The Big Year is over. It started with the usual winter birds on the Christmas Bird Count (held on New Year’s Day in Waukegan). Dad and I were assigned the beach so it was like a normal day except a little more thorough. But January 2nd was different. Everyone had to rush down to the beach because a Brant had appeared. The Brant is a small goose that is almost completely black above, with a faint white necklace and streaked sides. It was standing out on the pier, just looking around. This bird hasn’t been recorded in Lake County since 1982. It stayed long enough for most birders to get a decent look. It’s usual range is along both coasts.
I was a bit worried about winter finches-Redpolls and Crossbills. These little finches are an irruptive species that moves south in numbers only some years. This is determined by the food supply in the north and the population level. If the birds had a good year last spring reproducing, they may need to spread out more to find food for everyone. But maybe a few were still here from 2020. Fortunately we got our Common Redpoll on January 2nd, at Manville ponds overlook, in the weeds. We have seen them sporadically throughout the early spring and fall. We whiffed on Crossbills. A few birders counted some as heard only but this bird does not have a very distinctive call so I’m not sure of the accuracy of those reports. Beau did get a sighting.
The next day was Sunday, and we drove out to a subdivision in Grayslake. If you parked at the edge of the subdivision you could enter Rollins Savanna near a dense brushy section. This was the spot to search for the Long-eared Owl. A lot of other people showed up with the same idea. But we all know each other so instead a small party of two or three searching for the owl, we had about eight people. Owls are considered sensitive species and eBird hides the reports. Normally we don’t even make a report until at least a few weeks after the sighting and the location is deliberately ambiguous.In 2020 we saw that owl with another birder as a guide so we new the general location to look in. We all set out, looking very carefully for these long, skinny owls that like to sit on a small branch right next to the trunk of the tree. It didn’t look we were going to find it but finally someone located it, hidden in a dense bush. These owls were not seen again at that spot because at some point the forest preserve district decided to clear the brush in that spot.
In month of January we recorded 63 species. The last bird of the month was the most notable.
On January 23 a friend had posted a photo taken at the lakefront of a Peregrine Falcon, a bird we routinely see there. Bird guide Josh Engel saw the photo and identified the bird as a Gyrfalcon. This bird is the Peregrine Falcon’s big tough cousin. He’s bigger and heftier than the Peregrine and afraid of nothing. I got the word that it was at the beach and raced down there. I was surprised to find few cars in the parking lot. But I headed out to the pier anyway. I looked up and two raptors were racing toward the shore. The first was an adult Bald Eagle, the chasing bird was smaller than the eagle but still presenting a threat. That had to be the Gyrfalcon! Apparently the eagle was hunting in the area that the Gyrfalcon decided was his. Most of the sightings were taking place near the yacht club. The Gyrfalcon spent time perched on top of the cement elevators, just as he would if he were in Duluth and sitting on a grain elevator. He had his choice of ducks, gulls and pigeons and was perfectly satisfied for about about two weeks.
January always has the most species because every bird you count is a year bird. Things calmed down in February when we only recorded 11 new species. This included waterfowl and raptors, the usual winter fare. In March we saw 29 new species. The first shorebird, a Killdeer, arrived on March 3rd. We saw more raptors, woodpeckers, waterfowl, and the expected kinglets and other small birds. In April migration really got started. Shorebirds were coming in daily at Waukegan Beach, Illinois Beach State Park and other nearby spots. The Piping Plover arrived on April first but only stayed a few days. They did not breed in Waukegan this year. They returned in August for 8 days on their way back south. In general, shorebirds were present in Lake County from March 3rd until September 29 with most sightings in April and May and then again in August and September. The Purple Sandpiper is the outlier. He comes in November, usually around the first week. Everyone gets excited about this one because it doesn’t happen every year. May was our biggest month with 79 birds. All of the smaller birds were arriving in every habitat. We had a good year for some of the difficult warblers, our birder friends keeping us informed of sightings in real time. Warbler season usually requires birding in some of the forest preserves that border the Des Plaines River but this year we got 28 warblers close to home and 2 at Ryerson Forest Preserve bordering the Des Plaines.
