IORC Update – 10-Sep-2015

Records Accepted

  • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (2), Beardstown Marsh, Cass County, 7-13 Jul 2014 [Duane L. Brunk; Ted Hartzler]
  • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (9), Rochelle, Ogle County, 11-12 Aug 2014 [Karen Lund]
  • Barrow’s Goldeneye, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County, 14 Mar 2015 [H. David Bohlen]
  • Barrow’s Goldeneye, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County, 21-25 Mar 2015 [Dan Kassebaum]
  • White Ibis, Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve, Champaign County, 14 May 2011 [Rob Kanter]
  • White Ibis, Bailey Wetland, Richland County and Wayne County, 10-22 Jul 2014 [Leroy Harrison, Bob Shelby]
  • Black Vulture (2), Marion County, 8 Mar 2015 [Leroy Harrison]
  • Black Vulture, near Iola, Clay County, 6 May 2015 [Leroy Harrison]
  • Snowy Plover, Montrose Beach, Chicago, Cook County, 3-11 May 2015 [Matthew Cvetas, Paul Sweet, Geoff Williamson]
  • Ruff, Bailey Wetland, Richland County and Wayne County, 6 May 2015 [Leroy Harrison]
  • Parasitic Jaeger, Waukegan, Lake County, 28 Sep 2014 [Annette McClellan]
  • Little Gull, Waukegan, Lake County, 25 Apr 2015 [Adam Sell]
  • Little Gull, Waukegan, Lake County, 6 Jun 2015 [Patrick Ricketson]
  • Great Black-backed Gull, Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, Mason County, 26 Sep 2014 [Sigurd Bjorklund]
  • Barn Owl, near El Paso, Woodford County, 2 Apr 2015 [Ted Hartzler]
  • Barn Owl, Romeoville, Will County, 10 Jan 2015 [Chicago Bird Collision Monitors; Josh Engel]
  • Gyrfalcon, north-central Coles County, 16 Jan 2015 [Ron Bradley]
  • Prairie Falcon, east of Buffalo, Sangamon County, 6 Jan 2015 [H. David Bohlen]
  • Say’s Phoebe, Miller Meadows Forest Preserve, Cook County, 31 Mar – 2 Apr 2015 [Karrin Burns; Geoff Williamson]
  • Fish Crow, Louisville, Clay County, 6 May 2015 [Leroy Harrison]
  • Violet-green Swallow, Northwestern University lakefill, Evanston, Cook County, 9 May 2015 [Josh Engel, Matthew Cvetas]
  • Bewick’s Wren, McLeansboro, Hamilton County, 20 May – 3 Jun 2015 [Leroy Harrison, Bob Shelby]
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, Waukegan Beach, Lake County, 14 Apr 2015 [Nat Carmichael]
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, near Schapville, Jo Daviess County, 15 Nov 2014 [Richard Mattas]
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, Chicago Botanic Gardens, Cook County, 13 Nov 2014 [Al Stokie]
  • Kirtland’s Warbler, Montrose Point, Chicago, 16-17 May 2015 [Matthew Cvetas, Geoff Williamson]
  • Black-throated Gray Warbler, Red Hills State Park, Lawrence County, 26 Apr 2015 [Leroy Harrison]
  • Gray-headed form of Dark-eyed Junco, Forreston, Ogle County, 26-27 Apr 2013 [Anne Straight; Steve Bailey]

Records Not Accepted

  • Parasitic Jaeger, Fulton County, 15 Sep 2013
  • Royal Tern, Fulton County, 4 Aug 2013
  • Broad-billed Hummingbird, La Salle County, 23 Aug – 21 Sep 2014

Meadowlark editorial on Passenger Pigeon

Here’s the latest letter from the editor featured in the recently mailed Volume 23 No. 1 issue of Meadowlark. To read more, please join IOS. Another issue is coming soon and will feature an article on  the Gray Kingbird in Illinois.

