Answer To Yesterday's Quiz Question
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Al Stokie
Mar 13, 2023, 4:00:58 PM3/13/23
to IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts
Hello Bird People,
Another nasty cold & windy day so I just repeated yesterday's route &
saw the same birds as
I did yesterday. So Instead of a new report here is the quiz question
answer & the story that goes with it.
The date was August 6, 2007 & the rare bird was a WILSON'S PLOVER. It
was seen farther up the beach from where we all saw the Ross's Gull on
Saturday.
My field notes say that I saw it with Andy Sigler, Mike Madson, Eric
Secker, Carolyn Fields &
Larry Balsch although Larry may have been leaving as we arrived. I
took one of my notorious 2 hour "lunch hours" & had to make up my
missing time by staying late after I returned to work.
At that time it was illegal to park where we all parked for the Ross's
Gull so Andy & I parked on the nearest side street & I recall when we
came back that a Black gentleman said to me that
"we don't see many white folks parking here" which was probably true.
The Plover was 1st seen on Aug 4th by a kayaker named Paul Doughty who
somehow knew, or suspected, it wasn't a Killdeer. Quite an achievement
while in a kayak! But the word didn't get out until Aug 5th but too
late for me to chase it. (Imagine that all you modern birder types, a
2 day delay before you could chase the bird! Contrast that with the
over 100 birders who were able to learn about, chase & see the Ross's
Gull within hours or even minutes on Saturday.)
The Plover was seen again on the 7th of Aug as reported on Ebird for
that day by Jill Anderson, Dan Anzia, Joe Lill & Luis Munoz. No one
reported it after that.
Several remembered this Plover & emailed me about it before I gave the
answer & they were Pat Durkin, Mike Madsen & David Johnson. Thanks go
to Walter Marcisz for reminding me that the kayaker was Paul Doughty
which I had forgotten.
As Ross's Gulls have been seen 3 times in Illinois in the Chicago area
& Wilson's Plover has
only been seen once (I think) you could argue that the Plover is a
better find but the Plover isn't blessed with the glamour of the
Ross's Gull so it will always take 2nd place to the Gull.
That's it for my story. I had a good time researching this & I hope at
least a few of you enjoy a review of birds from the past.
Al Stokie
Another nasty cold & windy day so I just repeated yesterday's route &
saw the same birds as
I did yesterday. So Instead of a new report here is the quiz question
answer & the story that goes with it.
The date was August 6, 2007 & the rare bird was a WILSON'S PLOVER. It
was seen farther up the beach from where we all saw the Ross's Gull on
Saturday.
My field notes say that I saw it with Andy Sigler, Mike Madson, Eric
Secker, Carolyn Fields &
Larry Balsch although Larry may have been leaving as we arrived. I
took one of my notorious 2 hour "lunch hours" & had to make up my
missing time by staying late after I returned to work.
At that time it was illegal to park where we all parked for the Ross's
Gull so Andy & I parked on the nearest side street & I recall when we
came back that a Black gentleman said to me that
"we don't see many white folks parking here" which was probably true.
The Plover was 1st seen on Aug 4th by a kayaker named Paul Doughty who
somehow knew, or suspected, it wasn't a Killdeer. Quite an achievement
while in a kayak! But the word didn't get out until Aug 5th but too
late for me to chase it. (Imagine that all you modern birder types, a
2 day delay before you could chase the bird! Contrast that with the
over 100 birders who were able to learn about, chase & see the Ross's
Gull within hours or even minutes on Saturday.)
The Plover was seen again on the 7th of Aug as reported on Ebird for
that day by Jill Anderson, Dan Anzia, Joe Lill & Luis Munoz. No one
reported it after that.
Several remembered this Plover & emailed me about it before I gave the
answer & they were Pat Durkin, Mike Madsen & David Johnson. Thanks go
to Walter Marcisz for reminding me that the kayaker was Paul Doughty
which I had forgotten.
As Ross's Gulls have been seen 3 times in Illinois in the Chicago area
& Wilson's Plover has
only been seen once (I think) you could argue that the Plover is a
better find but the Plover isn't blessed with the glamour of the
Ross's Gull so it will always take 2nd place to the Gull.
That's it for my story. I had a good time researching this & I hope at
least a few of you enjoy a review of birds from the past.
Al Stokie
Fran M
Mar 13, 2023, 5:45:28 PM3/13/23
to Al Stokie, IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts
Good story, Al! I had just started birding the year before, and learned a lot from "Lucas," the NU grad student who was here for a few months, and traveled a lot with Andy that year. Lucas knew the significance of the plover, and told me we needed to go see it right away! It was my 184th IL life bird. Here's my checklist for that day; lol, I didn't even list any other birds, however, there are a few digiscoped photos of the plover.
Fran
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Rachel Brenner
Mar 13, 2023, 8:00:22 PM3/13/23
to Al Stokie, IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts
I did not know the answer, but that explains when/how my father got Wilson's Plover on his Illinois list (he also got the 1978 Ross's Gull - unfortunately I was not yet interested in birding in 1978 so I did not go with him to see it). Thank you (yet again) for filling in some of the Chicago area birding history I missed - glad you got Ross's Gull this time!
jill.a...@valpo.edu
Mar 14, 2023, 9:16:19 AM3/14/23
to IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts
Nice memory of the Wilson's Plover, Al! I have a correction to make on the date that Joe L, Luis M, Dan A and I saw the bird.... we saw it on Aug 5, same as you, and were NOT the last ones to see the bird! After your post last night, Joe contacted me and asked me to correct my ebird record, which I have done. I saw the Wilson's Plover before there was eBird and entered my sighting 'after the fact'. I got the date wrong. My apologies to all, but especially the birders who were with me on Aug 5, 2007.
Jill Anderson
Eric Secker
Mar 14, 2023, 10:20:38 AM3/14/23
to jill.a...@valpo.edu, IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts
When we were all there for the Wilson's Plover, I most remember
people finding it by looking for the Arizona Tea can that it liked
to hunker down next to. Here's one of Carolyn Field's photos:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S60518308
2007 was a good year for adding birds to my Illinois life list
including my first Purple Sandpiper at Waukegan Beach (on a sunny
day and walking by along the beach so close that I had to back up
to get photos), Black-headed Gull (at Montrose Harbor), Townsend's
Warbler at LaBagh (in a large flowering hawthorn tree by the
river), Reddish Egret at Chicago Botanic Gardens, and the Wilson's
Plover at Rainbow Beach.
I have a folder on my computer where I keep a photo or two of
each new Illinois life list bird that I've seen. It's a fun quick
way to look back and remember all the experiences.
Good birding,
Eric Secker
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