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Birding a welcome distraction in 2017
(published 1-15-18)
We obviously just endured a tough year. The bad news far
outweighed the good. Fortunately, there were birds.
Watching birds can slow things down and help us forget, for
five minutes or five hours. I hope you took advantage of our hobby’s calming
effects, just like me. We needed it.
The 2017 birding year was filled with news, remarkable
sightings and some sad goodbyes. Before jumping in, allow me to mention a few
far-flung stories that I believe capture the wonderful unpredictability of
birds and birding.
In Western Australia, four friends found and photographed a night
parrot, a species presumed extinct for 100 years. Their search took nearly
seven years. The lesson: Persistence and patience, combined with a little luck,
usually get the bird.
A red-winged blackbird, North America’s most abundant
species, showed up in the U.K. for the first time. The Brits went mad, some chartering
planes to reach the remote Scottish island where the bird appeared. Would we do
that if a chaffinch, dirt common in England, landed two hours north of
Bismarck? Yes, of course!
My favorite non-local story of 2017 comes from Maine, where
in April a male vermillion flycatcher was detected by a web-cam pointed on an
osprey nest. The southwestern beauty was a first for Maine, and what are the
chances of it getting caught on camera? Here’s the kicker: the bird was reported
by an observant birder watching online in Germany! Thanks to her, a few lucky
birders got to witness an epic bird in person.
News and sightings
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in Geneva, looked mostly like a Cerulean but sang like a Northern Parula. Photo by Jackie Bowman |
Eagle Optics, the go-to source for binoculars and scopes, shocked
the birding community by announcing its closure. The Wisconsin-based business grew
the hobby and supported bird conservation throughout its 30-year history. EO
will be missed.
Some birders might also miss the Thayer’s gull. Not me. Thayer’s
got the Pluto treatment in 2017, deleted as a species and “lumped” with Iceland
gull. We lose a tick on our life lists but will no longer struggle with a notoriously
difficult bird to ID.
Ranger Rick, a
magazine I once appeared in with my butterfly collection, turned 50. I still
look for it in doctors’ waiting rooms.
Did you catch the video of a yellow-bellied sapsucker
clinging to a moving car in downtown Chicago? It’s worth a Google, if only for
the “conversation” between bird and driver.
Also in the Loop, Vera Miller added winter wren to her
office window list, spied from the 10th floor of the Monadnock
Building. The bird was on a fire escape across the alley. That, my friends, is
a good eye.
Andrew and Rebecca Steinmann were outside baggage claim at O’Hare,
awaiting a taxi, when an American woodcock flew by and plopped down on the
sidewalk next to them.
Unlikely or rare sightings add spice to our birding. I try
to keep up, but this 2017 highlight reel is by no means comprehensive!
Notable DuPage findings included a record-high 10 barred
owls on the Spring Bird Count. A pair of summer tanagers visited Herrick Lake,
and a yellow-crowned night heron appeared at Cricket Creek in Addison. A calling
whip-poor-will surprised a homeowner living by Willowbrook Forest Preserve in
Glen Ellyn.
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a western species, in late October. Photo by Jackie Bowman |
Morton Arboretum lived up to its hotspot reputation by
contributing western kingbird, pileated woodpecker, summer tanager, blue
grosbeak, yellow-throated warbler and red crossbill. Adjacent to the Arb, a
little blue heron stopped at Hidden Lake. St. James Farm (Warrenville) also
surrendered a blue grosbeak.
Spotters at Naperville’s the Greene Valley Forest Preserve hawkwatch
enjoyed Mississippi kite, Swainson’s hawk, American anhinga, northern goshawk,
golden eagle, whooping crane and a one-day hill record 12 bald eagles on Oct.
15. Volunteer birders, organized by the DuPage Birding Club, have now collected
migration data for 12 seasons, September through November.
Fermilab, in its 50th year, attracted white-fronted
goose, common gallinule, red-necked phalarope, white-rumped sandpiper and
mountain bluebird. Least bittern, a secretive marsh species, delighted Fermi
birders (including me) in July.
Beyond DuPage
One of the most interesting birds of the year was a cerulean
warbler/northern parula hybrid, discovered at Fabyan Forest Preserve in Geneva.
Additional Kane County highlights: spotted towhee and yellow-crowned night
heron (Aurora), white-winged dove (Kaneville) and a backyard rufous hummingbird
(Elgin).
I could devote a full column to Chicago’s Montrose Point,
where, on May 16, southwest winds triggered a one-day record 128 species at the
lakefront hotspot. Birds on that magical day included 26 varieties of warbler.
