87th St. Steel Mills

Hi all,

This is a master post about the area I call 87th St. Steel Mills. What I consider to be the property boundaries are below:

For listing purposes, I count what I can see while I'm standing within the boundaries of the 87th property. In this property, there are a few places where I focus my birding. This is because a majority of it is private property. I am going to attempt to get permission to access these lands, but it is currently unclear if that will work. I used to get access from the security office, but they decided to stop allowing us in. In the short time I had access to these lands, I got Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, and a pair of Smith's Longspurs, so these lands get good birds.

The first area I bird is Steelworker's Park.

The map below is how to bird Steelworker's Park. Along the blue line is great for passerines. I get large sparrow and warbler numbers here in migration. The best ones so far are Pine Warbler, Rusty Blackbird, Pine Siskin, Sedge Wren, and Upland Sandpiper. The green dashes are where I stand to scan the lake. I usually see large numbers of ducks and grebes, including Red-necked and Western Grebes and Harlequin Duck. Make sure to scan the breakwalls throughly as Snowy Owls and gulls both like them. The red is potential parking areas. The yellow line on the bottom of the map is where I have been getting Snowy Owls recently.

The next location in 87th I bird frequently is Park 566, which just got a large expansion on the boundaries.

The western boundaries are easy to not overstep because there is a fence running along it. The map below is how to bird Park 566. The pink trail is an old asphalt road. I get large numbers of sparrows, typically hundreds, along this path. The best birds I have gotten are Hoary and Common Redpoll, Nelson's Sparrow, and LeConte's Sparrow. The red path is a berm (very overgrown now) that runs right along the lakeside.You can stop anywhere along it and scan the lake. There are often hundreds of mergansers and Aythya ducks in the water off of the berm. The best birds seen from the berm are Sabine's Gull, Black Scoter, Snowy Owl, and Cackling Goose. I also get good sparrow numbers in the grasses along the berm. At the base of the berm bordering Rainbow Beach property, there is a treeline that is a good place for passerines. The green dash is where parking is and the light blue line is how to get to both the old asphalt road and the berm. Parking along the Rainbow Beach entrance drive is unclear whether it is legal or not.

EDIT: Parking is available on the south side of S Lake Shore Drive just east of where it intersects with S Farragut Drive.

The last area I frequently check is the Dragonfly Pond/ Park 503. I typically just call it the Dragonfly Pond.

While birding the Dragonfly Pond, make sure to look north at the power lines, highlighted in blue, because I got a Western Kingbird on them. The namesake pond is the yellow and green area below. While a good variety of dragonflies occur at it, the best one by far is Band-winged Dragonlet. They were documented breeding in this pond, which constitutes the first Illinois breeding record for this vagrant dragonfly. The green line is a good place to stand and pish for passerines.

Those are the best areas of the 87th St. Steel Mills. My overall site list is in taxonomic order below.

