This is the part four of six of Birdfreak’s 72-hour birding extravaganza. Our goal was to find as many bird species as possible within Winnebago County, Illinois.
Anna Page Park
We birded Anna Page Park after Sugar River Forest Preserve on day two. It was 70 degrees when we began our hike in search of more vireos and a Yellow-breasted Chat. We never did find a chat, but we first heard and then saw a Bell’s Vireo. This completed all seven vireos possible in Winnebago County: Red-eyed, White-eyed, Philadelphia, Yellow-throated, Blue-headed, Warbling, and Bell’s.
Bell’s Vireo at Anna Page Park
The team took a short rest in the afternoon and then headed over to Oak Ridge Forest Preserve. Our main goal was to find Red-headed Woodpeckers and a few more warbler species but struck out on both accounts. The highlight here included a dried out grassy field holding over 25 Eastern Kingbirds…we left when we started to become delusional over finding a Fork-tailed Flycatcher.
After a short hike at nearby Rotary Road Forest Preserve we decided to call an end to day two of our 72-hour count.
