The videos are intended to be informative and entertaining, and answer some basic questions about backyard bird feeding, identification and observation.

The most recent installment focuses on the rose-breasted grosbeak.

For those lucky enough to live on the edge of town, or near a park or patch of woods, the rose-breasted grosbeak could be a regular backyard visitor.

Grosbeaks get their name from their large, seed-crushing bills.

For mobile users that may have trouble seeing the videos, the entire library is compiled into a YouTube playlist at: http://tinyurl.com/sjrbirds.

If you would like to suggest a topic for future videos, e-mail editor@prairiestateoutdoors.com.

Rose-breasted grosbeak
May 16, 2013

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White-throated sparrow
April 19, 2013

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Northern flicker
March 7, 2013

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Screech owls roost together
Feb. 28, 2013

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What’s in a name?
Jan. 10, 2013

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Red-bellied or red-headed woodpecker?
Jan. 3, 2013

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Make every tree a bird feeder
Dec. 27, 2013

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First snowstorm
Dec. 21, 2013

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Goldfinches in winter
Dec. 20, 2013

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Arctic visitor
Dec. 13. 2013

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Red-breasted nuthatch
Dec. 19, 2013

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The feeder follies (filmed entirely with a Midland XTC 300 camera mounted to the feeders)
Dec. 17, 2013

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The two Eastern screech owls look cozy roosting together in an owl box in David and Mary Hedrick’s backyard.

“They share the box together. I’m not so sure the little red one is happy about it,” said Mary as she took pictures of the owls from her window. “But he does put up with the gray one.”

Screech owls are small owls, about six to 10 inches in length according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They are common in the eastern United States and can be found “wherever there are trees,” according to Cornell.

They also are known to use backyard nest boxes.

The Hedricks live in a rural part of Menard County, not far from Athens.

The owls wintering in the Hedricks’ backyard are of two distinct color phases. Most common are the red (rufous) and gray phases, with a few being intermediate or brown in color.

Jacques Nuzzo of the Illinois Raptor Center in Decatur said the gray owl is probably the intermediate color phase.

He also said having two owls roosting together is unusual, and added he is unaware of instances where screech owls roost communally.

Mary said the red-phase screech owl is the first one to arrive in the winter. The gray (or brown) phase owl arrives near the latter part of the winter.

The Hedricks said the owls do not stay to raise a family in the box, but merely use it as a winter roost.

Mary said she is not sure if the owls are a mated pair or just roommates during the colder months.

Should they be a couple, Mary is trying to entice them to stay with a little re-decorating.

“I did learn that they were more apt to nest in a box if there was some sawdust on the floor of the box,” Mary said. “Dave was kind enough to create the sawdust and hold the ladder for me.

“I am hoping they are enjoying the new décor.”

Screech owls are supremely camouflaged to remain unseen as they roost in tree cavities.

Birders often identify them by their whinnying (not screeching) call at night.

For more backyard birding videos: http://tinyurl.com/birdvid

Chris Young can be reached at (217) 788-1528.

The American Bald Eagle is not only our National Bird, but also our National Emblem; it represents the prestige and majesty of our great democracy.

Adult Bald Eagles are easily recognized by their white heads and tails and by their very large size including a six- to seven-foot wing span.  Immatures are as large as the adults but do not acquire white heads and tails until they are four or five years of age. 

Bald Eagles mate for life, use the same nest year after year unless it is disturbed, and can live from fifteen to twenty or more years if humans, their only enemy, do not interfere. 

From one to three eggs are laid in their massive nests. 

It takes five weeks for the eggs to hatch and another ten to thirteen weeks before the young birds fledge.  More than three quarters of the eagle’s diet is fish—often dead fish; consequently, these birds are most commonly associated with large bodies of water. 

The Bald Eagle was once considered a regular and fairly common nesting species in Illinois.  However, for one or more reasons, the breeding population disappeared about sixty years ago.  In the 1970’s the bird was declared to be a national- and state-listed Endangered Species. 

Beginning in the 1980’s, and most significantly in the 1990’s, the number of pairs of nesting eagles began to increase.  The population rebounded so well that a few years ago the eagle was removed from the list of endangered species.  At present there are more than 200 nests in Illinois including at least three in Sangamon County.

Each fall and winter Bald Eagles migrate south from their northern nesting areas to the open water areas of the Mississippi and Illinois river systems and nearby wildlife refuges.  Its during these months that Illinois can boast one of the largest eagle concentrations of any state south of the Canadian border – perhaps as high as one-quarter to one-third of the entire U.S. population outside of Alaska. 

People living along the rivers often see these grandiose birds and do not realize what a treat it is.  Those of us living here in Springfield are often rewarded as well because of the birds (including the nesting pair) that regularly visit Lake Springfield when it’s not iced over. 

As spring thaws begin, long before the official arrival of spring, Bald Eagles begin their northward journeys—heading towards their nesting sites. 

The migration usually begins in mid-February and is generally concluded by late March.  For those who would like to see our national bird, watch for them around Lake Springfield, or, travel to the locks and dams on either the Illinois or Mississippi rivers where the birds are still concentrated. 

Although Bald Eagles are no longer considered an endangered species, they are still fully protected by state and federal laws and it is still illegal to disturb them, their nests, their roosting sites, or the habitat around their nests and roosting sites. 

Several years ago, while the eagle was still an endangered species, the school children of Illinois recognized the need to protect eagle habitat here in Illinois. 

Through a special program sponsored and coordinated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in cooperation with the Illinois Audubon Society, Illinois Office of Education and The Nature Conservation, the children raised $53,000 for the purchase of strategic eagle habitat at two sites along the Mississippi River, one near Warsaw and the other at Rock Island. 

