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Recent Postings from
The Illinois List

Updated on Wednesday, October 17 at 12:04 AM ET
The most recently received Mail is at the top.

Nick Block feels that the identity of the raven seen by Steve Huggins 
should not be accepted at the species level based on odds. I have a 
few questions. How could a Wilson's Snipe be put on a state list if 
it wasn't distinguished from the European Common Snipe? That may not 
be a good example because the 2 species resulted from a "split" and 
some birders on Attu were evidently able to distinguish them.  
However the point is that many species (from extremely distant 
habitats) are so similar that we would need a bird in hand to be 
absolutely sure. Even more daunting, if we didn't use odds how could 
we add a rare sapsucker to the state list without proving that it 
isn't a hybrid? Of course one may be able to identify a first 
generation hybrid by sight, but how about a second or third 
generation backcross? Pretty soon we will be arguing how much genetic 
identity is necessary to be considered a species? I will not jump to 
the conclusion that the raven was a Common Raven - that is the 
committees job, but I think that birders and state rare bird 
committees must use odds as one of the factors in identifying rare 
species. Two other minor factors to consider are that Chihuahuan 
Ravens flock in winter and according to Pete Dunne's Essential Field 
Guide Companion, show no pattern of vagrancy, whereas Common Ravens 
are loners and have a slight tendency to wander.

Leo Miller
Riverside, IL

Nick and co,

Personally I think that Chihuahuan Raven can be ruled
out based purely on size. This was a 'BIG' bird, with
an obvious shaggy throat and large bill. Chihuahuan
Raven is a substantially smaller bird, bigger than a
crow but no way near the size of Common Raven. Take a
look at the second photo I posted, you can clearly see
the 'very' long wings, a good mark for Common and not
for Chihuahuan. When the bird was first spotted one
observer - commented it looks like an eagle coming.

In my personal opinion this was a Common Raven - I'm
not a state lister so I really don't care where I saw
it. I have had lots of experience with Common Raven
throughout the states and throughout the northern
hemisphere, I have also seen plenty of Chihuahuans. It
sure was fun to see it at the hawkwatch though. I will
submit a description of what was seen and if it goes
down as a 'Raven' species then so be it. I personally
think it would be the wrong decision and commonsense
is out of the window. The rarity commitee may also
want to take a look at patterns of vagrancy dates in
midwest states for Common Raven, the last Illinois /
Indiana record was October 13th, I also recieved an
email from Lower Michigan whose last specimen was
collected on October 15th many years ago.  

If we want to go down this road, maybe we should
request descriptions of all those 'late; Chimney
Swifts last year. Can we really rule out Vaux's? 

thats all for now folks
Steve Huggins
Chicago, IL

--- Nicholas Block  wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> I meant to send this thought out earlier, and Ed
> reminded me (I was the one
> who brought it up at dinner last night).  As much as
> I hate to rain on
> anyone's parade when it comes to putting Common
> Raven on their IL list, I
> think the hawkwatch bird may have to go down as a
> raven species.  Obviously,
> this would still add a tick to anyone's state list
> anyway. :-)  I say this
> because the photos obtained cannot help us
> distinguish between Common and
> Chihuahuan Ravens.  The ID of ravens can be quite
> difficult, and I think a
> good photo of the nasal bristles might be needed to
> make the distinction
> without seeing the base of the neck feathers.  Did
> anyone note this detail
> on the fly-by?  Hopefully so!  Although the odds
> heavily favor the bird
> being a Common Raven, I do not think such a
> significant record should be
> accepted at the species level based on odds.  In any
> case, a raven species
> is still a great find and record!  Congrats to those
> present!
> 
> Good birding,
> Nick Block
> Ph.D. Student
> Committee on Evolutionary Biology
> University of Chicago
> Cook County, IL
> nlb.birder AT gmail.com
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
> 
> 



 
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Hello all,

I meant to send this thought out earlier, and Ed reminded me (I was the one
who brought it up at dinner last night).  As much as I hate to rain on
anyone's parade when it comes to putting Common Raven on their IL list, I
think the hawkwatch bird may have to go down as a raven species.  Obviously,
this would still add a tick to anyone's state list anyway. :-)  I say this
because the photos obtained cannot help us distinguish between Common and
Chihuahuan Ravens.  The ID of ravens can be quite difficult, and I think a
good photo of the nasal bristles might be needed to make the distinction
without seeing the base of the neck feathers.  Did anyone note this detail
on the fly-by?  Hopefully so!  Although the odds heavily favor the bird
being a Common Raven, I do not think such a significant record should be
accepted at the species level based on odds.  In any case, a raven species
is still a great find and record!  Congrats to those present!

Good birding,
Nick Block
Ph.D. Student
Committee on Evolutionary Biology
University of Chicago
Cook County, IL
nlb.birder AT gmail.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Turkey Vultures On the Move - Schuy-Rush Lake, Schuyler County, Rushville, 
Illinois. 

  60 circling in one large group.[reporting for my brother Steve Riner]
   
  Dick Riner
  Matteson
  Cook County




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ari,
   
 I got your point and knew it was in jest. After all, the subject line did end 
with "Just for fun". :-) 

   
 But I think it's interesting how it makes some IBET folks (or at least me) 
really think about the list. 

   
  Bernie Sloan

birdhaxxor AT aim.com wrote:
          
One important thing i forgot to mention:

My previous post is really just a JOKE. I'm not saying anything belittling 
about IBET or any of the people who post on it. I just happened to be bored 
when i noticed the 175 Ibet emails i had recieved and thought, "hey, maybe i 
could write something funny that all the other IBETers would appreciate." 


It's my fault for not proofreading or thinking before i say something (i do 
this way too much in real life). And please note that this is NOT A?RANT. i'm 
not angry with IBET or anything! In this case I hope other birders would please 
not try to attack me: as i said, this is nothing more than a silly opinion i 
created for fun. I enjoy birdwatching in every aspect, i respect my fellow 
birders, and i LOVE downy woodpeckers. 


-Ari Rice

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



         

       
---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello IBETers,

As I was walking in the condo property where I live, I
spotted a bird perched at the pinacle of a lovely
spruce tree.  My binocular view told me it was a
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, actually perching at the tip
like a passerine!!  He looked like King of the Hill or
an angel on a Christmas tree.  He made several toots
of his tin horn and then, looking around, he began to
rapidly toot ~3 times a second.  He kept this up for a
minute or so and then flew away.  Checking every bird
book I have for some clue to this behavior, I came up
with nothing except that RBH's usually travel in
flocks and roost together in tree cavities on cold
nights.  Was he alone and lonely and advertising that
fact?

