Birdfreak: The Bird Conservation Blog

CNP Update: Wilson!

Migration seems to be delayed by 5-10 days in our area but has been steady and extremely enjoyable. This past week we have had more new year birds for the Callaway Nature Preserve.

One of the highlights was a group of Wilson’s Warblers, a little yellow warbler with a neat black cap that looks like slicked back hair.

Wilson’s Warbler - taken at a forest preserve, not our backyard

Note: Updated photo because originally posted the same one as the other day

The other major highlight was a Black-throated Blue Warbler that hung around all day Wednesday.

Other notable birds included: Chestnut-sided and Magnolia Warblers, Ovenbird, Swainson’s and Gray-cheeked Thrushes, and a lot of activity with the local nesters: Downy Woodpecker, Gray Catbird, House Wren, and Northern Cardinal.

Water-logged Ovenbird

Tags: Black-throated Blue Warbler, Ovenbird, Wilson's Warbler

4 Comments | Posted in » Callaway Nature Preserve

72 Hour Bird Count Preview

May is our favorite time of year as thousands of colorful, amazing birds make their way into northern Illinois. Last year we decided to enter the birdiest county contest for our county, Winnebago, which involved doing a 72 hour consecutive block of birding. (Of course, we didn’t bird for all that time, but any birds counted during that period by anyone in the county, counted.)

Unfortunately, nothing came of the contest but it was still a blast to search for birds all over the county. We ended up with 123 species and learned a lot about our local and migrating birds.

Socks came along last year for a successful search of sparrows

This year we will be doing it again, this time with no contest to enter, but instead a personal goal of 150 species. While it will be difficult to reach this goal, we know we can beat last year’s total.

We will be doing the count from Friday May 23rd to Sunday May 25th and will post our findings in the following days.

Last year’s 72 hour count:

• Day One
• Day Two
• Day Three

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Video Wednesday - Jeff Corwin and the American Alligator

This video was shot on our Nikon Coolpix 5100 so the quality isn’t that great but it is of Jeff Corwin discussing crocidilians and a group of kids holding an American Alligator!

Jeff Corwin Shows us the American Alligator from birdfreak on Vimeo.

Tags: American Alligator, Jeff Corwin

2 Comments | Posted in » Video Wednesday

Deer Run Bird Survey #13

Making our third survey of the week, we did Deer Run Bird Survey #13 on Sunday, May 18th. It was by far our best survey yet in number of species as well as warbler diversity.

Wilson’s Warbler

We spent over six hours hiking and covered more than 7 miles. We were delighted to find four Henslow’s Sparrows and pleasantly surprised to find a Bobolink. Other interesting finds included Yellow-breasted Chat, Black-billed Cuckoo, and many Empidonax Flycatchers. We had 18 warblers total and four vireos.

Bobolink

We found a Red-breasted Nuthatch (a little late for them to still be here). Another cool find was a Gray-cheeked Thrush singing and hopping around in the brush. We found 674 birds of 85 species. That brings our overall total species count to 121 and 4925 individuals.

New Birds for the Count:

1. Black-billed Cuckoo
2. Black-throated Green Warbler
3. Blackburnian Warbler
4. Blue-headed Vireo
5. Bobolink
6. Chimney Swift
7. Gray-cheeked Thrush
8. Louisiana Waterthrush
9. Red-breasted Nuthatch
10. Sharp-shinned Hawk
11. Willow Flycatcher
12. Wilson’s Warbler
13. Yellow-breasted Chat

Barred Owl

Tags: Barred Owl, Bobolink, Wilson's Warbler

3 Comments | Posted in » D.R.B.S.

Deer Run Bird Survey #12

May 16 was our 12th Deer Run Bird Survey and we got our 100th species (and then some)!

Veery, Dad and Arizona (one of our canine helpers) started out around 8 in the morning and finished up by 11. It was around 60 degrees and sunny.

Arizona Doberman….canine birder

Our 99th species was a beautiful pair of Orchard Orioles. In a blaze of orange glory, we found number 100 singing in a large Cottonwood tree, the Baltimore Oriole.

