Fox River Birding 1/17- Hits, Misses and Stars

Ah, today, a wonderful day to get out and go birding. A much needed distraction from a busy week. My plan, to see if I could re-locate the Trumpeter Swans seen recently in Yorkville, and head north along the Fox River from there. My mom and I jumped in the car, both hoping to have a good day in the field to relieve some stress built up over the past seven days, and we were off.

First up was the Yorkville Dam, just to the east of Route 47, where a male Red-Breasted Merganser had been seen. I needed one for my still young year list, and also for Kendall County. It was not long before I saw a couple new county birds, the aforementioned Red-Breasted Merganser and a female Bufflehead. The Bufflehead was amusing, as I had never seen one standing on ice before, only swimming. Also present a fly-by Red-Tailed Hawk and a Great Blue Heron. And after that nice stopover, it was off to the other side of Route 47 to find the swans. A gentleman at the dam had said that five of the six swans had been seen in flight, so it was unlikely they were still around.

When we stepped out of the car after finding a spot to pull over, the remaining Trumpeter Swan was sitting just down the hill on the ice. It was great to listen as it vocalized numerous times. The trumpet of a Trumpeter Swan is such an appealing sound to me. Also seen in this stretch of the river were another Great Blue Heron, a Bald Eagle, three Redheads (two males and a female) and an American Coot among the more expected birds. I snapped many photos of the Trumpeter Swan, as who can resist such a beautiful bird? The surroundings however, were less than picture perfect. Also, the Trumpeter Swan is pulling your leg, it's not missing one of its own, it's just tucked away and hidden from view.

Trumpeter Swan

So after a very successful first stop, we headed north to the Montgomery Dam. Not much there, but a flyover Bald Eagle, a fly-by Cooper's Hawk and two Great Blue Herons provided a little entertainment. Next up on the schedule was lunch, followed by Geneva. Again, all was quiet. So the question became: "What to do next?" Go to the St. Charles Dam, or skip it for South Elgin? We decided to stop at the St. Charles Dam, if only to briefly check the ice above for gulls. This was a disappointment, as there were none to be found.

After turning back onto Route 64 to cross back over the river to 31, we were held up by a van that blocked our lane of traffic as they unloaded something at the Hotel Baker. While waiting for an opportunity to get out from behind the van, we noticed some very expensive movie-type cameras walking around. Wondering why, we quickly found out. Donnie Wahlburg and Jenny McCarthy were standing outside the Hotel Baker (no photos because I'm not a paparazzo), waiting for their ride. That was the closest I had ever been to celebrities. That was the most unusual part of the day by far!

Heading north, a stop at the South Elgin Dam had literally nothing doing. I decided our next stop would be Walton Island to see if I could find the Redhead reported by Josh Little and Andrew Aldrich yesterday. Immediately upon arriving, I came upon familiar faces (Gordon and Scott B.) who confirmed that the ever-present Harlequin Duck was still just that. However, no one had apparently even looked for the Redhead, so I decided to do a thorough check of the island. I found the Harlequin Duck again in a hurry. Even with an apparent right foot injury or deformity, this duck is still flourishing here! On the other side of the island, the female Redhead was still hanging around!

Harlequin Duck Preening

Redhead and Mallard

It was at this time that I received a text from Scott Cohrs, asking frankly: "Is your Barrow's back???" I had no idea what he was talking about, until he told me John Heneghan had found an adult male Barrow's Goldeneye on the Fox River very near where I had found one last March (John has a photo). We headed up there as soon as we could, and ran into John and Tricia. The bird had flown since he had spotted it, and wasn't being seen at the time. And despite over an hour and a half of searching, I and several others could not re-find the bird. HOWEVER, just because it wasn't being seen, doesn't mean the bird is gone. And despite the miss, there were several highlights. Tricia was certain she had seen a Red-Shouldered Hawk earlier, and when I checked behind Otto Engineering, I was able to confirm that suspicion when a beautiful adult flew past me and landed in a tree.

Adult Red-Shouldered Hawk

It was a very bittersweet find, as this was one bird that had eluded me in my Kane County big year attempt last year, and now on the 17th of January, I already had it checked off! A Red-Shouldered Hawk always puts a smile on my face! Other nice finds were a male Wood Duck visible on the Fox north of John Hill Park on Lincoln Avenue, two American Black Ducks with what I believe was a likely American Black DuckxMallard hybrid (bill and plumage suggest it), several Hooded Mergansers, and a non-bird highlight, a mink at the Carpentersville Dam! What are the thoughts on the rear bird in the photo below? Mine were hybrid.

American Black Duck and Hybrid?

And thus, a largely successful day of birding was in the books. It will be interesting to see if the Barrow's can be re-located tomorrow morning. I sure hope so, congratulations go to John Heneghan for an excellent find!

Brendon Lake