Entries from April 2008 ↓

Saturday, April 19 we went to Sugar River Forest Preserve after the Crane Count. We saw two species of warblers. They were Yellow-throated Warbler and Pine Warbler. They were singing. We also heard a Pileated Woodpecker and a Barred Owl.

Pine Warbler by Birdfreak

Some more highlights include…

1. Chipping Sparrow
2. Belted Kingfisher
3. White-breasted Nuthatch
4. Brown Thrasher
5. Hermit Thrush
6. Yellow Belled Sapsucker
7. Turkey Vulture

Yellow-throated Warbler by Birdfreak

Yesterday was the 2008 International Crane Foundation Crane Count.

My Grandpa and Uncle counted at a place called Moody Marsh and I counted at Nygren Wetlands with a great birder named Mrs. Lynda Johnson. She is in the bird club and bands birds too.

Nygren Wetlands by Birdfreak

We got there around 5:20 a.m. We saw a lot of cool things including lots of bird species. We saw a pretty cool mammal too. It was…a River Otter! It was swimming as fast as a torpedo. It was a first sighting for me and Mrs. Johnson. I wish we would have gotten a picture.

Nygren Wetlands Reflection by Birdfreak

We only found three Sandhill Cranes but it was a lot of fun. This was my second year counting cranes.

Other Bird Highlights

1. White-throated Sparrow
2. White-crowned Sparrow
3. Song Sparrow
4. Blue-winged Teal
5. Cackling Goose
6. Canada Goose
7. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
8. Barred Owl
9. American Coot
10. Mallard
11. Wood Cock
12. Ring-necked Pheasant
13. Wild Turkey

Last September, I went to my first big birding event, the Midwest Birding Symposium. It took place in Moline, Illinois, where my Grandpa was born.

I went on a boat trip with a lot of other birders and we spotted a Green Heron on a log. I was able to get photos of it and it was so exciting.

I can’t wait to see another Green Heron.

Photo Life List

1. Wild Turkey
2. Ring-necked Pheasant
3. Turkey Vulture
4. Green Heron

Common Loon

Today we went to Rock Cut State Park. When we got there we saw 10 Common Loons! One of them got really close to the shore line. It started to snow hard and it was really windy. Pretty bad birding weather but we still went and had a good time.

Common Loon

Unbelievably we saw someone grilling out (and it was only 8:00 AM)! My Mom would never let me have a cookout in the snow but it could be fun.

Here is the bird list.

1. Common Loon (10)
2. Bufflehead
3. Great Blue Heron(12)
4. American Coot
5. Tree Swallow
6. Lesser Scaup
7. Wood Duck
8. Wild Turkey
9. American Crow
10. Red-Winged Blackbird
11. Song Sparrow
12. Ruddy Duck
13. Mallard

Common Loon by Birdfreak

Brown Creeper (can you see him?)

I was in my backyard trying to get bird photos. I saw a glimpse of something and turned around. About five inches from my face was a Brown Creeper! I was too busy looking at him to get a photo right away, but finally got him on another tree.

Hermit Thrush

Friday Afternoon Sightings

1. Hermit Thrush
2. Brown Creeper
3. Dark-Eyed Junco
4. American Robin
5. American Goldfinch
6. Northern Cardinal
7. Fox Sparrow
8. House Sparrow
9. Mourning Dove

Usually I see Turkey Vultures soaring high above. While we were birding on the road we saw three Turkey Vultures perched in a tree. From the car window I was able to get these photos.

The Turkey Vulture is number 3 on my Photo Life List!

Photo Life List

1. Wild Turkey
2. Ring-necked Pheasant
3. Turkey Vulture

Ring-necked Pheasants are not native to Illinois or the United States. They can be hard to get pictures of because they like to stay hidden by the trees. I am lucky to have gotten this picture.

This is the second bird on my Photo Life List.

Photo Life List

1. Wild Turkey
2. Ring-necked Pheasant

Today I got to participate in my first Deer Run Bird Survey. I went with my Uncle, Aunt, Mom, and Grandpa.

Deer Run Bird Survey
We are counting all the birds at Deer Run Forest Preserve to see what birds are there and which birds migrate through the area.

This is a Birdfreak project that will take all year. Deer Run Forest Preserve is in Winnebago County Illinois.

Song Sparrow

We hiked for a few hours. Some of the highlights were Hermit Thrush, Eastern Bluebird, Tree Swallow, Field Sparrow, Osprey and Sandhill Crane. There were a lot of Song Sparrows singing like crazy. We had a good time.

Eastern Bluebird

Now Get Out And Bird!!!!!

Photo by Veery

Today after school me and my Mom went to Rock Cut State Park. We went down to the lake and saw lots of ducks. The ducks we saw were:

1. Ruddy Duck
2. Hooded Merganser
3. Wood Duck
4. Lesser Scaups
5. Ring-necked Duck
6. Mallard
7. Bufflehead

Ruddy Duck Photo by Veery

We also saw Pied-billed Grebe, Ring-billed Gull, Great Blue Heron and Turkey Vulture. It was windy but it was not too cold.

Now Get Out And Bird!!!!!!

Since I am learning photography, I wanted to start a photo life list. This morning before I went to school, I saw three Wild Turkeys walking in my neighbor’s yard! One of the dogs, Arizona, was looking out of the window and alerted the family that they were out there.

We only have seen Wild Turkeys one time by our house before. The Wild Turkey is the official first bird on my new Photo Life List. This was a cool sighting and I really enjoyed seeing them.