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Author: Peter Kasper
Sunday, February 22
The
White-winged Crossbills were seen again today in the
same group of conifers that they were in two weeks ago.
Apart from that it was a fairly slow morning for birding
with the wintry weather reclaiming the site. The other
highlights of the day were a
Northern Harrier by Main Ring lake and several
Greater White-fronted Geese on the lake,
and a
Red-breasted Nuthatch at the Roads and Grounds feeders. We were also impressed by the number of
Horned Larks that we came across; particularly in the fields north
of Eola rd.
Sunday, February 15
Waterfowl are continuing to move through the site. Main ring
lake contained
Canada Geese,
Mallards,
American Black Ducks,
American Wigeons,
Northern Pintails,
Common Goldeneyes,
Hooded Mergansers,
Common Mergansers, and an
American Coot.
A few
Cackling Geese and
Greater White-fronted Geese were in
the bison pasture and
Redheads and
Ring-necked Ducks were on
the main injector moat. I also searched unsuccessfully for
crossbills but was compensated with a
Long-eared Owl.
Tuesday, February 10
The sudden arrival of warm weather has brought with it a
variety of waterfowl. A quick check of the lakes and ponds
on site produced a large number of
Greater White-fronted Geese as well a few
Cackling and
Snow Geese.
Northern Pintails were among the seven species of waterfowl seen and
Red-winged Blackbirds were reported from the center of the
tevatron ring.
Sunday, February 8
Success!! Today we recorded the first
White-winged Crossbills for the site! A small flock was found feeding in
spruce trees along west Wilson st. During our search for
these elusive birds we also found quite a lot of very vocal
Red-breasted Nuthatches, a couple of
Eastern Bluebirds and a
few
American Robins. On the lakes we found quite a few
Common Mergansers,
Common Goldeneyes, and a flock of about
20
Redheads as well as some
Gadwalls and
Ring-necked Ducks.
Sunday, February 1
Today we spent quite a bit of time searching among conifers
for crossbills. Though they have never been recorded on
site, there have been numerous sightings recently in both
Kane and DuPage counties. We did not find any crossbills,
but we did come across several
Red-breasted Nuthatches and a
flock of
Cedar Waxwings. Several
Gadwall were on the main
injector moat, suggesting that the spring waterfowl
migration is about to begin and gulls, including one
Thayer's Gull, are starting to congregate on the lakes.
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