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Author: Peter Kasper
See the following link information concerning the
Current Status of Access to Fermilab
Year List: Contains the list of birds seen so far this year.
Seasonal List: The list of birds recorded on site at this time of year.
Sunday, June 29
It was a very dull birding day today. The usual breeding
species were all to be found in their usual spots with
little in the way of surprises. The only noteworthy finds
were a first year
Orchard Oriole by Nepese Pond and a female
Hooded Merganser on Dusaf Pond. (It has been a very good
year for
Orchard Orioles with birds being found in at five
different locations: the Big Woods, The main ring savanna,
the bison field savanna, the sparrow hedge area, and Nepese Pond.)
Thursday, June 26
I did my Grassland Breeding Bird Monitoring this morning,
there's certainly plenty of food for the insectivorous
birds in the area. Other than the bugs, the morning was
quite pleasant. Both
Grasshopper Sparrow and
Henslow's Sparrow numbers are up this year as is their distribution
at the lab. Other highlights this morning were a
Turkey Vulture,
American Kestrel,
Belted Kingfisher and a pair of
Brown Thrashers. Also, a couple of
American Crows were
heard at the edge of the Kautz Road woods. Finally, a
pair of
Orchard Orioles was seen near the Center Ring Woods, the female carrying food.
Sunday, June 22
Cuckoos were once again the highlight of today's birding.
Both species were found;
Yellow-billed in the Big Woods and
Black-billed in the center of the main ring. More interesting however, was a report of two
Ruddy Ducks on Lake Law yesterday morning.
Sunday, June 15
I have very little new to report from this weekend's
birding. A
Yellow-billed Cuckoo from the Big Woods was
somewhat unusual but apart from that only expected summer
residents were found. However, our grassland species have
undergone some significant population changes.
Grasshopper Sparrows are present in much better numbers than in the
recent past and
Henslow's Sparrows have reached a new high
count. On the other hand
Savannah Sparrow numbers are
noticeably down everywhere except at the bison field and
Sedge Wrens seem to have disappeared entirely from most of
their usual haunts.
Bobolinks also appear to have declined.
Sunday, June 8
Today we searched out the regular breeding specialties in
the sparrow hedge area and in the south Eola rd. grasslands.
We managed to locate three
Bell's Vireo territories and just
one
Sedge Wren in the sparrow hedge area. The grasslands
produced at least 20
Henslow's Sparrow territories and
several
Grasshopper Sparrow territories along with modest
numbers of
Bobolinks. Among the more unusual sightings were
a female
Northern Shoveler on Lake Law and an
American Coot on A.E.Sea.
Friday, June 6
A
Cattle Egret spent the afternoon feeding in the bison
pasture today.
Sunday, June 1
Today really felt like the beginning of summer with very
little being found in the way of migrants. The most notable
exceptions were an
Alder Flycatcher and a
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher both of which were found inside the Main Ring and
a small flock of
Ruddy Ducks on Lake Law. A number of good
summer residents were also located: A
Wood Thrush and
Scarlet Tanager were heard in the Big Woods and
Orchard Orioles were found in several locations. The only other
really noteworthy find was a
Mute Swan that has been present
on A.E.Sea for several days now.
Thursday, May 29
After doing my pre-breeding Grassland Monitoring around
Fermi today, some extracurricular birding turned up a
female
Hooded Merganser and a
Black-billed Cuckoo. During the monitoring both
Henslow's Sparrows and
Grasshopper Sparrows were located at two monitor points each. Dave Sunday, May 25
Today's "bird of the day" was a
Connecticut Warbler that was
singing by the Sparrow Hedge. Unfortunately, as is often the
case with this secretive species, we were unable to get a
look at him. We also had both species of cuckoo today; a
pair of
Black-billed Cuckoos in the Sparrow Hedge area and a
Yellow-billed Cuckoo singing in the Big Woods. Other noteworthy finds included
Bell's Vireos at the sparrow hedge
and a
Grasshopper Sparrow just west of the Big Woods.
Sunday, May 18
I returned to the lab after a three week absence, to find
spring migration in full swing. The best birding was at the
north end of the Big Woods where there was a good mix of
warblers (
Golden-winged,
Tennessee,
Nashville,
Yellow Warbler,
Chestnut-sided,
Magnolia,
Cape May,
Yellow-rumped,
Palm,
American Redstart,
Common Yellowthroat,
Wilson's Warbler, and
Canada Warbler) as well as a couple of
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, two
American Woodcocks, a male
Orchard Oriole, a
Yellow-throated Vireo, several
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a pair of
Scarlet Tanagers, and a
Great Crested Flycatcher. Lake logo produced both
Cliff Swallows and
Bank Swallows, while Lake Law contained a
handful of
Ruddy Ducks. I ended the morning with a
Pied-billed Grebe singing on a pond to the north of the
Bison feeders.
Saturday, April 26
I managed to get out briefly this afternoon and, despite
windy conditions, locate a few new arrivals. These included
Veery,
Gray Catbird,
Palm Warbler, and
Common Yellowthroat,
but the best find was a
Louisiana Waterthrush on the west
side of the main ring.
Thursday, April 24
A female
Surf Scoter was on A.E.Sea this morning. She was close to the north shore of the lack but only stayed for
about 5 minutes before flying towards the north end of Dusaf Pond.
