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We returned to Yellowstone Park that morning, stopping at beautiful Swan Lake. We continued down the road next to a rushing stream, with Josh listening carefully. Soon we pulled over and bushwhacked to the edge of the water. The American Dipper was singing loudly, in between hunting and feeding her three chicks.

We carried on into Idaho on our way to Twin Falls. We intended to check the lake at Harriman State Park. We saw a pair of Trumpeter swans, American Wigeons, Phalaropes, grebes and other waterfowl.

While we were returning from the lake we met a photographer/birder from Washington State. She described in detail how to find a group of Saw-whet Owl chicks right in the park not far away. As we got close to the location we were unsure about how to proceed. The birder showed up and took us straight to the spot. I was first in the group walking along a narrow path. Someone said stop!-look up! There was an owl right in front of me! We had to speak quietly and move carefully to avoid disturbing them but they remained perched while we all took photos. The bird in the second photo appears to have traces of blood around it’s mouth, probably left from breakfast. This was a real bonus sighting and unexpected. While this species was not a lifer for us, we still rarely see them.

We weren’t finished looking for owls. After dinner we left our hotel and headed for Magic Mountain Ski area outside of Twin Falls Idaho. By the time we got there it was starting to get dark.

Joshed played the call of the Flammulated Owl, and we heard it respond. We were in that general area from 10:10 pm until 11:30. In that time we heard four different Flammulated Owls but we never saw them. But “heard only” still qualifies the bird for the eBird list, giving us another lifer!

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We stopped here for a quick breakfast before heading to Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. Bill was on his toes and got a photo of the Clark’s Nutcracker.

Shoshone National Forest, Cody, Wyoming

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A few photos from the red Lodge area.

  We stopped at a lot of places looking for various high elevation birds. There was a lot of sage brush and we found two birds named after it, the Sage Thrasher and the Sagebrush Sparrow, below.       The Gray Flycatcher was found here in Bear Canyon along with the Mountain Chickadee.

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The tiny blue dot shows where we were the morning of June 18th. There is grass as far as you can see until the foothills appear. 

 This is almost lush compared to the short, dry grass we saw yesterday. The difference in habitat means we’ll find different birds. Our first sighting of the Sprague’s Pipit came soon after we got here. This description from the Montana Government website describes what we witnessed. “The bird is most easily detected by its unique flight song given high overhead (as high as 75 meters); a high-pitched, thin “jingling” sound that can continue for as long as an hour (Peterson 2002, King 1981). Johnsgard (1992) notes that the species’ spectacular circular song-flight display around its territory, during which its white outer tail feathers are conspicuously spread, compensates for its particularly inconspicuous plumage.” No photos of this bird since it was high in the sky when we saw it. Another lifer was the Chestnut-collared Longspur (left). This is a sparrow-like bird with a black breast, a golden face and a bright chestnut-colored collar. 

We drove to another spot nearby, with the same type of habitat, and we heard another Sprague’s Pipit. We heard Western Meadowlarks, Savannah Sparrows and Thick-billed Longspurs and finally- Baird’s Sparrow,  Singing his heart out.  

Our next stop was to look for the owl that makes its home underground. He was easy to find-just look for Prairie Dog! The Burrowing Owl nests in abandoned Prairie Dog burrows.  The dogs and the owls seem to get along just fine.

We continued to travel east and south, stopping here and there for roadside birds, Josh keeping his window cracked, listening for any bird singing. We stopped at Pictograph Cave State Park where we saw the Rock Wren, Lazuli Bunting and a few other species. No Canyon Wren which was too bad because it has a beautiful song.

We drove on to Beartooth Pass. We hiked to an area with huge red boulders.                                    Flitting around were some small very dark birds that showed some pink as they flew. These were Black Rosy-Finches, only seen at high elevations. Also seen were Mountain Bluebirds!

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We had an uneventful flight and were in the van birding by 1:20 pm Mountain time. Our first stop was a yard with feeders at the foot of some mountains. Here we saw some old friends (Calliope Hummingbird, Evening Grosbeak, Western Tanager) and our first lifer-the Cassin’s Finch. It looks like a Purple Finch but the details of the plumage differ. We had good looks at all the birds and plenty of time for photos.

We then continued to drive up into the mountains where we got some of the usual western birds, including Ravens and Western Grebes. We had dinner that night at a brewpub.

