Midwinter Eagle Count: Emiquon to Beardstown (Fulton, Schuyler, Cass, Mason)
Jane Ward
This morning between 8:00 and 11:00 AM, Scott and I drove from Emiquon
to Beardstown looking for eagles on the annual mid-winter count for
the Eagle Nature Foundation. We did not find many eagles, 11 in all.
The area is flooded and frozen, with very little open water.
We drove down the West side of the river and didn't find our first
eagle until we reached Sanganois Fish and Wildlife Area on the West
side of the river. One adult eagle was perched in a tree near the
highway.
We crossed the river at Beardstown and drove north towards Havana. We
found our next eagle flying high over the entrance road (150 N) to the
Sanganois Fish and Wildlife Area on the East side of the river (this
is the main area with large tracks of wetland and grassland).
We drove the long drive across the flood plain to the Sanganois FWA.
Along the way, we spotted 1 adult eagle flying over, near the road.
As we reached the flooded river, two immatures and two adults flew
over, seemingly flying together. We watched them for several minutes
as they interacted while gliding through the air.
At Bath we spotted another adult flying.
As we crossed the river at Havana, three eagles, two adults and one
unknown age (couldn't see it well enough) were flying over the open
water on the Illinois River.
We drove back through Emiquon, this time through Prairie Road and
Clark Road, but we didn't find any more eagles. Thompson Lake is
completely frozen as far as I can tell. There just isn't any open
water.
So totals for this span of the river are:
7 adults
1 sub-adult
2 immatures
1 unknown
--------------
11 eagles
Other birds observed:
1 Red-tailed Hawk, dark morph (at Emiquon, possibly the one I
previously photographed)
9 Red-tailed Hawks, other morphs
9 Crows
5 Kestrels
23 Juncos
1 Cardinal
50 Starlings
750 Canada Geese (most on the east side of the river between Sanganois and Bath)
5 Horned Larks
12 Sparrows (probably American Tree)
8 Mourning Doves (1 was all white)
2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers
The temperature was around 7 degrees when we left, 20 when we returned
home, very cold, but with sunshine and blue skies.
--
Jane Ward
Lewistown, Illinois
http://walkwithmepart2.blogspot.com/
http://www,eaglenature.com