Marilyn Bell
Warrenville
DuPage County



 
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Hi All:


I am still drying my eyes from reading Ari's earlier post, �From the mouths of
young people�, as they say.  The technical question is that I never
actually received Ari�s original post, and I recall reading something referred
to earlier in the week in a post that I didn't receive.  Does anyone
with knowledge on how this listserv and Yahoo Mail work together know were
those messages might have wander off to?



Now for the ID poser regarding the Raven sighting.  Last night, during an
informal discussion about sightings that have been on the listserv came up, and
someone suggested that Chihuahuan Raven not be ruled out.  Given the
unusual occurrence of the Mango in Wisconsin earlier this year, the 
possibility, while remote, is 

still a possibility.  A cursory review of what is available "on the
internets" shows that the bird does range up into SW Kansas. 
At this writing all I have at hand is the Geo (5th) which states
"Distinguished from Common Raven by shorter wings and shorter, less
wedge-shaped tail". Just something to talk about other than the latest Rusty 
Blackbird sighting. 




Sign me Eagerly awaiting discussion at the
Pillory, er the listserv.

 
Ed O'Brien
River Forest, Cook Co.
 ILwestsideed AT yahoo.com 







 
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At Lake Zurich, Lake County, this afternoon, visible
from Paulus Park:

Ruddy Duck � 7
American Coot � approx. 800
Pied-billed Grebe � 7

I heard a Cooper�s Hawk calling from behind me as I
was scoping the lake, and as it got closer I took out
my camera and got ready - - for a Blue Jay who hopped
around in the branches above me, doing a very credible
Cooper�s Hawk call.  I�ve watched them do totally
believable Red-tailed Hawk calls, but didn�t know they
could do a Cooper�s so well.  That is one versatile
bird.

About a dozen Pine Siskins are still visiting our
feeders.  It�s great that it�s still warm enough to
leave the door open and listen to their vocalizations.
 And in the last couple days we�ve also had

DOWNY WOODPECKER   :-)   (When you have a constant
stream of House Sparrows at the feeders, these guys
look really good).
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe  - -  on the back fence and the
birdbath
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch - - a much rarer bird in our
yard than Red-breasted
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-rumped Warbler
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
and the regulars

The increased bird activity in the yard attracted the
attention of a very handsome adult male Cooper�s Hawk
today, who landed just briefly on the fence.

Carolyn Fields
Palatine
NW Cook County



 
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One important thing i forgot to mention:

My previous post is really just a JOKE. I'm not saying anything belittling 
about IBET or any of the people who post on it. I just happened to be bored 
when i noticed the 175 Ibet emails i had recieved and thought, "hey, maybe i 
could write something funny that all the other IBETers would appreciate." 


It's my fault for not proofreading or thinking before i say something (i do 
this way too much in real life). And please note that this is NOT A?RANT. i'm 
not angry with IBET or anything! In this case I hope other birders would please 
not try to attack me: as i said, this is nothing more than a silly opinion i 
created for fun. I enjoy birdwatching in every aspect, i respect my fellow 
birders, and i LOVE downy woodpeckers. 


-Ari Rice

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Seeing the various postings about what people may or may not be
interested in on IBET and the solution could be to use the birding on
the net web page that lists all the postings and allows you to browse
what takes your interest. It's how I access the group and it's perfect
because you can access it from any web page and your inbox doesn't get
flooded. It seems to update pretty quickly too.

http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/IBET.html


Keith Bowers
Chicago

Prairie Woods Audubon Society would like to welcome all IBETers to our next  
member meeting, this Thursday, October 18th. 
 
This month's topic is the Chicagoland Wild Quaker Rescue  program. 
 
Nancy Carlson and Renee Zartler,  co-founders of this organization, will be 
speaking about their  efforts to rescue and care for wild baby Quaker  
Parakeets (a.k.a., the Monk or Gray-Headed Parakeet). Because Quaker/Monk nests 
are 

many times built on  electrical transformers, which can pose a fire and/or 
power outage threat, they must be routinely removed. Prior to removal, utility 

companies contact Nancy and Renee, who pick up the eggs/babies and  care for 
them. Web site: _www.chicagolandwildquakerrescue.org_ 
(http://www.chicagolandwildquakerrescue.org) .
 
Meetings begin with "social time" at 7:00  p.m. A brief business meeting is 
conducted at 7:30 (this month we will  also be having a short talk on Cornell 
Lab's Project FeederWatch), followed by the featured speaker. Our meetings are 

at the Spring Valley Nature  Center, located at 1111 East Schaumburg Road 
(between Meacham and Plum Grove  Roads) in Schaumburg, IL . 
 
Pat Prichard
Palatine
Cook  County



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


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James Sullivan's anecdote regarding the Coopers and Crows reminded me of an 
incident several years ago in my backyard. One fall morning, I looked out to 
see a juvenile Coopers hawk challenging an adult Coop. The adult would chase 
the juvenile but then 6 Bluejays ganged up on the hawks. The hawks would, of 
course, chase the jays and so it went back and forth with hawks chasing jays, 
jays chasing hawks and the 2 hawks chasing each other! The jays eventually got 
bored and left, leaving the hawks to continue vying for dominance. 

   
  Vicki Hedrick
  Carlinville
  Macoupin County
   
   

       
---------------------------------
Need a vacation? Get great deals to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel. 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The pond by the intersection of Route 53 and 83rd street still has good 
shorebird habitat at Greene Valley Forest Preserve (DuPage County).  
There were KILLDEER (of course), GREATER & LESSER YELLOWLEGS, and a 
WILSON'S SNIPE there late this afternoon.  The weedy areas of the 
wetlands on the river floodplain have many hundreds of sparrows of 
various species as well as large flocks of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES.  There 
were also several PURPLE FINCHES in the trees along the river in the 
southern part of the preserve.  I did not see any of the rare sparrow 
species but I was limited by time and fading light.

Mike Madsen
mmadsen48 AT comcast.net
Woodridge, IL  (DuPage County)

I think it's important for people to look and think about birds. I am happy 
that someone is 

noticing a Downy Woodpecker in their backyard and takes the time to observe and 
report it. 

If 100 people are excited about the Mango-that's great.
For others, it's chasing rarities,photographing bird behavior or keeping track 
of the first birds 

of Spring. I think there is room for everybody.
 Baba Dioum stated "we only conserve what we love". 

Arlene Koziol
Arlington Hts., IL.

arlenekoziol AT mac.com

Key sentence:

"I myself am a very busy high-school student..."

;-)

lighten up, kid...it's all good.

-greg neise
(a former fanatical teenage birder)

ps- remind me sometime to tell you the story of Steve and Mike Mlodinow and me 
and the 

trek across Willow Slough, not around...across. Talk about fanatical!


--- In ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com, birdhaxxor AT ... wrote:
>
> 
> Sure everyone knows the rules for IBET
> 1. No spamming or flaming
> 2. Keep the emails limited to Illinois birds. 
> 3. Blah blah blah
> 
> But do you know the unwritten rules?...
> 1. Don't post anything unless it's actually something I'm interested in 
seeing. 

> Of all the IBET emails i read in?a given day, i usually end up reading about 
2 out of every 

20 emails. And i swear, some of them just take up space in my mailbox. I swear 
there was 

one email saying "OMG THERE'S A DOWNY WOODPECKER IN MY BACKYARD!!". Is it like 
someone's actually going to get off their lazy arse and drive 30 miles to see a 
downy 

woodpecker that might not even be there?
> 
> 2. Don't go on IBET unless you're?fit for?chasing after birds. 
> I myself am a very busy high-school student who's only birdwatching time 
during the 

weekend often get swamped by other activities. More so, i always need someone 
to drive 

me. So when im checking my email during the week and i see "GREEN BREASTED 
MANGO!!" 

all over?IBET,?i?totally end up?cursing myself for not being able to see it. Of 
course my 

other birdwatching friends do (skipping school?). So basically i go on IBET 
every day and 

feel bad?for myself?every time someone sees a Snow Goose,?Rusty 
Blackbird,?Harlequin 

Duck, Red Crossbill,?Wilson's Plover, Eared Quetzal, or?an Ivory-Billed 
Woodpecker?and i'm 

just?not available to go out and find it. Especially if it's a long tailed 
jaeger?eating? 

handouts all the?way?at Lake Carlyle- i mean, come on! Why does this bird have 
to 

frustrate me by showing up somewhere so far away???
> 
> 3. Just get to the point already. 
> Last year when i was reading IBET posts there was someone who posted the 
sightings of 

2 Trumpeter Swans. Basically, it was a giant paragraph?of about 250 
words?describing 

how the birds came in from the north at 10 in the morning, elegantly?landed on 
the water, 

started preening themselves, flapped their wings a few times, started preening 
some 

more......Oh they just took off.........
> 
> 4. WHERE????????
> This is probably the most annoying thing i've ever experienced on IBET. 
Someone posts 

"3?Red-Necked Phalaropes were observed today?at Happy Sunshine Park". Excuse 
me, but 

where the hell is Happy Sunshine Park anyway? Do you think I just happen to go 
there 

everyday???
> 
> 5. Same bird...37 posts...wow. 
> I know this must be coincidental and there's nothing really too bad about it, 
but i notice 

how people sometimes see rare birds, get excited, and post their findings on 
IBET.....even 

after someone else has?already posted it 50 times. Maybe a good example of the 
Green 

Breasted Mango would be:
> IBET Green Breasted Mango!!!
> IBET Green Breasted Mango still present at 7:00
> IBET Green Breasted Mango
> IBET Mango is still present at 7:05
> IBET GB Mango- Wednesday Sighting
> IBET GB Mango still present today
> IBET The Mango just stole my wallet!!
> 
> 
> -Ari Rice
> Northbrook, IL
> 
> ________________________________________________________________________
> Check Out the new free AIM(R) Mail -- Unlimited storage and industry-leading 
spam 

and email virus protection.
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Sure everyone knows the rules for IBET
1. No spamming or flaming
2. Keep the emails limited to Illinois birds. 
3. Blah blah blah

But do you know the unwritten rules?...
1. Don't post anything unless it's actually something I'm interested in seeing. 

Of all the IBET emails i read in?a given day, i usually end up reading about 2 
out of every 20 emails. And i swear, some of them just take up space in my 
mailbox. I swear there was one email saying "OMG THERE'S A DOWNY WOODPECKER IN 
MY BACKYARD!!". Is it like someone's actually going to get off their lazy arse 
and drive 30 miles to see a downy woodpecker that might not even be there? 


2. Don't go on IBET unless you're?fit for?chasing after birds. 
I myself am a very busy high-school student who's only birdwatching time during 
the weekend often get swamped by other activities. More so, i always need 
someone to drive me. So when im checking my email during the week and i see 
"GREEN BREASTED MANGO!!" all over?IBET,?i?totally end up?cursing myself for not 
being able to see it. Of course my other birdwatching friends do (skipping 
school?). So basically i go on IBET every day and feel bad?for myself?every 
time someone sees a Snow Goose,?Rusty Blackbird,?Harlequin Duck, Red 
Crossbill,?Wilson's Plover, Eared Quetzal, or?an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker?and 
i'm just?not available to go out and find it. Especially if it's a long tailed 
jaeger?eating?handouts all the?way?at Lake Carlyle- i mean, come on! Why does 
this bird have to frustrate me by showing up somewhere so far away??? 


3. Just get to the point already. 
Last year when i was reading IBET posts there was someone who posted the 
sightings of 2 Trumpeter Swans. Basically, it was a giant paragraph?of about 
250 words?describing how the birds came in from the north at 10 in the morning, 
elegantly?landed on the water, started preening themselves, flapped their wings 
a few times, started preening some more......Oh they just took off......... 


4. WHERE????????
This is probably the most annoying thing i've ever experienced on IBET. Someone 
posts "3?Red-Necked Phalaropes were observed today?at Happy Sunshine Park". 
Excuse me, but where the hell is Happy Sunshine Park anyway? Do you think I 
just happen to go there everyday??? 


5. Same bird...37 posts...wow. 
I know this must be coincidental and there's nothing really too bad about it, 
but i notice how people sometimes see rare birds, get excited, and post their 
findings on IBET.....even after someone else has?already posted it 50 times. 
Maybe a good example of the Green Breasted Mango would be: 

IBET Green Breasted Mango!!!
IBET Green Breasted Mango still present at 7:00
IBET Green Breasted Mango
IBET Mango is still present at 7:05
IBET GB Mango- Wednesday Sighting
IBET GB Mango still present today
IBET The Mango just stole my wallet!!


