Crane Search In The Rain Sunday 10-10-21

49 views
Skip to first unread message

Al Stokie

unread,
Oct 10, 2021, 5:16:51 PM10/10/21
to IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts
Hello Bird People,

Since last weekend's Godwit adventures I have pretty much just done
local birding but today I made the 95 mile trip to Starved Rock to
look for the Whooping Cranes which have been there for at least 5
days. Since they have been present for almost a week & since they are
usually only seen at a great distance & they have been reported on
ebird ever since they arrived I don't feel guilty about talking about
them. They have been reported from the Lone Point Shelter area &
nearby fields & that's where I found them today although not for long.

Arrived at 8:15 & just before I reached the Lone Point parking lot I
saw 2 big white birds in a corn stubble field with about 50 Canada
Geese. As Egrets are not in the habit of feeding in old corn fields I
figured I had found the Cranes. But I was very lucky in my timing as
later they were gone. Watched them from a pull off along Rt 71 & as I
left they were walking south at a slow but steady pace. Then to the
shelter parking lot where I checked out what was in the water when it
stopped raining. Here's what I saw at Lone Point.

Lone Point Shelter Lot (8:30-9:30 a.m.)

WHITE PELICAN (31)
D.C. Cormorant (only 1)
Great Blue Heron (5)
Great Egret (24)
Canada Goose (24-26)
Mallard (only 2)
BALD EAGLE (3-AD & 1-IM)
Ring Billed Gull (62)
Nearby land birds were Blue Jays, Crows & Chickadees.

Then back to the Whooper field but I could not relocate the Whoopers
although I drove along Rt 71 for some distance. They may have gone
back in the river area but I didn't see them.

Then to the main Starved Rock parking lot to view the river by the
dam. But all I saw were more Pelicans (155), D.C. Cormorants (3) &
Canada Geese.

Now the rain got very heavy & my ride from Utica all the way to Ottawa
was tough to do as the rain made it hard to see the road even with
wipers on full blast. Then from Ottawa on the rain slowed down & by
Seneca it had mostly stopped. On the way back I saw a Nittany Lion bus
taking gear for the Penn State team back from their football loss at
Iowa. (I need to look up Nittany to see what it means, maybe a color?
but it refers to a Puma or Cougar)

Finally a stop at Peacock Marsh in Will County but I found no
shorebirds, only lots of Geese & Ducks including Mallards, Gadwall,
Shovelers, Pintail & Green Winged Teal.

Bird-Of-The-Day to the 2 Whooping Cranes with transmitters attached &
Runners-Up to
the Pelicans & the Bald Eagles.

Al Stokie
Mostly in LaSalle County today with one quick stop in Will County

Tamima Itani

unread,
Oct 10, 2021, 9:31:02 PM10/10/21
to Al Stokie, IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts
Hello Al, 

I had a chance to see the Whooping Cranes this afternoon, first in the IL River in a marshy area, then flying across the river, across 71 and into a nearby field.

From their bands, my preliminary online investigation leads me to believe one is a female hatched in 2019 and the other a female hatched in 2020.  So they are pretty young!  They have been associating since spring 2021, first in IL, then traveling to WI in mid-summer, returning to IL recently.  I have submitted their band information for confirmation and additional details.  Maybe someone else has already submitted the band information for identification.

Thanks, 

Tamima Itani
Evanston, Cook County

From: ilb...@googlegroups.com <ilb...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Al Stokie <alsto...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2021 4:16 PM
To: IBET - Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts <ilb...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [IBET] Crane Search In The Rain Sunday 10-10-21
 
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages