19 July - 25 July 2022

Dear fellow flock of birders,

The activity of the birds in the Arboretum continues to be similar to that of the previous week.

I’ll start with my bird walk this morning. When I arrived at the Visitor Center parking lot two Sandhill Cranes were standing on the pavement and welcomed me with unison bugling. They then proceeded to preen and remove small feathers from their plumage. Molting in some of the birds has begun. Included is a photo of the two Sandhill Cranes.

I walked along the small strip of prairie separating the north and south halves of the Visitor Center parking lot. I found the usual bird singing along the way. Two American Crows were in the small snag near where I parked. They were preening too. The American Goldfinches were singing and chasing each other as usual. A couple Gray Catbirds were flying around but not saying much for a change. There were Common Yellowthroats singing but staying mostly under cover.

I then turned south and took the path leading to the counsel ring. Inside the counsel ring were six female Wild Turkeys. There was one larger, mother-like hen seemingly leading the other younger females. I wanted to go straight to the exit of the ring but they blocked my way so I circled around to the right and they moved to the left thus letting me by. Included is a photo of the Wild Turkey females.

I next walked along the east/west trail first to the west and then to the east. Along the trail I not only heard lots of Common Yellowthroats but also a couple Yellow Warblers. In one clump of sumac I found a brilliant yellow male with reddish streaks on its breast and belly. He was really impressive. Included is a photo of the male Yellow Warbler.

As I walked farther east I heard Indigo Buntings singing all along the way. For the day I found five Indigo Buntings but there were probably twice that many in the area. They are quite plentiful this year just as they were last year. The males are so handsome with that mostly solid blue plumage. A photo of the male Indigo Bunting is included.

Still Curtis Prairie I heard many Song Sparrows singing. They do not scare easily so I can get very close to them. One Song Sparrow caught my attention because its beak was full of food. When I looked at the photo I had taken of the sparrow I could see it was carrying a green inch worm and some sort of winged insect. It was probably bringing the food to nestlings or fledglings. A photo of the Song Sparrow is included.

My next stop was at Teal Pond. Again I saw two adult Yellow Warblers feeding a fledgling. They moved so quickly it was just impossible to capture them in a photograph. Instead I settled for an American Robin eating berries from a Honeysuckle bush. I wanted to capture the berry in the beak but that turned out to be a challenge because once the robin plucked the berry it would swallow it whole immediately. I took 10 photos and finally got one with the robin holding the berry in its beak. A photo is included.

I then walked south on the trail that borders the east edge of Teal Pond Marsh. I stopped a short distance south of Teal Pond and looked for the Red-headed Woodpecker in the snag at the west end of the marsh. I got a quick look at it and then it flew off. It did remind me that last Tuesday when we saw the two Red-headed Woodpeckers in the same snag I also saw another woodpecker around the same area. I thought it might be a Downy or Hairy Woodpecker so did not pay much attention to it. Just out of curiosity I snapped a shot of it. When I got home and looked at the photo of the stray woodpecker it turned out to be a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker. Juveniles have about the same black and white color pattern of the adult but a gray head instead of a red head. The photo I took was very poor so I’m including a photo of a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker I took several years ago. Note the gray head.

I walked through Gallistel Woods to Arboretum Drive and then on to the area of the heron rookery and Osprey nest. As I walked toward the rookery I spotted 4 Cedar Waxwings feeding in a nearby tree. I couldn’t get any photos so I thought I would share one of my favorite photos of a pair of Cedar Waxwings taken very near the spot I saw the Cedar Waxwings today. This pair came flying in and landed on a small European Alder. I turned and shot the photo which immediately scared them off.  It was a very lucky photo. The photo of the 2 Cedar Waxwings is included.

In the heron rookery there was one young Great Blue Heron on each of the three nests. The center nest in the past few weeks has had 3 young herons. Two of these must have left the nest while only one remained. Included is a photo of the one remaining Great Blue Heron.

My last photo is one of the Osprey nest taken from Arboretum Drive. Photographing the Osprey nest from Arboretum Drive is very challenging since there are so many leafed trees in the way. There are only a couple small windows to the nest that allow any photos. You really need to search hard for those small openings. What I was able to see were at least two and maybe three of the nestlings standing on the nest. Two of them were flapping their wings in preparation for fledging. The included photo shows two young at either side of the photo. The one in the middle is either the third young Osprey or an adult female. I’m not sure.

Again I encourage all of you to enjoy and learn all the wildflowers that are now blooming. There are several grasses that are maturing too. I’m beginning to see Big Bluestem, also called Turkey Foot.

That’s the Arboretum bird report for the past week. 

I wish you all good health and good birding too,   

Chuck