So the chat says to the mockingbird: An Illinois Bird Day saga

[Jarod Hitchings]

Greetings bird folks,

Well, yesterday started with a mix of emotions. The passing of "Monty" the piping plover was still stinging. The perseverance and resilience, against all obstacles, that birds possess were the character traits I used as a compass to celebrate "Illinois Bird Day". The Illinois Ornithological Society worked really hard in getting this governor's office proclamation passed. It just happens to coincide with World Migratory Bird Day. Monty sure would be proud that Illinois is a true haven for migratory birds. With that spirit in mind it was time to get out and about to count what birds were around me on the "Global Big Day."

I have been using the Merlin sound ID app in preparation for my upcoming Breeding Bird Survey route. The last update has proved to be a massive improvement. It really does get one's mind on what a bird sounds like. With the app's help I am able to record the sound, look at the suggested photo on what the bird might be locally and then I can compare the AI's suggestion by listening to the presumed bird's call or song. 

The Illinois Audubon Society was also conducting a friendly competition, between the state chapter affiliates, on which team would compile the most species seen. I signed up for team Springfield and birded in my yard, then at my daughter's track meet sectionals bringing to an end the spring time track season, then back at home while I worked in the yard. Best Yard Bird: gray catbird. Best Travel Bird: wood duck. Best Track Meet Bird: Eurasian collared dove.

Still I was short on my ebird submission lists. The monthly ebird challenge contest, for a pair of Zeiss binoculars, was 5 or more eligible checklists submitted on May 14th in honor of the Global Big Day. There was just enough daylight to bird my two local patches to qualify and find something spectacular. I was not disappointed, by the railroad right away there's shrub-land habitat.  There was my first of the season yellow-breasted chat! So striking, so ebullient, the ultimate buffoon of briar-patch living up to the moniker.   

Not wanting to be "that guy" I walked far enough away to play back my recording so I could contrast it with Cornell's recordings of a chat. That's when a new song began in a similar scrubby habitat in response to my prior recording. Switching gears I turned Merlin on to confirm my initial impression. It was a northern mockingbird calling back sounding like a chat (among other whistles). He just had the chat down pat. I have not seen nor heard one in two years for Sangamon county.

I was stunned, this happens to be one of the first birds I was curious about, back in my middle school days, out on the family farm. There that countryside mockingbird sang into the evening after sunset. A songbird carrying on at night leaves an impression on a kid. These are the moments that act as building blocks to get folks back into bird watching as adults. Minimal exposure to birds opens up the whole world of nature to individuals. Hopefully Illinois Bird Day acts as one of these cornerstones to get folks engaged in the natural world around them.

To be completely candid, I might have pushed it when I decided to make a final stop at Riverside Park. Not far from home yet it wasn't twilight. Why not try for a few more species to close out the day? It was either an immature male or female orchard oriole that greeted me followed by a female eastern bluebird. Both great additions to the list!

There are two means of entrance to the park so when I saw the park district ranger I knew it was time to get moving. On the way out I heard a common nighthawk. This reminded me of a time down in Southern Illinois, at Millstone bluff, where I was listening to a common nighthawk realizing that gates get locked at sunset. That time I made it out no troubles. 

Unfortunately, I misjudged my exit strategy. The ranger had locked the south entrance first. I made a beeline to the other means of escape to no avail. I was locked in, "pure T" panic was setting in. "What's the name of the park district arborist I know?" "What's my wife's phone number?" "Can a Chevy Equinox ramp a hill (it cannot)" calmness set in and after a call or two I made it out in 10 minutes flat. That was a close one! Truly a "Bird Day" to remember. 

https://thebirdemergency.com/the-prothonotary-warbler-with-jarod-hitchings/

I have included a link to "the Bird Emergency Podcast '' where I was a guest talking about our Prothonotary warbler nest box trail and the need to help a declining bird species. The episode dropped yesterday to celebrate "World Migratory Bird Day''. It truly was a cross-cultural exchange showing how birds are so diverse yet birders are so similar whether in Melbourne Australia, where the host Grant Williams resides, or in the greater Springfield Illinois area such as myself. Birds bring people together and that's the best way to summarize "Illinois Bird Day". 

Hopefully everyone had a happy Bird-Day,

Jarod Hitchings

Sherman, Illinois