

Common Five-lined Skinks abounded trailside:

My lifer Southern Painted Turtle, a subspecies with a red “racing stripe” down the carapace:

Then, Tony spotted my lifer Southern Watersnake hiding in the bushes a bit off the trail! Awesome! this species is more heavily patterned, darker, and orangier than its lookalike the Midland Watersnake, and with thicker banding. A perfectly harmless species. Lifer!!!

This picturesque Spiny Softshell Turtle gave us pause because we couldn’t see the spikes on the leading edge of its carapace, but other herpers online indeed confirmed that the patterning is correct for Spiny as opposed to its rarer cousin, the Smooth:

Common Red-eared Slider laying eggs right on the road!

Two Common Musk Turtles basking. These were the most common turtle in my childhood Michigan lake, Selkirk Lake.

I barely snapped a photo of the rear end of this hen WILD TURKEY before she disappeared into the weeds:

After an eventful and somewhat successful time in Missouri, Tony and I headed back to Illinois to search for two (and possibly three!) species of Map Turtle that would be lifers for me: False, Mississippi, and the rare Ouachita. At an overlook of the Mississippi River, we immediately found a bunch of False Map Turtles swimming in the water with their telltale inverted “L” markings on their heads.

A Midland Watersnake drifted by:

Then, I spotted a heavily-patterned Map Turtle: we determined it to be an Ouachita Map Turtle since the patterning is so vibrant and heavy, and there is a yellow spot below the eye — no other Map species in this area has this feature. A beautiful turtle, even if a brief view — and an unexpected and rare lifer!

Horseshoe Lake was next where RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS abounded:

At another overlook of the Mississippi overflow, we found the third species of Map Turtle: Mississippi Map Turtles, rounding out our Map Turtle trifecta for the day! Awesome! These turtles are differentiated from the others by the single yellow marking that sort of wraps around the eye, as opposed to the L marking on the False that is completely removed from the eye.

A False Map was also swimming nearby:

And a BALD EAGLE surveyed the area from atop a Cypress:

We hit Mermet Lake again to try for Diamondback Watersnakes — and once again, Midland Watersnakes abounded:

We flipped this weird roadside EASTERN NEWT:

YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS:

Another rather exhilarating flip was this venomous Northern Cottonmouth:

GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER:

We believe this is a Swamp Rabbit due to its large size, but wanted to confirm. Anybody know how to differentiate Swamp Rabbit vs Eastern Cottontail with other morphological factors?

And we ended our excursion at Mermet with intergrade Midland X Southern Painted Turtles — note the present, but thin racing stripe:

The evening was beautiful back on Tony’s property:

We walked his ponds at night for Sirens, Tadpole Salamanders, and others, and we turned up a couple neonate (young) Midland Watersnakes:

And a large Plain-bellied Watersnake that quickly fled our flashlights:

Then, in Tony’s pond where Western Lesser Sirens breed, he brought up three into his net on the first dip into the pond! Awesome!

They have the most slimy, intriguing touch. These creatures are important prey items for predators such as Mudsnakes, Great Blue Herons, and various birds of prey.

Bird-of-the-day to the Black-necked Stilts and honorable mention to all my herp lifers today: Eastern Narrowmouth Toad, Southern Watersnake, Southern Painted, False Map, Ouachita Map, & Mississippi Map Turtles. A fantastic day of being outdoors!

Good birding and herping,
Henry
World Life List: 1151 Species

SUNDAY, MAY 21:

This morning, I woke up in a rest area at the crack of dawn in order to find my lifer and long-time nemesis Greater Prairie-Chicken. Would I? Read on and find out next!

The day started off with a gorgeous sunrise:

And two beautiful BLUE GROSBEAKS:

Just after I texted Simon asking for other locations for the Prairie-Chickens, I spotted this lone hen out by herself in the middle of an agricultural field! Wow!!!! Different from its lookalike Ring-necked Pheasant by more distinct barring and more distinct facial pattern…

And the more blunted tail in flight, and fly it did soon after starting to admire it:

An awesome nemesis conquered, and my 1151st life bird!!!!! Greaaat!!!!

