|
Author: Peter Kasper
See the following link information concerning the
Current Status of Access to Fermilab
Year List: Contains the list of birds seen so far this year.
Seasonal List: The list of birds recorded on site at this time of year.
Monday, October 6
The presence of
Cackling Geese and
Ruddy Ducks on Lake Law together with
Northern Pintails,
American Black Ducks,
Green-winged Teal, and
Northern Shovelers along Eola rd,
indicated that waterfowl migration has started in earnest.
Sparrow migration has also commenced with the arrival of
good numbers of
White-crowned and
White-throated Sparrows,
several
Lincoln's Sparrows and a
Clay-colored Sparrow in the
garden club.
American Crows were also seen today, but the
best bird was a singing
Western Meadowlark south of the
sparrow hedge.
Sunday, September 28
Today was my first day back on site after a month long
vacation in Papua New Guinea and I was pleased to see that
waterfowl migrants are starting to come through. A couple of
Northern Pintail were on a pond north of the bison feeders
and
Northern Shovelers found at several locations. The warbler migration is clearly tailing off, though we did
manage to find a
Northern Waterthrush, a
Tennessee Warbler,
and a
Blue-headed Vireo among the many
Yellow-rumped Warblers inside the main ring. The best bird of the day was
an
Osprey that apparently has been frequenting Casey's and
Andy's ponds and perching in the dead trees along Eola rd.
Sunday, September 21
Another very pleasant morning at Fermi produced the
following birds in the Sparrow Hedge area:
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker,
Marsh Wren,
Sedge Wren,
Eastern Phoebe,
Warbling Vireo,
Red-eyed Vireo,
Swainson's Thrush,
Blackpoll Warbler,
American Redstart,
Eastern Towhee, Rose-
breasted Grosbeak,
Swamp Sparrow and
White-throated Sparrow. Seen in the flooded buffalo fields were Pied-
billed Grebe,
Pectoral Sandpiper, and over thirty
Wilson's Snipe.
An
Osprey was seen perched on a tall dead tree near the
northeast corner of Batavia and Eola roads, believe it or
not I have seen Osprey's on this same snag several times
over the last few years. This may have been the same bird
seen by Rod on Friday. Some other birds of interest seen
this morning were
Magnolia Warbler,
Tennessee Warbler,
Indigo Bunting and
Field Sparrow.
Friday, September 19
Some evening birding today and yesterday produced little
of interest and less in the line of owls. Owling was done
on Friday with no responses; it may have been the
deafening sound of the tree frogs???
Thursday evening produced
Black-crowned Night-Herons and a
Belted Kingfisher on DUSAF Pond. Other birds of note were
American Coots,
Common Nighthawks and a good number of
Wood Ducks on Main Ring Lake.
On the way out of the Lab on Thursday I noticed the
flooded buffalo fields, so that was where I went before
owling on Friday. I found a
Black-bellied Plover and both
Lesser Yellowlegs and
Greater Yellowlegs in the flooded
field. Unfortunately, it was getting dark and it's
probable that more birds were foraging in the grasses.
Also, Friday morning produced an
Osprey over Casey's Pond for Rod Walton. Dave Sunday, September 7
Birding was very good early this morning with several
small mixed flocks of migrants in the scrub of the Sparrow Hedge area. These flocks included
Nashville Warblers,
Tennessee Warblers,
American Redstarts, a
Wilson's Warbler, a
Yellow-throated Vireo and a
Swainson's Thrush.
Other birds seen in the area were a
Cooper's Hawk, a
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a
Brown Thrasher and a
Baltimore Oriole. Things were fairly quiet in most other areas of
the lab until just before I was ready to leave. In one of
the small wood lots in the North Roads area I encountered
a huge flock of warblers, consisting of approx. fifty
birds. This was the largest I had seen in quite awhile,
it included all of the earlier warbler species plus
several
Black-and-white Warblers, a
Magnolia Warbler, a
Cape May Warbler, and the best bird of the day a
Blue-winged Warbler. Other birds of note in the Lab were
Horned Lark,
Indigo Bunting,
American Coot, and
Sora. Dave Tuesday, August 26
I took a very productive walk from the Red Barn to the
sparrow hedge this morning. A couple of
Caspian Terns were
hunting over Lake Law as I started off and a
Sora flushed
from beside the trail soon after leaving the lake. At the
hedge,
Bell's Vireos and a
Black-billed Cuckoo were singing
and early migrants were present in the form of a
Swainson's Thrush and an
Ovenbird. The most surprising find was a
Yellow-breasted Chat, easily the latest site record for this
species.