Drawing of Passenger Pigeon left by Kevin Sierzega

Of Mourning Doves and Passenger Pigeons

By Sheryl DeVore 

You, no doubt, noticed the gorgeous front and back cover of this issue, created by Kevin Sierzega, whose work has graced Meadowlark before.

We asked Kevin to do this drawing to commemorate the demise of the Passenger Pigeon, whose numbers once seemed to be so abundant that humans thought this species would last forever.  Of course, we now know that extinction can happen to any species, no matter how numerous.

The 100th anniversary of the death of the last Passenger Pigeon occurred in 2014. The last of the species, Martha, died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo Sept. 1, 1914.

In 2014, much was done to call attention to this important milestone, including, of course, Joel Greenberg’s book, “A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction.”

We birders all know that at one time, Passenger Pigeons filled the Illinois skyline from horizon to horizon.

But now it’s 2015, the Passenger Pigeon is long gone, and we have a story in this issue about another species in the order Columbiformes, the Mourning Dove. The article, “Lead shot ingestion rate and effects in Mourning Doves,” by Stephanice C. Plautz, et. al, addresses the issue of how one of North America’s most numerous birds is being poisoned from spent lead shot. According to Plautz, more than 400 million individual Mourning Doves have been counted in the fall in the United States. “However, Mourning Dove populations may be declining,” she writes. Her story, which begins on page 2, explains why.

Can the Mourning Dove ever go the way of the Passenger Pigeon? It seems ludicrous. Certainly, we humans would never let something like what happened to the Passenger Pigeon in the 20th century occur in the 21st century. Right?

IORC Update – 14-Jun-2015

Records Accepted

  • Mottled Duck (2), Montrose Point, Chicago, Cook County, 30 May 2013 [Luis Muñoz]
  • Mottled Duck, Chautauqua NWR, Mason County, 29 Aug 2014 [Andrew Aldrich]
  • Neotropic Cormorant, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County, 13 Apr 2013 [Dan Kassebaum]
  • Glossy Ibis, Woodford County, 24 May 2013 [Ted Hartzler]
  • Black Vulture, Ft Sheridan FP, Lake County, 19 Oct 2014 [Adam Sell]
  • Black Rail, Shelby County, 14 Jul 2013 [Travis Mahan]
  • Pomarine Jaeger, Weldon Springs SP, DeWitt County, 22-23 Nov 2014 [Ron Bradley, Dan Williams]
  • California Gull (immature), Carlyle Lake, Clinton County, 6 Oct & 3 Nov 2013 [Dan Kassebaum]
  • Slaty-backed Gull, Illinois River at East Peoria, Peoria and Tazewell Counties, 11 Jan 2015 [Jim Mountjoy]
  • Slaty-backed Gull, Calumet Park, Chicago, Cook County, 7 Feb 2015 [Geoff Williamson]
  • Pacific-slope/Cordilleran Flycatcher, Chicago, Cook County, 11 Sep 2010 [Matt Baughman]
  • Townsend’s Solitaire, Lost Mount Unit of Upper Mississippi River NWR, Jo Daviess County, 19 Dec 2014 [Dan Williams]
  • Bullock’s Oriole, near Joppa, Massac County, 21 Nov 2014 [John Schwegman]

Records Not Accepted

  • Mexican Duck, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County, 23 Mar 2014
  • Eared Grebe, Lake Renwick, Will County, 4 May 2013
  • Reddish Egret, Crab Orchard NWR, Williamson County, 29 Jun 2013
  • Whooping Crane (2), near Ullin, Alexander and Pulaski County, 16 & 23 Nov 2013
  • Sprague’s Pipit, Bureau County, 5 May 2014
  • Sprague’s Pipit, Winthrop Harbor, Lake County, 27 Jul 2014

Spring birding weeknd: Great birds, friends and scenery

The IOS Spring Birding Weekend (May 15 – 17) was a terrific weekend of birding on the Mississippi River in northwest Illinois. The event was planned and organized by Urs Geiser using the Chestnut Mountain Resort for accommodations.

