I was at the beach again today at 6:00 am. The local birders are all still monitoring the activities of the Piping Plovers. It is time for the other shorebirds to come through so we’re seeing a few other species. We had the same two plovers today as yesterday but there were a few more shorebirds to count so it was a bit more interesting.
After I got home I decided to get out my pencils and draw a Piping Plover from a photo taken by a friend last year. After I finished I e-mailed it to her. I read that the orange banded birds are all from the Great Lakes population of Piping Plovers.
Piping Plover drawing
Dad made my favorite bread today!! Sprouted Wheat Bread!
Today I got to the beach a little later, about 20 after six. There were already birders there in the parking lot. Dawn was giving us an exact description of the bands on the Plovers so we could make an ID to a specific bird. I took a few minutes to get my gear ready and give Donnie and CiCi and Rob a head start. I also took a few minutes to walk halfway down the pier and find two Sanderlings. It was cooler than the previous day and very comfortable. I walked down the beach which was empty of birds except for a few gulls and terns. Further down the beach I saw the birders stopped and looking through their scopes. They were on a plover. There was a lot of discussion about the exact bands on the birds legs. I photographed it and was able to make out a yellow dot on an orange band. That narrowed it down to three possibilities. After I got home I was able to look at the bands in the photo. I think it wasn’t one of the birds we were looking for because the numbers on the green band were different.
The plovers we were looking for had been released in the South Unit last week. They are from a nesting site near Green Bay Wisconsin that was affected by an outbreak of botulism. These chicks and one adult were saved and brought to Illinois, hoping they could continue their migration south without anymore problems. Everyone is helping to monitor the beach and report any sightings. Dad went down this afternoon and spent a couple of hours with two other birders. They had a Piping Plover with an injured leg. I’m not sure if it was one of the target birds.
Bands on Piping Plover
After breakfast I stayed home and started an art project. I watched a video yesterday on layering paint so I wanted to try it out. My subject was some leaves from the fading Bleeding Heart plant. I made a light sketch and selected some colors that seemed to match. The leaves had turned greenish yellow and had a variety of colors. I finished it while Dad was at the beach. Besides water colors I used watercolor pencils.
It’s almost time for supper. When Dad went in to Captain Porky’s to get the sandwiches he also bought two pounds of lake perch. Last night he fried them all in the air fryer. It made a lot of fish!! So we are having them again tonight. Can’t wait.
We had a great week-end with Jessica, E, Max and Briana. They arrived in Waukegan, in E’s awesome new truck, and headed straight for the South Unit to see if they could get a campsite. I was sure that the campground would be full on a Saturday. But I was wrong!! There was a line but they got the site and set up right away. Meanwhile Dad got Leno’s sandwiches for a late lunch. We ate in the back yard. It was relatively cool, breezy and not too noisy. I was still excited about my new pencils and I thought they might be interested in seeing them too. And using them. So we sat in the back yard and made beautiful color charts, clearly labeled, for all 76 colors. This will help me so much going forward. I don’t have to test every pencil to see exactly what color it is. One even includes a self portrait! I’m not sure who the green and purple person is.
This one includes a self portrait
Dad and I were cooking while this was happening. Dad had to keep reminding me that I had food in the oven. I made the Chiabatta, which came out really nice, and Browned Butter Almond cakes. I put bits of peach in some of them and that was really good. Dad made pizzas!! We decided to eat inside because the flies were coming out and it was getting warmer. It was 9:00 pm when the campers went up north to crawl into their tents.
There was talk Saturday night about getting up to see the sunrise at the campground. I was thinking it might be too cloudy. I was wrong again. They had a beautiful sunrise over Lake Michigan. For a change I slept in and missed it. Sunday morning we went up to the park and sat on the beach with them. It was very hot. Fortunately E had a big umbrella so I could have some shade. The kids didn’t enjoy the water much because it was so cold. Jessica went in a little bit. Max spent most of the time digging a very deep hole.
I lost my photos from the beach but Jessica put hers on Instagram. Photos below. The beach was getting full and we were very hot so we decided maybe we should have lunch. dad and I went out to Captain Porkie’s and got sandwiches (catfish and Walleye) while the kids showered and packed up the truck. We came back to the house and ate inside.
Their plans for the rest of the trip sounded really exciting (if you like boat rides on Lake Michigan)! I’m so glad they get to have some kind of vacation in spite of all the obstacles. After lunch they headed north to Harrington Beach State Park for another campsite.
It was so nice to be with family but we really missed having everyone else here. We can’t wait for that to happen again.
I went to Waukegan Beach early but there were no shorebirds.I could see a few birding friends at the outlet so I didn’t need to walk up there to look at the same species. They will tell me what they saw when the come back. I stayed on the south end and watched the swallows. They all gathered in the dead phragmites just east of the first biggest dune. There were about one-hundred and fifty swallows of three species. Basically it was half Barn, half Bank and three Cliff Swallows. They were more difficult to indentify becuase the juvenile birds have very drab plumage.
Further down the beach I stopped for a visit with the Least Bittern. It wasn’t very well hidden due to the thinness of the dead phragmites. I didn’t get too close, wanting to give it some room. After a while Al, Bob, Cici and Rob all showed up. Oddly enough the bittern tolerated all of us. After they all left I took a few photos. When the shutter went off the bittern adopted his defense posture. I hadn’t seen him do this before. I felt a little bad because I knew that I was stressing the bird. Soon he flew north to the greener area of the backwater.