Other birds were around the grassland area too, including this male AMERICAN GOLDFINCH:

And DICKCISSELS a-plenty:

EASTERN KINGBIRD:

Soon, I continued my drive southward and a bit past Mt Vernon, IL I spotted a denizen of southern IL birding: BLACK VULTURE, a species that has become increasingly common in this area in recent years! (And I’m talking very recent, Isoo and I had trouble finding these in 2020!)

My first stop in truly “southern” Illinois was the beautiful Ferne Clyffe State Park for birding.

And birds, I found! Here is a nice RED-EYED VIREO:
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And a WHITE-EYED:

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD:

And a nice KENTUCKY WARBLER, another classically-southern bird:

And a nice brief but clinching view of a MISSISSIPPI KITE through the treetops, another species I struggled finding back in 2020:

Beautiful butterfly on the trail:

BROAD-WINGED HAWK was also nice:

As was ACADIAN FLYCATCHER:

And LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH:

Then, I was treated to stunning views of a male PRAIRIE WARBLER briefly accompanied (and bullied) by a male RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD:

RED-TAILED HAWK:

Then, I made it to Tony’s place where I will stay for the next three nights! There, I was treated to incredible views of MISSISSIPPI KITES:

And less-impressive views of a flyover FISH CROW:

Male SCARLET TANAGER:

Tony’s guineafowl never cease to entertain!

One of my favorite aspects of Tony’s place are the dozens of acres of restored native grassland he maintains. The White-tailed Deer also appreciate it.

Female PROTHONOTARY WARBLER:

He also has great ponds on his property which are thriving with herp life such as these young Red-eared Sliders:

A pair of Five-lined Skinks on his property:

It wasn’t the greatest day of herping his property but there were a few things to be found such as Northern Slimy Salamander:

This pretty gnarly-looking Midwestern Wormsnake:

And a tiny little Ring-necked Snake:

Later in the evening, Tony, his family, and I piled into his van and we headed over to Mermet Lake to try for my lifer Diamondback Watersnake. Well, there were plenty of other watersnakes such as Midland:

And Plain-bellied:

And even a venomous Northern Cottonmouth:

YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS are used to coexisting with Cottonmouths:

And it was a quintessential southern Illinois scene to watch this colony of GREAT EGRETS in a stand of cypress trees:

A beautiful way to end an eventful day of birding and herping. Bird-of-the-day to my lifer Greater Prairie-Chicken with runner-up to the Mississippi Kites as I had only ever seen that species once before today!

Good birding and herping,
Henry
World Life List: 1151 Species (1 life bird today: Greater Prairie-Chicken)

SATURDAY, MAY 20:

As I have now graduated with honors and a Bachelor’s in Music (opera)—

I rewarded myself with a multi-day, multi-faceted birding and herping trip to Indiana Dunes and southern Illinois. The itinerary would be something like this: 1 day in Indiana guiding around Kim and friends in the Dunes, 1 day to find my lifer Prairie Chickens near Kinmundy, IL, and several days of herping the hell out of southern Illinois!

Before I dive into day 1, I will include a few photos with special people from my graduation, including mom, my beloved voice teacher Marlena, the president of MSM James Gandre, piano teacher Jiayin, and my friends Ed and Madeleine. It has been such an incredible five years and though there were ups and downs, of course, I would not have traded this experience for the world. It has been AMAZING to study opera, in NYC!

Now, onto the birds! Today, (Saturday, May 20), and much closer to home, I guided Kim and friends around the Indiana Dunes area. We had a phenomenal day and hit a few stops. Other than these CASPIAN TERNS:

Michigan City beach was quiet, so we continued on to Heron Rookery Preserve a bit further south. Here the action picked up a bit with BALTIMORE ORIOLE:

EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE:

RED-EYED VIREO:

PHILADELPHIA VIREO was wonderful to find:

YELLOW WARBLER:

LINCOLN’S SPARROW was nice as well:

SWAINSON’S THRUSH:

At our next stop, Brincka Crossgardens, we searched for a fledgling Barred Owl and came up empty on that front but did find these interesting galls on the ground, created from the decomposed structure of oak trees, by Oak Wasps (each one contains a single wasp larvae in the center). No, I didn’t know this already, I had to look all this up because we had no idea what these were!

