Hello everyone,
??? Last Monday on May 26th, I was part of a Cook County Big Day with my father
and two of my good friends, John Hockema and Dedrick Benz. Its a long story on
how this all came to be and my plans are to include that story along with the
Big Day in an article for the next listing suppliment . . . hopefully. I will
say that doing a Big Day in Cook County has been a long overdue process for me
and in the end I couldn't have asked for a better one. We came up with a total
of 132 species in 20hrs (4:00am - 12:00am) which was 16 birds greater than the
previous record of 116. I had been out birding around the county a few days
before the actual Big Day and had been a little worried on what our outcome
might be due to the lack of returned breeding birds and migrants. However with
the front that moved in the day of the Big Day (May 26th) we ended up smack dab
in the middle of a fallout of several species, not to mention families of birds
that have proved very
difficult to find in Cook County in the past. The migrants, warblers, vireos,
flycatchers and others, all along the shore and especially in some areas
numbered in the hundreds foraging at there own will within feet of us at eye
level and even right on the ground. It was just one big wave after another just
about wherever we went. We topped our day with 22 species of warblers, 13
species of shorebirds, and 10 species of waterfowl. Surprisingly, though
considering the late migration and the weather maybe not so suprisingly, the
majority of the birds we saw were right in or right around town and along the
shore and by 11:00am we had 99 species of birds before we left the shore.
Warblers included: Nashville, Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Cape May,
Black-throated Green, Wilson's, Magnolia, Bay-breasted, Blackpole, American
Redstart, Canada, Blackburnian, Yellow, Ovenbird, Chestnut-sided,
Yellow-rumped, Mourning, Northern Waterthrush, Northern Parula,
Black-and-White, Palm, and Common Yellowthroat.
Notable Waterfowl: Redhead, N. Shoveler, a notable?estimate of 15 Wood Ducks,
mostly males?all on a private pond, A. Wigeon, Long-tailed Duck.
Notable Shorebirds: 9 Whimbrels, White-rumped Sandpiper, Semi San, Semi Plov,
Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Black-bellied Plover, Dunlin.
Flycatchers: E. Kingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher, E. Wood Pewee,
Yellow-bellied, Alder and Least.
Other notable birds throughout the day include: Northern Oriole, Grey Catbird,
Brown Thrasher, N. Saw Whet Owl, Marsh Wren, House Wren, Bank Swallow, Evening
Grosbeak, Harris Sparrow, American Bitter, Sedge Wren, Bobolink, Dark-eyed
Junco, Scarlet Tanager, Grey-cheeked Thrush, Eastern Bluebird, and Red-necked
Grebe.
Overall I believe we did quite unbelievable considering the county and being
able to do so well species wise per family. I don't think I have had a time in
the past that I have been able to double digit in waterfowl, shorebirds, and
warblers all in the same day in Cook County or even just in waterfowl or
shorebirds in a day.
Notable misses: Hermit Thrush, Belted Kingfisher, Osprey, *reliable*
Great-horned Owl, *reliable* Northern Cardinal, House Finch, *reliable*
Black-throated Blue Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Blue-winged Teal, *reliable*
Mourning Dove, Whip-poor-will
Also of note was a partial albino Black-and-White Warbler foraging on the rocks
along Lake Superior on the west end of the rec park. It had almost a completaly
white head with just the beginging of the two black stripes atop the head near
the nape suggesting black-and-white warbler. Also longer bill almost nuthatch
like and completaly black and white streaked all over including back and wings
unlike blackpole. However it did have pink legs suggesting blackpole but the
bill was also pale and I think becuase it was partially albino that that could
be the cause of the pink skin on the legs and bill area.
May 27th.
I went to Duluth with John and Dedrick and had several notable birds there and
on the way there. Castle Danger sewage ponds yielded several interesting
things. First off, an estimated 70 Eastern Kingbirds along the fence line and
tree line along the ponds. A Peregrine Falcon overhead, Osprey, Broad-winged
Hawk, and Northern Harrier. Also had an American Coot, Blue-winged Teal,
Northern Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, Mallards and a possible Black Duck. Several
American Pipits. A few Clay-colored Sparrows among many, many Savannah Sparrows
and probably most interesting of all was a Lark Sparrow sitting on the fence
line in almost perfect breeding plumage and only a few yards away. We also had
singing Wilson's Warbler, Bobolink, and a singing Black-throated Blue Warbler
which I found interesting.
When I arrived in Duluth I first off visited the Bay front where the Brant was
and found it immediately. It made up for the one I chased in Paynsville woohoo.
I watched it for several minutes foraging in the grass and after a bit saw it
fly out onto the lake where it remained sitting on the water when I left. This
all took place around mid-afternoon on the 27th of May. Park point yielded many
shorebirds but nothing on the water in the afternoon. We probably had a few
hundred shorebirds though along the beach including: Ruddy Turnstone,
Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Dunlin,
Black-bellied Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Plover. Also had two
Whimbrels in the rec park near the bath house and a Killdeer. On the lake in
front of the rec park we had both Lesser and Greater Scaup. Afterwards I split
up with John and Dedrick we headed for home and I went to 40th Ave. West. There
were several shorebirds there as well
but nothing different from Park Point except a lone Solitary Sandpiper near
the Northeast end. Blackpole warbler, Nashville warbler, and Yellow made up the
warblers foraging in the grass along the road. Also had Bobolink and
Clay-colored Sparrow. Most interesting was the lone Greater White-fronted Goose
in the field above the water kind of in the center of 40th Ave. and well away
from the many Canada Geese. That and a lone Western Kingbird which I saw very
clearly hawking from willows and taller shrubs out in the middle of the flats
above the water towards the southern end of 40th Ave.
Today I had a male Black-throated Blue Warbler singing in my backyard. I was
able to see it a little later on very well just up behind my house. That my
friends concludes the last couple days of my birding.
Josh Watson
Cook County and Grand Marais
That my friends concludes the last couple days
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