My First Christmas Bird Count!

(Note:  I have been extremely explicit with the locations where we found these birds.  The reason for this is simple- if I redo this section of the Christmas Bird Count, or if someone else does and wants to find the majority of species as quickly as possible, this blogpost should help with finding the best numbers of birds, insofar as I know.)

The Christmas Bird Count, or CBC, is the Audubon Society's yearly bird count.  Each count falls between 23 possible dates, from December 14 through January 5.  A circle is drawn up, with a ten mile radius, and the circle is further broken up into sections at the compiler (the person in charge)'s discretion.  Volunteers go out to look for birds throughout that one day and see all that they can see, then they come back at night and count up what they saw.  For more accurate and complete information, see this link here, to the official web site.  If you want to see our specific circle, see this page here and zoom in on extreme south-southwest IL.

I was invited to participate in the Southern IL count at Horseshoe Lake Conservation Area (and the surrounding environs.)  Our complier was one of the men who got me into birding, V. K.  Another volunteer was K.M. who had been on  440+ Christmas Bird Counts (there's 23 possible per year, remember), the second most of anyone in the world. ( I hope that number is correct. and it will change if it is not.)  Another, the man who drove me down to the CBC, was my bio professor, T.R, who'd invited me in the first place.  Compared to all of these, especially V.K. and K.M., I felt a bit out of place.   Still, it was an amazing experience to see these people, especially V.K. and K.M.. who had dedicated their lives to birds and birdwatching.

We started off before dawn at the old hunting lodge whose name I cannot remember, just south of West Side Drive.  Here, we called up three owl species (Barred, Great Horned, and Eastern Screech). with the Screech Owls being lifers for me. Thousands of Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens) flew over us as we searched the lake for ducks and geese.  We had close to 4,000 Snow Geese recorded by day's end, most in the first three hours.

I didn't expect a last new plant of 2016 from this trip, but I got one.  I had no idea until recently that American Mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum) ranged into southern Illinois.  However, as you can see above, it does.  There may not be snow here often, but there's still nature's Christmas decor!

Another southern plant extremely common at Horseshoe Lake is the Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) tree, as you can see above.  With all the southern plants, I kept expecting an Alligator to pop up out of the water, but they're still a few states south of here in terms of range.  I'm glad about this.  My parents are concerned enough about my running around with all the venomous snakes down here in Southern IL (during the summer).  Alligators are fascinating animals, but they have no need to expand their range north.

We continued along the road, spotting ducks, woodpeckers, and Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) as we went.  This short drive had four Pileated Woodpeckers, two Brown Creepers, and nine Bald Eagles, among other good birds.

I did mention there were thousands of Snow Geese, right?  For a few hours, this was our view overhead, flock after flock of Snow Geese.  I'm fairly certain if we had been trying, we probably could have seen over 4,000.

Out in one of the fields, American Mistletoe covered this tree.  Far away, just south of the tree and the barren stubble of the crop fields, we could see a pond...

Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) landed as Snow Geese flew past in the background.

In a nearby tree, an immature Bald Eagle watched us as we watched the geese, answering the age old question, "Who watches the watchers?"

Two more Bald Eagles sat out in a tree, below.  (The second is towards the top center, and is an immature pretending to be a large tree branch)

The Snow Geese from earlier landed in the pond.  Behind them lies the woods of Horseshoe Lake Nature Preserve, a place full of Mole Salamanders and other uncommon and/or traditionally southern animals and plants I hope to discover someday soon.  In the grasslands behind this marsh, we also saw our only Northern Harrier of the day.


We drove down to Promised Land Road, where another flooded field turned up even more geese.  Here we also spotted some Cackling Geese (Branta hutchinsii), the small two in the middle below:

Our "best" birds of the day were in a small cluster of shrubs on Promised Land Road.  Two Chipping Sparrows (Spizella passerina), unusually far north for this time of year, were feeding with some Juncos.  These birds should be down in the Deep South currently!  This is one of a number of records of this species unusually far north this year, likely due to the late warmth of the fall.

After some scouting about done on Promised Land Road, we drove on Miller City Road south through what I would like to call "The Wasteland".  I would be afraid of offending someone who lives there by calling it that, but from all the abandoned houses we saw along the way, I'm not sure that there's anyone to offend left!  This area suffered badly during a recent flood, leaving parts of the area little more than bare sand, especially close by the river:

Overhead, a few more groups of geese flew by, and every so often, we'd see a hawk, a crow, or some Horned Larks fly by, as well as a few Bald Eagles sitting in the trees along the river.

 Still, I've been to some desolate parts of Illinois.  This was the most barren and uninhabited part of Illinois I've been to in my life!  In retrospect, I did't get enough photos of it. Just south of the corner of Miller City and Watson Road, we found this young eagle enjoying a fish in the sands.

The rapidly-clouding skies also didn't help the melancholy atmosphere.  We began to hope for better habitat for songbirds, and quickly!

