We are finally getting some interesting shorebirds at the beach. Since the Piping Plovers left a few weeks ago we have seen only Sanderlings and a few smaller sandpipers. Today I went down around 6:30 and just as I was heading out to the beach I got a text alert. Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Waukegan! This is a bird that visits only briefly so you need to get there right away when it appears. I was about five minutes away on foot. Gustavo had found it and he was keeping a safe distance to keep from disturbing it. We both enjoyed watching it and it’s companion, which we hadn’t positively identified yet. After some careful observation I decided that it was a Baird’s Sandpiper. These birds have wings that are long enough to cross in back, over the tail. Two great birds!! Dad soon showed up and enjoyed the show until the bird flew off to the west.
It was time for breakfast by the time we finished at the beach so we went home. I knew it was going to be very hot today so I stayed in. At one point the thermometer said 97º! I had some book keeping chores to do so I stayed busy.
We had another great bird last Sunday. We finally saw a resident Eastern Screech Owl. This bird is near the Dead River Trail at the South Unit of Illinois Beach State Park. You only need to walk a short distance on the trail. There are some widely spaced steps built into the trail. If you stand on the second step and look north you will see a broken trunk that has been burned out. If you are lucky, the owl will be sitting in view. A lot of the time he is in the trunk but sitting too low to see. We never had seen him before in all of the times we hiked that trail.