We then passed up species number 100 with a Magnolia, Tennessee and Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throated, Red-eyed and Warbling Vireo, Cedar Waxwing and Bank Swallow!

A few other highlights included a baker’s dozen of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Great Crested Flycatcher, and American Redstart.

Baltimore Oriole is species number 100 for the D.R.B.S.!

Around ever corner we found a singing Common Yellowthroat, Red-winged Blackbird and Song Sparrow. The birds are frisky and love is definately in the air.

For this survey we had 329 individuals of 55 species. Our overall total consists of individual birds is 4251 of 108 species.

The Common Yellowthroat is a common species at Deer Run FP

Tags: Arizona, Baltimore Oriole, Common Yellowthroat

1 Comment | Posted in » D.R.B.S.

Our Jeff Corwin Experience

A couple months ago we heard that Jeff Corwin was going to be in Sycamore, Illinois (about 30 miles southeast of our home in Rockford) so we decided to make it a family event and bought tickets. Saturday we had the live “Jeff Corwin Experience” and it was awesome!

Jeff Corwin being mobbed with questions

For those unfamiliar with Mr. Corwin, he is a wildlife-television superstar who does many shows on Animal Planet and has also recently written a cool book (which we plan on reviewing sometime soon). But Jeff is much more than just some smart-talking celebrity. He’s the real deal when it comes to conservation.

While the show focused on reptiles and amphibians (no birds) it was still great to hear Jeff in person and to listen to some of his insights about conservation topics. He even discussed nature-deficit-disorder and voiced his displeasure about kids that have never held a toad or played in a creek.

We videotaped part of the question and answer session at the end including when he was asked his favorite bird. Unfortunately, the audio wasn’t great and we are unsure the bird. Anyone who knows the bird (especially how to spell it) please add a comment!

Jeff Corwin Tells the Crowd His Favorite Bird from birdfreak on Vimeo.

Tags: Jeff Corwin

5 Comments | Posted in » Updates

Deer Run Bird Survey #11

The eleventh Deer Run Bird Survey started a bit slow. We were met with a brisk, constant breeze as we crossed the prairie around 6:00 AM on Wednesday. We only had an hour and a half before Birdfreak had to get to work so our numbers were destined to be a bit low.

Despite the low numbers of individuals, we still tallied 46 species including NINE new ones for the survey. The biggest highlights were two Henslow’s Sparrows and a life bird, Le Conte’s Sparrow!

Henslow’s Sparrow

The new birds for the survey:

1. Alder Flycatcher
2. American Redstart
3. Golden-winged Warbler
4. Great Crested Flycatcher
5. Indigo Bunting
6. Le Conte’s Sparrow
7. Rose Breasted Grosbeak
8. Veery
9. Wood Thrush

The list so far is at 98 species and 3,922 individual birds. We haven’t been able to do as many surveys or for as long as we’d like, but we are pleased with the diversity of birds and the project thus far.

1 Comment | Posted in » D.R.B.S.

Phriday Photo - Singing Warbler Double-shot

Hooded Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Tags: Hooded Warbler, Yellow Warbler

1 Comment | Posted in » Phriday Photo

Cornell Sound Recording Workshop

If you haven’t familiarized yourself with Cornell, now would be a great time. Their website is one of the best in the birding world but they also offer many wonderful programs including this sound recording workshop (which we wish we could attend).

Press Release From Cornell:

­From June 7 to 14, the annual Sound Recording Workshop offered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology returns to San Francisco State University’s Sierra Nevada Field Campus in the spectacular surroundings of the eastern foothills of California’s northern Sierra Nevada mountains. Participants learn state-of-the-art techniques for capturing bird sounds, guided by experts.

The Sound Recording Workshop fee of $895 covers tuition, class materials, ground transportation, food, and lodging. A $100 deposit is requested to reserve a space, which is limited to 20 students. Registration and payment are due by May 31. Learn more at: The Macaulay Library or contact Tammy Bishop at (607) 254-2198 or macaulaylibrary@cornell.edu.