At Schildler Cemetery Road, in a field just south of the creek/drainage ditch running east-west. we got our wish.  A brushy field, full of sparrows, greeted us with rustlings and alarm calls.  Most numerous were the Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia):

These birds are masters of disguise, their brown shades concealing them well, if only they'd stop flying around so much.  (That may have been intended as a joke.)

We got over sixty sparrows of five species  (Song, White-crowned, White-throated, Swamp, and Field) from this field. This is definitely one to remember for the future!

After this, we spotted three Bald Eagles and many more crows  (we under-reported our numbers of crows somewhat), before venturing to Roth Crossing Road, just north of the (apparently abandoned) post office.  I, meanwhile, pulled off some burrs gained in the sparrow field.  These turned out to be some species of Cocklebur (Xanthium sp.).

In the woodlands and then the fields on Roth Crossing Road, we picked up our first Eastern Phoebes (Sayornis phoebe) of the day, two out of the six:

A nearby gravel drive had only a few Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris), or so we thought.  As we pulled up to look at them a bit better, twenty or more flew up and away.  These birds blend in quite well if you can't see their yellow throats!

Singing Bridge Road was one of the highlights of Area 2.  As soon as we arrived there, we picked up the majority of our Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata, below), as well as a bunch of Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and more.

My second and final lifer bird of the day, and the only one of which I took a photo, was this Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus).  The dark "mask" at the eye is a major identifying mark.

Area Five, the lands east of the Cache River, was full of more and different birds than before. Far more wooded and hilly,   We drove up Lufkin Road, in search of what we could find.  The east-to north 90 degree bend in Lufkin Road had several birds, few of which I managed to photograph.

Just beyond that, the small strip of woods on the east side of Lufkin Road, just south of the junction of Lufkin and Shiloh Roads, also turned up two more Purple Finches, our only American Tree Sparrows, and a surprise, more Chipping Sparrows!  Someone else in our group, K.M, had over forty, so I guess they're really here in big numbers this year!

Driving east on Shiloh Road, we came to the corner of Shiloh and Buchner Roads.  To the northeast lay a field which was unusually black:

About fifty thousand blackbirds of three species (Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and Common Grackles) flew about in front of us.

As we slowly drove forwards after gathering our data from the group, we realized they were on both sides as the air blackened with blackbirds.

As we drove onwards over the rivers and through the woods (but not to Grandmother's house, since I'd done that the week before) it began to rain, and the birds dwindled out.  Thankfully, the rain quit about an hour or so later, but I have to wonder how many other species we missed thanks to the rain.

We eventually came across the sign, in someone's front yard, "No Civil Rights in Pulaski County!" I don't think I want to know what they mean by that. We left them, and checked a few birdfeeders along Villa Ridge Road as we drove south.  We also found a Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) right along the road, eating a dead squirrel.  We found both species of vultures.

A yard just west of Villa Ridge had this beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), the sixth and final one of the day.  Until that day, I had never seen Red-shouldered Hawks in Illinois before.

A brief drive through the north end of Mounds got us pigeons.  It was the first time I've ever really been looking for pigeons before.  The cemetery in that area had a beautiful Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)

Our "big misses" of the day were Hermit Thrushes, Fox Sparrows,  and Killdeer. Our best birds of the day were the Northern Harrier, sixteen Bald Eagles, all three common owl species,  the largest numbers of geese and blackbirds of anyone on the count, both species of vultures, eleven Eastern Bluebirds, six Eastern Phoebes, sixty or more Yellow-rumped Warblers (below), and the five or more Chipping Sparrows.

I just find it ironic that I started 2016 with a minimal interest in birds and birdwatching, and I've ended it by going birdwatching for eleven hours straight with several legendary birders.  When I get into a hobby, I REALLY get into a hobby!  I can't wait to do it again next year!

Ebird checklists:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S33260515

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S33260619

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S33260661

The Last Herps of 2016- Lick Creek Wildlife Area

One of my good friends was back in town, and Boxing Day (December 26), being in the 50s Fahrenheit, I figured it was worthwhile to look for salamanders.  I told my friend that we probably wouldn't find any, but I figured it would be a good excuse to test out my field hook.  The very first log flipped turned up a Smallmouth Salamander (Ambystoma texanum):

Many strange and different fungi also grew on the logs.

We also found hibernating invertebrates under the logs, including all these snails:

Overhead, a few hundred ducks and geese had flown, and then I heard a few odd-sounding geese, my first Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens) of the season:

After the two hundred-odd Snow Geese flew over, my friend Dan and I wandered into the marsh, while more and more ducks and geese flew overhead.

