As the state organization “Dedicated to Illinois Birds and Birding,” the IOS board thought it was time to form an IOS conservation committee to work on behalf of this motto. Myself and Ted Wolff volunteered to take up this endeavor and have already been meeting and talking with members interested in joining the committee. As this committee continues to solidify its role, we are looking for any IOS members interested in being a part of the conservation committee.
Matt Igleski, Conservation Committee
There are many responsibilities that this committee will immediately be taking on. One, to send representatives to the Birding Conservation Network (BCN) quarterly meetings; BCN is a Chicago area coalition focused on conserving Chicagoland birds. Two, to communicate Illinois bird conservation issues to members via email and regular contributions to the IOS website. Three, to evaluate issues and develop IOS’s stance on these issues, especially when issues might be particularly complicated.
Our aim is to focus on few issues with greater potential impact, this overarching strategy will allow us to concentrate on issues that will be both actionable for members and high impact for bird conservation. In addition to rallying support around actionable issues, we intend to follow up on and communicate outcomes from past conservation actions to keep members feeling up-to-date and informed. We believe meaningful and actionable notification of conservation issues to members will make a difference within the state and community overall.
Please consider reaching out to us if you have any interest in Illinois bird conservation and want to help guide this committee.
Plain Chachalaca, Rio Grand Valley Texas (Photo: Matt Igleski)
If you haven’t already heard, there is talk of building a wall along the entire US-Mexico border. Without going into all the political and logistical minutia, the big takeaway is that the wall cannot go on the border itself and will actually be several feet to miles into the US from the border. Due to the placement of the potential wall, many areas will be trapped in a “no-man’s land” and one of these areas includes the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. All the experts agree that this will be devastating to wildlife and will further fragment habitat vital to many birds in the region, many of which aren’t readily found anywhere else in the US, and other animals such as the Ocelot—only found in the US in south Texas. Access for birders is still unclear, there may well be a way to access the area after the wall is built, but nothing has been confirmed and no one will be holding their breaths even if promises are made.
Alright, so we recognize that this is not an Illinois conservation issue per se, however it does have the potential to impact migratory birds traveling through this area. And it has the potential to impact Illinois birders looking to explore an exciting part of the country for birding. It is undoubtedly one of the most important bird conservation issues we are currently facing in the US. However, it is also an issue that all of us can take action on today!
As Congress continues to debate the 2018 budget there are ongoing attempts to attach money for Trump’s border wall. Construction in Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is poised to begin as soon as money is allocated! You can help by calling your members of Congress today and tell them no money for walls! Call the Senate switchboard, 202-224-3121, and read the script below. You’ll have to call it twice to leave a message for both Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin. Calls are the preferred mode of communication as it’s been shown that it is more effective than letters or emails, and brings immediate attention to the issue.
Green Parrots, Rio Grande Valley Texas (Photo: Matt Igleski)
Example script:
“Hello, I am a constituent and I am calling to ask _____________ to oppose all money for border walls. The Trump administration has already announced that the first border walls they would build will slice through the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. This is a refuge that is so biodiverse that it is called the “Crown Jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System.” I ask that _________ protect this jewel for its wildlife and for future generations of Americans by voting down ALL funding for border walls.”
Joan Bruchman (left); Donnie Dann and Matthew Cvetas (right)
At the Gull Frolic, IOS President, Matthew Cvetas, took the opportunity to honor two long time members of the Illinois Ornithological Society (IOS) for their significant contributions to IOS and the Illinois birding community.
Not present, IOS recognized Joan Bruchman with the “Distinguished Service to IOS” award. Over many years, Joan held a position on the board of directors, planned Spring Birding Weekends, and helped to circulate its flagship publication, Meadowlark.
IOS also presented Donnie Dann with the “Distinguished Service to Illinois Birding” award. The birding community has long welcomed his leadership and guidance on conservation issues both local and abroad. His work as advocacy chair of the Bird Conservation Network (BCN) and volunteer naturalist for Ryerson Conservation Area are just two examples of his untiring efforts in this capacity.
Brown Pelican: Marshall (North) – Mike Ingram reported a possible Brown Pelican soaring with American White Pelicans near the Aichison Waterfowl Refuge south of Lacon in Marshall County, February 25, 2018.
Hoary Redpoll: Sangamon (Central) – A Hoary Redpoll has been attending the private feeder of William Rudolph in Sangamon County since at least January 29th.
Prairie Falcon: Jasper (South) – Tyler D Funk photographed another Prairie Falcon on February 12th at the Prairie Ridge State Natural Area in Jasper County.
