Illinois Birds

Lesser Black-backed Gull

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:09:00 +0000

It sure was an interesting day at Independence Grove today. In the "South Pond" of the grove mixed in with the several dozen Herring and Ring-billed Gulls were two Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

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Black Scoter

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 13:08:00 +0000

While at Independence Grove this morning, Jeff and I flushed this Black Scoter from the shoreline while looking for a mysterious grebe (which turned out to be a Pied-billed Grebe with some sort of issue that caused it to continually turn in circles while seemingly attacking something on its right flank).

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Pelican at Independence Grove

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 13:07:00 +0000

This morning Jeff and I went to find the American White Pelican that Jim Solum had seen at Independence Grove. Jim thought it would probably stay for the night.....it did!

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American Kestrel

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:06:00 +0000

Another one of those times when its good to have the camera handy!! I was driving back from the Hawk Watch (sadly the last time this year) and saw this American Kestrel on power lines by the side of the road. I stopped as quickly (& safely) as I could and snapped a few photos while it completely ignored me....

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Crossbills and Redpolls

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:05:00 +0000

I got a fantastic opportunity to access the protected area of Illinois Beach State Park's South Unit today with a group of 20 birders. We were looking for the Clark's Nutcracker, which unfortunately was not seen. But! And not really a consolation prize were about 70 Red Crossbills and 4 Common Redpolls!

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November Hawkwatch

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:39:00 +0000

Great day at the Hawkwatch today! Four Rough-legged Hawks and three Red-shouldered Hawks and twenty-one Red-tailed Hawks migrated over the Hawk Watch site today. We had great views of some of the Red-tails and an interesting time watching a Red-tail and Rough-legged Hawk together giving great views of the subtle differences between them when seen as silhouettes.

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Purple Finch at Home

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 02:06:00 +0000

I have been saying for a long time that Purple Finches are far less common than is indicated by many of the checklists of the Chicagoland area. I have rarely seen them while out birding and see few reports of them. So I was very surprised to see one sitting on my feeder this afternoon at home!

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Northern Shrike at Hawkwatch

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 02:01:00 +0000

Its hard to have a bad day at the Illinois Beach State Park Hawkwatch. Even when there are few raptors there are always other birds to observe. Today was no exception with a Pine Siskin, two flocks of Snow Buntings, an American Pipit and 'the' Hawkwatch Northern Shrike....

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IBSP Pelicans

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 16:16:00 +0000

About a month ago I just about to leave the Hawk Watch to go to the airport and just as I was leaving, Paul saw an American White Pelican in the distance. I was torn as to whether to stay to wait and see if it would come closer or leave. That day I had to leave. Today I was at the Hawk Watch and again about to leave when a flock of SEVEN pelicans started heading towards us. This time, I stayed....

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Gray Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 03:24:00 +0000

I got up at 5:30AM this morning with every intention of going out and getting my photography fix. Forecast said sunny skies in the morning, turning overcast later in the day. Well I don't know what their idea of later was because it was gray at 5:30AM and stayed that way all day!

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Birding Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:27:00 +0000

Below are some weather maps from the National Weather Service that show weather that can affect either you day's birding or bird movements (especially during migration). Below the maps are legends showing what all the symbols mean.

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Using Radar to see Migration

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:26:00 +0000

Using some of the available doppler radars, it is possible to 'see' bird migration. Two of the common radar modes used are Base Reflectivity and Radial Velocity. Below are two of the common images looped so you can easily see the radar images (the current image with be shown).

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Sunny Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:22:00 +0000

Not many words to go with this post. All the birds below were at Glacial Park in McHenry County this morning. It was a great day to be out!

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Volo Bog Sep 22 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 12:21:00 +0000

This is a follow-up post to the Great Horned Owls that I posted earlier. A productive day at Volo Bog with several species I didn't expect to get including Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red-Shouldered Hawk and Blue-headed Vireo. Of the fall Warblers, I saw Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Magnolia, Tennessee and Yellow-rumped...

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Volo Great Horned Owl

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 12:20:00 +0000

I got off to a lzay start this morning but the weather was too nice for me to stay at home. Because of the time I stayed local and went to Volo Bog thinking there may be some fall warblers. There were some warblers - most common were the Yellow-rumped but I also saw Common Yellowthroat and Magnolia Warblers.

As I continued I saw large numbers of Swainson's Thrushes and both Red-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos. However I was attracted by two Great Horned Owls I could hear calling in the distance....

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Rollins Sep 20 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:19:00 +0000

After spending more than a week out of state working I really wanted to pick up my camera again (it was getting lonely!). I decided to go to Rollins hoping that the water levels had dropped enough to allow some shorebird habitat. The shorebird tally was very low but I did pick up a few other interesting birds...

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Amazing Godwit Migration Recorded

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:18:00 +0000

A Bar-tailed Godwit has made an incredible 7,200 mile non-stop journey from Alaska to New Zealand in 8 days according to the USGS Alaska Science Center who had placed a satellite tracking device on the bird along with 15 others in February this year....

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Ruby-throated

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:17:00 +0000

Following up on my post yesterday about "my" hummingbirds, I spent some time today seeing if I could get some better shots of the hummingbirds as they came to my feeder. While trying to photograph them I learned that there are at least five different individuals as I could tell differences in their plumage....

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My Hummers

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 12:15:00 +0000

I am not sure how many hummingbirds frequent my feeders or even whether the birds that I do see are the same ones, but I do know that I can look out at just about any time of day and see a hummingbird within a few minutes...

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Hawkwatch August 31 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 11:25:00 +0000

Today was my first day of the Illinois Beach State Park Hawkwatch for 2007. The last time I did it, it was very cold (like freezing) and I saw very few raptors. That was at the end of the season last year. Fortunately today was much warmer and we saw a number of raptors...

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Rollins Savanna July 4th 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 19:39:00 +0000

I got a text message from Jeff at 6AM to say he was on his way to Rollins and could I meet him there. I sent back "yes" and headed over to meet him and Carmen. Carmen (from the west coast) had a little time to try to pick up a few more life birds before heading back and when I arrived a few minutes after them, he already had the first for the day - a Sedge Wren....

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Lowden Miller July 1st 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 00:34:00 +0000

A long, productive day from our trip to Lowden Miller State Forest today. Jeff, his friend Carmen and I headed out early (up at 3AM) to get as many of the breeding warblers and other breeding species at the forest. We ended up with a pretty good haul too....

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McHenry Dam June 30th 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 01:58:00 +0000

I was going to go to Pleasant Valley out in McHenry County this morning but on the way I decided to go to McHenry Dam instead! At least I was in the right county! Before I even parked I heard the Pine Warbler warbling away in the [believe it or not] pine trees near the entrance....

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Glacial Park June 29th 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:02:00 +0000

Got out early for my weekly jaunt to Glacial Park for the breeding bird survey. The weather was supposed to be clear but it clouded over pretty early today. Nevertheless I was able to add a new species to the survey....

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Digital Processing

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:33:00 +0000

There are two questions I get frequently: "what equipment do you use?" and "what program do you use to edit [process] your images?"

At great risk of offending anyone who has asked, I think people believe that if I have expensive equipment, I will automatically get good photos. I don't believe people have the same views on software but they are keen to know what I use....

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