In the center of the marsh was a pond, and we walked out into it in our rubber boots.  Under the first six inches of water, silt, and duckweed was a slick layer of ice, which we occasionally cracked. When the ice cracked, we sank almost to our knees! It was the strangest sensation, walking on the ice on the bottom of a pond!  The ice rose in the center, as you can see below, to the right:

This marsh is quite beautiful, and little-visited because, well, not enough people know about it.  However, I somewhat appreciate the fact that Lick Creek is so little-known.  The fishing area usually has several people, but once on a trail (or even better, off one) there's little else but nature.

Overhead, surprising me, were three Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura), some of the eight or so we saw that day.  Turkey Vultures have stayed further and further north in the winter.  Some say it's clearly global climate change.  Others say it's that with the abundance of roadkill, Turkey Vultures no longer need to migrate.  Either way, they're still far rarer in the winter than in the summer.

So too are Smallmouth Salamanders. There's one spot for them, near the edge of the marsh, that's almost certain to turn them up.  Even with the frost under the logs, we found five, and this is the last of those five.  I also think it shows how I need to improve my salamander photographing.  The moist skin and constant movement tends to make the salamander a blurry, oddly lit photography subject.

Looking out into the marsh, four small birds appeared to stand out a bit.  I had forgotten that Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) don't migrate far!  They are much brighter in person than in the photo below:

We then crossed a creek, difficult to do in rubber boots on ice and slippery logs.  The adjacent marsh, behind Piper Glen neighborhood, had a wonderful view of the creek.  As we had arrived here earlier, several hundred Canada Geese had departed from the ice on this section of the creek, in a thunder of flying wings.  While we wandered around, we also found our first owl, a Great Horned Owl that vanished into some nearby trees before I could get a photo.

Walking into the woods on the other side of the marsh, we came to a clear, beautiful stream draining Piper Glen neighborhood, and hopping about its banks was a Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans).  Considering it was 45 degrees Fahrenheit outside in late December, this seemed a bit odd.

Further investigations in the area nearby turned up some Witches' Butter fungi (Tremella mesenterica), which grows on branches high up and can be found on the ground when said branches break.  While supposedly not very flavorful, Witches' Butter is edible, too!

Looking north about this time, I spotted a juvenile-plumaged Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), the first one I've ever seen anywhere near this part of the lake.

Walking further along the shoreline, we found even more, including these ants feeding on the sap from a freshly beaver-gnawed log!  Might I remind you, the date of this is December 26!

Then, we found the geese and ducks that had been flying overhead.  There were so many that it was impossible to get a photo of the complete group.  Furthermore, I somewhat... forgot to, in my excitement.   I did get a few Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) landing:

Out on the water, in the middle of the groups, I was looking for non-Mallard ducks, and I was not disappointed!  Three Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) are present below in the foreground.

Below, I spotted the Black Ducks, and then the Cackling Geese, among a flock of many mixed subspecies of Canada Geese and Mallards.  I'll let you guess where they are, before telling you:

Give up?  The Black Ducks (Anas rubripes) are in the front row of ducks about a third of the way in the center at left, and the Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) (the most obvious one) is  a quarter of the way in center right, facing away, right behind the tail of one of the larger geese.

Above are my very first pictures of two American Wigeon (Anas americana), swimming in the center and right of the photo, as well as one Gadwall (Anas strepera), the duck with the "black butt" standing on the ice in the back left.

After watching the ducks for a bit, I returned to the trees, here beautiful with their bent branches against the sky.  We walked over to a marsh near the bike trail.  Another owl, this time a Barred Owl, took off, again before I could get a photo.  We then stumbled across a creek, with ice too thin to cross, too wide to jump, and no visible logs to cross.  As a result, we were detoured an hour or so trying to cross the creek.

We did find an area with a small pool, where the ice had begun to split, and we spent some time cracking the ice, moving it about  like tectonic plates, and generally having a good time.  After finally crossing the creek, we found a mysterious purple log, below:

Once we had crossed the creek, we found ourselves under the power lines, and we walked to the bike trail through the prairie- like clearing underneath the power lines.

Some colorful orange fungus grew on a nearby tree, right next to a few boards.

Under the boards, we found a log.  Under the log, we found a Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata),  with which I took a quick, blurry photo and then replaced its cover.

Along the edges of the trail, we found several birds, including this Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea).

Back in the woods on the other side of the trail, we found this handlike fungus:

We also found this small, smooth orange one, likely the same as before.  During this time, we spooked a third owl, a second Great Horned Owl, though as usual I failed to get any pictures. At this point, we were a bit tired, absentmindedly flipping logs on our way back.

One of those random flips eventually proved good, when we turned up this Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), the very last herp of the entire year.

After making it back to the road, my friend had a few burrs to clean off. I took the time to look for the last few salamanders (there were none) and scare a mouse from among the rocks.  On my way back, I spotted this lovely last flower of the year, a Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), in full bloom alongside the edge of the road.  It might not be rare, it might not be native, but it's a flower on December 26, and it was the best Fifth Orchid I could ask for on such an amazing day.

Ebird Checklist:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S33219347