Listing Through Life

passer (sparrow) montanus (mountain)

Sunday, January 3, 1982 — 9:45 am

Morgan County, Illinois — Route 104 between Waverly and Franklin

After my wife and I saw the Lapland Longspurs, we continued on toward Franklin looking for Eurasian Tree Sparrows. We drove on through the flat, muddy farmland looking at every small bird we saw. After five miles or so, before we got to Franklin, we found what we were looking for.

Approximately 30 Eurasian Tree Sparrows were in a mixed flock with House Sparrows and European Starlings (a trifecta of introduced birds). They were foraging on the edge of the road, on roadside snowdrifts, and in the nearby field. We stayed in the car and rolled to within 15 feet. They were picking and scratching in the snow. Occasionally an individual or small group would move around within the area We were anxious to get home, so we didn’t stay long.

calcarius (spur) lapponicus (Lapland)

Sunday, January 3, 1982 — 9:30 am

Sangamon County, Illinois — Route 104 between Auburn and Waverly

My wife and I exited Interstate 55 and headed west on Route 104. We drove through mile after mile of flat, muddy farmland without a tree in sight. Every time I saw a sparrow-looking bird, I pulled over and looked. It paid off. I saw a Snow Bunting in a field of mud and scattered patches of wet, dirty snow. A short time later I saw a Lapland Longspur.

Actually, I saw a whole bunch of them. They were foraging on and along the road and in the nearby fields with many Horned Larks. We stayed in the car and slowly rolled to within 15 feet. They were active, flitting around as they foraged. They were all in winter plumage.

dasypus novemcinctus

December 29, 1981 — 12:00 noon

Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas

I found this Armadillo foraging in leaves and brush at edge of woods along road to Lodge Lake. It was scraping with its claws in the dirt and sniffing about. When I first saw it, it was about 20 feet away. I got out and approached. It paid no attention until I got within five feet, then it took off in a surprisingly fast, lumbering jog into the woods. After it went about ten feet into the trees, it stopped, turned, looked at me and went back to foraging.

It was about two feet long with an armored shell covering its entire body except the head which looked rather pig-like. It was a pinkish-gray overall.

sciurus carolinensis

September 28, 1981 — 4:00 pm

Des Plaines, Illinois — home

This Eastern Gray Squirrel was foraging on patio in backyard, no doubt looking for the sunflower seeds I scattered. It was a bit smaller than the nearby Fox Squirrel and proportionately thinner. It was gray overall with some buff mixed in on its back. Its undersides were white, and it had a white edge on its bushy tail instead of the buff-orange edge on the tail of the Fox Squirrel.

A black phase Eastern Gray Squirrel, the first one I’d ever gotten a good look at, hung around the wood lot outside my office window in the fall of 1993.

Here’s the standard gray phase.

Years later, I saw one of the famous white squirrels in Olney, Illinois.

sciurus niger

September 28, 1981 — 1:00 pm

Des Plaines, Illinois — home

At noon, or just about, I put up the sunflower feeders for the fall. Within an hour, this Eastern Fox Squirrel was eating seeds on the patio. It was over a foot long including its large, bushy tail. Its fur was rusty/orange overall with many darker hairs throughout. It was very fat. Its back was scarred and part of an ear was missing.

It was fairly tame, running up a tree when I got within six feet and coming back down when I threw seeds toward it.