-Ari Rice
Northbrook, IL

________________________________________________________________________
Check Out the new free AIM(R) Mail -- Unlimited storage and industry-leading 
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

would like to know if anyone has any idea of what bird this is? have been told 
that it is a snow bunting but really not sure that it is.......... 

  thanks,
  marti

       
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

 The female Long-Tailed Duck was still at Foster Beach as of 9am this 
morning. I was there before Montrose and didn't see her,ran into Bob 
Hughes who told me she was probably still around,went back. BINGO! The 
bird was no more than 30 feet at times!

 Thanks for the post Sam,
 Bruce Heimer
 Elmhurst,IL 

This morning, in the trees directly west of the beach station there were 5
coopers hawks harassing a murder of crows.  The crows, in turn, were ganging
up on them and causing the hawks to retreat back into the locust trees.
After a few minutes another hawk would try again, diving down to about 2
feet above the ground, gliding 20 or so feet to an unsuspecting crow.  There
would then be some cawing and screaming, and the murder would clump together
and push the hawk back into the tree.

It was fun to watch!  I easily stayed there for 20-30 minutes.

James Sullivan
Cook


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Good Day Birders,

While walking around the dune area this morning I flushed either one Snipe 
twice or two different ones. In addition there were Savannah and White-crowned 
Sparrows and Palm Warblers. On the beach were seven Sanderlings, three Dunlin 
and one Black-bellied Plover. All shorebirds spent more time on the main beach 
then in the protected area. 


Steve Spitzer
Chicago, Cook County



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi,

I'm forwarding this to the group on behalf of Chris West:

Hi Gary,

I'm a member of wisbirdn and don't have access to IBET.  could you
please post the following for me? thanks. --Chris

I just talked to Mike Ramsden recently.
As of Mon, the Mango is still residing at Joan Salzberg's home in
Beloit. We all agree that it is most likely where it will stay. The
Mango is protected by the migratory birds act. Therefore, a USFWS
permit would be needed to move the bird and at this time, the USFWS
will not issue such a permit.  Our only hope is that when it becomes
cold enough that it can no longer fly, that somebody finds it and
takes it to a rehabilitator who gets it back up and flying and then
figures out how to get a permit to keep it until it's warm enough to
let it go.

Hope this clears any confusion and questions about the bird.
Happy Birding! --Chris West, Richland County WI



Gary J Sibio
Chicago, IL (Cook Co)
garysibio AT gmail.com

Per an interview with Joan Salzberg on NPR, the bird was still present as of 
yesterday. You can listen to the full interview at: 


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId= ( 
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId= ) 


Jay Jaeger, Grundy County 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Monday morning a flock of roughly 50 American pipits converged on the
largest pond in the Ashcroft Place subdivision in Oswego.  The
subdivision is only about 25% built, contains 4 ponds and is
surrounded by farm fields and open space on 3 sides.

The water level in the largest pond has lowered in the past month
exposing some muddy areas and only covers the safety shelf by a few
inches.  The pipits spent about 15-20 minutes foraging along the
shoreline and bathing in the water.  This was a "lifer" for me!

Kelly Joslin
Oswego, Kendall Co.

After my extensive trip to the SW US, I had rough edited my images down to 
about 15,000, in a couple more months. Then I fell even further behind when I 
started shooting around Chicago again after the additional 2 month hiatus. 


Finally I have gotten to catching up with some of the new stuff, mostly 
shorebirds. 

I created new species galleries for the following, which all include some 
recent shots from Montrose Beach 

Peregrine: http://theearlybirder.com/hawks/peregrine/index.htm
Golden Plover: http://theearlybirder.com/plovers/gold-plvr/index.htm
Black Bellied Plover: http://theearlybirder.com/plovers/bb-plover/index.htm
Ruddy Turnstone: http://theearlybirder.com/sandprs/rud-turn/index.htm
Dunlin: http://theearlybirder.com/sandprs/dunlin/index.htm
Baird's Sandpiper: http://theearlybirder.com/sandprs/bairdspr/index.htm
Sanderling: http://theearlybirder.com/sandprs/sanderling/index.htm
Yellowlegs: http://theearlybirder.com/sandprs/yellowlegs/index.htm
Red Knot: http://theearlybirder.com/sandprs/red-knot/index.htm

Some other new or revised galleries, but without recent locals are:
Phalaropes: http://theearlybirder.com/sandprs/phalarope/index.htm
Stilts: http://theearlybirder.com/sandprs/stilt/index.htm
Avocets: http://theearlybirder.com/sandprs/avocet/index.htm
Oystercatcher: http://theearlybirder.com/sandprs/oystercatcher/index.htm
BB Whistling Duch: http://theearlybirder.com/watrfowl/bbwduck/index.htm
Fulvous Whistling Duck: http://theearlybirder.com/watrfowl/flwduck/index.htm
Nightjars: http://theearlybirder.com/caprimulg/index.htm

Maybe 13,000 more to catch up on.
Thanks for looking,
Rob Curtis/The Early Birder.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello IBETTERS, Outside the office today a young TENNESSEE WARBLER ran into 
a window at our office.  We kept it in a box for an hour.  It still acted 
out of it.  Then after another hour it seemed more lively, so I took it out 
to a conifer and it looked around, getting more alert.  It then hopped into 
the tall grass and started foraging.  I then left it, hoping for the best.

After work I played hooky from real life and spent 45 minutes at the swine 
ponds at U of I south Farms as the clouds from the rainstorm were coming 
in.  Observed one RED TAILED HAWK going in.  On the big pond were about 35 
MALLARDS, 16 SHOVELERS, 10 NORTHERN PINTAIL, 8 GADWALL, and 4 GREEN WINGED 
TEAL.  They were mostly upended and feeding like mad.  In the weedy border 
and in the dried up 2 ponds grown up in foxtail were many (60) WHITE 
CROWNED SPARROWS, (15)SWAMP SPARROWS, (5) WHITE THROATED SPARROWS, (20) 
SONG SPARROWS, and one first year CLAY COLORED SPARROW.  Also in the weeds 
were YELLOW RUMPED WARBLERS (also many in the plantings around our office 
today), 4 GOLDEN CROWNED KINGLETS, 4 NORTHERN CARDINALS, and one lovely 
first year ORANGE CROWNED WARBLER.  The sparrow and warbler action went 
kaput when 2 first year COOPERS HAWKS chased one another over the dried 
ponds, then swooped around some more with one going back over to the north 
and the other went and harassed some CROWS on the ground to the sw which 
all then flew up and chased the hawk to the west where RED WINGED 
BLACKBIRDS and GRACKLES were massing for the evening, sending the whole 
group of them into avoidance maneuvers. The sparrows and co all went into 
deep cover or froze solid and with the waning light I called it 
quits.  Rhetta Jack, Springfield, birds were all in Champaign.

