MeadowlarkSUMMER/FALL 2017 Prairie Falcons of Coles County, Illinois 14 2017 IORC Report 7 Summer 2017 Fall 2017 Field Notes 21 Field Notes 46 Meadowlark PRESIDENT’S LETTER PUBLISHED BY Illinois Ornithological Society Anyone who has done a bit of bird watching on the western shore of Lake Michigan during fall migration knows that your success is very often weather EDITORIAL TEAM dependent. In fact, the best weather days (think sunny and calm) aren’t necessarily the best birding days at all. Warm sunny weather entices more people outside CHIEF EDITOR often with their kids and pets in tow. Better get up early or you’ll hear stories Eric Secker from fellow birders how dogs chased off a flock of graceful American Avocets from ASSISTANT EDITORS the beach or runners flushed an unexpected Upland Sandpiper moments before Tamima Itani, Adam Sell you arrived. There’s nothing more frustrating than missing a good bird by a few PRESIDENT & CHIEF SUPERVISOR minutes. Believe me. I’ve been there many times. Matt Igleski Experienced birders don’t mind getting up early or even braving the elements, LAYOUT AND PRODUCTION but it’s not just about trying to beat the crowd. Knowing how the weather may Eric Secker affect migration and bird activity improves your chances at finding certain species or of having a productive outing in general. FIELD NOTES EDITORS There’s probably one condition where you might as well pack it in for the Jill Anderson Matt Hayes day and that’s heavy rain. In a torrential downpour, you won’t be able to see or Dan Williams even keep your optics dry. More than likely, you’ll get miserably wet, too. Might Geoff Williamson as well take the day off when it’s pouring. Tyler Funk While heavy rain can really put a damper on your avian aspirations, a little precipitation and the right wind direction can sometimes truly enhance a birding RESEARCH GRANTS COORDINATOR Matt Igleski experience. Where north winds meet a weather system with rain, birding along the edge of that front can sometimes yield surprisingly good results. Southbound PHOTO EDITORS migrating passerines, once they encounter rain and obscured visibility, might decide Jake Cvetas, Ethan Ellis, they can travel no further and set down for the day. A cool misty fall morning Eddie Kasper, Adam Sell could mean lots of activity at a migrant trap like Montrose. Unfortunately, it could PRINTING also mean a busy day for collision monitors roaming the streets of downtown TEAM Concept Printing Chicago as disoriented migrants find themselves trapped in precarious situations. Carol Steam, IL And what about wind speed and direction? Sustained northwest or west winds teamconceptprinting.com often get northeast Illinois birders pretty excited. Depending upon the month, you could be in for an interesting day of Franklin’s Gulls and Short-eared Owls on the IOS LEADERSHIP beach in the morning, followed by an afternoon of soaring Sharp-shinned and PRESIDENT Red-tailed Hawks or endless, daytime trails of Sandhill Cranes. Matt Igleski East winds off of Lake Michigan are a completely different story. There might be less bird activity overall with east winds, but the possibilities are no less exciting VICE PRESIDENT to lakefront birders. A strong east wind typically means one thing. It’s prime jaeger Tamima Itani time! If you can put up with sand and wind blasting you in the face, a lakewatch TREASURER into the teeth of 15-20 mph east winds can be a thrilling experience. When you Tamima Itani witness your first jaeger zipping by at breakneck speed terrorizing gulls, you’ll RECORDING SECRETARY know exactly what I mean. Adam Sell The bird watching opportunities along Lake Michigan are endless any time MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY of year, but fall is one of my favorites. Be sure to check the weather before you John Leonard head out. You never know what you might encounter on any given day, but, by knowing the weather and how it may affect migration, you can put yourself in BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jeff Bilsky, Tyler Funk, the best position for success. · Ethan Gyllenhaal, Matt Igleski, Tamima Itani, Beau Schaefer, Matthew Cvetas Adam Sell, Andrea Tolzmann, Outgoing IOS President John Leonard, Ted Wolff ABOUT THE COVER: Leroy Harrison took this photo of a singing Sedge Wren at Prairie Ridge S.N.A. in Jasper County on 26 Jul. 2017. Help the environment. Please recycle this issue of Meadowlark or pass it on to others. 2 Meadowlark Sum./Fall 2017 CONTENTS Summer, Fall 2017 | Volume 27, Num. 1-2 14 FEATURE 14 Prairie Falcons of Coles County, Illinois REPORTS 7 IORC Report for 2017 - Review of Documented Rare Sightings in Illinois 21 Field Notes - Summer 2017 Breeding Season 46 Field Notes - Fall 2017 Migration Season IN EACH ISSUE 4 Editor's Corner - The Joy and Value of Summer Monitoring 21 45 ABOVE: TOP LEFT: Prairie Falcon, Coles County, 8 May 2017. Photo by Tyler Funk. BOTTOM LEFT: Blue Grosbeak. 