Archivos de Diario para septiembre 2019

domingo, 15 de septiembre de 2019

Horicon National Wildlife Refuge 9-3-19

Today my mother and I decided to take a drive up to Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. The previous weekend we had learned that several of our friends from Sand Bluff Bird Observatory were also driving up to Horicon, so we decided to go with. When we arrived, we drove around the 3-mile refuge loop. Here we met up with our friends on the boardwalk to go see some rails and other birds. The highlight of the boardwalk, in my opinion, was seeing a Virginia Rail very close to my feet. We did this by playing its call to lure it in closer. Then we went to the Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area where we walked on a boardwalk there. Here we saw wood ducks and blue-winged teals. Then we went to the car, ate lunch, and drove back to the NWR where we walked on the boardwalk there again. We were just about to turn around and go home when two Whooping Cranes flew in and landed near the boardwalk. I had a fabulous day today, and I hope to come back soon.
Species I saw-
50 Canada Geese
30 Trumpeter Swans
100 Blue-Winged Teal
50 Mallard
20 Mourning Doves
2 Virginia Rail
1 Sora
3 Common Gallinule
7 American Coot
4 Whooping Crane
2 Green Heron
1 Northern Harrier
1 Olive-Sided Flycatcher
1 Traill's Flycatcher
4 American Robin
1 Northern Cardinal
1 Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
1 Red-Eared Slider

Publicado el domingo, 15 de septiembre de 2019 a las 03:39 PM por sandbluff sandbluff | 4 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

martes, 17 de septiembre de 2019

7-3-19 Rockford Register Star building and Nicholas Conservatory

Today, my mom and I are joining our friend John Longhenry, ant the RRStar building to observe the peregrine falcons that have nested this year. The female Louise is returning for a second year of mating on the tower, and a new male Lil Kool has joined her. The male has much more pigmented feathers than the female, which is duller overall. Along with the peregrine falcons, we also saw these species at the RRStar building:
MALL-2
CANG-3
AMRO-1
HOSP-10
MODO-5

After observing the falcons with John, my mom and I headed to Nicholas Conservatory to see if there were any birds there by the river. We were greeted with several great bird species. There are two resident mute swans at the Sinnissippi Lagoon in the Conservatory. The swans are white with orange bills and black facial markings. This distinguishes then from trumpeter and tundra swans, which have mostly black bills. Even though these are owned by the conservatory, I always enjoy seeing them because they add so much majesty to the pond and surrounding area. After seeing the swans, I noticed some movement in the bushes, and a female mallard and her five chicks were walking in a single file line within arms reach of me! The juveniles have fluffy brown and yellow down all over their bodies, and the adult females are streaked brown and tan. There were also five males in the pond and surrounding the pond, which have an iridescent green head and brown body. Along with these species, we also saw:
3 MODO
1 GBHE
15 RWBL

Overall, I had a wonderful birding day. Getting to spend it with family and friends is one of my favorite parts of birding. The peregrine falcons were a lifer for me, and I got to see them with one of my closest birding friends. I could not have asked for a better day.
Gracie McMahon

Publicado el martes, 17 de septiembre de 2019 a las 01:19 AM por sandbluff sandbluff | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

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