We are truly fortunate to be able to enjoy this majestic bird in Illinois, that the nesting population is on the upswing, and that it is no longer an endangered species.

Next Week’s Migrant:  American Tee Sparrow

Fact: Baby eagles, called eaglets, are born light gray, then turn brown. When they are 4 to 5 years old, they develop their normal white heads and tails.

Fact: Nearly 200 people braved slippery winter roads Saturday to glean such information during multiple events at the Eagle Day Festival.

Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge had an auto tour and open house. Lewistown Visitors Center hosted live birds from Wildlife Prairie State Park. Dickson Mounds Museum had a film, displays, a live show, exhibits from co-sponsors like The Nature Conservancy and a room of eagle-related arts and crafts for kids.

“I don’t really like birds, but I like big birds. They fascinate me,” said 17-year-old Delaney Beaird of Lewistown.

She was helping her younger brothers make eagle hats and color eagle drawings at Dickson Mounds Museum. Three-year-old Teegan and 5-year-old Aidan had little to say. They were too busy pecking relatives with their paper eagle beaks.

“They came last year and they liked it,” explained the children’s grandmother, Dianna Beaird, also of Lewistown. “So we came this year, too.”

Dickson Mounds Director Michael Wiant had just left the Beairds at the coloring table so he could help World Bird Sanctuary of Missouri set up for the hourlong program featuring live birds of prey. Twenty minutes beforehand, the auditorium was filling rapidly.

“We’ve had a good day,” Wiant said. “This is an example of how the partnership works together. It makes it better for people to have so many events.”

According to Durinda Hulett, administrative officer of Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Complex, cars had been lined up outside Chautauqua. Information packets ran out. The staff had to print more.

At the end of the day, refuge manager Bob Barry said, “We had 90 vehicles and 190 people come out to the refuge.”

Few birds could be observed on the ice at Emiquon Preserve, although nearby cornfields were full of feasting geese. Yet Barry said the ice did not totally freeze out eagle watchers at Chautauqua.

“We had people say they saw one or two eagles,” Barry said. “We had people say they saw 11.”

Terry Bibo can be reached at terry.bibo.freelance@gmail.com.

The same can be said for birding, and distinguishing between two species of Canada goose.

Since 2004, Canada geese have been divided into two distinct species, a large-bodied species that breeds in the interior of North America and the smaller-bodied group that nests in the tundra.

The smaller bodied geese are called “cackling geese,” and are known by the scientific name, Branta hutchinsii.

Recently at The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Preserve in Fulton County, a handful of cackling geese mingled with the larger Canada geese,

Size is the first tipoff, but there are other clues.

“It’s got a little stubby bill and a certain type of cheek patch that goes up past the eye — but not too far past the eye. And it’s got the white-edgings on the back feathers,” said David Bohlen, assistant curator of zoology with the Illinois State Museum.

“They are just a little bit larger and more robust than a mallard, but with a little stubby bill,” he said.

Combining four of the smaller Canada goose sub-species into one species helped simplify identification, but regional variation between populations of

Canada geese still causes confusion, Bohlen said.

A sub-species of the Canada goose, known as the lesser Canada goose, can be somewhere in between, size-wise, but has a larger bill than the cackling goose.

Geese that live in Illinois all year long are known as giant Canada geese.
Giants were thought to be extinct, but a population was re-discovered in Rochester, Minn. in 1963 by Harold Hanson of the Illinois Natural History Survey.

According to an archived U.S. Department of the Interior news release, the giant Canada geese weighed from 15 to 19 pounds.

The sub-species of geese that migrate from nesting grounds in Canada are known as interior Canada geese.

“The ones that come down from Canada are the ones that bring up the numbers, here,” he said. “In southern Illinois, that used to be the most common sub-species in the winter time. They are smaller than the giants but larger than cackling geese.”

On the move

Bohlen said some birds already are making their trip north.

“With this warm weather some of the birds are coming back, pintails especially,” he said. “I’ve seen some green winged teal and wigeon, and of course the snow geese are flying over and quite a few greater white-fronted geese, too.
It’s not too early for some snow geese to start arriving.

For those who wish the Canada geese would keep moving, Bohlen said that is unlikely.

“People don’t realize there is a resident goose population and (a population) that migrates down here,” he said.

Homeowners trying to scare off Canada geese end up driving off the migrants that were going to leave anyway.

“The resident geese put up with it and stay.”

Chris Young can be reached at (217) 788-1528.

Events at Dickson Mounds Museum:

Crafts and activities for kids will be held at the museum from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Nature’s Raptor Force, a 2007 film, will be shown in the museum’s auditorium at 10:30 a.m.

It features stunning aerial footage and computer graphics to demonstrate how raptor’s tricks and tactics have inspired engineers to devise fighter jets with unprecedented maneuverability and stealth. 

The World Bird Sanctuary of Missouri will present a Raptor Awareness program at 1:30 p.m. with live birds of prey. 

Admission is free, but tickets must be picked up in the lobby of the Museum for the show as seating is limited to 150.

At 3 p.m. winners of the Eagle Art and Poetry Awards will be honored.

The Illinois Winter Wildlife Photography Show open to residents in Fulton and Mason Countries, and Eagle Art and Poetry created by students from Fulton and Mason Counties, will be on display until March 4. 

Dickson Mounds Museum is located across the Illinois River from Havana.

Call (309) 547-3721.

Downtown Lewistown:

“Birds of Prey up Close” will be presented from 1 - 4 p.m. by Wildlife Prairie Park at the Lewistown Visitor Center, 222 S. Main St.