The morning of the 17th we got up early and headed for the Bridger Mountains, There we found another lifer, the MacGillivray’s Warbler. We missed the Three-toed Woodpecker however.

We stopped at a reservoir that had a beautiful view of the distant mountains but we were all looking at birds!

By mid-afternoon we were in the shortgrass prairie northeast of Bozeman. The landscape was flat and dry and sparsely covered with short tufts of dry-looking grass. Not beautiful scenery but exactly the habitat preferred by the Mountain Plover. It didn’t take long for Josh to spot the adult plover in the distance, foraging in the grass. After closer observation we saw that she had two chicks with her. This species has a status of “near-threatened” and Josh was excited to document a bird with young. Heat shimmer and distance prevented a better photo.

Also seen here was McGown’s Longspur, recently renamed Thick-billed Longspur. We checked a few more spots on the prairie and found Chestnut-collared Longspur, Horned Larks, hawks, and Long-billed Curlew. We finished the day with a Sage Thrasher and a Merlin, Prairie subspecies.

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Here is a recap in photos of a great celebration. Thanks everyone for sharing the photos and videos.

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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!!

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With this bitter cold weather we have been staying in and monitoring our bird feeders. We added a few new ones and put new seed on the feeder Jessica gave us. Here is a shot from the library window showing all the birds at once!

This involved learning some new processes in Photoshop via YouTube. Always something to learn.

Dad and I are fine. We are going to Greenbelt Forest Preserve Cultural Center tomorrow to get the first of our Covid Vaccine shots. The clinic was made possible by partners including AbbVie. Thank you Roger for encouraging us to get this done.

And Congratulations to Max!!! Way to go! We’ll be watching Tuesday night.

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Every birder has at the top of their “birds to see” list a bird that has one or more significant attribute. It may be beauty, speed, rarity, behavior, elusiveness or an association with some human trait. An example of this is the Snowy Owl in the movie “The Big Year”. These birds are almost never found in the birder’s immediate area thus giving adding to it’s “unicorn” status.

So what bird can claim enough of these attributes to qualify? While the Brant seen in Waukegan was a relatively beautiful bird and definitely rare in the area it didn’t have enough to qualify it for the Unicorn title. Even the Snowy Owl is an exciting bird but seen often enough in the area that it doesn’t quiet make the cut. But the year is young and you can always hope.

So we all keep going out, taking photos birds we see and posting them on eBird, however mundane they may be. One of our local birds, the Peregrine Falcon is a nesting species, taking advantage of a nesting box located on a building at the Waukegan power plant. They are spotted weekly at the beach and in surrounding areas. Sometime around February 22nd local birder Gustavo took some nice photos of a Peregrine perched on a wire at the beach. Two days later Adam, local bird expert and hawkwatch organizer, identified the photo of the bird as a Gyrfalcon!! It was gray rather than the striking white plumage, which is present in a small percentage of birds, and by the large amount of streaking probably a sub-adult. So Gustavo was the only observer to see and record it. On a day when I was delayed in going to the beach!

Here is a bird that fit the bill! The largest falcon species on earth. The bird has no real natural predators. The “Gyr” is short for gyro, or spiral. This probably relates to the climbing spiral flight pattern of a raptor gaining altitude. Gyrfalcons will stoop, swoop, hunt cooperatively, or fly fast and close to the ground.  In so doing, the Gyrfalcon will suddenly come upon prey, flush it out, and pursue.  In this pursuit, the Gyrfalcon reaches speeds significantly faster than the Peregrine in level flight.  Estimates of exact speed range greatly, though a conservative average is 90 miles per hour in level flight and 150 miles per hour in stoop.  A study of captive birds on a lure course found peregrine falcons flew up to 30 miles per hour and gyrfalcons reached 40 miles per hour in level flight.  These were captive birds in a situation with a known reward, meaning hungry, wild individuals would likely move faster.

Gyrfalcons have always been highly prized by falconers because of their size and speed.
When falconry was at its height in Europe, royalty could determine the type of falcon people could use. The gyrfalcon was usually reserved for a king. It was used to hunt grouse and ducks and larger game, including herons and geese. Today this falcon still retains its high status in the world of falconry. Because of their large size, striking appearance and dramatic hunting styles, Gyrfalcons, particularly the lighter colored specimens, are highly prized by falconers. Some Gyrfalcons are bred in captivity and fetch prices from $5,000 to many times that much for top pedigrees. This makes it, in eBird jargon, a “sensitive species”. Quote: “Certain falcon species (Falconidae) are rare and highly valued in falconry. These species are treated as Sensitive to protect them from the falconry trade.” Meaning the reports must not include specific location details or dates.

