Dunlin photographed by John Cassady.
I had been planning on joining the Ken Brock’s crew for more trap birding, but a last minute change in plans had me considering other options. On Friday May 14, Amar Ayyash found something like 16 species of shorebirds at the Tinley Park Wetlands, a place I never been before that is not too far away. I headed out there and had a great time. It is Cook County Forest Preserve District property where the trees- young ones as the land had not too long ago been ag fields- had been removed and drainage tiles broken to create wetland. They have a long ways to go to wetland plants to become established but the shorebirds have found it for sure.
I walked out across the wet fields and found a delightful mix of sandpipers. I did not see nearly as many individuals or species as Amar had, nor did Wes Seraphin who visited later in the day but it was still great fun. There were five Wilson’s phalaropes, all of which were males. (Amar also had some females). A large flock of dunlin flew over, zigged and zagged as they almost touched down a few times only to rise for some more aerial maneuvers. Evantually, thought, they did land. A lovely flock of black-bellied plover foraged on some slightly higher ground. They ranged in plumage from pure alternate to semi-basic. Over twenty dowitchers of both species provided comparative views of what I consider to be one of the most difficult identifications posed by any two birds in this region (I am excluding gulls here.) Perhaps, though, my personal highlight was white-rumped sandpipers, a species I have not seen for awhile. They were in tall grass and I had to wait for them to expose themselves so I could see the wings projecting beyond the tail and other marks. One bird conveniently flew a short distance, so I could see the character for which it was named.
Ordinarily, when I watch shorebirds I am looking at a mudflat, sewage bed, or beach with birds at a distance. Tinley Park was different. Here, the birds were all around me. The phalaropes were to the right, the black-bellied plover to the right of them, white-rumps were way over to the left, and least sandpipers behind me. It was reminiscent of a South Dakota prairie pothole. This was a spot I definitely wanted to share.
I had already made plans to bird Sunday moring with Cindy, Tim Wallace, and Lizzy Condon. Lizzy is a terrific young birder who came to my attention last winter when she contacted me wanting to go on the Christmas Bird Count. She has worked at some of the premier ornithological organizations in the country with stints at such places as Point Reyes Bird Observatory and Cape May Bird Observatory. This summer she is a naturalist at the International Crane Foundation. Lizzie had to be in Urbana, IL later that afternoon to attend her brother’s graduation so a half day was perfect. Tim picked Cindy and me up at my house and we headed for Montrose where we were to meet Lizzie, who had not been there before. Lizzie arrived bearing a most wonderful fresh rhubarb-strawberry jewel with a pie crust bottom and crisp topping. (When we arrived home we gave some to Tim- two days later there was not a sign of it at either household. Hmm, maybe it was all a dream.)
Montrose was slow but there was enough action to make it entertaining. There were lots of Nashvilles, a few Tennessees, Blackburnian or two, and good numbers of yellowthroats. A warbling vireo seems to be nesting. This is one of the plainest of birds, but its faded spectacles are distinctive, and I have come to feel affection for it because it likes wet woods, a habitat I frequent a lot during bird surveys. It also has a great song, with a great pneumonic: “See it and seize it and squeeze it till it squirts.”
We then headed to Tinley, which is in the direction of Urbana, to the benefit of Lizzie. The place looked just like it did the day before except for two things. First, garter snakes were everywhere. I don’t think I have ever seen more in my life. There were large adults and small youngsters. We watched one approach a least sandpiper, thoroughly expecting a PBS moment, but alas the bird kept eating and the snake kept moving.
Garter snake (sp?) photographed at Tinley Wetlands by Tim Wallace.
The other huge difference between the two days was that with the exception of five least sandpipers, every single migrant shorebird was gone. No plover, white-rumps, dowitchers- nada. But Lizzy did make it to U of Illinois on time to see her brother graduate. And we had taken possession of her delightful culinary gift.
Tim, Cindy, and Liz at Tinley.
Least sandpiper photographed at Tinley Wetlands by Tim Wallace.