Visitors will have the opportunity to see a variety of birds such as hawks, eagles, and owls.

Havana Riverfront and Nature Center:

Eagle viewing along the Illinois River all day.

Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge:

The Chautauqua Wildlife Refuge will host an auto tour around the South Pool from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Refuge staff will be on hand at the Headquarters to greet visitors and answer questions.

This even is co-sponsored by the Fulton County Arts Council, the Mason County Arts Council, The Nature Conservancy, the Havana Library District, Lewistown Chamber, Illinois History Survey­ Forbes Biological Station and Illinois River Biological Station, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

But waterfowl scientists say it’s not too early for some snow geese to start arriving.

“Normally, my rule of thumb is Valentine’s Day,” said Aaron Yetter, waterfowl scientist with the Illinois Natural History Survey’s Forbes Biological Station near Havana.

“But to have them start trickling in, I don’t think it is too early at all,” said colleague Michelle Horath.

Snow geese lift off from Thompson Lake.

Snow geese, true to their name, stay within a short flight of the snow line on their way north each winter and spring.

That means storms or heavy snow could push them south again, before they resume northward migration.

“A lot of times they follow the snow line for a long time,” said Heath Hagy, director of the Forbes Station. “They will sit on that line and follow it as it moves north and moves back south during the spring. And the geese will do that too.”

At Emiquon on Thursday, A few Canada geese were sitting on the ice not far from the boat ramp at the Visitor Use Area.

Greater white-fronted geese landed just a short distance beyond the Canadas.

White-fronted geese stick together near resting Canada geese.

“The weather is one reason why most Canada geese are sitting in Wisconsin or northern Illinois,” Yetter said. “There hasn’t been any snow – or that much snow.

“They can handle the cold, they just have to be able to get to the food.”

Chris Young can be reached at (217) 788-1528.

Canada geese fly just above the icy surface of Thompson Lake at The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Preserve.

Derek Liebert is project manager at the Urbana Park District. He says up to 90 Canada geese live at Crystal Lake. The lake is part of a park on the town’s north side.

Liebert tells The News-Gazette in Champaign that goose droppings have increased nutrient levels in the water that have encouraged weeds to grow. The geese also graze along the shore and increase erosion.

The 14 solar-powered strobes were installed recently so Liebert isn’t sure how well they’ll work. They cost $4,000.

He says the real test will come in the spring when open water usually draws in many birds.

The 8-pound bird, now named Midas, was found north of Sadorus in Champaign County on Oct. 25. He has been at the center in Decatur since Dec. 6.

Finding the bird was a rare event, said Jacques Nuzzo, program director at the Illinois Raptor Center.

“A lot of people misidentify immature bald eagles as golden eagles,” Nuzzo told the Herald & Review. “The chance of it being a golden eagle was next to nothing.”

Midas is the center’s first golden eagle, and caring for him has had some challenges, Nuzzo said. Golden eagles are larger and stronger than the more common bald eagles. They eat a lot of food, and instead of diving for prey, they slam into them. Midas’ diet in Decatur has included quail, rats and venison.

“Golden eagles are extremely powerful birds,” Nuzzo said. But he said that if Midas were left injured in the wild “and he couldn’t fly, he would probably be dead.”

The bird’s left wing was fractured, said Nicki Rosenhagen, a clinic manager at the University of Illinois.

“We kept the bird in a small enclosure to minimize activity,” Rosenhagen said. “Birds heal quickly.”

Nuzzo said he is rehabbing the bird’s wing by putting food on a perch and forcing Midas to fly to it. Nuzzo plans to prepare the bird for release to the wild through controlled flying operations.

“We’ll fly him on a line, to fly between two people for food on each end,” Nuzzo said. “We are making him aware we’re here to help. He wasn’t trusting with people when he first came in. It’s nice to be part of the healing process.”

Golden eagles are more common in the western United States. About 50 golden eagles spend the winter in northwestern Illinois near Galena, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Nobody messes with a golden eagle,” said Bob Russell, wildlife biologist for the federal agency. “They are better fliers than bald eagles. They’re magnificent birds. They can soar effortlessly with just a little updraft. They circle slowly, big, wide circles a couple of hundred feet across.”

Not cold, snow, wind or rain — even horizontal rain — can put a damper on the Christmas count tradition that is more than a century old.

Ornithologist Frank Chapman, an officer in the then-new Audubon Society, started a yearly Christmas Bird Census beginning on Christmas Day 1900.

This year’s count window opened Dec. 14 and counts are scheduled across the state through Jan. 5.

The Springfield count will be held Sunday. The lakefront count in Chicago will be held on Christmas Day.

That wide window allows many birders to participate in more than one count (often several) during the time period.

On count day, volunteers count as many birds as they see and hear within a 15-mile diameter circle.

With just one day to rack up as many birds and species as possible, the weather can play a significant role.

“It was raining at dawn and raining at dusk, and it was blowing rain sideways in between,” said Dan Williams, compiler of the Rockford count held Dec. 15. “It was not a pleasant today to count birds.”

With some counters still to report in, Williams said overall results were good with more than 70 species seen in the count circle.

The Bloomington-Normal count was held on the same day, with the same weather.

“It was miserable weather,” said birder and nature photographer Dave Weth. “My partner and I got 25 species, which wasn’t bad considering. Waterfowl seemed to be lacking, but we had good numbers of bluebirds, which was nice.”

Results of the Peoria count held Dec. 15 are still coming in, said count compiler Thad Edmonds. Preliminary results show 69 species with a highlight of 1,800 ruddy ducks.