Since the mango was discovered in Beloit and reported in the Rockford paper, 
there are anecdotal claims from at least 4 other people in the immediate 
Rockford area that they, too, have a hummingbird at their feeder which they 
believe to be a mango. The reporter who wrote the piece received several of 
these reports and asked for photos and/or offered to have an experienced 
observer go to the site and check the suspect. No offers have been accepted, 
and no photos have been received. 


While it would be a treat, albeit likely not very long-lasting, if the mango 
showed up at a Rockford feeder (ours are still up, but hoping for a less 
spectacular vagrant (Rufous?)), I don't believe that it would be a good thing 
to bring the bird into captivity, even if it were legal. Green-breasted Mangos, 
and other birds within and without its range, would be better off if we sent $$ 
to conservation organizations which are buying and conserving habitat. 


Dan Williams
Rockford 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: trptjoe AT aol.com 
  To: bentnancy AT hotmail.com ; ilbirds AT yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 8:38 PM
 Subject: Re: IBET "Flying in the Face of Logic", Tribune article on Mango, no 
sighting 



  There is an ongoing discussion about this subject on WisBirds at 
  http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/WISC.html

  The short form of the discussion (as it could certainly be relevent to 
  Illinois if the bird moves south to, say, a Rockford feeder):
  a) if it was sick it could be captured, and released when healthy
  b) healthy birds being captured is in violation of the Migratory Bird 
  Treaty

  You can imagine all the divergent lines of thought from there, I'm 
  sure. I'm not trying to replicate the WisBirds conversation here, as it 
  has been pretty thoroughly discussed during the past month.

  Joe Lill
  Staying out of the fray in
  Chicago, Cook County

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Nancy Bent 
  To: ilbirds AT yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 6:24 pm
  Subject: RE: IBET "Flying in the Face of Logic", Tribune article on 
  Mango, no sighting

  Does anyone know of any plans to capture this bird? While 
  it probably shouldn't be in the breeding population given the magnitude 
  of its mistaken migration, there is no reason that a bird that has 
  given so much pleasure to so many people couldn't be held as part of a 
  zoo's collection.

  Nancy Bent

  LaGrange, Cook County

  To: garysibio AT gmail.com; ILbirds AT yahoogroups.comFrom: 
  trptjoe AT aol.comDate: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:12:47 -0400Subject: Re: IBET 
  "Flying in the Face of Logic", Tribune article on Mango, no sighting

  It could still be there, for all any of us know. I haven't heard about 
  anyone reporting it since the cutoff date a couple of weeks ago. I'd 
  imagine that a small circle of birders (the guy who ID'd it, for 
  example) are still keeping tabs, and I'm also certain that both 
  property owners have been counseled to keep track of the days on which 
  it is seen.I know that the entire ornithology class from Beloit College 
  got to see it on the day they went for a once-in-a-lifetime field trip! 
  (No, Caitlin isn't in that class, for those who were wondering.)Tons of 
  thanks to all of the property owners!Joe LillChiacgo, Cook CountyDoes 
  anyone know how long it stayed?Gary J SibioChicago, IL (Cook 
  Co)garysibio AT gmail.com___________________________________________________
  _______Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL 
  Mail! - http://mail.aol.com

  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

  __________________________________________________________
  Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - 
  http://mail.aol.com


   

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> Jim took a call from Dan Kassebaum:
> - male SCISSOR-TAILED FLYC is still there today (Monday) at the same spot 
> reported. (Flat Branch Road 0.5 miles South of 2000N)
> - Still tons of Bonies but still no Little Gull, but might be a good place 
> to look for one.
>
> One of the Seifferts (sp?) reported EIGHT (!!) SURF SCOTERS on Saturday of 
> this last weekend at Carlyle.
>
> For pictures and other birds reported this weekend at Carlyle, see below 
> website:
> http://www.htc.net/~kdan/report.htm
>
> Good birding,
> Charlene Malone
> St. Louis co., MO
 > 2bbirdn AT charter.net
>
> 



 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ILbirds/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ILbirds/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:ILbirds-digest AT yahoogroups.com 
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<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ILbirds-unsubscribe AT yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

Karen, Vicky Sroczynski, and I, joined by Jody and Jerry Zamirowski, didn't 
expect much by way of hawk migration on Monday because of the south, at times 
southeast, wind over the hill. 
But we were wrong. We had both fair numbers and good variety; 54 raptors of 9 
species - 15 Turkey Vultures, 3 harriers, 21 Sharpies, 2 goshawks (one, a 
juvenile, sailed right over us for great views), 3 Broad-winged Hawks (late 
stragglers still coming through), 7 Red-tailed Hawks, and one each, kestrel, 
Merlin 

and Peregrine. Unlike most days at Greene Valley, today more than half the 
birds flew through between noon and 2 PM.

A snipe flew right over us, as did 2 Tree Swallows and 2 Brewer's Blackbirds. 
A couple of Chimney Swifts were foraging over the hill. How late will they 
stay this year?

Regards
Bob Fisher
Downers Grove
DuPage County


**************************************
 See what's new at 
http://www.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The Evanston North Shore Bird Club has field trips scheduled both Saturday 
and Sunday this weekend.

Saturday, October 20, we will visit the north unit of Illinois Beach State 
Park for hawk watching.  If hawk migration is slow the leader will decide to 
bird elsewhere.  Meet at 10:00 a.m. at the Sailing Beach entrance shelter 
off Camp Logan.  Enter driving east from Sheridan Road on 17th Street in 
Zion.  Leader: David B. Johnson.

Sunday, October 21, there will be a trip to the Palos Area.  Enjoy fall 
migration at this unique location.  Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Sag Quarries 
Forest Preserve parking lot on the east side of Route 83, south of  I-55, 
and south of the canal.  Leader:  Joel Greenberg.

