State Line Beach, Lake County

[Mark Wallner]

At State Line Beach in the most northeastern part of the state you can get, a few shorebirds were on the shore including Black-bellied Plovers.  Photos can be seen at the following links:  https://wingitwildlife.com/shorebirds-2/,  https://wingitwildlife.com/ruddy-turnstone/,  https://wingitwildlife.com/ruddy-turnstone-dunlin/,  https://wingitwildlife.com/dunlin/.  Ring-billed Gulls were the bullies of the beach as they chased the Plovers and Turnstones away and one even stole a fish from a pair of courting Caspian Terns.  Photos can be seen at the following link:  https://wingitwildlife.com/caspian-tern/.  The only way the Gulls could have been worse is if they kicked sand in my face.  At least a couple of the Ruddy Turnstones came back and were left alone and were still there when I left along with the Dunlin.  

Later I noticed a kind of Toad that I've never seen before on the shore.  It crawled along and then dug down in the sand up against a small sand ridge.  Photos can be seen at the following link:  https://wingitwildlife.com/toad/.  Another beautiful day in beautiful Lake County Illinois.   

Mark Wallner,   Pleasant Prairie, WI