Crops & Clips: I saw a Sora

During our brief stay with our daughter's family in northeastern Illinois, I enjoyed watching the birds from the deck in their back yard. We had visits from local breeding birds and even one species which had not departed for its nesting grounds to the north.

Several White-crowned Sparrows brightened up the surroundings by perching on the fence:





The presence of black in front of their eyes (lores) and pinkish bills indicate that these belong to the East Tiaga population which breeds in the eastern Canadian tundra. They will soon be departing. One took a perch in a blooming cherry tree:



Song Sparrows breed locally and were singing from the fence and nearby spruce trees:





Other visitors included Eastern Goldfinches. A female was eating the catkins of a birch tree (I learned that people can eat them too):



Male House Finches were in full song...



...and visited the freshly stocked feeder...



...as did House Sparrows...



...and Brown-headed Cowbirds:



The fence also hosted a cooing Mourning Dove...


...and a male Northern Cardinal:





American Robins were starting to nest:



A surprise visitor was a Blue-headed Vireo which posed for a few photos as it foraged among the buds and flowers:





I glanced out the kitchen window and saw that I was not the only one attracted to the yard birds. An immature Cooper's Hawk perched for a moment before plunging into a small bush after an unidentified bird. It was not successful and flew away empty-taloned. My photo is soft because I shot through the window:





My first venture outside was a single-minded search for a Sora in nearby Jones Meadow Park, which I hoped had already returned for the summer. They winter in Florida, but I rarely see them near our home. I succeeded, though my glimpse of one was momentary:



On a subsequent visit the Sora appeared at closer range but was very shy and elusive:





The cool outside air made me feel better. Seeing the Sandhill Cranes (described in my prior post) also lifted my spirits!

Back home in Florida, a rare Seasonal Blue Moon made its appearance on May 19. The more common "Blue Moon" occurs as the second full Moon in a month with two full Moons. This happens about once every two or three years. The Seasonal Blue Moon is the second of three full Moons which appear during one of the four seasons, in this case between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.

The Seasonal Blue Moon descends in the southeastern sky just before sunrise over our local wetlands:



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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

 Linking to Fences Around the World by Gosia

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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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Birds posting

This week has been hectic as we were totally immersed in the tasks related to the sale of our Illinois condo, so Mary Lou and I have missed seeing nearly all the transient spring migrating birds. 

We never reached our daily goal of 10,000 steps, although we got lots of exercise climbing up and down the three stories of our town-home, carrying furniture and household items. A good friend with husky relatives did the heavy lifting. Tonight (Tuesday), after attending our granddaughter's graduation from 8th grade we must catch a limo ride to the airport at 3:00 AM.

We visited Nelson Lake only a couple of times. This is the east entry path:



Earlier in the month we were able to drive through a nearby disturbed vacant area several times. We arranged our route so that whatever our destination, we could make one tour around the block. The area of grassland is platted, utilities and roads are in place and lots for future homes are marked out with signs and wooden poles. Using the auto as a blind, I captured a few decent shots.

Savannah Sparrow:





Eastern Kingbird:



Grasshopper Sparrow:





American Robin singing:



A female House Sparrow joined a male who was perched on a post:





The couple posed for a portrait:



This was the first time we found Bobolinks at this location:




 
Horned Lark:



A nice find was a Lark Sparrow. They have returned to this area after nesting here last spring for the first breeding record in Kane County. We are at the extreme northeastern limit of their breeding range:



A pair of Lark Sparrows foraged together. Another birder found a third:



Lark Sparrows are large, have long tails with white markings and their face pattern is distinctive:



A Killdeer had three newly hatched chicks:







Canada Geese dabbled in a roadside puddle:





A Bald Eagle flew overhead:




ADDENDUM: With all that is going on I forgot it was already Thursday and the blog posted automatically. I wanted to add a sky and cloud shot from the airplane as we were in final descent about 15 miles west of the Fort Lauderdale Airport and 6 miles north of our home. I was surprised to see that my neighborhood was visible just before we entered the heavier clouds. Click to enlarge and see annotations:




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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

________________________________________________

Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

________________________________________________

Crops & Clips: It's only a sparrow

Out on a trail which traverses the north prairie of Nelson Lake (Dick Young/Nelson Lake Marsh Forest Preserve) in Batavia, Illinois, a passerby stopped to watch me as I was intently focusing my camera into the high grass. I turned to say hello and he asked me what I was seeing. "A Henslow's Sparrow," I replied. His response was "Oh, only a sparrow," and he moved on his way.

