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General Reflections Based on Surveys in McLean and Woodford Counties

In the fall of 2007, Matthew Winks and I created an approximately 50 mile winter raptor survey route that begins an ends at the Fraker Farm abode. This route heads east south of the Mackinaw River past Evergreen Lake to Lake Bloomington where it crosses north across the Mackinaw, heading back west all the way to the Congerville Road, and then back south across the Mackinaw for a weaving, wandering route that heads back to the east to its finish.

Over its almost 10 year history, this route has been amazingly productive for raptors, with total counts usually finishing in the 70s or 80s, and the best counts pushing 100 birds.

A quick summary of raptor abundance for the most part yields few if any surprises. Northern Harriers present consistently but in variable numbers depending on the year. Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks, while clearly present, can be a tough get. Red-shouldered Hawks are resident in this corridor of the Mackinaw River, albeit in small numbers that always provide excellent eye-candy moments when they decide to pop-up on survey day. Bald Eagles are a solid winter presence here, and are now also breeding in several sites along the upper Mackinaw. Merlins and Peregrines remain very scarce on these surveys, but have graced them on a couple of occasions while American Kestrels have a healthy presence here.

The two species that make for the most striking presence on this route largely due to their migratory presence are Red-tailed Hawks and Rough-legged Hawks.

Rough-legged Hawks occur in sections of this route with an impressive frequency. Most of the birds are juveniles or adult males (not surprising as the males tend to wander farther south than the females do in most years). We generally see more light phases than dark phases, but the darker birds are always at least annual.

Yet it is our most common raptor that has become the most interesting. Red-tailed Hawks are the “Herring Gulls” of the hawk world. With tremendous inherent variation just in the “Eastern” (borealis) subspecies alone, our “meat and potatoes” most common raptor here, we then must add several other variants of Red-tailed Hawks present here in winter to get the full, complicated, and often confusing picture. These additional variants include “Harlan’s” (harlani), “Krider’s” (kriderii), “Western” (calurus), and “Northern” (abieticola).

“Harlan’s” Hawks are very rare but almost annual in central Illinois, with the more common darker phases being expectedly more often documented, although here in our survey corridor, we have documented the much rarer lighter phase Harlan’s on at least three occasions (including an adult this year right by the Fraker Farm).

“Krider’s” variants are also almost annual, but can be difficult to confirm due to a sliding scale of inherent variation in “Easterns”.

“Northern” Red-tailed Hawks represent a subspecies that has only recently gained a whole lot of attention. Out of all the different variants mentioned, these tend to be the least rare of the non-“Eastern” versions, with several being found annually in central Illinois.

And finally there is the “Western” Red-tailed Hawk, or the calurus. One of the larger mysteries surrounding Illinois winter raptors is why so many gorgeous dark-phase “Westerns” get well documented, and yet not a single light-phase calurus can make it into the Illinois books. Distributionally, it makes zero sense that dark “Westerns” show-up annually, probably more so than “Harlan’s”, but light “Westerns” never get here.

Or are these dark “Westerns” actually true calurus?

An interesting theory behind the disparity between phase presence of “Westerns” here in Illinois is that maybe all of our dark “Western” birds are actually dark “Northerns” (abieticola). Because field identification of a dark “Western” versus a dark “Northern” at this point is not feasible, only some sort of physical monitoring (bands, satellite, tags) of these dark “Western” type birds that show-up in the east might lead us to where they return in spring helping us uncover whether or not these dark mystery birds are “Westerns” or “Northerns” (entire paragraph pers.comm. Jerry Liguori).

While winter can be a season of dread for Illinois residents, for many of us it is yet another great season for getting out to find birds — raptors especially. Try to photograph or at least pay closer attention to every winter Red-tailed Hawk that you safely can — it is almost guaranteed that at some point during a winter you’ll photograph/see a special wanderer from afar.

by Matt Fraker

Evergreen Lake, which is located in both McLean and Woodford Counties and the surrounding Comlara Park, is arguably the overall best location to find birds in McLean County, IL, boasting over 245 reported species, including such rarities as the only recorded Yellow-billed Loon in Illinois found in December 1998.

To read the full account, visit the IOS sponsored Illinois Birding by County Wiki.

