We enjoyed rather temperate but stormy weather for a couple of weeks after we arrived in Illinois in late September. Clouds hung low one morning over the silo at Nelson Lake preserve: Then, in mid-October, the weather turned cold. Temperatures dropped to near freezing and we had a hard frost overnight. The air was still and we could see our breath when we visited nearby Les Arends Forest Preserve on the Fox River in Batavia. A slight breeze distorted the reflections in this slough along the west side of the river: A cluster of Sky Blue Asters (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense), sheltered in the undergrowth, had survived the cold, but their days were numbered: A few White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) were singing their distinctive lisping songs. They reminded me of the nights we spent in a little cabin deep in Denali National Park, Alaska. It was early June and the night sky remained deep blue all night. Around us, White-crowned Sparrows sang incessantly all night. As the light improved we watched them forage only inches away from our window screens. There are several subspecies of White-crowned Sparrows. Those we saw in Alaska, such as this one, has white lores (the area in front of eye): This is one of my favorite photos of this species, taken in Talkeetna, Alaska back in 2011: This bird, photographed at Rio Grande Nature Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, also exhibits white lores: Four subspecies of this rather large sparrow are recognized, and intermediate forms are found where their ranges overlap. They are distinguished by presence or absence of black in their lores, bill color and other subtle plumage variations. Two of the most widespread subspecies are depicted above. Zonotrichia l. leucophrys breeds in the central and eastern portion of far northern Canada and along the Rocky Mountain chain into Northern New Mexico. It has a pink bill and black lores and spends the winter all across the southern US, more commonly to the east.
Zonotrichia l. gambelli breeds in the western part of far northern Canada and Alaska and has white lores and an orange or pinkish orange bill. In winter it usually migrates into the western US and central Mexico. While most of the White-crowned Sparrows around our second home in northeastern Illinois have dark lores, this one, seen at Fabyan Forest Preserve in Geneva, Illinois exhibited white lores: My best photos of this species have been taken from the comfort of the back yard deck at our daughter's home in Batava, Illinois. They maintain several feeders and the birds are quite tame, often perching on the railing or furniture. Note that this bird has dark lores: This one peers through their back yard fence: So far I have shown only adult birds. For the first year of its life the streaks on its head and behind the eye are reddish brown rather than black, and the central crown stripe and those over its eyes are light tan rather than white: White-crowned Sparrows are quite rarely seen in the southern tip of Florida. I was lucky to find and photograph them there on two occasions, in mid and late October two years in a row. All were immature birds. This one appeared on October 23, 2013, a year after my first sighting on October 18, 2012: This immature visited our daughter's back yard in October, 2014: This past week the feeders in our daughter's back yard had run out but there was some seed scattered on the deck. Two immature White-crowned Sparrows flew in and perched on the deck railing at eye level only about 4 feet from where I was sitting (photographing a junco in nearby tree). They were too close to focus and also more than filled the viewfinder of my telescopic lens system, so I cautiously switched on the macro setting. One bird flew but the other remained for a few seconds, enough for a burst of close-ups: Here is the Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco which was the initial object of my attention:
I have had difficulties with Blogger fonts and formatting and finally needed to re-write this blog using a default template, hence the difference in appearance. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Our stay in northeastern Illinois began near the end of warbler migration, so we were mostly in the "shoulder season" of birding, a more quiet time before the northern bird species start to arrive. The pair of Bald Eagles that nested last year near our Illinois home will not lay their eggs until early spring, but they were roosting in their nest tree: By the time we were ready to return home to Florida at the end of October, the winter sparrows began showing up in fresh plumage. White-throated Sparrows sported their golden lores; White-crowned Sparrows are notably larger than their white-throated relatives and breed on the Canadian tundra. This one suddenly appeared on the deck of our daughter's home and posed very cooperatively: The immature White-crowned Sparrow has a buffy crown but this does not detract from its beauty: Song Sparrows are seen all year, but the local breeders fly south in the winter and are replaced by migrants from the north: Larger and more richly colored Fox Sparrows followed: Ruby-crowned Kinglets move through after most of the warblers have departed, and will linger until cold weather sets in: Kinglets are active feeders, "hover-gleaning" for insects in the tips of branches: Hardy (Slate-colored) Dark-eyed Juncos, commonly called "Snow Birds," will remain all winter: Canada Geese arrived by the thousands in V-formation flocks, joining the permanent resident population. This video captures the sense of being immersed in the wild echoing calls of flocks of geese as they fly overhead. Many settled into the small pond in Jones Meadow Park, very close to our condo. Try to ignore the passing airliner! (If video does not display in the space below, please visit this link.)
