Saturday, September 3, 5:00 AM- 5:00 PM
(Events referenced in this section are 8:30 to 11:00 AM and around 4:00 PM)
Temperature: 55-80 degrees Fahrenheit
Weather: Mostly sunny, winds out of northwest
Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge is an excellent place for the bird-brained. I've been here a LOT over the summer. However, this trip was a chance to go with friends! Oh, and did I mention birds? The first birds of the day, including five lifers, were back at Revis Hill Prairie. The first bird at Chautauqua was this Eastern Wood-Pewee, (Contopus virens) catching flies just above the parking lot. An Eastern Phoebe joined in, and we stood and watched these birds catch flies for a few minutes.
Just after entering the woods at the headquarters, we found this Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri [recently reclassified]), distinguishable from the American Toad by the number of warts inside each dark blotch (1-2, American, 3-5, Fowler's). Eastern Wood-Pewees, Red-eyed Vireos, Red-headed Woodpeckers, a Red-headed Woodpecker, Blue Jays and a lone Warbling Vireo called from high above us in the trees. Red-headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) were more numerous in this woods than anywhere else I've ever been. We had about fifteen in the course of an hour.
We walked out to an overlook, which faced west over the a massive lake. On its shores were colonies of willows, and we occasionally saw catbirds and warblers perk their heads in and out of them. We had a Tennessee Warbler, a Palm Warbler, and the bird below, which I called a juvenile Common Yellowthroat or a Mourning Warbler at various points. If you know what it is, inform me. This was the highest I saw it in the tree, so it seems to be one of those brush-loving, hard-to-see warblers.
Out on the lake, the first migrating ducks had arrived, in the form of flocks of Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors), intermixed with Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal, and a few Gadwalls.
Rather shy, some of the ducks departed as we arrived at the overlook. By far the most common were Blue-winged Teal, though the ducks in the photograph look to be Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). Even further out, past the trees, I snapped a photo of what turned out to be a flying Black-crowned Night Heron, but it was so far out that it's barely notable, and I thought it was an Egret at the time.
Behind, on the shore itself, were the aptly named shorebirds. Chautauqua is the best spot in Illinois for great numbers of shorebirds, thanks to the large open mudflats it provides. Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) and Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) feature in the picture below. These birds are easily distinguishable by size. There's four of one and two of the other.
Also on shore were four of these large chunky, short-billed shorebirds, which I tentatively have identified as Wilson's Pharalopes (Phalaropus tricolor), my very first pharalope sighting if so.
The large, shallow lake held thousands of shorebirds, but the only ones I could identify with any accuracy were five lifer Stilt Sandpipers, a lone White-rumped Sandpiper that smaller and seen in flight, six Greater Yellowlegs , about a hundred Lesser Yellowlegs , the aforementioned Pharalopes, and four Solitary Sandpipers (Tringa solitaria), shown below:
The following picture shows two Lesser Yellowlegs, with a Greater Yellowlegs and a Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) in the background.
Nearby and flying around were a large number of swallows, especially Northern Rough-winged and Tree Swallows, albeit with a few Barn Swallows mixed in. Far out in the water were around twenty American White Pelicans, six Great Egrets, one Bald Eagle, one Turkey Vulture, and forty Canada Geese, plus many more ducks unidentifiable at this distance. For a complete list, see the Ebird checklists at the end. I've decided to start linking in the Ebird Checklists of the birds I see.
We drove onwards to Eagle Bluff Levee, likely the best spot in Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge for anything. On the way, we spotted three Bald Eagles flying over the road. Eagle Bluff, while living up to its name, turned out to be a brilliant spot to watch another migration, that of the insects:
The Bonesets (Eupatorium spp.) that grow along the levee provide a great place for migrating Viceroys, Red-spotted Purples, Skippers, and Monarchs. Any butterfly watcher should love this place, as short of a butterfly house I've never seen so many in one place,
Many were Viceroys (Limenitis archippus), the monarch mimic which tends to be found in swamps, as it lives on willow trees when a caterpillar. Up to five could be seen on one Boneset at a time.
Below is a strange moth, one of many on the levee I didn't recognize.
Possibly as numerous as the Viceroy were the Skippers, an example of which is below. These are half-moth, half-butterflies which are incredibly common here in the fall.
However, we were there for the birds, and thus we paid a bit more attention to the birds. They did the same to us, and this flock of Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) decided we were getting too close. Thus, a hundred birds departed in a sudden rush.
Further along, we spotted twp unusual, white sandpipers, which turned out to be lifers, juvenile Sanderlings (Calidris alba). The two little birds ran around in the shallows, oblivious to the fact that they were nowhere near the sandy beaches these birds are named for. The palest of the sandpipers, Sanderlings breed far up on the most remote Canadian islands, but in the winter they live almost around the entire world wherever there are sandy beaches.
Off in the water to the south, we spotted a few more ducks, which turned out to be Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata), distinguishable by their large, paddle-shaped bills.
And in the dead trees on the south side of the levee, we saw hundreds of swallows, all perched, resting between flights. Several Red-headed Woodpeckers were present among these trees as well. Chautauqua is the best place to see all these migrations, from the pelicans to the butterflies.
In the grassy strip between the trees and the levee, some Killdeer and Pectoral Sandpipers foraged for food. This Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) watched us warily as we walked by.
Out on the lake, a few Green-winged Teal and Blue-winged Teal foraged in the shallows. We watched this for awhile, and then moved onwards to Goofy Ridge and Emiquon.
I returned later on my own in the afternoon and spotted more birds. But, at this point, I grow long-winded. Below is what you would see sans binoculars, fancy camera, or scope. Next post will document the third and last field trip, in which some really long-legged birds will feature:
Ebird Checklists:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31406953
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31407768
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31412538
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