IOS is pleased to announce we are now accepting applications for the 2018 Illinois Ornithological Society Grant Program. Awards of up to $1,000 are available to applicants conducting projects relating to birds and/or birding in Illinois.
It has been several years since IOS hosted an out of state birding trip. The increasing reports of boreal species motivated us to select Sax-Zim Bog as a kick off to what we hope is an annual “Out of State” addition to the field trip schedule. Each year we will do our best to select a location which will help build your life list.
On Thursday, February 1st, Linda Cames, Lois Cross, Ted Wolff, Scott and Ethan Ellis, Ben and Oliver Burrus, Nancy Tikalsky, Michael Sweeney, Anna Szal and Tyler Funk assembled for what would be a rewarding couple of days at Sax-Zim Bog and the surrounding area. With just enough light for some afternoon birding, a handful of us met up on Thursday evening to make an early assault on the bog. Northern Shrike, Common Redpoll, Common Raven, Great Gray Owl, Black-billed Magpie, and Ruffed Grouse were a couple of highlights.
Thursday night/Friday morning, a cold front passed through the area, dipping the temperature down to -22 degrees. As we walked out to warm up our vehicles, it was so cold it felt as if everything was compressed, as though everything was at its shattering point. Fortunately, all the cars started, and despite the extreme cold, all field trip members were in their cars and ready for the day by 7am.
Birding the Bog by Tyler Funk
Our first target was Great Gray Owl, which have pockets of established territories around the bog. Before long we were on our first Great Gray. We tallied three within the first couple of hours, so we moved on to our next target, the Three-toed Woodpecker. This target required a modest march into a section of Boreal forest along Blue Spruce Road. The Three-toed Woodpecker is a regular but casual winter visitor, primarily restricted to extreme northern Minnesota forests. Here they are a specialist on bark beetles, gathering them while pecking and scaling the bark of trees. Like Emperor Penguins huddled against the cold, we waddled our way towards a location where these birds have previously been seen. We dipped on this woodpecker and would dip another two times before circling this species as a miss for the field trip. We retreated from the cold boreal forest, glad to be back in a warm vehicle. Our next stop was at a Sharp-tailed Grouse lek, which is also conveniently located near a home with bird feeders along Owl Avenue. We tallied 12 Sharp-tailed Grouse, either on the lek, or under the bird feeders. Here, we also quickly spotted our first Pine Grosbeak for the field trip. A Mourning Dove was also spotted at these feeders on Saturday. Mourning Dove is considered a good find for this area during the winter. We then proceeded to some domesticated birding at Mary Lou’s Feeders in the northwestern portion of the bog. At least this season, this is the most reliable spot for Pine and Evening Grosbeaks. Both were present and provided decent photo ops. We traveled back east along Zim Road and made our way to McDavitt Road.
Northern Hawk Owl by Scott Ellis
A short hike from the road and we were quickly on a Northern Hawk Owl, another target bird. The Northern Hawk Owl gave us excellent views in perfect light, making for amazing photo opportunities. The barring and texture of this bird’s feathers make it one of the most handsome owls.
On or way to lunch, we made our way along Lake Nicholas Road to search for Black-backed Woodpeckers, another cryptic target. The Black-backed Woodpecker is a permanent resident, migrant, and winter visitor primarily in northern forested areas of the state. It is a specialist on wood-boring beetles, which it extracts by scaling and pecking the bark of trees, much like the Three-toed Woodpecker. The Black-backed Woodpecker is typically found feeding in areas affected by fire, wind, or other disturbances. The woodpeckers would, not surprisingly, prove to be difficult targets. We missed on this attempt but would later find one here on Saturday afternoon. During the morning birding, continual reports of Boreal Owl sightings along the north shores of Lake Superior were coming in. So, naturally, discussions of pursuing this target on Saturday started. We broke for lunch in Cotton, MN and made our plans for the afternoon. We decided to make a stop at the Visitor Center after lunch to look for Gray jays and a Hoary Redpoll. Both birds proved to be easily found here. On the way to the visitor center, a Northern Goshawk was seen for a moment, passing over the lead vehicle and quickly disappearing over some trees. The remainder of the afternoon was spent making fruitless woodpecker attempts and cruising the bog for Ruffed Grouse, Great Gray Owls and Black-billed Magpie.
