Listing Through Life

storeria occipitomaculata

Sunday, April 14, 2002 — 7:50 pm

Moraine Hills State Park, Illinois

I parked at McHenry Dam and walked seven miles around the McHenry Dam and Leatherleaf Bog Trails. On the Bog Trail, about 500 yards west of Junction B, I spotted a worm laying motionless on the trail. Except it couldn’t be a worm because it was dark gray. I stopped for another look.

It was a tiny snake, about four-inches long. It’s head was a shiny brown-black. The body was a dark gray. There was a pale triangle on the back of its neck. I flipped it over and saw that its belly was bright red.

It tried to scurry away, but had difficulty getting traction on the gravel path, so it mostly scurried around in place. When I put a finger directly in front of it, it coiled a bit, then tried to scurry in another direction. It was in imminent danger of being stepped on or run over by a bike, so I did my good deed for the day and guided it toward the grass along the path. This was only a eight-inch voyage, but it took a while. Between its lack of traction, its frequent direction changes and its difficulty climbing up the very slight incline into the grass, I figured I’d have to help. It finally made it, but then started back for the path.

I picked it up and held it in the palm of my hand for a moment. It kept wiggling and soon fell off into the grass. It landed upside-down but quickly turned over and stuck its head and most of its body under a clump of grass. It seemed safe, so I left, feeling proud of myself.

larus (ravenous seabird) glaucoides (resembling the Glaucous Gull)

Friday, March 1, 2002 — 9:15 am

Zion, Illinois — North Point Marina — Lake Michigan

NOTE: This was a lifer when I saw it. Since, this subspecies (Kumlien’s Gull) and Thayer’s Gull have been lumped under the name Iceland Gull.

I was looking at my lifer Glaucous Gull while the guy who told me where to find it scoped through the vast flock of gulls that lined the docks across the harbor and stood on the ice. I saw him looking in his field guide. He asked me to look through his scope at a gull that looked different from the others. Although there were 30 or so gulls in view, I saw immediately which one he referred to. It looked just like the nearby Herring Gulls, but the color on its wingtips was slate gray instead of black and covered a smaller area — restricted to the outer four primaries, with a band across the feather and a narrow edging along the forward edge.

I found it in my scope with some difficulty since all the docks and all the gulls looked so much alike. It was standing on a dock about 60 yards out in the harbor. Apart from the lighter color on its wings, there was no clue to its identity. Then it flew about 20 feet to another place on the same dock. Now we knew. There was no black visible on its wings anywhere. The undersides were bright white. The top was pale gray along the length but white on the tip. Even the bit of slate gray visible on the standing bird wasn’t apparent on the flying bird.

A little while later it took off again, circled around and landed on the next dock over. I saw where it landed, so we moved down and soon found it again. (Fortunately, the slips in the docks were numbered, which enabled me to find it and point it out to other birders.) It stood there, not doing much for the next 10 minutes. I went to my car to get my camera, and when I got back it was gone.

It looked very much like the Herring Gulls, except for the color on the wings I’ve already described. It was also a little smaller. Its head was rounded with a few thin streaks on the crown and hindneck. Its bill was shorter, yellow with the obligatory red spot on the lower mandible. The legs were pink and noticeably shorter than those of the nearby Herring Gulls. At one point, I had the Iceland and Glaucous Gulls in my binoculars at the same time.

larus (ravenous seabird) hyperboreus (northern)

Friday, March 1, 2002 — 8:55 am

Zion, Illinois — North Point Marina — Lake Michigan

I drove to Racine at dawn to look (unsuccessfully) for a Gyrfalcon, then drove down along the lake to Zion. Several species of gulls were recently reported from North Point Marina. I’d never been there, although it’s just north of Camp Logan, where I go frequently. Winthrop Harbor is a typical boat basin with rows of docks stretching across the basin and rock breakwaters around the edges. Thousands of gulls were standing and sitting on the docks and on the ice between, and hundreds of ducks were swimming in the open water near the harbor entrance.