John Hockman
Riverwoods, IL
Lake County
j.w.hockman AT sbcglobal.net

ENSBC Web Site: www.ensbc.org
 

There is an ongoing discussion about this subject on WisBirds at 
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/WISC.html

The short form of the discussion (as it could certainly be relevent to 
Illinois if the bird moves south to, say, a Rockford feeder):
a) if it was sick it could be captured, and released when healthy
b) healthy birds being captured is in violation of the Migratory Bird 
Treaty

You can imagine all the divergent lines of thought from there, I'm 
sure. I'm not trying to replicate the WisBirds conversation here, as it 
has been pretty thoroughly discussed during the past month.

Joe Lill
Staying out of the fray in
Chicago, Cook County

-----Original Message-----
From: Nancy Bent 
To: ilbirds AT yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 6:24 pm
Subject: RE: IBET "Flying in the Face of Logic", Tribune article on 
Mango, no sighting























             Does anyone know of any plans to capture this bird?  While 
it probably shouldn't be in the breeding population given the magnitude 
of its mistaken migration, there is no reason that a bird that has 
given so much pleasure to so many people couldn't be held as part of a 
zoo's collection.



Nancy Bent

LaGrange, Cook County



To: garysibio AT gmail.com; ILbirds AT yahoogroups.comFrom: 
trptjoe AT aol.comDate: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:12:47 -0400Subject: Re: IBET 
"Flying in the Face of Logic", Tribune article on Mango, no sighting



It could still be there, for all any of us know. I haven't heard about 
anyone reporting it since the cutoff date a couple of weeks ago. I'd 
imagine that a small circle of birders (the guy who ID'd it, for 
example) are still keeping tabs, and I'm also certain that both 
property owners have been counseled to keep track of the days on which 
it is seen.I know that the entire ornithology class from Beloit College 
got to see it on the day they went for a once-in-a-lifetime field trip! 
(No, Caitlin isn't in that class, for those who were wondering.)Tons of 
thanks to all of the property owners!Joe LillChiacgo, Cook CountyDoes 
anyone know how long it stayed?Gary J SibioChicago, IL (Cook 
Co)garysibio AT gmail.com___________________________________________________
_______Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL 
Mail! - http://mail.aol.com



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]







    




















________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - 
http://mail.aol.com

 
 Tim Smith's original gripe probably rings a bell with quite a few of us. Once 
he thought he saw a Hawk Owl and was summarily dismissed, being told it could 
only have been a Great Horned Owl. I've had the same sort of experience a 
number of times in my 45 years of birding (I started when I was 12 years old!). 

   
 I'm reminded of a short Kenn Kaufman essay in the birding anthology "Good 
Birders Don't Wear White" (Lisa White, editor, Houghton Mifflin, 2007). 
Kaufman's essay is titled "Question Authority", and the subtitle of the short 
essay pokes fun at the book's title. The subtitle reads: "Good Birders 
Sometimes Wear White". :-) 

   
  Anyway, the following quote pretty much summarizes Kaufman's essay:
   
 "Good birders will always question the dictates of the experts, and with good 
reason: even the top experts are sometimes wrong...Question what you read and 
what you are told. Even if your investigation only proves that the experts were 
right about some fact, you'll have the pleasure of knowing that fact, really 
knowing it, from your own experience." 

   
  Sounds like good advice! :-)
   
  Bernie Sloan

Timothy Smith  wrote:
          I am overwhelmed. And I am humbled. I am most appreciative of all the
positive response and the number of responses. Thank you all (and
there were many) for the words of support and kindness. It truly
feels good to be a birder again. Tim, the south Will C. connection



                         

       
---------------------------------
Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! 
FareChase. 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Does anyone know of any plans to capture this bird? While it probably shouldn't 
be in the breeding population given the magnitude of its mistaken migration, 
there is no reason that a bird that has given so much pleasure to so many 
people couldn't be held as part of a zoo's collection. 

 
Nancy Bent
LaGrange, Cook County


To: garysibio AT gmail.com; ILbirds AT yahoogroups.comFrom: trptjoe AT aol.comDate: Mon, 
15 Oct 2007 19:12:47 -0400Subject: Re: IBET "Flying in the Face of Logic", 
Tribune article on Mango, no sighting 





It could still be there, for all any of us know. I haven't heard about anyone 
reporting it since the cutoff date a couple of weeks ago. I'd imagine that a 
small circle of birders (the guy who ID'd it, for example) are still keeping 
tabs, and I'm also certain that both property owners have been counseled to 
keep track of the days on which it is seen.I know that the entire ornithology 
class from Beloit College got to see it on the day they went for a 
once-in-a-lifetime field trip! (No, Caitlin isn't in that class, for those who 
were wondering.)Tons of thanks to all of the property owners!Joe LillChiacgo, 
Cook CountyDoes anyone know how long it stayed?Gary J SibioChicago, IL (Cook 
Co)garysibio AT gmail.com__________________________________________________________Email 
and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - 
http://mail.aol.com 




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

While at the MN Audubon weekend, Helen Parker asked me to post this:

Will the person who left a spotting scope in my car at the IOS Shorebird 
Weekend please contact:
                             Helen Parker
                             
         or email:  h-parker AT uiuc.edu

If nobody claims it, the scope will be donated to Birder's Exchange.

Anne Straight
astraight AT worldnet.att.net

It could still be there, for all any of us know. I haven't heard about 
anyone reporting it since the cutoff date a couple of weeks ago. I'd 
imagine that a small circle of birders (the guy who ID'd it, for 
example) are still keeping tabs, and I'm also certain that both 
property owners have been counseled to keep track of the days on which 
it is seen.
I know that the entire ornithology class from Beloit College got to see 
it on the day they went for a once-in-a-lifetime field trip! (No, 
Caitlin isn't in that class, for those who were wondering.)

Tons of thanks to all of the property owners!

Joe Lill
Chiacgo, Cook County




Does anyone know how long it stayed?



Gary J Sibio

Chicago, IL (Cook Co)

garysibio AT gmail.com





    




















________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - 
http://mail.aol.com

I went to Shabbona Lake this morning about 8:00 AM, planning to spend maybe
an hour and a half.  However, I was there until 1:30, and had a list of 61
species when I left. The most surprising species was an OVENBIRD. The latest
I've ever seen one before was September 28! I also saw a NASHVILLE WARBLER,
2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, and about 20 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. I saw a
BLUE-HEADED VIREO and a PHILADELPHIA VIREO too. 

 

Hawks were well represented. A SHARP-SHINNED,  a RED-TAILED, and 2 BALD
EAGLES flew over. One eagle was a first year and the other was almost full
adult, with black patches around its eyes and a little black on its tail.