These migrating geese come in two distinctly recognizable sizes. The smaller ones actually represent a separate species, the Cackling Goose, which breeds high in the arctic tundra and spends winter more to the south. The four in the foreground exhibit not only smaller size, but short necks, rounder heads and stubbier bills:Three Canada Geese are joined by a Pied-billed Grebe:The number and variety of birds was down, but in contrast to their muted plumage, the fall colors were superb. This is something that we really miss in Florida, where the Wet Season simply transitions into the Dry Season without fanfare around the middle of October. At Hawk's Bluff Park near our daughter's home in Batavia, Illinois this magnificent Oak provided copper highlights:The Cottonwoods along Mill Creek added gold to the palette:In early October we had already experienced a few snow flurries, so we were a bit apprehensive about our daughter's invitation to join her family for a long mid-October weekend over 200 miles to the north in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The city straddles the namesake inlet and bay that connects Lake Michigan with Green Bay. We were pleasantly surprised to find cloudless skies and fair temperatures. From the lawn of our condo on the bay, sunset was serene and colorful despite the clear sky:At a local farm, Sugar Maples were in fine color:Large flocks of migrating ducks followed Sturgeon Bay southward. This flock consisted of over 20 Redheads with a Red-breasted Merganser taking up the lead position.Hundreds of Horned Grebes foraged just offshore. This was the first time I ever was able to photograph this species, though the images suffered because the sun was behind the birds:These two Mallard drakes, though seen at a distance, were in better light:
On our second day in Albuquerque, there had been light rain during the night, continuing into the morning, and reports of snow and high winds up at Sandia Crest. We therefore decided to begin our day at Rio Grande Nature Center. There were reports on the Internet that a Harris's Sparrow had been present there for the past three days. As we entered the parking lot, we delighted in the beauty of a Cottonwood in all its fall glory. At the pond next to the parking lot, there was a mixed assembly of dabbling ducks, mostly Mallards. Among them, a beautiful male Gadwall. A single Western Grebe with firery red eyes stood out in the center of the pond. A lone Pied-billed Grebe looked tiny in comparison. A pair of Hooded Mergansers appeared briefly, and I was lucky to catch them before they swam out of sight. Our next stop was at the feeders on the way to the interpretive center. White-crowned Sparrows were abundant. In the past it was unusual for us to see more than one or two White-throated Sparrows here, but this morning we saw at least six adults. They had bright golden lores. We were amazed to see that huge numbers of White-winged Doves were mobbing the feeders. We led bird hikes there, and White-wings were absent until just before we moved to Florida in 2004. A White-breasted Nuthatch joined Red-winged Blackbirds at the feeder. This Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco wears evidence of the efficiency of the RGNC banding team. The golden Cottonwood leaves provided a beautiful background a Downy Woodpecker which, uncharacteristically lacks black markings on its outer tail feathers. An unusual find was this Townsend's Solitaire, which usually does not stray so far from the Sandia foothills. We then watched the pond adjacent to the interpretive center, where we found several pairs of brightly-colored Wood Ducks. These two dominated the feeder. Here is another beautiful male. The rain let up, and Mary Lou and I birded the area and searched for the Harris's Sparrow until the interpretive center opened at 10:00 AM. Unfortunately, no one had left a record of exactly where the sparrow had been seen, and we were unsuccessful in our quest.