For the field trips we split into groups and birded  Lost Mound Wildlife Refuge, Mississippi Palisades State Park, Spring Lake, Ayers Sand Prairie, Thompson Causeway and Lock & Dam 13. We birded the grounds of the Chestnut Mountain Resort and watched nighthawks from the back deck. We birded along roadsides and even checked for warblers in a pine stand at a trailer dump station. (It wouldn’t be a real birding trip without a dump or sewage pond would it?) Bugs? Not too many. Rain? A few showers. But mostly it was dry and birdy.

A preliminary tally puts us at 150 species of birds for the weekend including some real treats like Brewster’s Warbler, Cerulean Warblers, Kentucky Warbler, Yellow-throated Warblers, Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Whip-poor-wills, a singing Winter Wren,  and at least three endangered species including Loggerhead Shrike, Yellow-headed Blackbird and Common Gallinule. We were serenaded on and off all day to migrant and nesting warblers as well as Baltimore and Orchard Orioles and other species. We relished every look at the magnificent American White Pelicans gliding overhead and Bald Eagles soaring or perched in trees.

We particularly want to thank Urs Geiser for all the work of planning and organizing the weekend, The stewards of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge for escorting and leading our groups into the restricted portion of the Lost Mound Refuge, and Dan Williams, Matt Fraker, Bob Fisher and Urs Geiser for leading field trips.

Special thanks go to all the IOS members who attended and lent their sharp eyes and ears to the group effort as well as sharing their good humor and boundless curiosity and interest in all things natural history.

IORC Update – 14-Apr-2015

Records Accepted

  • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (9), Yorkville, Kendall County, 21-30 May 2014
  • Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Lincoln Park in Chicago, Cook County, 21 Jun 2014
  • Cinnamon Teal, Spillway Marsh at Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Madison County, 8-9 Apr 2014
  • Harlequin Duck, Fox River in Elgin, Kane County, 9 Nov 2014 – 31 Jan 2015
  • Barrow’s Goldeneye, Kane County, 17 Jan – 28 Feb 2015
  • Neotropic Cormorant, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County, 12-23 Jun 2013
  • Neotropic Cormorant, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County, 19-29 Jul 2013
  • Tricolored Heron, Oakwood Bottoms, Jackson County, 27 May 2014
  • Roseate Spoonbill, Lake Springfield, Sangamon County, 29 Nov 2013
  • Swainson’s Hawk, Greene Valley Forest Preserve, DuPage County, 14 Oct 2013
  • Little Gull, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County, 3 Nov 2013
  • Little Gull (2), Carlyle, Clinton County, 8-11 Nov 2013
  • California Gull, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County, 27 Sep – 26 Oct 2014
  • Prairie Falcon, eastern LaSalle County, 14 Mar 2014
  • Prairie Falcon, Judson University, Kane County, 5 Oct 2014
  • Prairie Falcon (2), Coles County, 25 Oct 2014 – 8 Feb 2015
  • Mountain Bluebird, Lost Mound unit of Upper Mississippi River NWR, Jo Daviess County, 12 Dec 2012 – 23 Feb 2013
  • Curve-billed Thrasher, Montrose Point in Chicago, Cook County, 18 Jun – 1 Jul 2014
  • Bohemian Waxwing, Jackson Park in Chicago, Cook County, 15 Feb – 2 Mar 2015
  • Black-throated Gray Warbler, Judson University, Kane County, 5-6 May 2014
  • Cassin’s Sparrow, Chicago, Cook County, 8 Sep 2014
  • Lark Bunting, Montrose Point in Chicago, Cook County, 17 Oct 2014
  • Hoary Redpoll (2), William Powers Conservation Area in Chicago, Cook County, 6 Feb – 13 Mar 2015