Luckily, our bad luck with the owl was made up for in a BIG way when I heard a CONNECTICUT WARBLER singing, and after about twenty minutes of thorough searching and spishing, Kim and I got FANTASTIC views — my second-best ever of this elusive species!!! Super cool!!

RED-TAILED HAWK:

HOUSE WREN:

Another nice bird here was YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER:

Beautiful male INDIGO BUNTING:

Next, after a delicious mushroom soup lunch (thanks Kim!) we hit the Richardson Preserve where I quickly spotted this Green Frog sticking its head barely out of the water, showcasing the golden glow to its eye in the sun:

CANADA WARBLER was really nice here:

As was quite the uncommon migrant, this OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER:

Indiana Dunes State Park was our last stop of the day where I had this BLUE-WINGED WARBLER on the way in:

Brief views of this PILEATED WOODPECKER on a stump:

And the PROTHONOTARY WARBLER was back at its usual nesting site!

Male EASTERN BLUEBIRD:

After saying goodbye to Kim for the day, I hit a few spots in south Cook County, IL before starting the looong southward journey downstate. Bartel Grassland/Killdeer Wetland was first on my agenda — scouting for my upcoming June Big Day! NORTHERN FLICKER:

Beaver in one of the irrigation canals:

EASTERN MEADOWLARK:

GREAT BLUE HERON:

COMMON YELLOWTHROAT:

SAVANNAH SPARROW was nice to see; this one can be tough for big days:

SONG SPARROW:

BARN SWALLOW:

I was ecstatic to see this BLUE-WINGED TEAL in another irrigation ditch; really hoping this tough bird sticks around for the Big Day, too!

My final birding stop for the day was Helmick Preserve further south where I only photographed a FIELD SPARROW:

But my best bird of the entire afternoon (since the Connecticut was the best of the day) was an unseen, crowing RING-NECKED PHEASANT which was calling from south of the bike trail. This is a heck of a bird for Cook County and my county lifer — and it would be absolutely incredible to get on the Big Day.

Bird-of-the-day to the Connecticut Warbler with runner-up to the Ring-necked Pheasant.

I wrapped up the day by driving all the way down to Kinmundy, IL so I could wake up early and find my lifer Greater Prairie-Chickens. To say I was excited would be a massive understatement!

Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1150 Species

WEDNESDAY, MAY 17:

PLEASE NOTE THE ABOVE DATE — I AM CATCHING UP STILL!!!

Yep…you read it right. The final Central Park morning! I’m graduating tomorrow so I took advantage of the morning to show my mom spring migration birding in Central Park!

We headed, no surprise, to the Loch in the North Woods which turned out to be somewhat birdless, but thankfully the few birds we did see were actually quite quality species! So mom definitely got a taste of Central Park birding.

One of the first birds we actually got turned out to be my favorite warbler, a HOODED! Unluckily for us, it never posed for adequate photos so I was left with this lemon-yellow blur, though mom was able to briefly get eyes on it.

The next warbler we actually saw was another fantastic one, a WORM-EATING just off the side of the trail!

And then later, this BAY-BREASTED WARBLER gave us phenomenal views at the Loch overlook:

Less-phenomenal but still clinching views of a male SCARLET TANAGER:

Bird-of-the-day to the Worm-eating with runner-up to the Bay-breasted Warbler.

We had to call it quits after just over an hour of birding so I could get back to my commencement award ceremony. The actual MSM graduation is tomorrow, but I was blessed enough to receive the Hugh Ross Award today which goes to one “singer of unusual promise” each year at the Manhattan School of Music. Here I am with mom after receiving the award — the real reason my mom was in town!

Now on to graduation tomorrow — I am soon to be a “Bachelor of Music!”

Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1150 Species