In June the migrants have passed through and the breeding birds are left. We had already counted most of these birds already in the preceeding months so getting a year bird in June is a challenge. We got 6, and these were grassland birds. In July we had even fewer FOYs (first of year) -5. But they were very good birds. The Northern Bobwhite was calling at dawn at Rollins Savanna, so getting there by 6:30 was early enough to hear it. Then, in July, someone was canoing in Chain-o-Lakes State Park and found a Limpkin! Here is a link to a friends list with photos. https://ebird.org/checklist/S91737121
All birders were forced to get into a canoe or kayak, or to walk a swampy trail, to see a lake county rarity. Were rented a canoe and on a windy day, in the company of two other birders in their own canoe, we paddled out to the marsh and saw the bird. The water was a bit rough so I left my camera in the car. That’s when I decided to add a tiny instamatic camera to my gear bag.
A week later, Dad and I were on our daily tour of Waukegan Beach. By now there were a good number of terns and gulls hanging around, as well as killdeer and other sandpipers. There was a tern that seemed to stay away from the other terns further north on the beach. I didn’t think much of it except I noticed it didn’t look well. It seemed to be missing it’s tail. A while later I looked more closely at it and realized it was a Royal Tern. This is only the second sighting of this bird at Waukegan Beach, the last sighting being in 2015, which was also my discovery. It was great to get a rare bird and ironic that Dad and I already had seen this bird in Lake County.
August had a lot of birds but only three were new for the year. The most outstanding bird was the Mexican Violetear. This is a hummingbird whose normal range is in southern Mexico. EBird records show that it is prone to wandering north with sightings as far north as Canada. The bird was coming to a feeder at a private residence. The news of this bird spread by word of mouth to prevent a deluge of birders descending on the homeowners. Fortunately, Beau Schaefer thought of us and let us know. Most birders were considerate and went to see the bird, staying a short time and then leaving so that the yard did’t get too crowded.
September and October had the migrating birds that had already passed through in the spring. This is our chance to get anything you may have missed at that time. We had the usual hawks taken care of by then, but we added Broad-winged Hawk to the list.
So what’s left? Winter finches, winter waterfowl and owls and the Purple Sandpiper. I was birding the beach every morning and finally the Purple Sandpiper appeared. This bird shows up in early November, when a layer of algae appears on the wet areas of the pier. I believe it eats tiny bugs that are attracted to the algae. It is a Waukegan specialty and is nearly always seen in the same place, known by many as “the Purple Sandpiper Pier”.
Then there are the unexpected birds. We had a very lost bird at the lakefront, near the water plant. A birder had posted on Facebook a photo of a flycatcher that she couldn’t identify. The birding community experts identified it as a species of Elaenia that lives in south America. After many observations and photographs by birders from all over (it was busy down there) it was decided that it was a Small-billed Elaenia. The Illinois Ornithological Society is still not putting on the checklist but they at least have confirmed the species. Lake County recorded 226 observations of the bird.
It is the end of the year. Things are winding down. The habitat of the Long-eared Owl was gone, so we would probably not see that bird again in Lake County. Hmmm-this is a chance to get all the Lake County owls in one year. So, with some help from our birder friends, we got current locations for the two owls we still needed, Barred Owl and Northern Saw-Whet Owl. Barred Owl is usually not that hard out in the county but we had missed it all year. Fortunately some birders found it in a preserve that we were unfamiliar with. We raced out there to catch up with Steven Hurst, who was making a video of the birds. We had good looks and Dad even got some good photos. Finally, on New Year’s Eve, we made a pre-dawn trip to McDonald Woods. Andy said there might be a Saw-Whet Owl there. We parked in the neighborhood and entered the preserve, starting a 1.25 mile trail. We circled around a small lake and then climbed uphill to an area with tall pines. We stopped to play the call of the Saw-Whet, as we had been doing in various spots along the trail. This time we got a response. First a kind of snarl, then long drawn-out toots. It was our last FOY of the year but a very exciting one. To recap the owl list: Eastern Screech Owl, Great Horned Owl, Snowy Owl, Barred Owl, Long-eared Owl, Short-eared Owl and Northern Saw-Whet Owl. Just that list is a first for us!!
We finished the year tied at #2 for the county, seeing 90% of the birds reported in that time frame. Another birder came in 2 birds ahead of us at 264 birds. The next highest was Gustavo at 253. Two people had 93% in 2020, Andy had 93% in 2019, and in 2017 Andy had 281 birds, one of the highest counts in recent history. The Big Year was a challenge and it really got me to get out and bird.
Lake County Lifers
Brant
Gyrfalcon
Black-legged Kittiwake
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Limpkin
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Mexican Violetear
Whooping Crane
Small-billed Elaenia