Last updated: 3/16/2016

1. Greater White-fronted Goose
2. Ross's Goose
3. Cackling Goose
4. Canada Goose
5. Mute Swan
6. Wood Duck
7. Gadwall
8. American Wigeon
9. American Black Duck
10. Mallard
11. Blue-winged Teal
12. Northern Shoveler
13. Northern Pintail
14. Green-winged Teal
15. Canvasback
16. Redhead
17. Ring-necked Duck
18. Greater Scaup
19. Lesser Scaup
20. Harlequin Duck
21. Surf Scoter
22. White-winged Scoter
23. Black Scoter
24. Long-tailed Duck
25. Bufflehead
26. Common Goldeneye
27. Hooded Merganser
28. Common Merganser
29. Red-breasted Merganser
30. Ruddy Duck
31. Red-throated Loon
32. Common Loon
33. Pied-billed Grebe
34. Horned Grebe
35. Red-necked Grebe
36. Western Grebe
37. Double-crested Cormorant
38. American White Pelican
39. American Bittern
40. Great Blue Heron
41. Great Egret
42. Green Heron
43. Black-crowned Night-Heron
44. Turkey Vulture
45. Northern Harrier
46. Sharp-shinned Hawk
47. Cooper's Hawk
48. Bald Eagle
49. Red-shouldered Hawk
50. Red-tailed Hawk
51. Rough-legged Hawk                                 
52. Sora
53. American Coot
54. Sandhill Crane
55. Black-bellied Plover
56. Semipalmated Plover
57. Killdeer
58. Spotted Sandpiper
59. Solitary Sandpiper
60. Greater Yellowlegs
61. Willet
62. Lesser Yellowlegs
63. Upland Sandpiper
64. Ruddy Turnstone
65. Sanderling
66. Least Sandpiper
67. Pectoral Sandpiper
68. Semipalmated Sandpiper
69. Short-billed Dowitcher
70. Wilson's Snipe
71. American Woodcock
72. Wilson's Phalarope
73. Sabine's Gull                                             
74. Bonaparte's Gull
75. Ring-billed Gull
76. Herring Gull
77. Thayer's Gull
78. Iceland Gull
79. Lesser Black-backed Gull
80. Glaucous Gull
81. Great Black-backed Gull
82. Caspian Tern
83. Common Tern
84. Forster's Tern
85. Rock Pigeon
86. Mourning Dove
87. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
88. Black-billed Cuckoo
89. Great Horned Owl
90. Snowy Owl
91. Short-eared Owl
92. Common Nighthawk
93. Chuck-will's-widow
94. Chimney Swift
95. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
96. Belted Kingfisher
97. Red-headed Woodpecker
98. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
99. Downy Woodpecker
100. Hairy Woodpecker
101. Northern Flicker
102. American Kestrel
103. Merlin
104. Peregrine Falcon
105. Monk Parakeet
106. Eastern Wood-Pewee
107. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
108. Alder Flycatcher
109. Willow Flycatcher
110. Least Flycatcher
111. Eastern Phoebe
112. Great Crested Flycatcher
113. Western Kingbird                                     
114. Eastern Kingbird
115. Bell's Vireo
116. Yellow-throated Vireo
117. Blue-headed Vireo
118. Warbling Vireo
119. Red-eyed Vireo
120. Blue Jay
121. American Crow
122. Horned Lark
123. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
124. Purple Martin
125. Tree Swallow
126. Bank Swallow
127. Barn Swallow
128. Cliff Swallow
129. Black-capped Chickadee
130. White-breasted Nuthatch
131. Brown Creeper
132. House Wren
133. Winter Wren
134. Sedge Wren
135. Marsh Wren                                              
136. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
137. Golden-crowned Kinglet
138. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
139. Eastern Bluebird
140. Veery
141. Gray-cheeked Thrush
142. Swainson's Thrush
143. Hermit Thrush
144. Wood Thrush
145. American Robin
146. Gray Catbird
147. Brown Thrasher
148. Northern Mockingbird
149. European Starling
150. American Pipit
151. Cedar Waxwing
152. Lapland Longspur
153. Smith's Longspur
154. Snow Bunting
155. Ovenbird
156. Northern Waterthrush
157. Golden-winged Warbler
158. Black-and-white Warbler
159. Prothonotary Warbler
160. Tennessee Warbler
161. Orange-crowned Warbler
162. Nashville Warbler
163. Connecticut Warbler
164. Mourning Warbler
165. Common Yellowthroat
166. American Redstart
167. Cape May Warbler
168. Northern Parula
169. Magnolia Warbler
170. Bay-breasted Warbler
171. Blackburnian Warbler
172. Yellow Warbler
173. Chestnut-sided Warbler
174. Blackpoll Warbler
175. Black-throated Blue Warbler
176. Palm Warbler
177. Pine Warbler
178. Yellow-rumped Warbler
179. Yellow-throated Warbler
180. Black-throated Green Warbler
181. Canada Warbler
182. Wilson's Warbler
183. Grasshopper Sparrow
184. Henslow's Sparrow
185. Le Conte's Sparrow
186. Nelson's Sparrow                                      
187. American Tree Sparrow
188. Chipping Sparrow
189. Clay-colored Sparrow
190. Field Sparrow
191. Fox Sparrow
192. Dark-eyed Junco
193. White-crowned Sparrow
194. White-throated Sparrow
195. Vesper Sparrow
196. Savannah Sparrow
197. Song Sparrow
198. Lincoln's Sparrow
199. Swamp Sparrow
200. Eastern Towhee
201. Scarlet Tanager                                         
202. Northern Cardinal
203. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
204. Indigo Bunting
205. Dickcissel
206. Bobolink
207. Red-winged Blackbird
208. Eastern Meadowlark
209. Rusty Blackbird
210. Common Grackle
211. Brown-headed Cowbird
212. Orchard Oriole
213. Baltimore Oriole
214. House Finch
215. Common Redpoll                                     
216. Hoary Redpoll
217. Pine Siskin                                                
218. American Goldfinch
219. House Sparrow

I Beat It by 7!

273. LeConte's Sparrow
274. Franklin's Gull
275. Surf Scoter
276. Black Scoter
277. Northern Goshawk
278. California Gull
279. Lapland Longspur
280. Red-necked Grebe
281. Snowy Owl

The Final Three

Hi all,

Elaboration will be made. This is just a little post so you know I didn't die. Here are my new birds from after my last post.

261. Yellow-throated Warbler
262. Neotropic Cormorant
263. Short-billed Dowitcher
264. Whimbrel
265. Stilt Sandpiper
266. Baird's Sandpiper
267. American Avocet
268. Buff-breasted Sandpiper
269. Parasitic Jaeger
270. American Golden-Plover
271. Long-billed Dowitcher
272. Harris's Sparrow

Photos and deets will be added soon. I need 3 more birds to beat the record!!!!

