2005 Fermilab Bird Report

Winter

Pied-billed Grebe (Photo by Gene Oleynik)

The 2004 Christmas Bird Count recorded 54 species (one short of the record high in 1998) and included two new species for the Fermilab part of the count; Pied-billed Grebe, and Cackling Goose. The latter was only recently recognized as a separate species from the Canada Goose and hence its occurence on the count was not a surprise.Record high counts were also obtained for Mourning Doves (548), Gadwalls (9), Red-breasted Nuthatches (6), and Eastern Bluebirds (3). On the other hand numbers of American Crows (3) were once again well below the numbers recorded before the devastation caused by West Nile virus.

The large number of waterfowl (16 species) recorded on the count was a harbinger of things to come for the reaminder of the season. The grebe remained on the main ring moat for the remainder of the season and the other lakes and ponds produced a good variety of water birds including two rare gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Glaucous Gull.

Spring

Trumpeter Swan (Photo by Bob Lootens)

The early spring migration was produced a number of rare gulls on the village lakes. These included Thayer's Gull, Iceland Gull, and Glaucous Gull. Perhaps the most surprising find for the year happened in early April when a Greenfinch was located along Eola rd. This is a european species which is not listed on the official North American checklist since all occurrences have been assumed to be escapes and there are no known breeding populations. April also brought a new addition to the site list when a Trumpeter Swan was photographed by (appropriately) Swan Lake. The bird was very tame, however, and is not likely to be of wild origin.

Summer

Hooded Merganser (Photo by Gene Oleynik)

A female Hooded Merganser was seen on Swenson rd. pond during the middle part of June. This species has bred on site once before (2002), and this sighting suggests that it may do so again.

It was another good year for Henslow's Sparrows with birds being found at a number of new locations. The new locations were all "new" prairie areas in the Kane county part of the site. Grasshopper Sparrow numbers improved this year with birds returning to the hill inside the Main Injector ring (ELM-4), and also to the south Eola grasslands and the grasslands north-west of the Big Woods. The DOE's intern program for pre-service teachers provided man-power for the start of a long term study of the habitat requirements for these two species. The data collected this year provided some interesting results and hopefully, we will be able to repeat the study in future years.

Fall

American Avocet (Photo by Gene Oleynik)

Late summer and fall was marked by a severe drought. The village lakes all but dried up completely as water was pumped out to feed the accelerator cooling ponds. This produced extensive mud flats the like of which we have not seen since the drought of 1988, and as happended then, these mud flats attracted large numbers of migratory shorebirds. The shorebirds attracted large numbers of bird watchers looking for rarities and they were not disappointed. The list included Willet, American Golden-Plover, Black-bellied Plover, American Avocet, Western Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, and Sanderling. The large concentration of shorebirds attracted Peregrine Falcons and the easy fishing lured Ospreys, Bald Eagles, and large numbers of herons and egrets, including some Little Blue Herons. By late fall much the mudflats were covered in sedges and other wetland plants and these provided good habitat for several uncommon species such as American Pipit, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, and Lapland Longspur.