Sand In My Shoes

Print this entry

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!!

Print this entry

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.

Print this entry

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.

Print this entry

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

Print this entry

The day started at the beach of course at 7:18 am. There wasn’t a real sunrise but I wanted to record the dawn of the shortest day of the year.

After doing our Monday chores we had an early lunch and finally headed into Chicago to Help Doug and Lisa celebrate the Winter Solstice! They were ready with a roaring fire in the fire pit. Dad and I were dressed for cold weather but the actual temperature was in the high 40’s. But it didn’t hurt to be prepared. Lisa’s Mom was there too to help celebrate. The first project was to carve Runes into or Yule Logs. We accomplished this with the help of a wood burner. These logs were saved from Doug and Lisa’s Christmas tree last year, which is traditional for the Yule log.

Doug was prepared with a book about Runes. Dad’s choices are actual Runes he found in the book.

We had a a lot of fun! The pine logs had sat for a year but they still seemed full of sap so there were a lot of sparks coming from them as they burned. Lisa made lamb stew and fresh bread. It was all really tasty!. To top it off, while we were sitting there, Dad spotted a Bald Eagle just north of the yard over the park.

Doug and Lisa are planning to do it again next year. Doug is saving ashes from this Yule fire to carry over for next year.

Print this entry

or OH, NO! Mom’s in the kitchen

Hi, Everyone,

With all that talk about Potica, Dad thought you might like my recipe. I found a few more treasures in the box that you might enjoy.

Special Walnut Potica
8-9 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
4 eggs
3 envelopes yeast

Scald milk. Add sugar, salt and butter. Cool. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add yeast to milk mixture. Beat eggs until fluffy. Add to milk mixture. Add flour gradually. Knead briefly. Let raise until double.

Filling
2 pounds ground walnuts
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
3 eggs
2 cups milk
2 cups sugar
1/2 pint whipping cream
1 tbs lemon juice
Melt butter. Add honey, sugar and milk. Bring to a rolling boil. Pour over walnuts. Add beaten eggs. Whip cream. Add to walnut mixture. Add lemon juice.
Mix.
Roll dough very thin. Spread filling over dough. Roll dough carefully. Shape as desired (horse shoe, circle, straight. Let raise again. Bake until top is browned.

I typically scale this recipe down. It makes a lot. Roll the dough as thin as possible. The dough expands in the second raising. You won’t do this, but I bake it until the top looks burned. I have grown used to the flavor and it prevents the inside from being too wet. Any way you make it, it will be good. And yes, you can use poppyseed filling. I usually use a can of Solo filling.

Candied Grapefruit Peel
2 Grapefruit or 3 oranges on 4 lemons
1 teaspoon salt
1cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
sugar for coating
Place peels in saucepan. Cover with water and add salt, Bring to a boil and cook slowly for 20 minutes.
Drain. Cover with fresh water and
boil again for 30 minutes, until
tender. Drain. Use scissors to cut
peels into strips.
Combine sugar and corn syrup
with 1/2 cup water.
Bring to a boil. Add cooked peel.
Cook peel gently until syrup is
nearly absorbed. Cool in syrup.
Drain peel on rack or platter.
Shake in bag with sugar the
coat. Coat with chocolate if
desired.

And finally-

Print this entry

I mean that in the literal sense. It settled all over the interior of the house, especially in the attic, the dining room and the living room. I guess that should be expected when you have guys on the roof dropping packs of shingles. It has been guys with hammers and saws on and off since the Monday after Thanksgiving. They are finally finished. We had an estimate done for the attic windows and front storm door. The estimator said the magic words “hail damage”. That usually means some insurance coverage for a new roof. So we went for it. Sure enough, they covered the the whole replacement price. We added a ridge vent at our own expense. They ended up removing the existing shingles and even replacing some wood. There was a crew of six men on the roof for two days. The third day two guys came and finished up. Soon after that the soffit men came and replaced soffits on both dormers. Finally today they installed windows in the north dormer and a new front storm door.