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Tri-colored Tricolored Heron, a Gulf Coast species. Photo by Craig Taylor |
Other Cook County goodies: Eurasian tree sparrow (Lincoln
Park), king rail (Bartel Grassland) and barn owl (location undisclosed). A black-legged
kittiwake found Nov. 26 lingered well into December at Steelworkers Park on
Chicago’s South Side. While stalking the kittiwake, some lucky birders also
bagged snowy owl and red-necked grebe—not a bad trifecta!
Libertyville birder Andy Stewart crushed his own big year
record for Lake County by 13, finishing the year with 282 species. Significantly,
his total is one better than the previous high for any of the 102 counties in Illinois, topping Aaron Gyllenhaal’s
Cook County record of 281 species in 2013.
Among Lake County notables in 2017 were California gull, yellow-crowned
night heron, snowy egret, red-throated loon, red phalarope, white-eyed vireo and
black vulture. OMG birds included a tri-colored heron at Illinois Beach State
Park and a magnificent frigatebird over Channel Lake in Antioch. A young
frigatebird, spotted by Melinda Chapman, cruised over Will County in
mid-September, likely a Hurricane Irma refugee.
Chicago Botanic Garden yielded least bittern, upland
sandpiper and hoary redpoll. Al Stokie reported 72 common redpolls at CBG on
Dec. 22, along with a pair of monk parakeets, a new site species (No. 242).
Glacial Park in McHenry County hosted eight white-faced ibis
for several weeks in the fall, and two black vultures roosted there in October.
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| A Fermilab marsh surrendered a trio of Least Bitterns in
July, including this juvenile. Photo by Jackie Bowman |
Chasers with ample gas money enjoyed many options in 2017, testament
to our state’s amazing bird diversity. A golden-crowned sparrow appeared in
Woodford County, and Sangamon recorded its first black-headed gull. Winnebago
County posted a pine grosbeak; a swallow-tailed kite flew over Massac; and a
wood stork drew birders to Rend Lake in Jefferson. Black-bellied whistling
ducks checked into Carroll, and a western tanager landed in LaSalle. Emiquon Refuge
in Fulton offered Hudsonian godwit, spotted redshank, Sabine’s gull and western
grebe. Douglas County produced a cinnamon teal, and Putnam a chuck-will’s-widow.
Three high-demand species seemed to pop up everywhere in
2017: neotropic cormorant, merlin and prairie warbler. Maybe, just maybe, they
are becoming more common in this region. Presently, the first snowy owl
invasion since 2013 is bringing some winter excitement, especially along the
lakefront.
Birding in heaven
Birding in heaven
Renowned ornithologist Chandler Robbins (1918-2017) passed
away in March at age 98. He created the Breeding Bird Survey and coauthored the
beloved “Golden Guide” among other lifetime achievements.
Marilyn Campbell, a key figure in Illinois Audubon Society
history, also left us in 2017.
Local birders we miss include Wes Serafin, a conservation champion
for Orland Grassland, and Joan Norek, an avid Greene Valley hawkwatcher. Both
were always on the go, chasing the hot sightings.
Personal faves
In any year, all I wish for is a few nice birds, around home
or down the road.
The birding gods smiled upon me at the Indiana Dunes Birding
Festival in May. A worm-eating warbler, the festival’s most popular attendee, ended
a quest that began for me in 2002. I gushed about the experience in my June
column.
My Glen Ellyn yard list hit 20 years and grew by one thanks
to a well-timed Caspian tern flyover in July (No. 116). Other backyard notables
were eastern towhee (only my second ever in the yard), pine warbler and purple
finch.
I won’t soon forget the sandhill cranes on November 18.
Thousands streamed over the neighborhood that afternoon, creating a heavenly
racket as old as time itself. Yard work can be awesome.
Flying cranes are featured on the best postage stamp of
2017, a Nebraska statehood issue. Get some at usps.com.
Book of the year: “Birding Without Borders,” by Noah Strycker.
Couldn’t put it down!
Favorite quote: “We hate nemesis birds, but we love them,
too, because it just feels so good to finally connect with them.” ABA blogger Nate
Swick said it, and I lived it with that lifer “wormie” at the Dunes.
National Audubon, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, BirdLife
International and National Geographic have declared 2018 the Year of the Bird.
Why don’t we all? This year, let’s hit the trail a little more often, watch
those feeders more carefully and introduce others to birding. Remember, too, that
birds need our help.
Copyright 2018 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.