140 Days, 193 Species
Dad and I have been getting out and seeing a lot of birds. Our day starts at Waukegan Beach at ten minutes before sunrise, CDT. We usually catch up with Nat and Gustavo, who are always a little bit ahead of us. They are both in their late forties, husbands and fathers, who manage to spend their early mornings on the beach. Both are very good birders. I’m not sure we would find half as many species without their help. Nat is a skilled photographer and Gustavo is a bird guide transplanted to Lake County from Honduras, via Canada. We usually see other birders as the morning progresses but we sometimes have the beach to ourselves. There have been a few days where I have birded somewhere else and I always miss something good at the beach. Waukegan Beach is mainly famous among birders for it’s many shorebirds. Sandpipers, Plovers, Dowitchers, Phalaropes and Godwits all fit into this category. The Wilson’s Phalarope is the current rare bird at Waukegan. I missed them yesterday but I was lucky and it stayed around for everyone to see them today. In breeding plumage the female is the bright, showy bird and the male is drab. This is because the male incubates the eggs and needs to be more camouflaged. They won’t breed here, they’re just passing through.
Yesterday we had Short-billed Dowitchers, nearly fifty of them. They arrived in groups of about fifteen, flying low over the dune. We rarely see them on the beach.
Another rare shorebird, discovered by Gustavo, was the Marbled Godwit. A large shorebird with a very long bill, it is called marbled as a description of it’s brown patterned plumage.
Warblers have been slow in arriving. The beach doesn’t have habitat for all the warbler species but many do stop on their way up north. They hang around the trees near the parking lot and along the channel by the water plant.
I will have to continue this tomorrow, as I can hear Dad slicing and dicing in the kitchen.
Hope all is well with everyone. Can’t wait unti June!!