Sunday, April 20
The highlight of today's birding had to be the number of
Wilson's Snipe performing their courtship displays inside
the main ring. We also had several new arrivals:
Winter Wren,
House Wren,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and
Chipping Sparrow. I also received reports of
Soras and an
Osprey seen
on site yesterday.
Thursday, April 17
A couple of
Forster's Terns were hunting over Main Ring Lake this morning. It has been many years since we last saw these
birds in the Spring.
Sunday, April 13
The waterfowl migration seems to have stalled. Apart from a
slight increase in
Blue-winged Teal and a decrease in
Lesser Scaup, the waterfowl population this week was much the same
as last week. There were however, some other new migrants on
site. These included
Lesser Yellowlegs,
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker,
Brown Thrasher,
Hermit Thrush,
Yellow-rumped Warbler,
Swamp Sparrow, and
Eastern Towhee.
Wednesday, April 9
An
Osprey roosting in the trees by Swan Lake this morning
provided good views from the west side of Wilson Hall.
Sunday, April 6
Waterfowl migration is starting to tail off. The only
waterfowl still present in good numbers were
Ruddy Ducks,
Northern Shovelers,
Lesser Scaup, and to a lesser degree
Ring-necked Ducks. There were several new arrivals found
today:
Blue-winged Teal,
Greater Yellowlegs,
Golden-crowned Kinglet,
Vesper Sparrow,
Savannah Sparrow, and
Field Sparrow. I also got a report from a friend who did some
owling last night and found
Wilson's Snipe and
American Woodcocks as well as a single
Eastern Screech-Owl.
Sunday, March 30
Large numbers of
Lesser Scaup and
Ruddy Ducks were to be
found on Main Ring Lake and the Main Injector moats today,
however, the only unusual waterbird was a
Horned Grebe on
A.E.Sea. There were also a few new arrivals recorded today,
including
Pied-billed Grebe,
Rusty Blackbird, and several
Eastern Phoebes. We also heard
Wilson's Snipes doing their
winnowing display flight.
Sunday, March 23
Waterfowl were once again the main attraction at the lab
today. Highlights were a
Common Loon and a
Horned Grebe on
Lake Law and a
Greater Scaup and
Red-breasted Mergansers on
Casey's pond.
Buffleheads and
Canvasbacks were unusually
common today, but there was little in the way of dabbling
ducks. Other birds of note were a
Turkey Vulture and two
Red-breasted Nuthatches in the village, several
American Crows in the Bison
Savannah, and the first
Brown-headed cowbirds of the year.
Sunday, March 16
Waterfowl migration is still going strong, though it seems
most of the geese have already passed through. Other changes
noted today were a marked increase in the numbers of
Lesser Scaups and
Canvasbacks, increased numbers of
Green-winged Teal, and a drop in the number of
Common Goldeneyes. Two
Red-breasted Mergansers and lots of
Northern Shovelers also
showed up for the first time this year on Main Ring Lake. I
also finally managed to find the
Mute Swan that has been
reported from various parts of the site over the last week
and a half.
Sunday, March 9
It was bitterly cold today, but that didn't deter several
groups of birders from searching the site for migrating
waterfowl. The best finds included the 16
Ross's Geese that
have been seen regularly over the past few days in either
the Bison field or the horse pasture, at least 200
Greater White-fronted Geese on Main Ring Lake, and a
Greater Scaup on the Main Injector moat. Also of note were unusually large
numbers of
Redheads and a couple of
Northern Shrikes. Aprat from the species already mentioned the waterfowl list
consisted of
Canada Geese,
Cackling Geese,
Mallard,
American Black Duck,
Gadwall,
American Wigeon,
Northern Pintail,
Canvasback,
Ring-necked Duck,
Lesser Scaup,
Bufflehead,
Common Goldeneye,
Common Merganser, and
Hooded Merganser.
Thursday, March 6
Despite the cold weather spring migration continues to
advance.
Common Grackles and
Eastern Meadowlarks have
arrived on site and waterfowl numbers are still increasing.
Greater White-fronted Geese are here in good numbers and a
flock of 16
Ross's Geese have appeared in the Swenson rd.
horse pasture. Two
Mute Swans were also reported from Main Ring Lake.
Sunday, March 2
Despite the layer of snow it really felt like Spring today.
Newly arrived
Red-winged Blackbirds and
Killdeers were seen
and heard throughout the site and
American Robins and
Eastern Bluebirds were also present in larger numbers.
Waterfowl migration has clearly started as evidenced by a
big increase in
Canada Geese, and the arrival of
Greater White-fronted Geese (20 or more on Main Ring Lake),
Wood Duck,
Northern Shoveler,
Bufflehead, and
Ruddy Duck.
Cackling Geese and
Ring-necked Ducks had also increased
their numbers on sight and
Redheads were still present on
the Main Injector moat.
Sandhill Cranes were also seen later in the morning.
However, the best finds for the day were several
Rough-legged Hawks, a flyover
Snow Bunting, and a
Thayer's Gull on Main Ring Lake.
Sunday, February 24
The highlights today were multiple sightings of
Rough-legged Hawks. (We even managed to get a photo of one.) Waterfowl numbers were also up, especially
Common Goldeneyes and
Common Mergansers. The first
Redheads and
Ring-necked Ducks of the year also showed up on the main injector moats. There were some early signs of Spring today in that
Northern Cardinals,
Black-capped Chickadees, and
Song Sparrows were
all heard singing. We also found two
Great Horned Owl nests
of which at least one had recently hatched chicks.
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