Re: [IBET] Digest for ilbirds@googlegroups.com - 10 updates in 4 topics

[Kathy Kelly]

Happy birthday AL! 

I enjoy reading your daily bird reports. Here’s to many more. 

On Mar 28, 2025, at 11:14 AM, ilb...@googlegroups.com wrote:



ilb...@googlegroups.com

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• Birthdays & Birding at Wood Dale Reservoir & More Thursday 3-27-25 - 1 Update
• Happy Birthday to Al Stokie! - 7 Updates
• thanks to Al for BBL loon and another birthday; a few new birds of season at Botanic Garden - 1 Update
• AL Birthday - 1 Update

Birthdays & Birding at Wood Dale Reservoir & More Thursday 3-27-25

Al Stokie <alsto...@gmail.com>: Mar 27 09:12PM -0500 Hello Bird People,   Well I have always prided myself on answering every email that I get even if it's one asking for directions to somewhere that I have given the same directions over & over again. But today I received 37 emails, 4 text messages & 2 phone calls all wishing me Happy Birthday, good birding & even good luck with license plates. And the emails are still coming in. Also I am told that there are birthday messages for me on Facebook which, unfortunately, I can't see as I am not on Facebook. So rather than stay up for hours saying thank you to everyone I will just say here that it was very nice of everyone to send me birthday greetings! And this is not just any birthday but it is my 80th birthday so it's a milestone of sorts. I guess I go from being the "old retired guy" to being the "even older retired guy". I never knew there were so many folks who read my reports but it seems like there are quite a few which surprises me somewhat as I seldom report anything special. So I will try & keep up the reports in spite of all of my walking, standing & hand shaking problems, at least for a little longer although the reports may be diminishing in the future. Here's my results for my 80th birthday:   Wood Dale Reservoir (7:45-10:25 a.m.) (With, as usual, Luis M)   Reservoir   P.B. Grebe (4) D.C. Cormorant (1) Great Blue Heron (2) Canada Goose (9) & Mallard (9) CANVASBACK (2-M) Ring Necked Duck (1-F) & Lesser Scaup (9) Common (1-M) & Red Breasted (301) Mergansers Killdeer (2) & Snipe (1) Ring Billed (11) & Herring (2) Gulls Tree Swallow (~10)   Middle Pond   Great Blue Heron (1) D.C. Cormorant (3) Canada Goose (4) & Mallard (4) AMERICAN WOODCOCK (1, flushed one while walking) Kestrel (1-M)   Itasca/Western Wetlands   Great Blue Heron (1) Mallard (7) & Green Winged Teal (1-PR) Killdeer (11) (While here Luis saw 2 Common Loons heading west but I missed them in flight)   Land Birds   Mourning Dove (5) Red Bellied (2) & Downy (2-3) Woodpeckers & Flicker (2) Blue Jay (3) Robin (17) & Starling (2) Cardinal (4) Song Sparrow (8) & Junco (4) Red Wings (34), Grackle (8) & Cowbird (1) RUSTY BLACKBIRD (2-M) House Sparrow (2) (Strange but we had no Finches of any kind today)   Also stopped at the Bensenville Ditch where we added a nice adult Bald Eagle & a pair of Bufflehead. Had 363 more Red Breasted Mergansers as well. After lunch & radiation therapy I checked out Axehead Lake & Lake Opeka but didn't see much there. Opeka had 1 P.B. Grebe & 3 Horned Grebes & Axehead had 6 more Lesser Scaup.   So 38 species for my birthday & Bird-Of-The-Day will be the Woodcock which was a new site bird for me. Runners-Up will be the Rusty Blackbirds, the adult Bald Eagle & the 2 male Canvasback ducks.   Al Stokie Mostly in DuPage County today having a pretty good day

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Happy Birthday to Al Stokie!

Patricia Asher <paa...@gmail.com>: Mar 27 10:10AM -0700 Sending birthday wishes to Al for many rare bird sightings!   On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 4:46 AM Tamima Itani <tamim...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Phillip Stosberg <phillip....@gmail.com>: Mar 27 11:15AM -0600 Al rules!   On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 5:46 AM Tamima Itani <tamim...@hotmail.com> wrote:

SUSAN WREN <swre...@sbcglobal.net>: Mar 27 12:46PM -0500 Happy birthday, Al. I look forward to your reports every day. Thank you!!   Sent from my iPhone   On Mar 27, 2025, at 12:16 PM, Phillip Stosberg <phillip....@gmail.com> wrote:      Al rules!   On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 5:46 AM Tamima Itani <tamim...@hotmail.com> wrote:   Wishing Al Stokie an exceptional day of birding on his birthday. Hopefully, a great, chaseable rarity will materialize today for him. Or several new year birds. Or simply the joy of ongoing birds.   Best wishes Al!   Tamima Itani   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ilbirds+u...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ilbirds/BN6PR19MB0083E2427D252EF47EA3C2B4A9A12%40BN6PR19MB0083.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ilbirds+u...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ilbirds/CAL%2BTN_E4LSfVucevrdK_AfpNQfohdia4g9VJnULS2P98xDCCNg%40mail.gmail.com.