Records Not Accepted

  • Swainson’s Warbler, Franklin Creek State Park, Lee County, 3 May 2014

IOS field notes compiler featured

davidjohnsonphotobysheryldevore   Meadowlark editor Sheryl DeVore wrote an article about Field Notes compiler David B. Johnson and his 25 years of leading looney trips in Lake and McHenry Counties for the Chicago Tribune and News-Sun. Take a peek. Dave needs to be praised over and over for all the wonderful work he has done on behalf of birds and birding in Illinois over the years. Thank you Dave! We’re also thrilled that he’s starting to write more articles for Meadowlark. See you all at the annual spring weekend in May. Don’t forget to sign up!

IORC Update – 24-Mar-2015

Records Accepted

  • Eurasian Wigeon, Banner Marsh, Fulton County, 4-12 Apr 2014
  • Barrow’s Goldeneye, West Dundee, Kane County, 15-30 Mar 2014
  • Barrow’s Goldeneye, Independence Grove Forest Preserve, Lake County, 23 Mar 2014
  • Neotropic Cormorant, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County, 8 Sep 2012
  • Black Vulture (4), near Lake Springfield, Sangamon County, 21 Mar 2014
  • Black Vulture, Urbana, Champaign County, 7 May 2014
  • Snowy Plover, Emiquon Preserve, Fulton County, 6-7 Apr 2014
  • Little Gull, Dresden Cooling Pond, Grundy County, 26 Mar 2014
  • California Gull, Carlyle Lake, Clinton County, 29 Sep 2012
  • California Gull, Rend Lake, Franklin County and Carlyle Lake, Clinton County, 15 Dec 2013 – 19 Jan 2014
  • Ash-throated Flycatcher, Lincoln Land Community College, Sangamon County, 29-30 Sep 2014
  • Western Kingbird X Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, American Bottoms, Monroe County, 1 Jul 2014
  • Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Gunnar Anderson Forest Preserve, Kane County, 12 May 2014
  • Bewick’s Wren, Brown County, 28 May 2014
  • Sage Thrasher, Putnam County, 18 Dec 2014 – 3 Jan 2015
  • Bohemian Waxwing, Chicago Botanic Garden, Cook County, 6-9 Nov 2012
  • Bohemian Waxwing, Chicago Botanic Garden, Cook County, 22-27 Dec 2012
  • Townsend’s Warbler, Ewing Park, Bloomington, McLean County, 3 May 2014
  • Golden-crowned Sparrow, Wayne County, 19 Oct 2012
  • Western Tanager, Palos Heights, Cook County, 28 Apr – 5 May 2014
  • Painted Bunting (2), East St. Louis, St. Clair County, 16-20 June 2011

Rusty Blackbird Blitz, Year two

We’re gearing up for the second year of the Blitz. Nick Sly, IOS Coordinator for the Blitz, posted complete details here on the Illinois Birders Forum website. IOS is proud to be  a sponsor of this important project here in Illinois. Mark your calendar and make your plans to get out there between March 1 and April 15…to count those Rustys!

Rusty Blackbird (photo by Shawn Billerman)
Rusty Blackbird (photo by Shawn Billerman)

Cerulean Warbler gets help from major grant

cerulean A five-year project targeting conservation of the imperiled and iconic Cerulean Warbler and focusing on the states of  Kentucky,  Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, and West Virginia got a big boost following the granting of $8 million in funding from the Dept. of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

Read more about this exciting project that will help one of Illinois’ rarest and most beautiful warbler species.

 

 

 

Amar Ayyash: A Birder You Should Know

amar 

Amar Ayyash is the man behind the IOS Annual Gull Frolic, which he organized this year and persuaded Birding editor and author Ted Floyd to speak. As you likely know, Amar is “crazy” about gulls, and indeed very knowledgeable about this difficult-to-identify group of birds. In honor of the upcoming Gull Frolic, we invite you to read more about Amar. He also serves on the IOS Board of Directors, and we thank him for his dedication to our mission to educate others about and document the birds of Illinois. 

