Listing Through Life

vermivora (from vermis, worm, and vorare, to devour) chrysoptera (from chrysos, gold, and pteron, wing)

Sunday, August 17, 1980 — 3:40 pm

Barrington, Illinois — Crabtree Nature Center

My wife and I were walking along the trail that skirts the end of Sulky Pond. At one point, the woods clears out into a small area of brush and tangles. A flock of small birds were flitting through the area and we stopped to watch. We saw a beautiful Golden-winged Warbler in the flock. It was foraging low in the woods about 25 feet from the pond. I got a good, short look before it flitted out of sight.

cistothorus (from kistos, and thouros, rushing) platensis (Rio de la Plata at Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Thursday, August 14, 1980 — 3:00 pm

Barrington, Illinois — Crabtree Nature Center

I heard this bird singing in the grass along the prairie trail near the bridge, but I couldn’t get a good look at it. You’re not supposed to leave the trails at Crabtree, but I was the only person around, so I headed off for a better view. I flushed it many times before I got a good view from about five feet away. It was skulking around in the grass about 20 feet from the marsh reeds.

tringa (a white-rumped water bird) melanoleuca (from melas, black, and leukos, white)

Thursday, August 14, 1980 — 1:00 pm

Inverness, Illinois — side road off Palatine Road

This was not one of my most romantic bird sightings. A new housing development was being built about a mile east of Crabtree. A few houses were up, but most of the area was covered by mud and crisscrossed by roads. Muddy puddles were everywhere, and in one of the larger ones, I spotted several shorebirds.

The four yellowlegs were quite a distance away, and I couldn’t get a very good look. I tried to get nearer, but they flushed every time I got close. Finally, I got into a position from which I could see them well. Three were quite a bit larger than the fourth one. They took off again and flew past me. The three Greater Yellowlegs passed on one side giving their three and four-noted call. The Lesser passed on the other side giving its two-noted call.

spiza (finch) americana (of American)

Thursday, July 31, 1980 — 12:45 pm

Inverness, Illinois — Bradwell Road

I heard about this Dickcissel on the Audubon Society Hot Line. It was reported singing in a field about half a mile east of Crabtree. I found it right where it was supposed to be. It was singing from the top of a small tree in a large field that had just begun the process of being turned into a housing development. The roads were in, along with a partly-finished house or two, but most of the area was covered with prairie-like grass. I later spotted the Dickcissel perched on a weed stalk, still singing.

calidris (a speckled water bird) alba (white)

Thursday, July 21, 1980 — 2:00 pm

Illinois Beach State Park, Illinois

The southern half of Illinois Beach State Park is set aside as a wildlife refuge. If you try to get into this area from the north, you have to cross the Dead River. Near the lake, where it is possible to wade the river, signs are posted warning that anyone found in the refuge without a permit will be subject to arrest and fine.

But there was another way. About half a mile south of the refuge, Greenwood Avenue ends in a large parking lot by a fishing pier. From here, you used to be able to walk north along the beach into the park. From this direction, there are no fences, rivers, or signs. I’ve been into the refuge about twenty times or so over the years, and I have never had any problems. Only once have I seen anyone else in there, and he was just another birder. Since then, a fence by the fishing pier blocks access to the beach.

This was the first time I’d been in the refuge. The Whimbrels had been seen on the beach just south of the boundary, and that’s where we found them. We continued on into the park. The Sanderlings were running along the beach right at the water’s edge. As we approached, they flushed out over the lake, displaying their wide white wing stripe. They landed further up the beach and resumed foraging, running in and out with each wave.