Sunday, August 24
Easily the best bird of the day was a
Least Bittern that we
spotted flying over the south Eola grasslands. It landed in
the pines bordering the horse paddock but flew off again
when we relocated it. It was a young bird that still carried
traces of down on its head and appeared to come from the
Lake Law area. The only other birds of note were a
Blue-winged Teal on Nepese pond and a couple of
Purple Martins at the Garden club.
Sunday, August 17
For some unknown reason water levels at Swenson rd. pond
were well below normal and mud flats were showing.
Unfortunately, few shorebirds were around to take advantage;
several
Solitary Sandpipers and a Common Sandpiper were all
we found. However we did spot a couple of
Soras sneaking
along the edge of the cattails. We found little of interest
after that until we got to the garden club where a flock of
Purple Martins were hanging out on the power-lines and
several
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were chasing each other
among the flowers.
Sunday, August 10
There was a lot of bird activity along the sparrow hedge
this morning as mixed flocks fed on the various fruiting
bushes and trees.
Bell's Vireos were still to be heard
singing in the area and both oriole species were seen. Most of the
Bobolinks have left the Eola rd. grasslands, though
Henslow's Sparrows,
Dickcissels, and
Sedge Wrens were all
still present.
Sunday, August 3
Today we did something a little different. We launched a
canoe in lake Logo and Main Ring lake in order to check out
the reed beds that are hidden on the far sides of these
lakes. The expedition was both enjoyable and fruitful. Good birds that we encountered included a close up
Sora, a
Black-billed Cuckoo, a
Pied-billed Grebe, a close up
Black-crowned Night-Heron,
Caspian Terns,
Purple Martins,
and numerous
Marsh Wrens and
Swamp Sparrows. We also heard
Least Bitterns calling from the reeds at the back of Main Ring Lake.
Sunday, July 27
The female plumage
Northern Pintail was present on Nepese pond again today and a
Caspian Tern was also seen again
catching fish in the village lakes. The
American Kestrels appear to have had a good breeding season as we came across
a family group of at least six birds along east Wilson st.
Swallows have also dispersed from their breeding colonies as
evidenced by both
Cliff Swallows and
Bank Swallows being
found at a pond behind the High Rise building.
Sunday, July 20
The most unusual find today was a female
Northern Pintail on
Nepese pond. This is only the second time that this species
has been seen on site in July. The only other noteworthy
find was a group of about six
Caspian Terns that were
hunting over the village lakes.
Sunday, July 13
We saw the first sign of fall migration today, in the form
of a
Solitary Sandpiper at the Bison Wallow. The only other
noteworthy finds were a family of
Orchard Orioles and a
Black-billed Cuckoo along the sparrow hedge. We also noted a
colony of
Sedge Wrens in the grasslands just south of Lake Law. These birds have been surprisingly hard to find this year.
Sunday, June 29
It was a very dull birding day today. The usual breeding
species were all to be found in their usual spots with
little in the way of surprises. The only noteworthy finds
were a first year
Orchard Oriole by Nepese Pond and a female
Hooded Merganser on Dusaf Pond. (It has been a very good
year for
Orchard Orioles with birds being found in at five
different locations: the Big Woods, The main ring savanna,
the bison field savanna, the sparrow hedge area, and Nepese Pond.)
Thursday, June 26
I did my Grassland Breeding Bird Monitoring this morning,
there's certainly plenty of food for the insectivorous
birds in the area. Other than the bugs, the morning was
quite pleasant. Both
Grasshopper Sparrow and
Henslow's Sparrow numbers are up this year as is their distribution
at the lab. Other highlights this morning were a
Turkey Vulture,
American Kestrel,
Belted Kingfisher and a pair of
Brown Thrashers. Also, a couple of
American Crows were
heard at the edge of the Kautz Road woods. Finally, a
pair of
Orchard Orioles was seen near the Center Ring Woods, the female carrying food.