20 August 2017. Photo by Dan Kassebaum. BOTTOM RIGHT: Yellow- throated Warbler. Eldon Hazlet S.P., Clinton County, 16 September 2017. Photo by Dan Kassebaum. Meadowlark (ISSN 1065-2043) is published by the Illinois Ornithological Society, Copyright © 2020 by the Illinois Ornithological Society. No part of this journal may be reproduced without the written permission of IOS and the chief editor, except brief passages of a paragraph or less in which attribution is made to the journal and author. For address changes, corrections, or membership inquiries please visit illinoisbirds.org or send written communications to Illinois Ornithological Society, P.O. Box 931, Lake Forest, IL 60045. Magazine printed by TEAM Concept Printing, www.teamconceptprinting.com. Vol. 27.1-2 Meadowlark 3 EDITOR’S CORNER The Joy and Value of Summer Monitoring By Eric Secker Summer is an important time for Preserve in DuPage County. Point count County in the summer. Return trips Illinois birds and one where you as a monitoring is extremely simple and even yielded opportunities to watch as the birder can make a difference. easier for anyone already using eBird to young hatched and fledged. Years ago, I had a job doing nest enter their sightings. In my area, the More important than the sight- monitoring at the Morton Arboretum only big difference between monitor- ings themselves, I only needed a couple and helping with research on Brown- ing and a normal bird outing is that seasons of monitoring data to help the headed Cowbird parasitism. During birders are directed to a series of specific land managers make informed choices. that time, I had the opportunity to inter- "points" in a preserve where they stand In some situations as shrublands were act with many species. One bird that I for five minutes and record all species managed and thinned, we were able remember well is a Brown Thrasher within a certain distance that they see to directly show how numbers of key that nested every year in the same large or hear. Birders are asked to start as species were increasing. In other sit- buckthorn bush. Like clockwork each close to dawn as possible and to make uations, we identified birds that were year, I could walk up to the struggling either from or in nest to check on the eggs and be spite of management efforts. greeted by a very mean-looking With that information in parent scolding and hissing at hand, the forest preserve dis- me from less than a foot away. “You, as a birder, can trict could then be presented The fact that species like with the opportunity to adjust these are so predictable from have an incredible and reassess their restoration year to year gives us the unique techniques to help even more ability to closely monitor how impact on birds with species. Having that data also restoration impacts them. With relatively little effort.” led to Herrick Lake getting only a few years of consistent nominated as an Important data from the same site using Bird Area and helped birders the same protocols, significant at other sites investigate what changes in some species can be observed. at least two visits to their points during dynamics made the habitat at Herrick This is where you as a birder can have the breeding season in June. Then they Lake particularly inviting to shrubland an incredible impact for birds with rel- simply enter their data in eBird using birds. atively little effort. From doing summer specific locations for each of the points Whether you've monitored in the point count monitoring to breeding bird where they monitored. past and dropped away from it, or have surveys or even simply sharing anecdotal Some of my best summer birding never tried it out, I encourage you to sightings of species of concern, one bird- took place when I was getting out at make it a goal for this summer. In the er's data can help site managers make dawn in the summer at Herrick Lake. Chicagoland area, you can reach out to informed decisions about restoration Orchard Orioles worked the trees and the Bird Conservation Network online and help scientists select species and shrubs along the entrance road where I at bcnbirds.org/survey/ or get in touch sites that need extra attention. walked in to the site. Henslow's Sparrows with your local forest preserve district. One of my favorite ways to contrib- could often be heard or seen in the fields In the rest of the state, many state parks, ute to science is by doing summer point on either side. Multiple Yellow-breasted nonprofits, and national wildlife refuges count monitoring.