Back to Gustavo’s Gyrfalcon. A week after this initial sighting a birder refound it! He shared the information with another birder that was more connected so to speak. Connected in the digital sense. In spite of the sensitive status of the species birders do not hesitate to share information on messaging groups that are shared with other birders. The harbor would be visited by every birder in the area and beyond in the next week.

I got the news when I was on an errand out in Libertyville. I raced back to the Waukegan Beach expecting to see other birders. Only a few cars. Hmmmmm. But I walked out anyway, keeping my eyes on the sky. I ran into another person who wasn’t a birder. After a brief conversation I looked up and saw an adult Bald Eagle. Another awesome but regular species. But chasing it, attacking it, was a large falcon. Lighter in color than a Peregrine, larger and fiercer in it’s attack. It the Gyr!! My camera never made it up for that exchange. I couldn’t take the time to fiddle with my gear and miss the show.

For the next week the Gyrfalcon made the Waukegan Harbor it’s hunting ground. It spent its down time perched high on the cement towers or on power poles or in trees, resting and digesting. It was hunting mostly Mergansers, which are abundant at the moment. We don’t have the grouse and ptarmigan it would normally hunt.

While we were standing by the Yacht Club area a worker came over from the nearby cement tower. He talked to Dad and told him how in the past a falcon had entered the tower and couldn’t escape. It was flying around and around looking for a way out. They finally captured it in a net and released it outside. The worker thought it was the same species. Given the rarity of the Gyrfalcon it’s hard to say.

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What do you do when you have to stay home? You do a Big Year! Home here is defined as Lake County, IL. The Big Year is basically just an effort to see as many birds as you can in one calendar year.

The Christmas Bird Count in Lake County is always on New Year’s Day, so that’s a nice way to get started. Everyone is out that day and every bird seen in the county gets counted. Dad and I did Waukegan Beach and harbor area. It was cold but not too windy. There were only a few interesting birds in the harbor. One was a Great Black-backed Gull (the largest gull on the planet), the other was a Common Loon. Later that day one of the count leaders fed the gulls near the yacht club, so we saw a few more interesting gulls. The weather turned nasty so we called it a day.

The day after Christmas Bird Count is the day everyone goes after the birds that were reported in other peoples lists. But this time we all ended up at the beach. A Brant was reported in Winthrop Harbor at the Marina, last seen flying south. A Brant is seen on the coasts, both east and west, but rarely inland. But here it was, moving down the coast of Lake Michigan to stop at Waukegan Beach and finally at Montrose Harbor giving most people a county lifer and some a world lifer. Dad and I had it as a US bird but were thrilled to get it as a Lake County Lifer.

Sunday morning, after pancakes, we decided to go to the Long-eared Owl spot. Information on this spot is closely guarded because too many visiting birders could drive the owls away. You access the spot by parking in a neighborhood and enter the forest preserve from the road. This area is unmaintained and after a while the trail disappears. Little did we know that Adam had organized a viewing with three other birders for the time we arrived. Peter was another “uninvited” guest. But Adam was gracious enough to include us all in the hunt.

The ground was frozen and covered in snow. there was no telling what was under the snow as you took a step. Peter fell by stepping in a very low spot and I fell, on my face!, by tripping on the stem of a weed. Fortunately, my camera was in the car, due to a dead battery. We spent a lot of time examining the small trees, at about eye level, looking for the owls. These owls can disguise themselves by becoming tall and skinny and staying next to the trunk of the tree. Nathan, Illinois’ current rock star birder (killed the standing state Big Year Record with 344!) nearly walked into the owl. He knew to look down and turn away to avoid flushing the bird. He then led us to a spot where it was safe to see it without disturbing it too much. Naturally, there were a lot of little branches hiding it but that was a much better situation for the bird. We all got to see it and those with cameras got photos. Everyone will either wait to post the report until spring or “hide” the report in eBird. This is how the most sensitive species are protected from hoards of enthusiastic birders showing up. In either case the description of the location will be very general.

Loog-eared Owl, Dad’s photo

Those ears look really long! They are not actually ears but tufts of feathers. There is also a Short-eared Owl with smaller tufts.

Here are our eBird pages:

Annette McClellan

William McClellan