Summer birding can be very monotonous and, after a while, I kind of got tired of seeing all the same birds or no birds at all. About a week ago, however, I was checking my bird mail (listserv emails with bird sightings from Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, and Missouri) and I noticed that there were multiple sightings of Red Crossbills in Milwaukee. Now Red Crossbills are tough birds to find in northern IL and, when you do see or hear them, it's usually in November or during the winter. Seeing them in August is incredible! Anyway, I checked the weather for August 17 and noticed that there were Northwest winds overnight so I decided to give it a shot and check the two best locations for crossbills in Lake County, Van Patten Woods and Lyons Woods. I stopped first at Van Patten Woods, where I saw Red Crossbills last November. Nothing, however. Then I headed to Lyons Woods in Waukegan. The great thing about Red Crossbills is that they have very distinctive "chit-chit" flight calls. As soon as I walked onto the path at Lyons, I heard a flock of RED CROSSBILLS fly over me doing repeated "chit-chit" calls. This happened twice before I saw them land in a pine near the trail. I looked up to get a nice look but didn't see anything more than the form of the birds as they flew over me again and out of sight. They were big finches, though, which fits, since RED CROSSBILLS are the largest of the finch group.
red crossbill call
#246 and a good one!
Haven't done much birding since then except to check Nippersink mudflat once in a while. There are lots of shorebirds there but all common types. I keep thinking that it looks like a good spot for a Golden Plover or a buffy, though, so yesterday, August 24, I stopped at the mudflat to check again for buffies. BINGO! 4 awesome BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS meandered around the mudflat with the numerous other common shorebirds. #247!
Today was yet another highlight even better than yesterday's, if you can believe that! I headed out to Rollins for some quick birding before having to head to Crossfit for a workout with my son, Doug at 8:30. When I got there it was gorgeous. Calm air, moderate-warm temps. I headed down to the edge of the main pond and walked the western edge of the pond. There were a number of the more common shorebirds scurrying about in the numerous muddy edges and flats. The habitat was excellent for mud-loving shorebirds. As I walked past the Cormorant Tree the pond doglegs to the west. I followed the shoreline and as I approached the end of the inlet, I saw a very large shorebird digging through the mud along with some Semipalmated Sandpipers. I looked at its gray body, olive green legs and bright white eyeline and immediately thought, "this is a RED KNOT!" Then I simultaneously thought, "No. It can't be" But I saw it lift its head, got a nice look at the short, thick, black bill, and confirmed that it was, indeed, a Red Knot! Tremendous bird for Lake County and even better bird for Rollins Savanna. #248 Woohoo!
Bob Hughes internet photo
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