Big Day Upper Lisle 5/4/21 87 species, 14 species of warblers

[david nicosia]

The morning started off dreary with drizzle and fog. There were some birds around but it started pretty lackluster. Then once the drizzle stopped and the sun started to come out, wow what a change!  The bird activity went way up. I was on BASSETT ROAD and there were loads of warblers. I had CAPE MAY, MAGNOLIA, PRAIRIE, BLACK-THROATED BLUE, YELLOW, YELLOW-RUMPED, CHESTNUT-SIDED, BLUE-WINGED, BLACK AND WHITE and NASHVILLE WARBLERS all in and around the big spruces that line part of BASSETT. The birds seems to be most concentrated just above where the spruces are up the hill. I probably would have missed many of these until they started calling and singing. I also had OVENBIRDS, COMMON YELLOWTHROATS AMERICAN REDSTART, and NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH to round out the warbler species.  BALTIMORE ORIOLES also have really come in and the FOY LEAST FLYCATCHERS too.  Shorebird wise the first LEAST SANDPIPERS of the year were along MERRILL CREEK OVERLOOK. Then on my way to the point I noticed raptors migrating north as the clouds began to lift around noon and the thermals begin to grow. I had 8 TURKEY VULTURES, 4 BROAD-WINGED HAWKS, 1 NORTHERN HARRIER, OSPREY and SHARP-SHINNED HAWK heading north over the hillside above rte 26.  Then I finally was able to ID a COMMON TERN that was flying around the upper reservoir fairly distant around the gravel bar. I had good lighting and excellent scope views.  The bird had a grayish body and relatively smaller tail. The wings even in good lighting did not show the "frosty" wing tips of the FORSTER'S TERN. The tail also was small relative to FORSTER'S. The bird looked grayer overall even in good lighting. The bill was blood red. The tern we had the other day in fairly poor lighting had a longer tail and I am pretty certain it indeed WAS a FORSTER'S TERN. The bill of that bird appeared more orangish red. But again lighting was not all that great and it was very distant scopes views I was going off of. The bird today was still too far photos but close enough for nice crisp scope views on high power. 

My ebird list is here...https://ebird.org/atlasny/checklist/S87096719

Dave Nicosia