Also, a glaucous gull was seen at the Eastport Marina.

Still on tap for the Peoria area are counts at Chautauqua Saturday and Chillicothe on Jan. 5.

H. David Bohlen, assistant curator of zoology at the Illinois State Museum, participated in counts at Meredosia Island and Crane Lake in the Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area near Chandlerville on Dec. 14.

The Meredosia count yielded a few unusual birds, including a Harris’ sparrow, spotted towhee and 10 common redpolls, Bohlen said.

Crane Lake was filled with thousands of ducks, but dreary conditions made seeing distant ducks nearly impossible.

“There were at least 2,000 pintails and 1,000 northern shovelers,” Bohlen said. “And it sounded like there were 10,000 hunters, too.”

Bohlen also tallied an Eastern phoebe and a greater yellowlegs — a shorebird that should have gone south long ago.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen one on an Illinois count,” he said.

Passing through?

Rare or out-of-place birds are of interest to researchers.

Are they unfortunate birds blown off course by a storm? Or are they pioneers moving into new territory?

A rufous hummingbird in Rockford has been seen regularly at a backyard feeder since Nov. 9.

Rufous hummingbirds normally are found in the western United States.

Counters hope it is still around for the Kishwaukee Christmas Bird Count on Saturday.

Retired ornithologist and Illinois Audubon Society board member Vern Kleen banded the bird recently, and confirmed it is an immature female.

At the Savanna Army Depot in northwest Illinois, experienced birders watched a mountain bluebird for the better part of an hour, trying to be certain of its identification.

“I had seen them before out west, and we had some pretty good birders with us, and we were all kind of familiar with it,” said Randy Nyboer with the Illinois Natural History Survey. “But you are looking at it (in a different context) and wondering what is wrong with this thing.”

The mountain bluebird was seen with half a dozen eastern bluebirds.

“We looked at it for about 45 minutes and finally got a good angle on it,” he said.

Nyboer credits David Thomas, retired chief of the Illinois Natural History Survey, with making the identification.

Counters also saw a golden eagle, another western species, during the count.

Eddie Callaway of Sycamore compiles the Rock Cut CBC.

The count circle covers Rock Cut State Park and a group of smaller forest preserves and parks.

He said snowy weather could mean counters might see snow buntings, horned larks and Lapland longspurs.

“Other interesting birds we hope to find are the winter finches that include red and white-winged crossbills, common redpolls, evening grosbeaks, and pine siskins,” he said.

To find owls and other birds active around dusk and dawn, Callaway said his counters get up early.

“We try to count a little bit before sunrise and at dusk to find owls but we often find some during the day,” he said. “The number of counters is down for my circle this year and the area is quite large, but we go out and count as much as we can and whatever is visible.”

For Nyboer, the Christmas Bird Count is about more than finding rare species — or the greatest number of species.

“I could (handle my portion of the count) by myself, but it’s always better if you have someone go with you,” he said. “Christmas bird count time is a great time to get together, and share the camaraderie.

“It’s a good time to get a couple of good friends and get out there.”

Chris Young can be reached at (217) 788-1528.

Backyard bird-feeding enthusiasts have been seeing red-breasted nuthatches, and now a common redpoll has been spotted at a feeder at the Adams Wildlife Sanctuary in Springfield.

Like the nuthatch, the redpoll is a visitor from the north.

Redpolls breed in the Arctic and in the boreal forests of northern Canada and Alaska, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

A lack of food back home pushes these winter visitors farther south than usual.

Check out a video of the common redpoll.

Colleen, Jim and Shannon Cabit of Lincoln submitted this photo of a bald eagle spotted in Lincoln late last week on Bryan Avenue.

“My husband was putting out Christmas decorations and saw the eagle flying west above our home,” Colleen Cabit said.

“Then he heard a bunch of crows squawking and he looked up in the tree across the street from our house.The bald eagle was sitting on a high branch in the tree! The crows were circling it and squawking. It sat there quite awhile and then flew west toward downtown Lincoln.”

The tiny visitors aren’t the least bit shy.

At backyard bird feeders, the red-breasted nuthatch is making itself right at home, paying little attention even to those filling feeders nearby.

The red-breasted nuthatch normally spends most of its life north of Illinois, living in pine forests, far from people. They very rarely nest in Illinois, according to “Birds of Illinois” by Sheryl DeVore, Steven Bailey and Gregory Kennedy.

But this year, a lack of food in their home range has pushed the nuthatch and other birds that feed on seeds produced by pinecones further south than usual.

It’s called an irruption (not eruption) year, when numbers of a particular species suddenly go up.

“We’ve had a pretty good flight of coniferous birds this year,” said H. David Bohlen, assistant curator of zoology at the Illinois State Museum. “There are a lot of pine siskins around, and we’ve also had red and white-winged crossbills around.

“Most of the crossbills blew through, but the siskins are coming to feeders, and so are the red-breasted nuthatches.”

In northern Illinois, Bohlen said a few evening grosbeaks and common redpolls have been reported. In central Illinois, cedar waxwings and robins are plentiful right now.

A more diverse bunch

Red-breasted nuthatches nest mostly in conifers.

“About every other year we get a fairly good flight of them,” Bohlen said. “This year seems to be better than most years.”

Bohlen said red-breasted nuthatches can often be found at Oak Ridge Cemetery in pine trees.
“And a lot of them go to feeders,” he said.

Wade Kammin, owner of Wild Birds Unlimited, 1930 S. MacArthur Blvd., said his customers have
reported seeing them on peanut feeders.