 

A HERMIT THRUSH and 4 GRAY CATBIRDS were in the Chief Shabbona Forest
Preserve, next to the state park. AMERICAN ROBINS were everywhere. I counted
about 160. Three YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS were in the woods. 

 

Sparrows included one FIELD, one CLAY-COLORED, 3 SWAMP, 4 SONG, 4 DARK-EYED
JUNCOS, 6 WHITE-CROWNED, and 38 WHITE-THROATED. 

 

Other land birds included A WINTER WREN was by the bathrooms at the parking
area by the bait shop, about 15 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, 8 RUBY-CROWNED
KINGLETS, 2 BROWN CREEPERS, a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, several WHITE-BREASTED
NUTHATCHES, several BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, and a bunch of AMERICAN
GOLDFINCHES. 

 

Shorebirds at the west end of the lake included a GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 2
LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 3 STILT SANDPIPERS, 2 DUNLIN, and 4 KILLDEER. A WILSON'S
SNIPE was in the pond by the park entrance. 

 

Waterfowl included 2 CACKLING GEESE, CANADA GEESE, 6 AMERICAN BLACK DUCKS,
18 AMERICAN WIDGEONS, 24 GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 2 BLUE-WINGED TEAL, and
Mallards. Four PIED-BILLED GREBES and about 30 AMERICAN COOTS were also in
the lake. The pond by the road had one HOODED MERGANSER. 

 

Darrell Shambaugh

Somonauk, DeKalb County

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Rivershire Park is a small nature preserve, owned by the Village of  
Lincolnshire, on the banks of the Des Plaines and adjacent to Ryerson. Observed 
over 

a 30 minute period this afternoon....RED BREASTED NUTHATCH, COMMON  FLICKER, 
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, WHITE-THROATED  SPARROWS, 
FOX SPARROW, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, SWAINSONS  THRUSH, 
CEDAR WAXWINGS.
 
Gerry Batsford
Lincolnshire
Lake County



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Good Day Birders,

This afternoon there was a male Red-bellied Woodpecker in the oak trees around 
the building at the North Park Village Nature Center. He seemed much calmer 
then others I have met and there were plenty of nice views. 


http://flickr.com/photos/happy_peasant//

Other then the woodpecker, the only other birds were a hermit Thrush, a Blue 
Jay, two Song Sparrows and a few Mallards in the pond. I did not go into the 
woods section though. 


Steve Spitzer,
Chicago, Cook County


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

arlenekoziol wrote:
>
> My son sent me the link to an article in the Chicago Tribune on the 
> recent Green-breasted
> Mango, no sighting, in Wisconsin.
>





Does anyone know how long it stayed?

Gary J Sibio
Chicago, IL (Cook Co)
garysibio AT gmail.com

Hello birders - Please join us tonight at 7:00 at Peggy Notebaert Nature 
Museum. Our speaker will be Michael Retter who will talk on Mexico. Come on 
out. 


Also join us this weekend at the IBSP Hawk Watch.  Details below:

Saturday, October 20, :00 A.M
Illinois Beach State Park Hawk Watch

Leader: Nancy Tikalsky at ntikalsky [at] hotmail [dot] com or .


Join us at the The Illinois Beach State Park Hawk Watch located in the 
northeastern corner of the state in Lake County, IL on the shoreline of Lake 
Michigan for its 8th year of fall migration monitoring. Local, experienced 
volunteers will be on hand to assist us in locating and identifying Hawks, 
Falcons, Eagles, Osprey and other birds of prey as they migrate south. Other 
songbirds are seen and enjoyed at the open grasslands site as well. 


The count site is located on a slight hill overlooking the landscape to the 
north and northwest. A view of migrants along the shoreline is also possible, 
although the acutal site is a few hundred yards from the beach 


Volunteers begin this year's monitoring on August 25th and end of November 
25th. 


Directions: Take I-94 to Route 173, exit and head east to Sheridan Road (approx 
8 miles). Go north on Sheridan Road to 17th Street and then go east. Take the 
park road into the park and turn right at the sign for the Sailing Beach. The 
count site is located at the first pavilion on the right. 



Sigrid Schmidt
sigmsch AT comcast.net

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

While walking back to my office from the main zoo grounds a few
minutes ago, I noticed a Chicago police officer looking for something
in the flower garden where I saw the pheasant last week.

"There's a big brown bird in there" she said. 

Indeed there was.

Film, as they say, at 11 (or Surfbirds):

http://surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery20

Cheers,

-greg neise
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Greg Neise
Staff Photographer
Manager of Web and Graphics Technology
Lincoln Park Zoo
2001 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60614

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

My son sent me the link to an article in the Chicago Tribune on the recent 
Green-breasted 

Mango, no sighting, in Wisconsin.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-lostbird_15oct15,0,6372260.story 


Arlene Koziol
Arlington Hts., IL.
arlenekoziol AT mac.com

I am overwhelmed. And I am humbled. I am most appreciative of all the
positive response and the number of responses. Thank you all (and
there were many) for the  words of support and kindness. It truly
feels good to be a birder again. Tim, the south Will C. connection

I found a dead, juvenile Turkey Vulture today under the wires in the cemetery. 
I was 

surprised how white the down feathers were. I haven't been in the cemetery the 
last two 

weeks because they have been spraying weed killer and I can't handle it. I 
know, I don't have 

a salvage permit anymore but I would like to bring it to the Field museum and 
see if they can 

tell the cause of death. There are no visible signs. I know this doesn't prove 
that my 2 

vultures actually mated and produced but somebody did. I haven't seen the 
adults for a while 

but there is another juvenile flying around and it wasn't to far from this one. 
Does anyone 

know if Vultures eat their own? I know vultures are coming through now but I 
haven't seen it 

stated whether they are adults or juveniles, probably pretty hard to tell if 
they were far away. 


Sue Friscia
Alsip, city of many cemeteries

My best look at a female PURPLE FINCH thus far. Also 2 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS 
in Evanston's James Park.

Matthew
Evanston
Cook County

After a walk through Montrose Point with nothing very unusual, I saw a lone 
female LONG- 

TAILED DUCK on the Lake just South of Foster Avenue Beach. Farther North, near 
Edgewater 

Beach, was a pod of about 25 REDHEADS.

