Chautauqua, Emiquon, Matanzas, and... a River Otter?

(Continued from two previous posts)  After H.A. Gleason Nature Preserve, I decided to continue down to the Illinois River itself and visit the wetland complex located between the mouths of the Mackinaw and Sangamon Rivers.  This section of Illinois is one of the best birding areas in the United States, thanks to an immense wetland restoration project and a strategic location along the Mississippi Flyway. about halfway between that river and Lake Michigan.

The first location I stopped at was a pulloff in Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, to remove a deer tick from my jeans before it went anywhere.  Much alarmed by this, I got out and checked myself for any more.  Seeing a trail, I briefly went down it when a young White-tailed Deer buck (Odocoileus virginianus) and I alarmed each other.

Immediately afterward, a Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) and I alarmed each other.  I left before this alarming became a habit, and I went to Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge. Emiquon is the location of the second largest wetlands restoration project in the United States (after the Everglades).  Taken with the rest of the chain of wetlands in the vicinity, Emiquon is the largest wetland in Central Illinois as well.

The sky had grayed, and Great Egrets (Ardea alba) foraged for food among the reeds.  I'm fairly certain I saw a Bittern fly when disturbed by one of the foraging egrets, but it was too far away to tell.

There were about twenty egrets feeding in this marsh, with a smattering of Coots and other unknown birds foraging nearby.  Unfortunately, the zoom on my camera and my scope was not enough.  Furthermore, there were NO TRESPASSING signs all around, making it difficult to birdwatch.

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) foraged along the edges of the marsh, further down near the (CLOSED, NO TRESPASSING) visitor's center.  I was growing frustrated with the apparent closure of much of the preserve.  I have since heard the theory that it was probably for nesting reasons, which they declined to say so that birds wouldn't get harassed.  That would make sense.

In the middle of the marsh, an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) stood on a reed looking for gnats.

A front was moving in, and the clouds looked like a giant handprint.

Driving down the shoreline to a pulloff, I came across a flock of American Coots (Fulica americana).  See if you can spot the Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), too.

Apparently, American Coots nest together on small reed islands, or at least these were.

I spotted a dark shape slithering through the water.  Assuming it was a muskrat, I took a picture.  It was not until I got back home that I realized that I had just seen my first wild River Otter (Lontra canadensis).  It was too long for a muskrat and not wide enough for a Beaver, at least in my mind.

Frustrated and not thinking clearly, I paid the animal no heed.  I could barely see it, with the lighting, and I assumed it was nothing special, rather foolishly.  My main concern at the time was " How am I supposed to see birds here if they hide behind NO TRESPASSING signs?"  There were few visible migratory birds and the most reed-covered, bird-filled areas were impossible to get anywhere near without trespassing and getting wet.  I scared this coot while I thought over what to do.

I calmed down and took a picture of the shoreline.  The mudflats behind me seemed uninhabited...

...only for a Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)  to appear rather suddenly from behind a pile of dead reeds.  The alarming began again.  I snapped several pictures as the bird fled on foot.

A second Short-billed Dowitcher flew over the marsh, by the coots.  The pale triangle mark above the tail is a major identifying characteristic of the species.  This was my first sighting ever of this species.

I took a few more pictures of the shoreline, and then I left.  Unknowingly, I missed this Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), another species I have never seen before, on the right below:

As I was on my way out,  I spotted a black and white-gray shape in the marsh, and realized it was the Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), a State-Endangered bird species and a major life species for me.  There was no possible way to stop and get a picture, so I will content you with this one borrowed from Wikipedia, courtesy of Dick Daniels at carolinabirds.org:

The final nature preserve to visit was Matanzas, and I did so as it began to gently rain.  Matanzas Nature Preserve is a wet sand prairie, habitat for the rare Illinois Chorus Frog, which is in hibernation right now, apparently.  Illinois Chorus Frogs apparently go into hibernation around the end of April, or at the very least, they go underground.  My online resources were not too helpful for explaining this.  Still, at the very least, I did find Field Horsetails (Equisetum arvense) a new species for me.  It really ought not to be, but it is.  A second plant I have never seen in the wild which I probably should have seen by now, is Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis) and both are seen below center-left:

Overall, the entire area looked like a healthier version of Lick Creek Wildlife Area.  In other words, it was a grassy (sedge-filled) marsh (as opposed to the cattail/reedgrass marsh of Lick Creek), with more sedges than I could identify.  In other words, there was more than one.  If I ever get into trying to identify sedges, please shoot me.  I've gone off the deep end of this whole botany thing.

There were also some unknown, thickly-leaved ferns growing in the marsh.  I assume these are Interrupted Ferns (Osmunda claytonia), but whatever they are, I have never seen them before.

 On my list of "should have seen before" was a bird I had heard a LOT before, but never seen, the Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) .  It was finally good to put a face to a name, though the bird left its mask on.  It then flew away... to steal something, I presume, from its appearance.

I probably would have liked Matanzas a lot more if the Multiflora Roses (Rosa multiflora) hadn't been so thick.  They actually tore a hole in the side of my rubber boots.  This was only my second time wearing those boots! This invasive thorny species even has spiny fruit, believe it or not:



Marsh Ferns (Thelypteris palustris pubescens) and Anemones (Anemone spp.) formed a beautiful carpet in one corner of the preserve where the roses had not invaded so thickly.

As I went to leave, I spotted this Meadowlark (Icterus spp.) and decided to call it a day.   A few miles down the road, a Dog Tick decided to climb up the back of my neck.  I pulled off, gassed it to death with bugspray, gave myself another quick check-over, and drove home in the rain. When I arrived back home, an Indigo Bunting was at our feeder that evening, for the first and so far only time.

In the future, I shall do less in one day.  I saw quite a bit, but a longer visit at all of these places (well, maybe not Matanzas until they clean up the multiflora roses) is necessary, and I will be doing it with other people.  Solo visits are easier to plan, but very, very lonely.  Anyway, it was probaby the best trip I've done in awhile.