Marc Perkowitz <marcpe...@gmail.com>: Mar 27 12:47PM -0500 Happy Birthday Al! We wish you many bird sightings today and every day! My wife and I follow your birding adventures constantly, with admiration (and jealousy). When a new rare sighting is posted, she always asks "Has Al been there yet?". We have discovered and enjoyed many great birding locations (and birds) because of your postings. Some day our paths will cross and we will see you in the field. Thank you for sharing your daily adventures with us! (We also started our own license plate game too!)   All the best, Marc and Sally Perkowitz   On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 6:46 AM Tamima Itani <tamim...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Caryn Hollander <cjholl...@yahoo.com>: Mar 27 11:09AM -0700 Happy bird-day Al!! Like others, love reading your reports everyday. You truly are an inspiration to many. All the best…   Caryn Hollander   On Mar 27, 2025, at 8:22 AM, M. R. Blumer Reed <blumr...@gmail.com> wrote:   HAPPY BIRTHDAY AL!!!   Thank you for inspiring me every day of the year, rain or shine!   Mary   On Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 9:17:43 AM UTC-5 kmokry wrote:   Happy Birthday!   Kathryn   On Mar 27, 2025, at 6:46 AM, Tamima Itani <tamim...@hotmail.com> wrote:      Wishing Al Stokie an exceptional day of birding on his birthday. Hopefully, a great, chaseable rarity will materialize today for him. Or several new year birds. Or simply the joy of ongoing birds.   Best wishes Al!   Tamima Itani   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ilbirds+u...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ilbirds/BN6PR19MB0083E2427D252EF47EA3C2B4A9A12%40BN6PR19MB0083.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ilbirds+u...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ilbirds/5645be7c-a1a9-4d89-8c2c-54411fc6c3ben%40googlegroups.com.

Chuck Berman <cberm...@gmail.com>: Mar 27 11:22AM -0700 May you see all the birds you want to see and all the license plates there are. Happy Birthday Chuck Berman An early fan even before I knew you.   On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 11:09 AM 'Caryn Hollander' via IBET - Illinois

Evan Graff <egra...@yahoo.com>: Mar 27 05:03PM -0500 Happy Birthday, Al - looking forward to your post from today - hope you had a fun time out there!!   On Mar 27, 2025, at 1:22 PM, Chuck Berman <cberm...@gmail.com> wrote:      May you see all the birds you want to see and all the license plates there are.   Happy Birthday   Chuck Berman   An early fan even before I knew you.   On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 11:09 AM 'Caryn Hollander' via IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts <ilb...@googlegroups.com> wrote:   Happy bird-day Al!! Like others, love reading your reports everyday. You truly are an inspiration to many. All the best…   Caryn Hollander   On Mar 27, 2025, at 8:22 AM, M. R. Blumer Reed <blumr...@gmail.com> wrote:   HAPPY BIRTHDAY AL!!!   Thank you for inspiring me every day of the year, rain or shine!   Mary   On Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 9:17:43 AM UTC-5 kmokry wrote:   Happy Birthday!   Kathryn   On Mar 27, 2025, at 6:46 AM, Tamima Itani <tamim...@hotmail.com> wrote:      Wishing Al Stokie an exceptional day of birding on his birthday. Hopefully, a great, chaseable rarity will materialize today for him. Or several new year birds. Or simply the joy of ongoing birds.   Best wishes Al!   Tamima Itani   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ilbirds+u...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ilbirds/BN6PR19MB0083E2427D252EF47EA3C2B4A9A12%40BN6PR19MB0083.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ilbirds+u...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ilbirds/5645be7c-a1a9-4d89-8c2c-54411fc6c3ben%40googlegroups.com.   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ilbirds+u...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ilbirds/76637388-DCE6-477F-B0F1-CA46C25B1E67%40yahoo.com.   --   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts" group.   To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ilbirds+u...@googlegroups.com.   To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ilbirds/CAOOqAppJ8rnSRjWykSYVE3ta1Gt1NwEo25jbF34D_m35B-6OvQ%40mail.gmail.com.

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thanks to Al for BBL loon and another birthday; a few new birds of season at Botanic Garden

ALAN ANDERSON <casre...@comcast.net>: Mar 27 01:57PM -0500 I already texted Al a Happy Birthday wish this morning, but also wanted to add my Happy Birthday wishes for another year of enjoyable birding posts, and especially for his friendly folksy writing! Also I wanted to thank him (and Marilyn F for follow up) about the continuing Common Loon at Big Bend Lake, which I saw around 11:30am this morning. There were only a few ducks there this morning, perhaps due to the boat that was in the lake (fishing). In my main report from the Chicago Botanic Garden bird walk this morning (eBird list below), it was the fourth bird walk I've led there so far this year, and we were able to add a few new species to the birds we've seen there so far this year. Today we added a GREAT EGRET, a pair of EASTERN PHOEBE (both species new to the Garden species list for the year), and also new to my walks were a (heard in flight) Killdeer, two male BLUE-WINGED TEAL, a pair of N. SHOVELERS and about a dozen TREE SWALLOWS. The adult Red-tailed Hawk that was perched on the corner of the main building at the Fruit and Vegetable Garden for the longest time, gave everyone great up close observations. It most likely was the same RT Hawk we saw last Saturday. It definitely is used to people, as it doesn't fly away with people walking nearby! Alan Anderson, casre...@comcast.net mailto:casresearch@comcast.nt Des Plaines www.chicagobirdalliance.org http://www.chicagobird (note: early heads up: Illinois Spring Bird Count, Saturday, May 10th this year) EBird report from CBG: Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Cook, Illinois, US Mar 27, 2025 8:00 AM - 10:05 AM Protocol: Traveling, 13 observers 1.48 mile(s) Checklist Comments: one muskrat observed today in North Lake; 46 degrees at start (wind: 3 mph, SW), 50 degrees at end with wind 4 mph, gusts to 8); mostly cloudy; we may have heard a flicker call once 31 species (+1 other taxa)   > Red-winged Blackbird 15 all males, spread througout > Common Grackle 80 under count; small groups and some pairs > Northern Cardinal 8 6 singing males and 2 females (including one singing female)   View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S221114329

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AL Birthday

Karen Forcum <tkfo...@gmail.com>: Mar 27 01:09PM -0500 Happy birthday Al. I look forward to your posts daily. They are one of my high lights. I also play the license plate game. Karen Forcum

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