I went to Hosah Park, along Lake Michigan, this morning at 5:45. It was QUIET!! I thought a little map would give an idea of where it is. It has a small gravel/sandy beach that is less popular that the other beaches nearby.
Map of the north lakefrontMy new Caran d’Ache pencils arrived today!
This is at the backwater, far north on beach. This Marsh Wren is always here and sings continually. As you can tell he is close but does not really show up in this video. It will be sad when he finally leaves. When he got here this spring this spot was much more densely filled with the foliage of the phragmite. Over time the waves washed a lot of sand in and killed the phragmite. But the wren is still defending his territory.
Marsh Wren
Our usual tern is the Caspian but the Common Terns will show up from time to time. Here he is emerging from a dive-without a fish.
Common Tern
After breakfast Dad and I took a walk in Lyons Woods. Dad got a nice shot of the Yellow-billed Cuckoos sharing an insect. They are usually hard to find but this year we have been seeing them everywhere!
It has been busy the last few days. I did get to go to the beach early both days. Yesterday a few birding friends came down to the beach to find the Avocet but it had already left. The Least Bittern and the Common Tern were the consolation prizes. It was still fun to watch the Sanderlings at the water’s edge.
Sanderlings
Later that afternoon I went up to the Johns Manville overlook and sketched the Spotted Knapweed.
That evening we ate early, giving us enough time to watch a movie. We searched around, not really having a plan but we found a winner. The name of the movie is “The Sunlit Night”. We enjoyed it very much. You may have seen it. We aren’t familiar with many current actors or titles so we felt lucky to find this.
It’s cooler today, 67°, with a breeze from the SW. There were a few shorebirds on the pier, same species as last time. I sat on the pier for a while, waiting to see if the Least Sandpiper would come out again. No luck. The Sanderling appeared instead.
I walked to the backwater. I had left my camera at home so I had a lot less weight on my hip. It was nice for a change to not be concerned with photographing the birds.
I waited at the outlet for the Least Bittern but it didn’t show. TI got a family of Wood Ducks instead. The Marsh Wren was very vocal and perched high in the phragmites to sing.
Finally I crossed the land bridge and headed north. Immediately the Spotted Sandpiper was vigorously defending his territory. I looked carefully to make sure I didn’t step on a nest. After I got a little further along he left me alone. I wasn’t looking carefully and I flushed a Least Bittern. All I saw was him flying away over the phragmites.
I watched the backwater from that vantage point. The Wood Duck family had made it’s way to the edge of the backwater just north of me, making it clear that this water was connected to the water visible from the first look-out point. Before I turned to go I saw a Mourning Dove fly over. I decided to get the binoculars on him. I had trouble getting him in view so I looked with my eyes. Just at that moment a Peregrine Falcon had come in. He had caught the dove in his talons! He flew off to the north, perhaps to a nest in the nesting platform on the power plant’s chimney.
Seeing that it was 7:40 I started back to the parking lot. The phragmites growing in the water at the edge of the lake were doing so well. I don’t understand why the phragmites along the backwater are all dead. Maybe the sand that has been pushed up by the waves is too deep for it. As I moved along the dune I watched a big frog leaping away. Then I heard an odd squawk. I looked and saw a Green Heron in the phragmite. He didn’t fly so I had a chance to watch him for a few minutes. That sighting gave me all of the expected wading birds for the day-Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron and Least Bittern!
When I got back to the car the workmen were getting ready to groom the beach. I took a minute to scan the gulls. Finding nothing I went home for breakfast.
It was a beautiful morning at the beach. However, with the gate opening at 6:00 am the sun was already up and it is starting to get warm. I was sharing the beach this morning with the girl who runs barefoot, Cici and her husband Ron, and Dawn. I found two Least Sandpipers on the pier, talked to Cici and Ron, and then headed north. I sat on the stump and listened to the Marsh Wrens and watched the backwater. Nothing much happening there. A tern flew over silently. It had a less direct flight style and seemed overall to be smaller than the Caspian Terns I usually see. It turned and showed me it’s notched tail. This was a Common Tern.
I decided to walk further north. I was prepared to walk through mud and water, with my tall rubber boots coming up almost to my knees. I was hoping to find something from a vantage point further north where I could see past the phragmites. There was nothing to see so I turned my attention to the Canada Geese who were on the lake close to the shore but further north. There were a few gulls, one I couldn’t quite make out, with the weeds appearing to hide it. I took a closer look. There was an Avocet! I paused and looked again. Yes, an American Avocet!! This is a bird we try for every year but it is not a given on the lakefront.
I texted the group so they could come to the beach and see it. It wasn’t long until Andy was there. I was very careful not to disturb it. As I was taking photos from a distance it started bobbing it’s head. This was a clue that it was getting nervous. The photos here are heavily cropped.
American Avocet
On the way back I stopped at the outlet, finding Cici, Ron, and Donna getting good looks at the Least Bittern. They soon headed north to find the Avocet while I had a nice visit with Donna whom I had just met. As we were talking a group of smaller birds flew by. There were two that seemed to be attached to each other. What was going on?? The larger bird was a Merlin and the “attached” bird was an Eastern Meadowlark clutched in his talons. The other birds appeared to be Starlings, mobbing the Merlin. The were moving so fast there was no time for photos. Next, Donna and I had very good looks at the Least Bittern adult, making a long flight over the backwater. After Donna went to see the Avocet the Bittern came out again. This time I was ready!