“They are a lot of fun because they are very brave,” he said of the tiny birds that measure only about four-and-a-half inches long. “If you are standing near a feeder, they are not at all shy about coming right up to you and grabbing a peanut and flying off with it. Sometimes I think these birds that nest in isolated conifer areas have never seen people before.”

The white-breasted nuthatch is the more common cousin, residing in Illinois year-round. It is a little larger with a distinctive “yank, yank” call.

The red-breasted nuthatch’s call is a quieter, more nasal version described as sounding like a toy horn.

Kammin said many birds key on high-fat foods with lots of energy in the winter months.

“We do tend to focus on foods that are even higher in fat, like peanuts, suet and a variety of different nuts,” he said. “That can help pull even more of the nuthatches and chickadees and maybe the Carolina wrens that don’t hit feeders hard during the summer, but they need that fatty source of food during the winter time.”

A diversity of foods can help attract a diversity of species, he said.

“And more feeders can keep birds from crowding each other,” he said. “Spacing them through the yard can help everyone get more of a meal each day.”

Bohlen said he is interested in hearing about birds that have pushed even farther outside their normal range.

“If you have evening grosbeaks, let someone know about it,” he said. “I haven’t seen them (in central Illinois) since the 1980s.”

Bohlen’s number is 782-6697.

“Typically, they come to someone’s feeder in the country and you never know about it,” he said.

Chris Young can be reached at (217) 788-1528.

At first glance, it doesn’t look like there are that many ducks at Lake Chautauqua.

But as a pickup truck turns into the parking lot of the Eagle Bluff Access, hundreds and thousands of mallards and northern pintails take flight, exploding out of a sea of partially flooded Walter’s millet.

After awhile, they settle down again, each duck disappearing into the vegetation, like a gift card dropped into an envelope.

Waterfowl enthusiasts, biologists, hunters and birdwatchers can sit back and smile, as a summer’s worth of habitat work comes to fruition during the peak of migration.

Earlier this summer, the south pool of the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge near Havana was drained to allow for wetland plants to sprout and grow.

Normally, managers watch the skies and weather forecasts all summer hoping a heavy summer rain doesn’t push the Illinois River into backwater refuges where it can wash out wetland plants before they mature.

Wildlife refuges are protected by levees, but they are generally much lower than those protecting farm fields and towns.

But this summer’s drought kept water levels low.

The result was a sea of green Walter’s millet, smartweed, red root sedge, arrowhead and other wetlands plants.

Just before migration, water was pumped back in to flood the vegetation and allow ducks to feed on nutritious seeds and tubers.

Only after a climb to the top of an observation tower used for waterfowl surveys at Lake Chautauqua does the complex relationship between ducks and wetland vegetation become apparent.

Some ducks paddle through open space between clumps of vegetation. Others are tipped down with tails in the air as they feed underwater.

“They act just like little bulldozers,” said Jake Randa, wildlife biologist with the Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge complex that includes Lake Chautauqua. “They just keep pushing it down as they are feeding in it. Over time, these little pockets of open water are now big pockets.”

An inviting place

Numbers at Lake Chautauqua have jumped in recent weeks.

Aerial surveys show 20,150 ducks counted Oct. 29, rising to 54,800 ducks Nov. 13.

A recent ground survey by longtime volunteers Richard and Sigurd Bjorklund estimated 115,000 ducks were using the refuge Nov. 16.

Randa said that’s a conservative estimate because the ducks are so hard to survey with all the vegetation present.

“You can’t get a good vantage point on the whole pool from any one spot,” Randa said. “It is just tough. When you are dealing with this many birds it is a tricky endeavor.”

Heath Hagy, director of the Illinois Natural History Survey’s Forbes Biological Station, located next door to the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, said aerial surveys employ formulas to account for ducks hidden by trees and vegetation.

“That can be pretty difficult, and you can’t count them all, all of the time,” Hagy said. “But we know that if ducks are in emergent vegetation, we will only be able to count 60 percent, and we may only be able to see 40 percent in a bottomland forest.

“We miss a lot of birds, but as long as you know how many you miss, you can correct your estimates.”

The purpose of the surveys isn’t to count every single duck, but to get an idea of migration trends in the Illinois and Mississippi River valleys.

Estimates of numbers of ducks using a particular site also help scientists better understand how those sites are providing food and shelter for migrating waterfowl.

Bottoms up. Pintails feast on wetland vegetation at the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge.

Scientists with the Forbes Station mapped wetland vegetation at Lake Chautauqua and estimated there is enough food to feed 100,000 ducks for a 40-day stopover at the refuge.

“And there is a good diversity of plant species, and that’s why we have a diversity of waterfowl species out there,” Hagy said. “The refuge has done a wonderful job this year. It really looks good.”

For managers who work hard to keep habitat optimal for migrating birds, 115,000 ducks on Lake Chautauqua is a nice reward.

“It is very cool to say the least,” Randa said. “You spend all year working toward one thing and then when it finally happens and it comes off without a hitch, you are kind of just amazed at what you did.”

Chris Young can be reached at (217) 788-1528.

Ospreys are an endangered species. This was the first time in modern record-keeping they were nesting at Chautauqua, which was established in 1936 to foster wildlife. So that’s good.

But as a Realtor would say: Location, location, location. The birds chose to build on the electric poles just above the pump station that helps maintain the water levels. A 330-foot perimeter of the nest was supposed to be kept off limits for most of the summer. That could have been bad.

“While we were thrilled to have a state of Illinois endangered species nesting on refuge, we had to shut off power to the pump station, which could have been detrimental to our overall management,” Durinda Hulett, of Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuges, explained via email. “Fortunately, Mother Nature was on our side and the pump station was not required for management.”

Score one for lack of rain in 2012.

“Luckily, U.S. Fish and Wildlife didn’t need to pump this summer due to the drought,” said Brady Smith, assistant engineer for Menard Electric in Petersburg. “We just let the birds hatch out.”

On Friday, with the birds gone for the season, the electric company and government officials teamed up to move the osprey nest in hopes of avoiding potential problems next year. According to Chautauqua wildlife refuge manager Bob Barry, the nest is six feet wide, woven from sticks that are a half-inch to an inch thick and three or four feet long.

Moving such a formidable structure took three hours - and four trucks from the electric company. A piece of aluminum was slipped under the nest, which was carefully ported about 800 to 900 feet to a new pole with a platform on top. Then, the process was reversed to leave the nest in its new location.

“It held together perfectly,” said Barry. “We were able to move the whole thing intact and put it up on the new pole.”

Smith said the company crews spent about half their day on the switch, free of charge.

Ospreys may return to the same nest for years. If they do, the pair may be slightly puzzled by triangular perch preventers Brady said will be placed on the original site so it won’t be level. But Chautauqua officials are hopeful they will raise another family in the same nest next April or May.

“They do quite often,” Barry said. “Who knows whether these will or not? The eagles may take over.”

Which sounds like another kind of good/bad news.

Terry Bibo can be reached at 686-3114 or terry.bibo.freelance@gmail.com.

The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports the bird was rescued last week near Sadorus, about 10 miles south of Champaign. The eagle has a broken bone in its left wing.

Dr. Julia Whittington says it’s rare for the clinic to treat a golden eagle. They’re usually found in the western U.S. and typically migrate to Mexico. Whittington says this bird may have gotten lost and been blown off course to Illinois.

She says golden eagles have a brown head with a golden sheen and are larger than the bald eagles typically found in Illinois.

Whittington says it will take four to six weeks for the bird to heal.

Fishermen are reminded that on days when waterfowl hunting is allowed, Thompson Lake is closed until noon.

Hunting is allowed Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings until noon.

Bird-watchers and walkers have been making good use of the visitor access area just off Illinois 78/97.

Tharran Hobson of The Nature Conservancy said 300 cars a week are using the visitor area.

That number includes anglers putting in boats at the ramp and people using the area to walk and bird-watch.

Hobson said he’s seen migrating terns pass through include nearly all species found in Illinois such as Caspian, common, Forster’s, least and black terns.

Anglers can look forward to some good-sized crappies.

Annual fall surveys conducted in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources revealed some 15- and 16-inch crappies, Hobson said.

“It was amazing,” he said.

Hunters will be able to participate in a special survey of hunting experiences conducted by the Illinois Natural History Survey.

The survey will track hunters throughout the season.

For more information, visit: http://www.nature.org/illinois

Also on tap will be an Owls of Illinois educational program from 2 - 3 p.m. and an owl prowl from 7 - 8 p.m.

Owl Photography Session

When:  10 - 11 a.m.

Description:  A special photography session will be available with live owls perched in outdoor settings.

Although the birds are all captives and some have permanent injuries, we will try to position them so their disabilities and leather jesses are not visible.

The specific birds used depend on health and training of the birds as well as weather conditions.

We anticipate the following species to be used:

Great Horned Owl
Eastern Screech-Owls
Barred Owl

Please note that there is no guarantee as to which species will attend the photo shoot, as the well-being of the birds is of the highest importance.

Substitute owl species may need to be used.

The session will be held at the Illinois Raptor Center’s new Education Building at 5685 W. Hill Road in Decatur. 

Photographers must arrive early enough to be set up and ready to begin shooting sharply at 10 a.m.

There will be 3 photographers to a group.

Each group will get precisely 15 minutes to photograph each owl species.

There will be a 5 minute period between shoots for the photographers to rotate and reset their cameras for the next species.

The session will end promptly at 11 a.m.

Proceeds from the photography session will benefit the Illinois Raptor Center.

Cost is $100 per photographer.

There is a limit of 9 photographers. Registration is required by Thurs., Oct. 25.

Please register at ircinfo@comcast.net or by calling (217) 963-6909.

Owls of Illinois Program

When:  2 - 3 p.m.

Description:  This fun and educational program will introduce its audience to a live Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Barn Owl, Short-eared Owl and the two color morphs of Screech Owls in just one hour.

Learn how to identify these beautiful native species and where they live here in Illinois.

Cost: $10 per adult, $5 per child 16 and under, children 6 & under free.

Register at ircinfo@comcast.net or by calling 217-963-6909.

Owl Prowl

When:  7 - 8 p.m.

Description:  Hike with Jack Nuzzo and “Octavius”, the IRC’s Wildlife Ambassador Barred Owl, down to the Sangamon River to call in the local barred owls.

The hike will start at the Illinois Raptor Center Education Pavilion at 7 p.m.

Wear weather appropriate clothing and bring your flashlight.

Cost is $5 per person. No registration necessary.

The Illinois Raptor Center is located at 5695 W. Hill Road, Decatur, IL 62522

The finding is a reminder that people should continue to take precautions to avoid being infected by the virus, health department officials said.

West Nile, which is carried by mosquitoes and can infect people, birds and other animals, can remain active when temperatures are above 60 degrees, officials said. The virus usually will persist until the first hard frost.

There have been 185 human cases of West Nile infection this year in Illinois, including seven deaths.

The only human cases in central and southern Illinois have been in the counties of Peoria, McLean, Macoupin, Bond and Crawford. The deaths all have involved Chicago-area residents.

