Lots of Willets!
I just had a feeling there would be Willets at Nine Springs yesterday. The pattern for their arrival has been late April, overcast skies with cold and windy weather. No sooner had Jesse Peterson and I arrived at the trail entrance to the settling ponds when we heard their distinct calls.
Though I wasn't completely surprised, I wasn't expecting to see a flock of 38 of them - the most I've ever seen at one time. Just when I thought this was impressive, when I got home I read about a flock of 67 Willets spotted in Waukegan, Illinois on IBET from earlier in the morning. Apparently, this flock may be the largest Illinois spring concentration on record.
Willet Range Map
Here's a mosaic I tried to stitch together from 4 digiscoped images of the line of Willets. (Note: several of the birds were off in the periphery doing their own thing):
(click on image for larger version)
Link: All about the Willet from Cornell's All About Birds
Other shorebirds at Nine Springs included:
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Pectoral Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Dunlin
Killdeer
Prior to our Nine Springs stop, Jesse and I found 8 warbler species at Pheasant Branch Conservancy. It was a classic mixed-flock of warblers, vireos and other neotropical songbirds:
Northern Parula
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Waterthrush
Blue-headed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Least Flycatcher
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Gray Catbird
Today is extremely windy and rainy, but the winds are predicted to remain coming from the south for the next several days. Hopefully there will be a break or two in the bad weather to get some good birding in. However, some of the most impressive warbler fall-outs I've ever seen have been in particularly nasty weather conditions.
Willet images © 2006 Mike McDowell
posted by Mike McDowell @ 5:50 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
The weather sure was nasty! My girlfriend and I camped at Bong this weekend and we silently thanked the inventor of rainwear.
This afternoon we saw a bonanza of birds during steady rain and heavy winds. Unlike the birds we watched, I was thankful to have a warm, dry bed to go home to!
Jeff
I take my camera with me when I hunt white tails. I hunt in Talladega National Forest and it is a good place to go birding. I have flushed snipe when I had my camera. I know where they hang out but I don't think I am fast enough to ever get a picture. I have a couple of good Hawk pictures that I have never posted. I have posted two fair pictures of wood peckers I have ID one but I don't think I posted the name.I use a dimage z6 and enjoy the 12 power zoom. Your pictures are great.
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