Beating Summer Doldrums

Hi all,

As you all know, it is now mid June. This is arguably one of the worst times of birding. Spring migration came to an abrupt end a week or two ago, and it is late enough in the year that many birds aren't singing as much. Also, it is too early for most post-breeding wanderers and shorebirds start coming back right at the beginning of July. These are the awkward transition weeks of the year. But, I will never take a break until the ball drops in NYC on the 31st. Given how I wasn't expecting much out of these weeks, I think that, so far, I have been faring pretty well. I started out with 5 target birds since my last post in early June, and of those, I have gotten 3. Here are the stories:

6/6: As a graduation gift, my brother got a long day trip to wherever he wanted. Considering that he is a gull nut, he decided to go to Sheboygan, WI where multiple Little Gulls and a few other goodies were being seen. When we got there, it didn't take long to find a Little Gull, but it was raining and it was a very dull one. There was also a Laughing Gull hanging around. We then decided to wander around the area and pulled out a bunch of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Ethan saw a Little Gull flying offshore heading north to where we saw the first one. We went back over there and quickly found a Little Gull, then another one showed up, and this kept on happening until we got up to 5 of them. They were sitting and flying and putting on a great show. We eventually dragged ourselves away to go to our next stop.

Laughing Gull

Bird #1

 Bird #2

 Bird # 3 and 4

 Bird #5

 One of the darker ones

Wing pattern comparison

 Feeding very close

Chilling right next to us 

 Sitting in the dead fish

Fighting

From there, we went to the Tricolored Heron being seen near Rockford. We easily got it and it gave us great looks!

6/8: Ethan has started to become very interested in dragonflies and damselflies. Because of this, he decided to go a couple places that are supposed a bunch of them. We found what we were looking for, with a couple of bonuses. Our first stop was at Isla A La Cache in Romeoville. Highlights there were insane numbers of damselflys and a few Water Snakes.

Awesome snake, but there is a problem.

 It has a fishhook stuck in its body.

 So my brother and dad decided to rescue it.

And it put up a fight, but they got out the hook and it swam away.

Stream Bluet

Dark morph Tiger Swallowtail

Next we went to Silver Springs in Kendall County near Yorkville. Not only did this place have good dragon and damselflies, it has good birds and fish. It also had an interesting snake. The bird highlights included White-eyed Vireo and Red-shouldered Hawk.

 Awesome baby fish swarm

Awesome fish (ID please)

 Stream Bluet

 Pronghorn Clubtail

 Emerald Spreadwing

Emerald Spreadwing 

American Rubyspot 

 Rainbow Bluet

Fragile Forktail

 There was also this interesting snake.

My dad thinks it may be a Queen Snake.

Then, I got a call from Jeff Skrentny saying that Bob Hughes and Karen Mansfield had some American White Pelicans flying over Harborside Golf Course and they thought that they were landing. We zipped over there and got nothing. Oh well.

6/9: A morning monitoring session at Douglas Park got us a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Mourning Warbler, and this Hooded Merganser:

Here is the complete checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14375932

6/10: We decided to head up to the northwest part of the county. The only highlights were damselflies, pictured here:

 Fragile Bluet eating a bug

 Red Damselfly

 Springwater Dancer

Red Damselflies in tandem

6/11: This was supposed to be a work day for my dad, but it was interrupted by 3 Black Terns at McGinnis Slough found by Doug Stotz. They stayed there for us and put on a show while we were watching them. The terns were my 300th bird on my Cook County Lifelist.  They were very far away and they are small birds. Try to pick out which pixels are the Black Terns :p.

258. Black Tern 

6/13: This day started at Palatine Rd Marsh a bit before dawn to try for Common Gallinule. I failed on that, but among the chorus of Marsh Wrens I was able to pick out the soft clucking of a Least Bittern. My third this year. From there, we moved on the Paul Douglas where I followed instructions given to me by Stan Stec on where to get Black-billed Cuckoo. It turns out, the cuckoo wanted to cooperate because it gave great looks right where Stan had his. #1 nemesis conquered!

259. Black-billed Cuckoo

6/15: We decided to explore the Calumet area today. It was extremely dead. I am patiently waiting for a Little Blue Heron to make its way north to here as one seems to do so every year. There was one awesome highlight that put energy into this dull day, and that was a flock of 14 American White Pelicans at Harborside Golf Course, and unlike every other Pelican sighting in Cook this year, these ones weren't flyovers. They were very distant though, but I was satisfied.

260. American White Pelican

And that is it! June hasn't been amazing, but a few standout highlights make my efforts worthwhile. Now, I have two more targets left for June: Common Gallinule and Little Blue Heron. I need 15 more birds to break the record. Right now, I am in a 6-way tie for 6th place in Cook big years. Wish me luck!