This certainly sounds like a fun and education opportunity (and if they are full there’s always next time!)

No Comments | Posted in » Cornell Lab of Ornithology

CNP Update: Still going…

Another week at the Callaway Nature Preserve and we are still finding warblers and other migrants. Two new species have arrived, a Yellow Warbler and a Philadelphia Vireo which is new for the Callaway Nature Preserve Life List! (number 98!) There are more nesting hopefuls…one very energetic pair of Gray Catbirds and a busy Common Grackle that was spotted gathering shavings from the fallen Willow Tree.

A pair of Scarlet Tanagers gave a surprise courtship display right on the cable wire and while they probably won’t nest here, maybe they will find a suitable nearby forest preserve.

Male Scarlet Tanager

On the plant side of things, the Wild Columbine and Wild Geranium are blooming alongside the Bluebells. The Cupplants (aka bird magnets) are growing fast. It is going to be a wild year at the CNP!

Swainson’s Thrush, hanging out at the CNP

3 Comments | Posted in » Callaway Nature Preserve

Spring Bird Count 2008 - Part Three

The final part of three recounting our May 10th Spring Bird Count. We went in search of Clay-colored Sparrows and a variety of marsh and night birds.

Our initial search for Clay-colored Sparrow was a bust. Luckily, we were invited to check out another area with a couple of world-class birders and within a half hour we had a highly energized Clay-colored Sparrow defending his territory. This sparrow was our 11th species of sparrow for the day!

Our next stop was a marshy area where we went in search of rails and bitterns. We found four Soras and four Virginia Rails plus a Green Heron. It is amazing how well rails can hide even after they flush in plain view.

Before night fell, we headed back to one of our original areas with Dan Williams (who is the definition of expert birder) to get set up for some night birding. As we waited for darkness, we heard Grasshopper and Lark Sparrows.

We had moderate hopes of finding out if any Barn Owls resided in the area but the tape playback went unanswered. However, we did add American Woodcock and Whip-poor-will and heard a fairly close Barred Owl.

To round out our day we headed to a farm where we had permission to drive down a grass-track between farm fields and out to a marshy area where we were wishful for Yellow or Black Rails. Unfortunately, neither were found but the excitement of our 16th hour of birding, standing in the dark in an unfamiliar area in the middle of nowhere was exhilarating.

For the day we tallied 105 species of birds, 8 more than last year and our new goal to beat. We counted 1,349 individual birds but probably missed one or two.

No Comments | Posted in » Bird Counts

Spring Bird Count 2008 - Part Two

Part two of three of our Spring Bird Count wrap-up we recount the wonderful birds we found over a 4+ hour hike at a way cool preserve called Sugar River Alder.

Before heading to our next stop, Sugar River Alder Forest Preserve, we had a quick lunch break by the Sugar River. A Baltimore Oriole sang the entire time and we had our first Eastern Towhee of the day.

Sugar River Alder is a wonderful preserve with a lot of miles of trails to cover. We were keyed up to cover the majority of them but the going was slow as we observed a wide variety of species. Some of the main highlights were our one and only American Redstart (!) and four Red-headed Woodpeckers.

There were several times during our trek that we were wishing the camera wasn’t in the car. Scarlet Tanagers perched twenty feet away, Indigo Buntings sang recklessly in our faces, and a pair of Lark Sparrows mated unabashedly in full view.

Baltimore Orioles were everywhere creating a few odd remarks:
“Just another oriole.”
“I can’t hear that warbler over the oriole!”
“Are there any ‘non-orioles’ in that tree?”
Of course, we can’t complain since they are such beautiful birds!

As 5:00 rolled around, 1/2 of our team headed home but we (Birdfreak and Veery) still had a few more hours so we went off in search of Clay-colored Sparrows before hitting some marshes and night-time spots.

Stay tuned for part three to find out if we were successful on the sparrow and what night birds we found, plus totals from our 16 hour day!

No Comments | Posted in » Bird Counts