The Birdfreak team is working on finding all of the best birding places within Winnebago County, Illinois to create an online birding guide.
Today was spent exploring Anna Page Park in Rockford, Illinois. On the NCIOS blog we found out from another birder, Dan Williams that there were Henslow’s Sparrows, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, and White-eyed Vireos to be found there.
The park was fairly quiet with the occasional jogger and horse rider. The temperature was creeping up fast as we were hiking, but the birds were alive and singing.
Anna Page is beautiful even though there is some vandalism in the expected areas. We found plenty of Dickcissels, a couple of Henslow’s Sparrow and even heard the Yellow-breasted Chat. We did not find a White-eyed Vireo (who I fear might become our nemesis bird) but there were Yellow-billed Cuckoos calling like crazy and even in the hot mid-morning sun we found plenty of birds singing and hopping about including Grey Catbirds, Wood Thrushes, Blue-grey Gnatcatchers, and Red-eyed Vireos.
The bird photos were lacking, but the scenery was gorgeous and we will be going back for more birding and photography soon. July can be so hot for birding in the Midwest, but it is a great time to see many species.