Sam Burckhardt
Chicago

Timothy,
I can certainly understand your feelings: after I had been birding for
3 or four years, I saw 3 female house finches in Lincoln Park. Back in
1976 house finches were quite a rarity in Illinois. I was very careful
and got great looks at the birds. I can to this day in my minds'-eye
see those house finches like it was yesterday, and I am still 100%
positive that my identification of those birds was correct. I
submitted the sighting and it was not accepted...it was thought that
they were most likely purple finches or house sparrows.

Fast-forward 30 years later...
...I would consider myself to be an experienced, competent birder.
Last may, I saw a bird that I was pretty certain was an ash-throated
flycatcher. I ran back for my camera and managed to get some good
shots of the bird. After looking at the pictures I was convinced the
bird WAS and ash-throated flycatcher, and I posted an "RBA" here on IBET.

It was a female great-crested flycatcher. Now, months later, I look at
those pictures and wonder how I could have called that bird an
ash-throated...yes, the bird is washed out and pale, but there are
other markings that in my excitement I either overlooked or
misinterpreted.

It happens. Among other things, birding teaches us patience and a bit
of humility. In my opinion, it's OK to miscall a bird. It's not OK to
get angry when the mistake is pointed out, or the record is not accepted.

In the case of this raven, we have two good photographs and several
observers. It's a raven, plain and simple, and it's a great bird for
Illinois. In the case of my house finches, I was pretty new to
birding, by myself, without a camera and I could not describe the
birds' call (because they didn't call). If I were on the records
committee today, I would have a tough time accepting my own record. 

Cheers,

-greg neise

PS- ...and don't even get me started talking about swallows ;-)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Greg Neise
Staff Photographer
Manager of Web and Graphics Technology
Lincoln Park Zoo
2001 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60614

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -




--- In ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com, "Timothy Smith"  wrote:
>
> I will once again post to this site. I did so about a year ago and got
> blasted. I had talked about how unwelcomed I felt. I had submitted a
> couple of snowy owl pictures to someone for a publication and did not
> get much follow up. I also talked about how I had seen, or was pretty
> sure I had seen, a hawk owl near Elwood several years ago. At the time
> I was told I had seen a GHO, and that was all there was to it. So now,
> here comes a raven. Very exciting, and I have been watching for it all
> over the place. But here is the big uproar over this raven, as it 
> should be, but poo poo on the hawk owl. So now, I still watch my birds
> and feed my birds and keep my council (but for this annual post). So
> have at it again.
>

I am writing to defend myself from the accusation that I send out 
spam or trash.  

I was trying to post a message to complain about spam that got 
included in a digest I received.  If I recall, the message was about 
sexy women or something like that.  I may have used the wrong method 
for posting but I am not a spammer.

I am a legitimate member of IBET and a bird watcher.  I have posted a 
sighting and then I tried to complain about the spam and now I am 
being smeared.

Donna Hapac

--- In ILbirds AT yahoogroups.com, PPrich39 AT ... wrote:
>
> Be on the alert for the email address below, and do not open their 
email.  
> This person replied to one of my IBET postings with the subject  
line "RE: IBET 
> (and the subject of my email)." With the many people on  IBET...as 
well as 
> some welcome new comers...it's hard enough to tell who might  be 
legitimate or 
> not. You open the email expecting a comment or question, and  get 
trash instead.
>  
> Address: _u00dmh1 AT ..._ (mailto:u00dmh1 AT ...) 
>  
> Pat Prichard
> Palatine
> Cook County
> 
> 
> 
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Hi all, Sunday morning Jeanie Morse and drove up to the Green River lowlands 
for some birding. We had never been there before, but were very excited to see 
the amount of neat habitat in the area. We started at the Maytown Pheasant 
Habitat Area, which was loaded with sparrows. We were getting rained out here 
and headed to Green River Conservation area. Once the rained stopped the 
birding was great here also. We had 13 sparrow species on the day. We got good 
looks at 3 Clay-colored Sparrows at Green River CA. There could have been more 
but it's taxing trying to get good enough looks and young drab Chipping 
Sparrows in the area.....much easier and more fun in the spring. 


Also:

Northern Harrier   1
Sharp-shinned Hawk   1
Eastern Bluebird   39
Field Sparrow     46
Savannah Sparrow    34  (most in corn stubble fields)

Matthew Winks
El Paso, IL

Two more Caspian Terns were at Montrose this morning. Otherwise 
things were quiet.

Robert D. Hughes
Chicago, Illinois 

Be on the alert for the email address below, and do not open their email.  
This person replied to one of my IBET postings with the subject line "RE: IBET 

(and the subject of my email)." With the many people on  IBET...as well as 
some welcome new comers...it's hard enough to tell who might  be legitimate or 
not. You open the email expecting a comment or question, and get trash instead. 

 
Address: _u00dmh1 AT ameritch.net_ (mailto:u00dmh1 AT ameritch.net) 
 
Pat Prichard
Palatine
Cook County



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Good Day Birders,

The wife, daughter and myself spent a few days exploring Crab Orchard Refuge 
and Giant City State park over the last few days. (Jennifer is at S.I.U.) The 
most notable sighting was hundreds of American White Pelicans in Crab Orchard 
Lake. I posted a few pictures showing a small portion of one flock. There were 
two other flocks so far out they looked like a mass of white even through 
binoculars or the camera. There are also a some other pictures, of birds and 
butterflies mostly. 


http://www.flickr.com/photos/happy_peasant/sets//

In addition to the pelicans, we saw
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Bald Eagle 2
Turkey Vultures - many
Wild Turkeys - 4
Carolina Chickadees - several
Tufted Titmouse - several
Cedar Waxwings 12
Marsh Wren 1
House Wren 1
Great Egret 5
Great Blue Heron 10
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 juvenile
Downy Woodpecker 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Nashville Warbler 1
Double-crested Cormorants - many
Ring-billed Gulls - many
Coots 10
Mallards - many
Cardinals - many
Blue Jays 3
Crows - 12
Grackles - many
Starlings - many
Red-wing Blackbird 1
Robins - 4

The only shorebirds seen were Killdeer. The most numerous warbler was 
Yellow-rumped. There were others I am not sure of. 


I'm sorry I can't say what county or counties we were in, but we were between 
four and ten miles east of Carbondale. 


Steve Spitzer
Chicago, Cook County


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I was beginning to wonder if my $1.50 lb thistle wasn't good enough for them 
but today we were finally visited by our first PINE SISKIN of the year. 


The two CHIPPING SPARROWS are still feeding on our "finch mix" feeder this 
afternoon. 


Good Birding!
Jim & Kayce Solum
Gurnee
Lake County


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