first migrating fall warbler this morning at Izaak Walton League-Des Plaines

[ALAN ANDERSON]

As late summer can be a little bit quieter bird-wise as nesting season is winding down, but I saw more birds than I expected this morning (30 species) on my weekly monitoring at Izaak Walton League Des Plaines site (west part of Algonquin Woods south of Oakton along Des Plaines River).

 

The bird highlights were my first fall warbler - a Northern Waterthrush in the open in a shrub not far from the river (a few weeks earlier than I would normally see), and families of flickers, robins and great-crested flycatchers, plus a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers still bringing food to their young in their usual nest cavity (second brood of the summer for them).

 

Non-bird highlights were a Spiny Softshell Turtle basking on a log, and two types of skippers, among other insects.   Low-light was a few invasive Purple Loosestrife plants along the river.

 

I put a number of photos of the insects, turtles and birds in the eBird checklist.   There was one (snail?) shell I found and if anyone knows what species might have used it (see photos in eBird) let me know!

 

Here is the checklist link:

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S379912623

 

Alan Anderson, Des Plaines, Cook County

casre...@comcast.net

[Tamima Itani]

Good morning Alan, 

I temporarily uploaded your snail shell photo on iNaturalist which identified it as possibly a Pointed Campeloma, native to the US:

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/215958-Campeloma-decisum?photo_id=3143618

Do you have the iNaturalist app?  It is outstanding.  You can take photos while in the field directly into the app.  Location and date will be automatically uploaded, and an identification provided for whatever critter or plant you are trying to identify.  Peer reviewers will often evaluate your submission for correctness, which is helpful since there are often many similar choices.

Take care, 

Tamima

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From: 'ALAN ANDERSON' via IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts <ilb...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 12:33 AM
To: ilb...@googlegroups.com <ilb...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [IBET] first migrating fall warbler this morning at Izaak Walton League-Des Plaines

 

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