North Central Illinois Ornithological Society

Don't miss out on the Mysteries and Miracles of Nature ! Starting September 12th and going through the 15th, Severson Dells is hosting a wonderful event that can't be missed by anyone that loves nature!

And this event is FREE

You can view the whole event schedule at Severson Dells' Website but a couple highlights for birders are:

• Bobby Harrison will be talking about the rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker on Friday, September 14th
• Live raptor show sponsored by the World Bird Sanctuary on Saturday, September 15th at 10:00 AM, Noon, and 2:00 PM

I've personally seen a show by the World Bird Sanctuary and it is really spectacular. The birds fly freely above your heads! This is especially great for young birders and naturalists.

Here's a Bald Eagle from the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri (I took this in 2004):

A while back I was contacted by the Illinois Ornithological Society (IOS) to help them construct an events calendar for our area. I submitted our entire birding events calendar and they now have a statewide calendar of events up on their Website. It lists Chicago Area, Northwestern Illinois, and Southern Illinois calendars. For Northwestern Illinois, our club has the only events listed. These are the same events listed on the NCIOS Website's calendar of events .

Hopefully this will give our bird club and birding area a little more exposure.

Link: IOS Birding Calendar

- Eddie

I spotted a Mourning Warbler in our front juniper bushes right before heading off to work. This is actually a new yard bird and the first one I've seen this year. I am curious as to what other birds have been lurking about after all this rain, especially after reading Larry's post!

I don't know the total count of warblers we've had in the yard but in the last couple of years we've had some cool ones: Common Yellowthroate (new this year), Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Golden-winged, Blue-winged, Connecticut (which we captured on film!!), Wilson's and a host of others...

If you have large trees in your neighborhood, there's a good chance there are warblers in them now!!

During this morning's heavy rain, I noticed a gutter overflowing. So as the rain was ending, I went out to clean it. When I finished, I heard the Carolina Wren start singing that showed up about a month ago in my yard on Bellingham in NE Rockford, and I became aware of lots of birds in the trees. In a few minutes, with my glasses constantly fogging over, I saw many migrant warblers, including Black-and-White, Chestnut-sided, Tennessee, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, and Golden-winged. If you can get out between the coming downpours, the birding might be great.

During this morning's heavy rain, I noticed a gutter overflowing. So as the rain was ending, I went out to clean it. When I finished, I heard the Carolina Wren start singing that showed up about a month ago in my yard on Bellingham in NE Rockford, and I became aware of lots of birds in the trees. In a few minutes, with my glasses constantly fogging over, I saw many migrant warblers, including Black-and-White, Chestnut-sided, Tennessee, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, and Golden-winged. If you can get out between the coming downpours, the birding might be great.

I birded at lunchtime at Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve and found an Olive-sided Flycatcher high atop a large tree along the bike path past the 1st bridge on the Mulford Road side. Other interesting birds - many White-breasted Nuthatches and American Robins... still seeing lots of Indigo Buntings and there was also a Tufted Titmouse mixed in.

I haven't found any warbler activity yet but it is usually quite hot and humid in my 45 minute or so lunchtime hikes.