(Late) Waukegan Beach, State Line Beach, Spring Bluff, Ill Beach North & Skokie Lagoons Friday 4-24-26

[Al Stokie]

Hello Bird People,

Wanted to see the Willets that were at Waukegan on Thursday but they
were gone on Friday. So I checked 4 Lake County places in that area
hoping the Willets were still in the area but no.

Waukegan Beach (7:10-8 am)

D.C. Cormorant (50 fly-bys)
Canada Goose (5)
PIPING PLOVER (1)
Ring Billed (73) & Herring (24) Gulls
Caspian Tern (2)
(And 7 species of common land birds)

State Line Beach (8:30-8:55 am)

D.C. Cormorant 4)
Canada Goose (6)
Killdeer (H-1)
Ring Billed (42) & Herring (75) Gulls
Caspian Tern (49)
House Finch (2)

Spring Bluff F.P. (9:05-9:30 am)

Canada Goose (2)
Blue Winged Teal (5) & Shoveler (4)
Sora (H-1)
Sandhill Crane (H-1)
Tree (1) & Rough Winged (2) Swallows
(And 3 species of common land birds)

Illinois Beach North Unit (10 am-noon)

P.B. Grebe (1, Sand Pond)
D.C. Cormorant (3)
Blue Winged Teal (11)
Red Breasted Merganser (2-PR)
Killdeer (4)
Greater (8) & Lesser (19) Yellowlegs
DUNLIN (5) (FOY)
Ring Billed (12) & Herring (6) Gulls
Caspian Tern (7)
FORSTER'S TERN (4) (FOY)
(And 7 species of common land birds)

Then on the way home I got a call from David Johnson who said he had
just seen a
YELLOW THROATED WARBLER singing away at Skokie Lagoons in from Willow Road.
So I stopped there on the way home & heard it singing right away but
seeing it was another matter. I was with another birder & he saw it
but I did not. Later I was there with Glen who got a short look at it
but again I did not. Later still Glen & I were joined by Amanda T &
Jeff B but for a long time we didn't see it until finally Amanda
picked it out at the very top of the whitish trees next to the water.
That only took 2 hours! It had been hard to find because of all the
Yellow Rumps that were present. Also saw one Black & White Warbler.
There was one male Ruddy Duck in the lagoon.

So 43 species for the day plus 1 roadside addition for a day's total of 44.
Bird-Of-The-Day will be that hard to find Yellow Throated Warbler &
Runners-Up will be the Waukegan Piping Plover, the Dunlin & the
Forster's Terns.

Al Stokie
Mostly in Lake County today with one stop in Cook County