Sunday, June 22
Cuckoos were once again the highlight of today's birding.
Both species were found;
Yellow-billed in the Big Woods and
Black-billed in the center of the main ring. More interesting however, was a report of two
Ruddy Ducks on Lake Law yesterday morning.
Sunday, June 15
I have very little new to report from this weekend's
birding. A
Yellow-billed Cuckoo from the Big Woods was
somewhat unusual but apart from that only expected summer
residents were found. However, our grassland species have
undergone some significant population changes.
Grasshopper Sparrows are present in much better numbers than in the
recent past and
Henslow's Sparrows have reached a new high
count. On the other hand
Savannah Sparrow numbers are
noticeably down everywhere except at the bison field and
Sedge Wrens seem to have disappeared entirely from most of
their usual haunts.
Bobolinks also appear to have declined.
Sunday, June 8
Today we searched out the regular breeding specialties in
the sparrow hedge area and in the south Eola rd. grasslands.
We managed to locate three
Bell's Vireo territories and just
one
Sedge Wren in the sparrow hedge area. The grasslands
produced at least 20
Henslow's Sparrow territories and
several
Grasshopper Sparrow territories along with modest
numbers of
Bobolinks. Among the more unusual sightings were
a female
Northern Shoveler on Lake Law and an
American Coot on A.E.Sea.
Friday, June 6
A
Cattle Egret spent the afternoon feeding in the bison
pasture today.
Sunday, June 1
Today really felt like the beginning of summer with very
little being found in the way of migrants. The most notable
exceptions were an
Alder Flycatcher and a
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher both of which were found inside the Main Ring and
a small flock of
Ruddy Ducks on Lake Law. A number of good
summer residents were also located: A
Wood Thrush and
Scarlet Tanager were heard in the Big Woods and
Orchard Orioles were found in several locations. The only other
really noteworthy find was a
Mute Swan that has been present
on A.E.Sea for several days now.
Thursday, May 29
After doing my pre-breeding Grassland Monitoring around
Fermi today, some extracurricular birding turned up a
female
Hooded Merganser and a
Black-billed Cuckoo. During the monitoring both
Henslow's Sparrows and
Grasshopper Sparrows were located at two monitor points each. Dave Sunday, May 25
Today's "bird of the day" was a
Connecticut Warbler that was
singing by the Sparrow Hedge. Unfortunately, as is often the
case with this secretive species, we were unable to get a
look at him. We also had both species of cuckoo today; a
pair of
Black-billed Cuckoos in the Sparrow Hedge area and a
Yellow-billed Cuckoo singing in the Big Woods. Other noteworthy finds included
Bell's Vireos at the sparrow hedge
and a
Grasshopper Sparrow just west of the Big Woods.
Sunday, May 18
I returned to the lab after a three week absence, to find
spring migration in full swing. The best birding was at the
north end of the Big Woods where there was a good mix of
warblers (
Golden-winged,
Tennessee,
Nashville,
Yellow Warbler,
Chestnut-sided,
Magnolia,
Cape May,
Yellow-rumped,
Palm,
American Redstart,
Common Yellowthroat,
Wilson's Warbler, and
Canada Warbler) as well as a couple of
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, two
American Woodcocks, a male
Orchard Oriole, a
Yellow-throated Vireo, several
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a pair of
Scarlet Tanagers, and a
Great Crested Flycatcher. Lake logo produced both
Cliff Swallows and
Bank Swallows, while Lake Law contained a
handful of
Ruddy Ducks. I ended the morning with a
Pied-billed Grebe singing on a pond to the north of the
Bison feeders.
Saturday, April 26
I managed to get out briefly this afternoon and, despite
windy conditions, locate a few new arrivals. These included
Veery,
Gray Catbird,
Palm Warbler, and
Common Yellowthroat,
but the best find was a
Louisiana Waterthrush on the west
side of the main ring.
|