Logan health department officials are continuing to urge people to prevent West Nile-related disease by reducing the number of mosquitoes around homes and using personal protection. They suggest people apply mosquito repellent when outdoors and wear shoes, socks, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt.

“It’s unbelievable they’re spending that kind of money,” he said. “There’s a male bald eagle watching the nest now.”

Fuller drives over to check every day, including Friday, when he was joined by fellow protestors John Grigsby and Joyce Blumenshine. They’ve been fighting developments of one sort or another near here for decades, arguing that endangered species are threatened. With backhoes perched a few hundred feet away, it appears their worst fears are coming true.

“They’re moving closer to the eagle nest every day,” said Blumenshine, who has been involved on behalf of the Sierra Club throughout the timeline. “Our concern is this eagle nest is on the very edge of an historic eagle roost.”

But where environmentalists see encroachment, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sees enhancement and counters with a lengthy list of accommodations to such concerns.

“There’s a whole chain of events that leads up to this,” said Marvin Hubbell, regional manager of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Environmental Management Program.

He says the current project has nothing to do with a strip mine which was proposed, and defeated as unsuitable for environmental reasons, in the 1980s.

If anything, Hubbell thinks environmentalists and the Corps share the same goal here: to improve habitat for wildlife, particularly migrating birds. Working with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Corps plans to spend about $12 million of federal money to reestablish a levee and install a pumping facility which will help control the water levels. The state’s matching portion of $6.8 million uses land credits.

In response to environmental concerns, Hubbell said, the project was tweaked to remove fewer mature trees, move less dirt and adapt to threatened and endangered species. For example, he said, this particular eagle’s nest was thought to have fallen down in 2008. Once project workers found it had been rebuilt and held eaglets, construction stopped last spring, and work was shifted to other parts of the project. Guidelines developed with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service mandate workers stay at least 650 feet away from an active nest; they stayed from 1,300 to 1,400 feet away.

“We basically didn’t do anything while the eagles were on the nest,” Hubbell said.

Once the eaglets fledged, construction resumed. And, Hubbell noted, eagle needs aren’t the only concerns to balance. Fourteen mature trees will be removed. That won’t happen until after Oct. 1 because they may be summer roosts for Indiana bats. But it will happen before November, when eagles seek winter roosts.

“We believe we’re going to be able to safeguard the interest of the eagles by doing this,” Hubbell said.

He said he has met with Blumenshine and Grigsby seven or eight times. Blumenshine said they will meet again Monday at the Corps office in Rock Island. The activists still question the wisdom of a huge dig next to the very wildlife which is supposed to be preserved. If nothing else, they want to ensure the state and feds do their due diligence.

“This is one of our state resources,” Blumenshine said.

Terry Bibo can be reached at terry.bibo.freelance@gmail.com or 686-3114.

“Good thing you guys took basket weaving in college” was a typical comment from onlookers as Sangchris Lake site technicians Bill Ragland and Kenny Hogan wove willow branches together to complete a new osprey nest platform.

The platform, which has a rebar frame, was erected at the park Friday.

Neither man was quite sure how to build an osprey nest, but when they were finished, Ragland admired his work.

“I’d put an egg in that nest,” he said.

Ospreys are large, fish-eating hawks. They are endangered in Illinois, but, after a century-long absence, they have started nesting again along the Illinois River.

This year, a pair raised two young at the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge near Havana.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources natural heritage biologist Tim Kelley worked with site superintendent Randy Hawkins and the Auburn-based Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative to get two nest platforms installed near Sangchris.

Ospreys have been seen using Sangchris Lake during migration.

The project has been in the works for some time.

“Tim and Randy and I drove to a few different areas to find places to set these two platforms,” said Lou DeLaby, manager of operations and maintenance with the RECC. “It is a good project.”

Kelley said the location at Sangchris provides protection for the ospreys, yet is visible with binoculars or a spotting scope from the main park road.

Hawkins said staff members will keep an eye on the nest platform from the site office.

A crew from the RECC set the 40-foot pole in a hole seven feet deep. As they were working, an American bald eagle flew past.

A second platform has been placed in a less visible location.

“The other one is way down by the power plant, and I don’t think most people know it is there,” Kelley said. “The fishermen will.”

Kelley said he would like to talk to City Water, Light and Power about placing one of the platforms at Lake Springfield. Biologists hope another platform will encourage the Chautauqua ospreys to relocate from their present nest, which is on a utility pole that carries power to a pumping station.

Hogan said he is optimistic that the Sangchris nest will live up to osprey specifications.

“I was hoping the willows would be OK, because they were easy to bend,” Hogan said. “I cut a little bit of everything, but willows seem to be the ticket.”

Chris Young can be reached at 788-1528.

The Emiquon Complex in Fulton and Mason counties and the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge at Hennepin-Hopper Lakes in Putnam County were designated “Wetlands of International Importance” by the Ramsar Convention.

Ramsar is an intergovernmental treaty established in 1971. Member countries commit to conservation and “wise use” of wetlands and their resources. Wetlands have to meet a set of criteria to qualify.

Only 34 sites in the United States have received the designation.

The Emiquon Complex includes The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Preserve and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Emiquon and Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuges. In all, the complex adds up to about 14,000 acres of restored wetlands along the Illinois River near Havana.

The Sue and Wes Dixon Waterfowl Refuge at Hennepin and Hopper Lakes is 2,750 acres in size and is owned by the Wetlands Initiative.

Both sites formerly were drained for agriculture and have been restored.

Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon incorporated Wednesday’s ceremony as part of the Illinois River Coordinating Council meeting at Dickson Mounds Museum, which serves as visitor center for the Emiquon Complex.

The plan was to link the two sites with a live feed over the Internet so attendees, and viewers online, could see and hear speeches at both locations. But so many people tried to access the feed that the system was overwhelmed and the connection was lost.

Doug Blodgett, director of river conservation for The Nature Conservancy, listens to speakers at a lakeside ceremony celebrating at The Emiquon Complex’s designation as a “Wetland of International Importance.”

Following a lakeside toast, Douglas Blodgett, director of river conservation for The Nature Conservancy, said he’s looking forward to the next chapter.

“We’re going to pause and celebrate a little bit, but I think what is real important is that it gives us hope for the future,” he said. “It is going to motivate us to keep going. These (restorations) can be extremely successful. We’ve seen that.”

Lee Albright, former manager of the Chautauqua and Emiquon National Wildlife Refuges, has viewed the restoration from afar after moving earlier this summer to North Dakota, where waterfowl and shorebirds are finishing up raising their broods for the year.

“Knowing that in a couple of months that a lot of those birds are going to be coming through here using this habitat, that is what makes it special for me,” he said.

Michael Wiant, director of Dickson Mounds Museum, said Emiquon opens up new educational possibilities.

“I think what is next is that people who come to the museum or to the wetlands will have an opportunity to learn in ways they couldn’t have conceived of before this was created,” he said. “We’re getting school kids here, and we can talk about human history, their relationship with nature and how nature works.

“It has become an immense classroom.”

Michael Lemke, director of the University of Illinois at Springfield Therkildsen Field Station at Emiquon, said he hopes the recognition prompts more students to take advantage of the site that is just over an hour’s drive from Springfield.

“As we know, (the Emiquon story) is a story of human history, anthropology, economics and the list goes on and on,” he said. “I think UIS students should jump on it with both feet.”

Chris Young can be reached at (217) 788-1528.

Great blue herons and great egrets look for food in restored wetlands, part of the Emiquon Complex. Chris Young/The State Journal-Register.

The birds built a nest - basically a platform of sticks - on the utility pole near one of the refuge’s pumping stations.

Power was cut to the lines, and a 330-foot perimeter established to give the nest some privacy.

Ospreys are an Illinois state endangered species and refuge staff sought to offer them an extra level of protection.

Acting refuge director Robert Clevenstine said he observed the ospreys shielding the chicks from the heat during last week’s 100-degree temperatures.

“She had her wings outstretched just like a big sunshade,” he said. “All day long, just not moving, shading the chicks.”

This is the first known osprey nest on the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge.
Ospreys are known as “fish hawks.”

They incubate 2 to 4 eggs, with the eggs generally hatching in 36 to 42 days, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

One to three young can be expected to first leave the nest (fledge) in 50 to 55 days after hatching.

The female generally handles the incubation duties while the male brings food - almost exclusively fish - to her on the nest.

Refuge staff established the perimeter around the nest in hopes the birds will return year after year.

Clevenstine said the challenge will be developing a nesting platform that would entice to birds to nest in a safe location, away from power lines.

Chautauqua currently is in the midst of drawing down the south pool, draining much of the water to allow wetland vegetation to grow.

Pump stations are used to help move water in and out of managed wetlands.

Clevenstine said he hopes the chicks fledge in time for a public celebration scheduled Aug. 8 so cars can travel on the levee (that passes by the nest site) to tour the refuge.

On that date, the Ramsar Convention is honoring the Emiquon Complex, including The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Preserve and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, as a wetland of “International Importance.”

The Sue and Wes Dixon Waterfowl Refuge at Hennepin and Hopper Lakes will be honored with the same distinction.

Restored wetlands along the Illinois River have been attracting more waterfowl and other wetland-dependent birds including state-endangered species like the ospreys.

“It’s so far, so good,” Clevenstine said, looking through binoculars as the chicks poke their heads up above the rim of the nest.

“I’d like to see those little guys out fishing on their own.”

Chris Young can be reached at (217) 788-1528.

This year’s “Trends in Duck Breeding Populations” report estimates 48.6 million ducks, 3 million ducks higher than last year’s 45.6 million birds.

This year’s survey is 43 percent above the long-term average.

Mallard duck numbers stand at 10.6 million, up 9 percent over 2011 and 40 percent above the long-term average.

To arrive at the estimates, waterfowl biologists sample more than two million square miles of waterfowl habitat.

The survey encompasses the north-central United States, south central and northern Canada, and Alaska.

Species breakdown:

Mallard: 10.6 million, up 15 percent over 2011 and 40 percent over the long-term average.

Gadwall: 3.58 million, up 10 percent above last year and 96 percent above the LTA.

Green-winged teal: 3.5 million, 20 percent above last year and 74 percent above the LTA.

Wigeon: 2.14 million, up 3 percent over 2011 but down 17 percent from the LTA.

Blue-winged teal: 9.2 million, up 3 percent from 2011 and 94 percent above LTA.

Northern shovelers: 5 million, which is 8 percent above 2011, and 111 percent above their LTA.

Northern pintails: 3.5 million, down 22 percent over last year and 14 percent below the LTA.

Redhead: 1.27 million, unchanged from last year but 89 percent above the LTA.

Canvasback: 800,000, up 10 percent and 33 percent.

Scaup: 5.2 million, up 21 percent and 4 percent.

Gains in duck numbers came about despite habitat conditions with average or below-average moisture.

The survey found 1.7 million ponds in the north-central U.S., 49 percent below the 2011 estimate of 3.2 million, and similar to the long-term average.

The entire “Trends in Duck Breeding Populations, 1955-2012” report can be downloaded from the Service’s Web site at http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds.