chordeiles (from chorde, a stringed musical instrument, and deile, afternoon or evening) minor (smaller, lesser)
Wednesday, August 15, 1979 — 8:00 pm
Northfield, Illinois – Willow Road
I was driving home from my roofing job when I spotted these Nighthawks. I was stopped at a red light at an intersection bordered by fields. The birds were hawking over the road and fields.
megaceryle (large) alcyon (from Halcyone, of Greek mythology, daughter of Aeolus, god of the winds who, with her husband, Ceyx, was transformed into a kingfisher)
Monday, July 30, 1979 — 5:00 pm
Barrington, Illinois — Crabtree Nature Center
This bird was flying branch to branch through the trees on the island on Sulky Pond.
Sulky Pond is oval in shape, covering about three acres. There is a long, low (frequently-flooded) island in the center. This island is covered with brush and trees, many of which are dead. At one time, the pond was circled by a racetrack where sulkies raced. Hence the name.
bombycilla (silky-tailed) cedrorum (of cedars)
Friday, Monday, July 30, 1979 — 5:00 pm
Barrington, Illinois — Crabtree Nature Center
This bird was flying tree to tree along the island on Sulky Pond.
nycticorax (night raven) nycticorax (ditto)
Monday, July 30, 1979 — 2:00 pm
Barrington, Illinois — Crabtree Nature Center
I spotted this bird from the blind on Bulrush Pond. It was on the other side of the pond roosting in a dead tree at the water’s edge, approximately three feet above the surface. It sat motionless for the entire 30 minutes that I watched. I came back about an hour later and it was still there in the same position.
dumetella (a little thicket dweller) carolinensis (of Carolina)
Monday, July 30, 1979 — 1:30 pm
Barrington, Illinois — Crabtree Nature Center
I was walking the trail that wraps around one end of Sulky Pond. The catbird was feeding in the grass in a small clearing in the woods along the pond. It soon flew off into the woods out of sight.