Spruce Grouse by Scott Ellis
On Saturday, having made the decision to relocate to the Duluth area the day prior, we got another cold and early start. Boreal Owl was on the menu and everyone was ready to order. We got into the proper area around 7:20am and with Mallards flying past, we made our plan of attack. Some would scan along Superior Street while others would cruise up Scenic Rt.61. We got about 40 minutes into our search when word came in about a Boreal Owl along Scenic 61. We made notifications and eventually got everyone on the bird. This can be a tough bird to find, so everyone was delighted to have this on our list of successes. We traveled back to Lake Nicholas Road, where we were also successful in locating a Black-backed Woodpecker, a surprise Great Gray Owl, and a large flock of Pine Grosbeaks. We dipped again on the Three-toed Woodpecker at this point and decided this one would remain a scratch for our target birds. The rest of the afternoon was filled with checking the Admiral Road bird feeders, taping for Boreal Chickadee, and lastly, another stop by the Visitor Center.
A portion of the group head to Hwy. 2 North of Two Harbors, MN on Sunday morning and picked up Red Crossbills and Spruce Grouse.
The group all added some valuable life birds to the list and everyone had a very good time.
Trip List:
Trumpeter Swan (Wisconsin)
Canada Goose
Mallard
Common Goldeneye
Red-breasted Merganser
Northern Harrier (Wisconsin)
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk (Wisconsin)
Northern Goshawk
Bald Eagle
Spruce Grouse
Ruffed Grouse
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Wild turkey
Herring Gull
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Great Gray Owl
Boreal Owl
Northern Hawk Owl
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Black-backed Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Shrike
Blue jay
Gray Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
European Starling
Bohemian Waxwing
Northern Cardinal
Dark-eyed Junco
Snow Bunting
Evening Grosbeak
Pine Grosbeak
Red Crossbill
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
House Sparrow
What are these things we call seasons? Is it winter as I shelter in my car looking out over wind-scoured stubble, listening to the wind-chime soprano tinkling of a horned lark on a day that would kill me in a matter of hours? How can this feather-puff be in full song? Could fall begin with July 1st’s first lesser yellowlegs and solitary sandpipers back in Knox County from the tundra and tropics-bound? Is it spring when the first hopeful pools open on the great rivers and fill with common goldeneyes splashing, calling, mating, and flight-whistling through air too cold for me to breathe?
Ask robins. February’s first front says welcome back. Some say,”I never left.” Ask willow flycatchers. Late May, at the end of all the great passage, they deign to arrive. And in ten weeks will be gone again.
Peer closely at life’s equation. Its complexity is limited only by our lack of perception. Three hundred birds come now to my feeders. Each tells a different tale. I am a chickadee. I weigh one quarter of an ounce and I just spent the ten below zero night in your arbor vitae. Six feet away you slept under down with a net gain of eighty degrees. I am nuthatch, titmouse, woodpecker and I really don’t care what day it is. This is my home. I am starling, house sparrow, collared dove, pheasant, and I really don’t care what continent this is. It is now my home. I am mockingbird, Carolina wren, golden-crowned kinglet, yellow-rumped warbler and I can overwinter here. Until the winter comes that I can’t.
A chickadee forages frozen meat shards from the rib cage of a deer. A Carolina wren works sunflower seeds wishing for a finch bill. A brown creeper believes in bugs under the bark of a January tree trunk, then timidly creeps out onto the snow below woodpecker-hammered suet and gleans amber flakes of fuel with a most curious recipe.
Snow comes, warmth leaves, and the bird list grows. Thirty cowbirds materialize like fruit flies. Among them is a grackle whose other millions are two states south. Amid the juncos, who believe they are south, appear American tree sparrows who only come to me in time of need. My winter bluejays are here now. My summer bluejays are somewhere south of the grackle millions.
Minus ten. The lake is locked down and under four inches of snow. Even the spillway and outlet stream are frozen. But there huddled on a ground pipe staring motionless at an open trickle sits a kingfisher. A hungry optimist, table for one, at a very small sushi bar.
January fourth I spent a couple of hours revisiting my Christmas Bird Count route. On December fifteenth this area hosted thirty thousand geese of five kinds. Today there are six. Six geese. Total. Of one kind in an unkind world.
We have a real winter on our hands. It is coming for our fingers. I sit and write about my back yard birds and wonder about my hiatus from my hobby. Aside from four days in the field for the Knox CBC I have not been out since late May. I have the time right now. I need a spark. Snowy owls may do the trick. They are scattered in many places in the northern half of Illinois right now. Pine siskins and red-breasted nuthatches are out in force with a smattering of common redpolls. I need to stoke my inner fire. I need to go outside.
Barrow’s Goldeneye: Rock Island (North) – On 21-Jan-2018, Colin Dobson reported a male Barrow’s Goldeneye from Rock Island County along the Mississippi River.