I spent most of that time trying to stay out of the way. Birding has been very slow, with two exceptions. On December 7th the Purple Sandpiper was relocated in Waukegan. It is usually seen on the north pier at the beach but the high water levels have reduced the availability of algae on that pier. But a clever birder (not me) looked on the pier to the south and found the bird feeding on a nice algae mat growing on the south side of the pier. So everyone rushed to the lakefront to see the bird. Then early yesterday morning a Snowy Owl was seen hunting over the dunes at Waukegan. But the bird vanished after the first sighting and had to be re-found. Andy was north on the beach so I headed west to the long parking lot. The gulls were making a lot of noise and circling over the boats at Larson Marine. Finally I I saw a white bird on top of a light pole. It sat in a different posture than a gull would and looked pretty white. At that point a truck stopped and a guy with a big camera got out and aimed it at the bird. I was pretty sure he wasn’t photographing a gull. After a few moments the bird moved to a sailboat mast in the marina. It was the Snowy! I texted to the group and Andy and friends were able to see it even though they were still on the beach. After that everyone within driving range raced to the beach. It only stayed till about 2:30 pm and hasn’t been seen since.

Print this entry

November 30, 2020

This was a last ditch attempt to see a few late fall birds that sometimes pass through along the lake. They are undependable and even if seen are not always easy to identify. They include the Cave Swallow, the Gyrfalcon, the Horned Lark and jaegers (gull-type birds) that only show up on strong east winds. I didn’t get any of these species while I stood here on top of a sand dune. Now, in December, the water between the dunes is usually frozen, so even the geese and ducks have left it. The only birds left seem to be the usual gulls, Canada Geese and Mallards in the channel. So, the birders are left to inspect the few pines and spruces in Lake County.

This is the year of an irruption!! Not volcanes- finches! In some years the food sources in the northern territories of the US and Canada do not produce sufficient cones, nuts and fruit to support the birds that depend on them. These species, mainly finches and grosbeaks, are forced to look elsewhere for food. That means they move much further south than they ordinarily would. This movement is called an irruption, as a large number of birds are suddenly moving out of their usual range. Many times they occur in flocks.

In lake County, spruces and pines are not native species. Fortunately the Forest Preserve District has several locations that have preserved these trees that were originally planted in tree farms. Lyons Woods has spruce and a small number of pines. Van Patten Woods, north and west of here, has a nice stand of pines and a bonus stand of Alders. The campground at Illinois Beach State Park also has pines.

All of the species involved in this irruption are picky eaters. The Red Crossbills chooses cones of pine trees. The White-winged Crossbills prefer the cones of spruces. The Redpolls go for the very tiny cones of Alder trees. They can’t help being picky- the bill of each species has evolved to be most efficient at pulling seeds from specific types of cones. In fact, the Crossbills have evolved to feed from specific species of pine trees and spruce trees. And yes, the bills of the crossbills do cross! I’ll see if I can find a photo. The birds are at the tops of very tall trees, where the cones are, so getting photos is tricky!

The White-winged Crossbills prefer spruce cones. They are more numerous at Lyons Woods. The birds move in flocks and often do not stay in a tree for long. Sometimes the only way to know they are in the area is to hear their calls. That was the case in Lyons Woods for me- no photo but a positive identification due to the nature of their calls.

We had one more irruptive species to locate. This bird, the Evening Grosbeak, does not go to a specific tree and therefore it was much harder to track down. However, the bird likes feeders. Some birders who had visiting Evening Grosbeaks were kind enough to let others into their yards to wait for the Grosbeaks to come in. We finally saw one at a feeder on the northeast side of Bowen Park. It was just a glimpse but enough for a County life bird.

Print this entry

There have been a lot of sunrises since I last posted. Each one is unique. I didn’t expect November to be so busy! There is a Hawk Watch in Zion and one a bit further away at Fort Sheridan. Early November had some exciting targets which we missed so we keep going to see if we can still get some good birds. Normally the hawks migrate on north and northwest winds. Yes, that means colder temperatures. We really froze one morning! Since then we have had south winds and it warmed up again. I guess you need to have cold winds to get good hawks. Here are a few of our birds.

Those are just the raptors. I’ll save sparrows and finches for another day.

We had a fun socially distanced birthday party for Doug out in the driveway, complete with Lenos! I’m glad it was a warm day with no rain.

Sheridan Road is under construction. They repaired a lot of curbs and manhole areas. Then they scraped off the top layer. Now they are perfectly the manholes before they actually pave it. This project extends from Cory to Glen Flora. We have been parking the white car in the hospital lot and leaving the blue car in the garage. There is more road nose with the grooved pavement.

Dad worked hard to get all the leaves raked up and the gutters clean. I vacuumed the leaves in the side garden but left all the weedy perennials standing so the birds can enjoy them. We haven’t had any special birds in the yard lately but you never know what could show up.

I hope everyone is safe and healthy. Dad and I are super careful and doing fine.

Print this entry

The party is just getting started at a north Sheridan Rd house! They added mist but today was so windy I think they gave up.