Emiquon, Again? Why Not? (So Many Stilts!)

If you can't tell, I enjoy Emiquon so much that I can spend three weekends in the same spot.  The appeal does not extend to non-birders quite so much, however.  Therefore I did them a favor and separated out that content, mostly rare plants, to this blogpost here.

I decided to take my mom to Emiquon one evening, to show her around the place where I've spent so much time.  We were greeted by two Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in one tree!

American Coots (Fulica americana) fed on land here, like chickens.

There was a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) on a nest, with a turtle army in the background.  I suspect the nest is a muskrat lodge with a nest on top.

Last of the migrant ducks, the Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata) and Blue-winged Teals (Anas discors) rested at Emiquon before going north to the Prairie Potholes, a series of glacially-carved wetlands centered in the Dakotas where most of our dabbling ducks breed.

Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) flew overhead, as I watched.  They spooked many of the other birds including:

So many shorebirds!  These Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) fed in a flooded cornfield, the only shorebirds tall enough to forage in the waters.  Other creatures also lived in the waters...

A couple of Common Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) foraged in the floodwaters alongside the stilts, moving to deeper water in pursuit of food.

We moved over to the next field, where a proliferation of shorebirds were the result:

By the way, I have no idea what species are present, nor would I be able to identify them from this vague photo.  Some were clearer in the field, but most were too far away for genuine identification.  We did see at least forty-odd Black-necked Stilts together in the flooded fields:

We then went off and had Pizza Hut, a fine end to the day in my opinion! I then came back a week later, on my own, to be greeted by this immature Bald Eagle:

The marshes were full of life, including my first Illinois Marbled Godwit, but it was too far off for a photo worth putting out here.  Instead, I spotted almost as many Black-necked Stilts and other shorebirds here as I had seen the previous week:

Down the road, an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) flew up after fish:

Over on the loop at the Visitor's Center, more shorebirds proliferated.

This Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) decided to show its nictating membrane, a protective second eyelid that makes the bird look like it came out of a horror movie.

Lingering Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens) remained, remnants of the million-strong flock that passed through here back in February.



On my way out, an angry Stilt chased the Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) out of the pool a few times.  According to research, this is probably a parent chasing an intruding bird away from a nest.

This turned out to be an injured Yellowlegs, and it had a broken leg.  I'm wondering how...

Meanwhile, satisfied that it had done its duty, the Black-necked Stilt meditated the mirroring property of water with its reflection on long legs.

The last bird of the day was an unusually light Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus), and yes, it was as light as the photo shows it to be.

A fine sunset capped the days, and my time at Emiquon had ended, helping to get me more shorebirds than warblers for the year, so far.  It's been a bit odd as far as birding goes, but  as of 5/14/17 I'm up to 184 species of birds for the year so far, which is quite a lot!  Summer looks like I'll be mostly busy, so don't expect too many posts this year.  I think I'll be cutting back to an irregular schedule and about 4 posts a month from now on.

Ebird Checklists-  Too many to list!  Just go to Emiquon!

More Strange (and Rare!) Springtime Flowers, and Dust Devils!

If this looks at all familiar, it's because this was  my second visit to Revis Hill Prairie Nature Preserve within a three-week period.  During that time, however, entirely new and different flowers bloomed.

Here is one of the many Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis) plants I found, a sign of an old prairie.  Scientific names are back, because plants have confusing common names.  This, for instance, is  also known as Lousewort, yet I've never gotten a louse from it.

I found the great yellow flowers of Hoary Puccoon (Lithospermum canescens), which used to be used as a dye by Native Americans (hence puccoon, from the word poughkone- meaning dye, in the Powhatan dialect of the Algonquin language).  (Yes, I googled that- I'm not that smart!)

Here was the view from the top of Revis, with thousands of Wood Betony plants blooming on the hillside.  Now, add in about six bumblebees whirling about, checking me out, and you have a complete picture of this prairie.

Blue-eyed Grasses (Sisyrinchium sp.) bloomed profusely all over the hillside, and I spotted several hundred on my way back down the hill. I then drove on down to another hill prairie, to go looking for a small plant of considerable rarity in Illinois:

I found it.  This, the Ozark Milkvetch (Astragalus distortus), is an Illinois state-threatened species, and it's quite a beautiful little flower.  Several dozen bloomed along a thin hill prairie ridge, bordered by trees.  I had to be careful where I walked!

Ozark Milkvetch, as its name implies, is generally found to the southwest of Illinois, where it becomes more regularly found in the Ozarks and even more common in Texas. The sandlands of Mason County bring something from the west yet again!