Background:  I was born in Chicago in the summer of 1978 and have lived in Illinois almost my entire life. I’m married and have four lively children (two sets of twins) – 7 years old and 4 years old. I teach high school math in Oak Lawn, IL.

What hooked you on birding?  My first memory of actively watching birds is rather unusual. It wasn’t the song of a thrush or the bright yellow of a warbler that hooked me. I was a freshman in college at the time and would regularly sneak away between classes to feed the gulls at a local park.  At the time, I didn’t know what species of gulls they were (probably Western Gulls) and never made it a point to find out.  After returning home from college, I again found myself pitching french-fries in parking lots and marveling over the local gulls. I quickly realized the gulls in Illinois looked different than those out West and so I decided to go to my local library to get some answers. I discovered dozens of field guides and books that introduced me to a pastime called “birding”. At first, I didn’t know if this word was a verb or a noun. In short, I’m the first “birder” I ever met.

What’s best about birding?  The thing I like most about birding is that it could be done practically anywhere (although I’ve learned never to bird near an airport again). Birding has taught me much more than how to identify birds. I’ve been indirectly forced to learn about weather systems, plants, insects, species’ concepts and various habitats and ecosystems.

Listing?  I do keep a few personal lists that hold some value to me, but I’m very selective when it comes to updating my ABA list. For instance, I’ve driven overnight a few times to see some of my “most-wanted” species such as Ross’s and Ivory Gull, and even caught a red-eye flight to New York a few years ago to observe North America’s 2nd Gray-hooded Gull. I once drove to Ashtabula, Ohio to see their first state Black-tailed Gull, and drove back the next weekend to see the same bird again.

Favorite locations:  My favorite birding locations seem to revolve around gulls – shocking I’m sure. It’s this reason why most of my local birding is usually along the southern rim of Lake Michigan. My top four sites from each state that borders Lake Michigan (in no particular order) is North Point in Sheboygan, Wisconsin; North Point Marina in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois; Michigan City Harbor in Indiana; and New Buffalo Beach in Michigan.

 

Best birding memories:  My most memorable birding experience is my first trip to southern California. I spent a few days birding the Salton Sea with the godfather of California Birding, Guy McCaskie. During our long car rides, I was briefed on 40 years of birding in the Golden State with some of the most entertaining birding stories one could ever hear! Another memorable birding experience for me is the 2010 Slaty-backed Gull that was glued to the ice in Indiana waters while birders desperately watched from Calumet Park in Illinois. I had seen the bird the previous evening in Indiana just after its discovery but wanted to lure it into Illinois for a Cook County record. I was able to chum it in from a considerable distance, only to have it land within 100 feet from me.

 

Birding activities:  Besides serving on the Board of Directors for IOS, and specifically taking on the role of Gull Frolic coordinator, I maintain perhaps the most well-known gull weblog in North America, anythinglarus.com. I also administer the Facebook Group “North American Gulls” and currently happen to be working on a Thayer’s Gull webpage for Gull-Research.Org (hopefully to be launched, early 2014).

Favorite books:  My favorite book is, hands down, “The Long-Shadowed Forest”, by Helen Hoover. I enjoy winter birding more than any other season and have curious thoughts of one day living in the “North Woods”. Any time I need to escape to the land of boreal species, I pick up Hoover’s book and read a few chapters. It helps to know that Helen and her husband left their careers and the big-city life of Chicago to move to a small cabin in the north woods of Minnesota.

And when not birding?  When not birding, or doing bird-related work, I’m folding laundry, helping my children with their homework or trying to earn brownie points with my wife.

 

I take a whole lot of joy in what seems like a narrow-minded obsession to some people, but my outlook on life is pretty simple: “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time”.

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