I scoped out the ducks first, spotting several Redheads and, finally, a Greater Scaup in a large flock of Lessers. Two other birders were scoping the ducks in another channel, and when I wandered up, one of them pointed out a male Black Scoter. He let me look at it through his scope, and I soon found it in mine. The sun was behind it, and it was tough to see well, but there was no doubt what it was. It swam toward me, passing close to a male Northern Pintail and though a large flock of Mallards.

I asked the guy if he’d seen any unusual gulls. He said a Glaucous Gull was flying around when he arrived. We walked back along the harbor shore away from the lake. He pointed out a group of about 200 gulls standing on the ice between two piers. We set up our scopes and scanned the flock. After about five minutes, I spotted the Glaucous Gull about 30 yards away.

It was standing on the ice doing very little. For the half hour I was there, it sat down on the ice once for about five minutes, turned around once, but otherwise pretty much just stared at its feet. I’m pretty sure it’s the gull just above the marshmallow-looking thing on the end of the dock.

When the other birder spotted a Iceland Gull, I transferred my attention to it. I periodically looked back at the Glaucous, but it wasn’t doing anything. At one point, I had both lifers in my binoculars at once.

rallus (rail) elegans (elegant)

Friday, July 13, 2001 — 8:19 am

Ringwood, Illinois — Glacial Park Conservation Area — Harts Road

I added this lifer at the cost of a brush with the law. I first found out about the rails via e-mail on Wednesday. I’ve never come close to seeing a King Rail and didn’t expect to see one anywhere close to home.

I entered Glacial Park shortly after 8:00 and parked up by the barn. I walked the half-mile back to the marsh along Harts Road, expecting to have to stand around for an hour or so looking for the rails. As I came up to the marsh, I heard a singing Marsh Wren. I’ve never seen one at Glacial Park, so I stopped and looked for it. I saw it, but not until later during a pause in the subsequent action.

As I panned back and forth along the edge of the water, I saw a small, black downy chick running through the grass. I knew it was a King Rail chick — and followed it right to an adult. The larger bird emerged from the grass and waded out into the open. It wasn’t at all secretive as it stalked out into the pool. It wandered around for a few moments, then made a stab and came up with a snail or something. It immediately turned and strode with big steps back toward the edge. When it got within five or six feet of the grass, the chick ran out to meet it and took the thing from the parent’s bill. The chick then disappeared back into the grass and the parent headed back out for more food. As they repeated this behavior, they moved further away from me along the edge of the marsh.

After five minutes or so, I saw a second adult striding out into the pool. It appeared about where I first saw the first one. I soon discovered a second chick near this second adult. I watched the four birds until they disappeared beyond a bend in the shoreline. The entire time, they basically repeated the behavior I mentioned above. On one foray, one of the adults came up with something accompanied by a glob of green weeds. It didn’t seem to notice and walked back to its chick with the muck hanging from its bill. Another time, one of the adults was 25 feet or so out in the pool. It suddenly began running through the water toward where a small frog was skipping across the surface. The rail caught up to it and snagged it. On this trip, the adult and chick disappeared into the grass for a while. The frog was too large for the chick to eat whole, and I assume the adult ate it itself or tore it in pieces. I also saw one with what I think was a small fish.

On three or four occasions, one of the chicks would follow its adult out into the pool, staying very close to the side of the parent, even when the water got belly-deep. Once in a while, all four birds would be out of sight in the grass for a minute or so. On two occasions, I saw both chicks with the same adult, but one soon ran off to join the other adult.

While I was watching the rails, two small, spotted fawn came out of the prairie on the other side of marsh and waded into the pool about 40 yards away from me. They soon spotted me and ran back into the grass.

I walked back to the car and drove along Harts Road toward the entrance. I stopped near the marsh and stepped out for a minute to take a picture of the marsh. I walked about 30 yards from the car to see if I could spot the rails again. I didn’t see them and turned back. A McHenry County Conservation District Policeman was parked behind me and wrote me a warning for parking in a no parking zone. I explained to him what I was doing, but he was feeling self-important. I had to wait in my car while he checked my record and wrote out the warning.