Fringed Puccoon (Lithospermum incisum), a paler, more ruffled relative of Hoary Puccoon, bloomed along the roadside by the hundreds.  My only other time finding this plant was finding three small specimens hiding low in a hill prairie somewhat north of here, Manito Prairie.  I'd assumed it was a bit rarer, but this proved me wrong.  I also heard my first White-eyed Vireos and Lark Sparrows calling as I walked down the road, among many other birds:

Lark Sparrows (Chondestes grammacus) are yet another western species far more common in Mason County.  They love the sandy prairies, and migrate back here each year.  This is my first Lark Sparrow of the year, but hopefully it's not my last!

Another first was  in dust devils, those miniature tornadoes that one occasionally sees out in barren fields (or, on one memorable occasion, in a parking lot slamming my parent's car door shut).  At one point, about six made their way across the field.  They did not film well, so I took a few pictures and watched the spectacle move on.  I'd imagine the combination of a warm day and unusual air currents off the hills moving into the valley helped to form these dust devils.

I then drove off to go looking for an orchid.  I didn't find it, so I stopped and looked about at Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge.  I heard calling Red-headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus).  It never ceases to amuse me how people get so excited about Red-headed Woodpeckers (including me).  They're not that rare in my area, but they are a bird, like Eastern Bluebirds and Indigo Buntings, that automatically require a photo when seen.

The Red-headed Woodpeckers here were at war.  A dead tree on the shores of Mud Lake  had several holes in it, and over these the Red-headed Woodpeckers were fighting near-constantly while I watched.  This bird and its apparent mate drove off the other three or four Red-headed Woodpeckers, claiming victory at last.

In total, I saw seven Red-headed Woodpeckers.  The shoreline of Mud Lake is one of the best places in the world to see Red-headed Woodpeckers.  Between the oak and nut trees along the banks of the lake, the grasshoppers in nearby roadsides and cornfields, and the large fly population on the lake, they have tons of food.  Red-headed Woodpeckers often catch flies for food, and cache live grasshoppers in tight tree crevices.  They are fairly un-woodpecker-like in this respect.

Then I went "into the desert on a horse with no name"- minus the horse, and minus most of the desert, but this is still H.A. Gleason State Nature Preserve, the driest spot in Illinois.

Field Sparrows (Spizella pusilla) called from all corners of the preserve, with their song that has been unjustly compared to the bouncing of a ping-pong ball.  It sounds, to my ears, like a metal detector, where the beeps come closer and closer together when metal is found.  "Fe-fe-fefefefeeeee" is a good approximation of it.  I saw a couple in the bushes, but I'm sure more were hiding nearby.

Also hiding nearby was one of the rarest plants in Illinois, the Silvery Bladderpod (Lesquerella ludoviciana), and I had finally found it in flower!  It was far better a sight than the name "Bladderpod" would imply!  (It's called Bladderpod because it has seedpods that swell up like balloons in a few month's time.)

Here, for scale, is my hand.  Now, though this wasn't the last place I stopped that day, this is the last plant of the day.  I decided to split these posts down the Illinois River, so that all my Emiquon adventures will be in another post.  It should also be noted that no flowers seen in this blog are probably in flower now, because it's been a few weeks, unless you're reading this in future mid-April.

Ebird Checklists

Revis Hill Prairie:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36222914

Chautauqua NWR
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36222914
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36222899

H.A. Gleason State Nature Preserve
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36222587

The Great Salamander Race -150 Posts!

I've been about as busy as I've ever been in my life.  Thus, I fled to nature on multiple occasions.  I've visited the LLCC Bird Banding Station at multiple occasions, and spotted the resident Tree Swallows taking over the bluebird boxes as usual.

I decided, in a two-hour gap between classes, to dart over to Lick Creek Wildlife Area and find a salamander.  This proved to be a trek.  I saw several blooming White Trout Lilies, among the huge masses of their leaves.

Spring Beauties were just opening at the time (this post is quite delayed!).

Hundreds of Blue-winged Teal flew in and out of the marshlands, hiding almost perfectly in the flooded pockets of water.

Here, you can see two Blue-winged Teal with two Mallards in front.  The Mallards are much less afraid of people- and almost twice the size! of the teal.

A few Swamp Sparrows watched me as I flipped logs for salamanders.

Success!  A nicely marked Smallmouth Salamander is my first smallmouth of the year.  I'm hoping for a few more salamanders this year, but I'll settle for what I can.

I even got a habitat shot of the salamander.  It acted like one of those kids where if it can't see you, you can't see it.  I then put it back under its log and proceeded to nearly step on a nearby Garter Snake, sunning itself in the marsh.

Just after class, I decided to drive around the lake a bit.  Only a few of the Double-crested Cormorants still linger on Lake Springfield, but there were hundreds back when this photo was taken. They turn the lake islands white with their guano (yes, that's poop).

Anyway, I'm going to try something new with this post- no scientific names.  They really slow me down when I go to write them, and as I've got a lot of posts coming up, I'll omit the scientific names unless I have to use them.  It was a fun idea, but it's becoming useless anymore.