Gyrflacon: Madison (South) – A ghost-like white morph Gyrfalcon was photographed by Frank Holmes at Horseshoe Lake State Park in Madison County on 17-Jan-2018.
Slaty-backed Gull: Cook (North) – On 4-Jan-2018, Walter Marcisz and Andrew Aldrich found an adult Slaty-backed Gull along the Calumet River in Cook County.
Prairie Falcon: Gallatin (South) – Ron Bradley found another Prairie Falcon. This one was in Gallatin County on 3-Jan-2018.
Ivory Gull: Lake (North) – While Amar Ayyash was birding Lake County Fairgrounds on 3-Jan-2018, he turned around to find an adult Ivory Gull staring at him. Sadly, no one else got to see this rare find.
Prairie Falcon: Bond/Clinton (South) – Keith McMullen had a Prairie Falcon on New Year’s Day fly across the Bond/Clinton County border.
Harlequin Duck: Clinton (South) – Dan Kassebaum found a Harlequin Duck on Carlyle Lake on 22-Dec-2017.
Twenty-three consecutive days of winter birding no matter how bitter the cold. Rising before dawn to listen for owls and staying up late to compile the day’s sightings. Thousands of miles of driving often traveling through the night without sleep to get to the next destination, sometimes navigating treacherous stretches of highway in blizzard like conditions.
Kelly McKay by Steve Hager
Sound like heaven or hell?
To the National Audubon Society, it’s officially the 118th annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), the nation’s longest-running citizen science project, designed to capture long-term data on the status and distribution of bird species. Every day during the count period (December 14, 2017 – January 5, 2018), all across the United States, birders and conservation enthusiasts alike gather to count birds within a well-defined 15 mile wide circle. Many “CBCers” participate in a single count and then not another until the following year.
To wildlife biologist and CBC iron man, Kelly McKay, the count is a chance to do what he loves most – identity as many bird species as possible in a day while also contributing to science. Unlike most who are “one and done,” Kelly attempts to contribute to a different CBC every day of the count period, a grueling 8+ hour/day logistically challenging feat known as the “CBC marathon.” On top of that, Kelly compiles the data for not one but seven count circles, a significant challenge in itself.
Inspired in the early 1980s as a teenager by his mentor and avian biologist, Pete Peterson, Kelly has participated in more than 475 CBCs all time, second only to birding legend, Paul Sykes. It wasn’t until the 2002-2003 season that Kelly began to plan his first marathon, but quickly ran into problems. He couldn’t find a count within reach on three count days! The following year, Kelly started planning much earlier and on January 5, 2004, after the Andalusia CBC, he successfully completed his first marathon. This January, Kelly finished his 9th marathon in the last 16 years, covering more than 25 counties in five states – Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, and Wisconsin.
While Kelly takes his CBC participation very seriously, he doesn’t expect many to even think about let alone attempt a CBC marathon. He does hope his story inspires others to get more involved in community science projects to advocate for bird conservation and preserve our state’s biodiversity.
IOS is coordinating a winter field trip to Sax-Zim Bog! For those of you that have not been following their Facebook page, many of the targeted species are being seen there this winter.
Sax-Zim Bog is about 300 square miles of not only bog, but aspen uplands, rivers, lakes, meadows, farms and even a couple towns! It is not just a giant bog, but rather a “magic mix” of habitats that boreal birds love. The Sax-Zim Bog is prime habitat for bog specialists such as Great Gray Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Connecticut Warbler. Bobcat, Lynx, Pine Marten, Fisher also use this habitat. Mature bogs are also important wintering habitat for Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, White-winged Crossbill, Pine Grosbeak, Common Redpoll and Hoary Redpoll.
You won’t want to miss this opportunity to explore this amazing habitat with a two-day guided trip from a local birding expert. Finding the many wonderful birds of this area can, at times, be difficult due to weather or a lack of area knowledge. Acquiring a local guide will provide you with your best opportunity to capture a glimpse of these magnificent creatures. …
Sax-Zim Bog is about 300 square miles of not only bog, but aspen uplands, rivers, lakes, meadows, farms and even a couple towns! It is not just a giant bog, but rather a “magic mix” of habitats that boreal birds love. The Sax-Zim Bog is prime habitat for bog specialists such as Great Gray Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Connecticut Warbler. Bobcat, Lynx, Pine Marten, Fisher also use this habitat. Mature bogs are also important wintering habitat for Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, White-winged Crossbill, Pine Grosbeak, Common Redpoll and Hoary Redpoll.