A dramatic sky over the southwest prairie at Nelson Lake preserve:



True, most sparrows are unobtrusive LBJ's (Little Brown Jobs). They can sometimes be difficult to identify or even find as they move around near the ground or perch on a distant shrub. Yet they are an interesting lot and, on closer inspection, quite varied and beautiful.

The most common sparrows of my childhood were called "Chippies" by my grandmother, who fed them bread scraps in the back yard we shared. Only after I found them pictured in my first bird book did I realize their proper name was English Sparrow, and that it was introduced from Europe. Later I learned that they were the only "true sparrows" I was ever likely to see in the US.

Renamed "House Sparrow," they populate most of the urban areas of North America including Mexico but not the high mountains or northern Canada. Although they are present in shopping centers less than a mile from our south Florida home, I have never seen one in our back yard or the wetlands near our home.This male is enjoying a meal in our daughter's feeder in Batavia:

 

Closely related to weaver finches, the Old World "True" Sparrows (Family Passeridae) deserved naming rights before the LBJ's of the USA were ever discovered. I have yet to see a European Tree Sparrow, the other immigrant from this family, although it is quite common in St. Louis, Missouri and is also seen southwestern Illinois. The native sparrows in the Americas belong to a distinct family, Emberizidae, related to the Old World buntings.

Probably the best known representative of the American sparrow family is the Song Sparrow, which breeds all across the northern USA, up the Pacific Coast into southern Alaska and in much of the southern 2/3 of Canada. It migrates into all of the lower 48 States but does not reach southern Florida. It is appropriately named for its exhuberant melodic song (Nelson Lake, June 5, 2016) :



The Savannah Sparrow resembles it but is smaller, with a proportionately shorter tail. It may have yellow "eyebrows" which vary in intensity among its several subspecies:



During the winter, White-crowned Sparrows invade the lower half of the 48 States after breeding in northern Canada and the Rocky Mountains. They are large and quite handsome birds. This one was in our daughter's back yard:



White-crowned Sparrow on our daughter's fence:



The immature White-crowned Sparrow has dull brown stripes on its crown before they are replaced by white:



Somewhat similar but more compact is the White-throated Sparrow, another winter visitor to the lower forty-eight:



The Swamp Sparrow also has a white throat but its back is rufous and its head and breast are grayish. It breeds in wetlands of Canada and the north central and northeast portions of the US, migrating into the southeastern states and Mexico. We often see them in south Florida during winter:



I could go on, but my archives include over 1600 photos of most of the 37-40 species of sparrows (and related towhees and juncos) which I have seen.  Here is a scattering of favorite sightings.

Henslow's Sparrow is threatened by loss of habitat. It is a tiny reclusive and quite rare breeder at Nelson Lake:



Vesper Sparrow, known for its beautiful evening song. One sang on the roof of our Illinois condo until the entire surrounding area was developed:



Field Sparrow, a persistent singer on the open prairie and wooded edges. Its pink bill and clear breast are distinctive:

 

Fox Sparrow, quite a large sparrow, which breeds in the northwestern US and into northern Canada, is a common winter visitor to the woodlands of NE Illinois:



American Tree Sparrow, another visitor from the north, at our daughter's feeder:



Grasshopper Sparrow, fairly common breeder near our Illinois home, which even visited our south Florida neighborhood one winter (Illinois, July 24, 2017):



Grasshopper Sparrow (SE Florida, February 1, 2011):



Finally, a rare find in a vacant lot near our home were 2 or 3 pairs of Lark Sparrows, at least one of which raised a family. They persisted from mid-May through late July, 2017. There were very few historic records of them breeding in our county:



Lark Sparrow feeding fledgling (July 2, 2017):



When you read this I should be nearing the conclusion of several weeks of travel between Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, the Texas Panhandle and the Gulf Coast off Corpus Christi, Texas. Therefore I prepared this post in advance. This has limited my computer face time and I have had to depend upon my iPhone. I will try to catch up upon my return home to Florida before going  back to Illinois.

Here is a view of sunrise from our south Florida back patio to satisfy my urge to publish some nice reflections:






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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to FENCES AROUND THE WORLD by Gosia

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh