Pine Siskin 2011

I've always thought that Pine Siskins were a neat winter finch.  They're close relatives of goldfinches but they have streaking on the breast (I know how that sounds) and really sharp pointed beaks.  Their breeding territory is Alaska and Canada, the Rockies and the west coast, but in the winter they can be found throughout the lower 48 and Mexico. 

For the last 5 years I have been keeping a couple of finch feeders (year-round).  They have attacted upwards of 12-15 American Goldfinches at a time, as well as several House Finches and a few occasional Black-capped Chickadees.  Yesterday, I finally saw a PISI in the yard!!!  Check out my newest visitor.

Black Squirrels 2011

The most common squirrels I get in the backyard are Fox Squirrels and Eastern Grey Squirrels.  Occasionally a black squirrel has wandered into the yard.

Black Squirrels are actually a melanistic variation of Eastern Grey Squirrels.  Before human settlement of North America, the black subgroup was more common than grey, because of their advantage in darker uncut forests.  In colder northern regions of North America, they also lose less heat than greys. 

One day in the middle of November, I noticed 2 black squirrels in the yard at the same time!  That's the most black squirrels I've seen in the yard at one time.  There are places like Kent, OH, and Kalamazoo, MI, where black squirrels are abundant.  But it was a rare treat to see 2 in my northeastern Illinois yard.

Rocky Mountain National Park 2011

Rocky Mountain National Park is one of my favorite places to visit.  Created by Congress in 1915, it features grassy meadows, babbling brooks, and soaring peaks over 14,000 feet above sea level.  It also protects America's most accessible tundra ecosystem...in fact, the tundra landscape at ROMO reminded me of the northern Brooks Range in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. 

All of my previous visits to ROMO have been in the summer.  During my first visit in the fall, I was hoping to see golden aspens and to hear bugling elk.  I was not disappointed.

While backpacking, it was necessary to take off my boots and socks and hike up my pants to cross a very chilly river (knee deep).  I didn't realize how cold my feet were until I stepped back on the bank.  I was groaning as loud as the elk! 

After a very close encounter with a bull elk in the foothills (while drying off my cold wet feet), I also saw a female moose foraging in a trail-side pond on the way to the Cub Lake campsite in the backcountry.  There were a few western birds that I added to my life list at ROMO, including Pygmy Nuthatch, Mountain Bluebird, Western Bluebird, and Mountain Chickadee, as well as awesome looks at spawning Rainbow Trout.  It was great to find a flock of Red Crossbills working the cones off of a tree and to hear numerous Townsend's Solitaires singing their tuneful alpine song on the trail. 

Because the forecast called for snow that would close Trail Ridge Road, which was my planned path to Durango, I had to leave ROMO a day early.  I did not want the family lore to include, "Yeah, remember when Brian was stranded in the mountains and couldn't go to Tim's wedding?"  Here's a video postcard of Rocky Mountain National Park.



Cave-in-Rock State Park 2011

Where the Ohio River separates Illinois from Kentucky, there is a unique cave formation that has served as a hideout for inland pirates, as a tavern and riverside stop for pioneers, and now as an Illinois State Park. 

I stayed in one of the duplex cabins, overlooking the expansive Ohio River.  Each cabin has a deck with great views.  Sunset and sunrise were both really beautiful.  Jupiter could be seen as a red orb rising in the evening sky.  There was a lot of barge traffic up and down the river, conveying huge amounts of coal.  It was so windy the first day that there were white caps pushing upstream! 

Since I had been on the road for 2 weeks I really needed to do laundry.  The lodge attendant said that the nearest laundromat was across the river in Marion, KY -- 11 miles away!  That meant I had to take the ferry to get my clothes clean.  The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet operates a free ferry by special agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation.  The free boat ride was one of the best parts of my Cave-in-Rock experience.

Other highlights include seeing numerous Black Vultures (a southern specialty), a flock of Eastern Bluebirds on the park swing set, and about 60 Greater White-fronted Geese migrating from their breeding grounds in the Arctic.  Here's a video postcard I put together from Cave-in-Rock, Illinois.

Le Conte's Sparrow 2011

I added a gorgeous Le Conte's Sparrow to my life list (#379) this month on a grassy trail at along the Platte River National Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary in Gibbon, Nebraska.  Initially, I had reported this bird as a Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, but an eBird reviewer suggested it was a LCSP, becasue of crown stripe, crisp streaking on the flanks, and purple streaking on the nape. 

I had just led a bird walk at Montrose Point in Chicago a couple of days eariler, and LCSP was one of the unseen targets.  It was thrilling to see this beautiful little golden bird in the shining sun. 

Hennepin & Hopper Lakes (A Decade of Restoration)

On Saturday, September 10, 2011, The Wetlands Initiative celebrated 10 years of habitat restoration work on the Sue and Wes Dixon Waterfowl Refuge at Hennepin & Hopper Lakes in Putnam County.  It features a large cattail marsh, as well as other water-loving habitats.

Cattail Marsh at Hennepin & Hopper Lakes

By the end of the 20th-Century, about 90% of the wetlands in Illinois had been drained, ditched, filled, or levied off for agricultural, industrial, and recreational purposes.  But with the vanishing wetlands, we were losing a natural resource for cleaner water, flood control, carbon capture, biodiversity, as well as an economic and recreational resource.

Farmland in 2001

The Wetlands Initiative has set out to change that.  TWI Founder Al Pyott told how local residents wanted to see the Hennepin drainage district converted back to its former natural condition, a place where large flocks of ducks and geese would congregate during migration and with excellent fishing.  Part of the Illinois River watershed, the project has restored 2,600 acres of drained farmland to a native wetland.  The transformation is amazing.

Wetlands in 2011

The 10th Anniversary event encouraged a prolonged, "lazy" visit, including a 2-mile hike long the seep trail (from which our group saw 7 immature Bald Eagles roosting on snags over the water), a hike along the new boardwalk and into a moist sedge meadow, as well as a couple of hours of paddling out on the water.

Natural Seep

There were plenty of butterflies and dragonflies, as well as some great early fall flowers in bloom, including Stiff Gentian, Cream Gentian, lots of Great Blue Lobelia, Cardinal Flower, and an orchid called Nodding Ladies'-Tresses. 

Nodding Ladies'-Tresses Orchid

Dr. Gary Sullivan explained that most of the plants returned on their own, because the seeds survived 100 years of agricultural treatment such as disturbance, drainage, fertilization, and pesticides.  Only a few plants have been introduced.  The Wetlands Initiative just added water (and fire through a rotation of controlled burns).   

Cardinal Flower, a wetland jewel

Red Admiral Butterfly

For me, the very best part of the day was being out on the water.  I've been wanting to see the place from the water for over a year, and this was a perfect opportunity to do it. 

Least Bittern, an obligate wetland bird

Considering that full-blown duck migration is several weeks away and that other people were also paddling through the cattail marsh, we still saw a number of waterfowl and wetland birds, including Blue-winged Teal, Mallards, Canada Geese, Wood Ducks, Black-crowned Night Herons (state-endangered), a family of Common Gallinules (state-endangered) off the boat ramp, and a very close encounter with a Least Bittern (state-threatened).  Earlier this year in the spring, I saw hundreds of Canvasbacks and a male Yellow-headed Blackbird (state-endangered).  Clearly, this new habitat is appreciated by the migratory and breeding birds that rely on wetlands!

Here's a video postcard of my day at this beautiful place. 

The Refuge is open to the public year-round, thanks to The Wetlands Initiative!

Revis Hill Prairie 2011

Revis Hill Prairie is an Illinois Nature Preserve in Mason County near Havana, located on the bluffs of the Sangamon River.  Only 412.5 acres, it remains the largest and best example of hill prairies in Illinois.

At the parking lot, there is an immediate incline up a sandy hillside. I found some native cactus, and Wild Petunita. 

Eastern Prickly Pear

Wild Petunia

One of the best parts of the hill prairie was the abundance of native plants that attract butterlies, such as prairie dock, compass plant, wild bergamot, and prairie blazing star.  There were butterflies everywhere!!  One of the rare butterflies that I saw is the Ottoe Skipper, an Illinois endangered species.  It depends on the prairie habitat at Revis, and I was lucky enough to snap a picture.

Ottoe Skipper
an Illinois endangered butterfly

I have never seen so many species of butterfly (and moth) in one place, and this visit to Revis was my first time seeing a few species.  Here's a sample of what I saw: clockwise from top left, Ottoe Skipper, Hummingbird Clearwing sphinx moth (upper), Red-spotted Purple (lower), Pearl Crescents, Zebra Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Spicebish Swallowtail, Common Buckeye (above), Silver-spotted Skipper (below).