Hello Bird People,

I have been running into Wes Serafin since the late 1980’s and his presence always made the birding day more fun. Wes and I along with Sue Friscia, Geoff and Chris Williamson, and University of Chicago grad students, Dave Mandell and John O’Brien (and others), all took park in the first Cook County Big Year Group Contest back in 1992 where we all acted like a pack of wolves charging around after another new species for the year. But it was a very friendly competition and we all had a good time.

I would mainly see Wes in the Palos area (his home territory), but also at Montrose, Wooded Island, the Calumet area, and at Hawk Watch sites. When I rushed to Paul Douglas Forest Preserve on an extended lunch hour to see Josh Engel’s Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Wes called me over to look at it through his scope just before it flew farther away to make for harder viewing, which I did not have time for if I wanted to keep my job. Wes was one of those who saw well at great distances and always spotted hawks well before I did. (Of course most folks spot hawks well before I do!)

Last Spring, Wes called me to tell about Smith’s Longspurs at the new south section of the Orland Grasslands and met me there the next day where naturally Wes was the one to re-find the birds and point them out to me. Come to think of it the same thing happened the year before at the old section of the Orland Grasslands where again it was Wes’s directions that got me to see the Smith’s.

The last time I talked to Wes was last November and he reminded me that we should plan on another search for Smith’s Longspurs in the spring. I will still do that project but I guess Wes won’t be going along this time. This means it will be harder to find those birds and it will be a lot less fun trying!

Try and stay healthy, Bird People, as we don’t need any more losses in our ranks.

Al Stokie

Hello Bird People,

A Requiem in the Middle Ages and Renaissance was a musical service, as in a Requiem Mass, in honor of someone who had died. Well no music here but just some words to accomplish the same thing, to honor Joan.

In spite of being the person who has passed on the messages from Joan’s family to the Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts (IBET) bird people I must admit that I did did know Joan as well or as long as Walter Marcisz and the Greene Valley Hawk Watch folks. It’s only been in the last two years that I had very many dealings with Joan.

Before that she was “that birder with two dogs” who found a lot of Sparrows at North Pond and reported them quickly on IBET and eBird. It was only at North Pond that I would run into her with both the friendly black dog and the more reserved white dog. She would sometimes email me for bird info but that was it. Then Joan asked if I knew where to look for Long-billed Dowitchers and how to ID them, not an easy task by the way. Some were being seen at FermiLab so I said I’d meet her there and check them out. So along with Bob Erickson I arrived at Fermi at the agreed on time only to find that not only had Joan arrived early but she had seen some dowitchers, walked right up to them for a better look, and flushed them to who knows where? Joan’s comment was that, “They’ll be right back,” but they did NOT come right back! In fact they did not come back at all. This was not a good first impression, but I had to admire her enthusiasm. Eventually we all saw Long-billed Dowitchers, but not that day.

And as to her level of enthusiasm, Joan loved to get her year list up to 300 species which required a lot of travel as did her breeding bird surveys in Putnam County and elsewhere. And Rhonda has mentioned Joan’s many visits to Southern Illinois for the Birding Blitz ad Chrstmas Bird Counts. Joan would drive anywhere by herself or with the dog or dogs and eventually even me. This last year she wanted to add to her year list by adding
species seen in Central Illinois so instead of bringing her remaining dog she brought Bob and I to help with IDs. We added many species for her in Havana and Chautauqua and had such a fine time we did the same trip again a few weeks later. Joan also joined our Gillson Park Lake Watch crew a couple of times which was new for her. The last time I saw Joan at a rare bird event was at Afton looking for the Harris’s Sparrow.

I did not know about Joan’s health issues, but I saw on eBird that her last species seen for 2016 was the Waukegan Purple Sandpiper. Later I learned from other birders who saw her there that Joan was not looking well. Then came the Mountain Bluebird in western Illinois and I was surprised to not only not see her while many were looking at it but I saw no mention of her even trying for it which was not like Joan at all. Also there were few if any eBird reports after the Purple Sandpiper. (But if Joan’s last “rare bird” sighting was that Sandpiper she had a fine “last bird”.)

I visited Joan three times at the nursing home by myself and with Karen Lund and Jeff Sanders. The only thing on her mind was getting out of that place and back home. I was glad to hear that she did get back home although only for a week before she ended up back in the hospital and then her last stop on the hospice floor.

Another birder friend at the Chicago Botanic Garden says that when a family member or a friend dies you may soon after receive a “gift” from them in the form of seeing a rare bird or the like. The morning Joan passed on I was on the way to birding when I saw and chased a license plate which turned out to be a Hawaii plate. The next day I saw nine White Winged Scoters. Probably a coincidence but, just in case, Thanks Joan!

On our two Central Illinois trips last year I learned that Joan would not pass a Casey’s gas station without going in to buy two glazed donuts. She’d eat one right away and save the other for later. So the next time I see a Casey’s I’ll do the same (at least one time) and maybe you should too.

You can blame the calories on Joan’s memory.

Al Stokie

At the 2017 IOS Gull Frolic, IOS honored Denis Bohm and Geoff Williamson for their services to both IOS and the Illinois Birding Community. Each was the recipient of donated framed custom artwork, produced by a current or former member of Illinois Young Birders (ILYB).

Denis Bohm has been a long time fixture with IOS. Denis has served on the Board of Directors, held the Recording Secretary position, and most recently chaired the Recognition Committee. How fitting that he was recognized, right? Denis also continues the thankless job of picking up the IOS mail from its post office box. Denis received a drawing of a Yellow-headed Blackbird by ILYB alum, Nandu Dubey. Thank you, Denis!

Geoff Williamson is a former president of IOS and Board member, and currently the head of the Illinois Ornithological Records (IORC) and Ornithological Records Data Committees (ORDC). Geoff has worked tirelessly to ensure submissions of rare birds are documented and IORC decisions are swiftly communicated to the Illinois birding community. Geoff received a painting of Rufous Hummingbirds by current ILYB member, Luke Haberkorn. Congratulations, Geoff!

By Aaron Gyllenhaal, as told to Ted Wolff

The first thing I saw was a bird flying over me with a bright red belly. I got my binoculars on it and saw it land. The next thing I saw was a blue head and a green back, which is when I freaked out.

I went from confused to surprised to floored in what seemed like a second. It was an emotional roller coaster. I had trouble getting out an intelligible sentence because I was stunned. Luckily, I was able to get Ted Wolff on the bird, and only then was I able to take in what I was looking at. My heart was pounding in my chest while I was staring at this beautiful bird that I had hoped, but did not expect, to see. My breathing bordered on hyperventilation, but somehow I had the sense to snap a few pictures to confirm the sighting. That reflex proved to be unnecessary, however, because the bunting flew from the dense cottonwood tree above us to an exposed power line, where it perched in full view, singing for nearly ten minutes. I was in a state of euphoria watching this bird.

The moment I rediscovered the bunting is one that will be etched in my mind forever.

Background

I should provide some background on the trip to East St. Louis, and the sighting of the Painted Bunting on May 29, 2016.

I actually had this bird on my state list for a few years. Early in my birding career my family stopped at Front Street in East St. Louis during our vacation. We heard a distant Painted Bunting singing, but never saw it. At the time I decided that was enough to count it. While going through my state list a few years ago, I chose to remove the Painted Bunting because, while I heard what I thought was its song, I was not sure I could eliminate other similar songs due to my lack of experience. Thus Painted Bunting became one of my biggest nemesis birds. The number of sightings in surrounding states, combined with the lack of sightings in Illinois, began to annoy me, so I decided to check the place most likely to have them.

I was not convinced they were still around. In fact, I was convinced that the buntings left years ago. However, this is the only place in Illinois where they were reliable at in the past, so I figured it would be the best place to start looking for them.

The last sighting I can remember of Painted Bunting in the state was in Iroquois County, in 2012, and I believe that bird was on private property. The last sighting in East St. Louis was in 2011, about a mile south of where we re-found the bird. I chased the 2011 bird, but my dad and I struck out. I believe the last time that breeding was confirmed along Front Street was 2008.

Research

I wanted to do more than drive to Front Street and start looking, so I did some research. My two main sources of information were the IBET archives and eBird. Together these made me confident that I had not missed any reports. I then messaged the people that seemed to have the most experience in finding the buntings for advice on where to look. A few years prior, when my dad and I tried for the bunting to no avail, I had messaged multiple southern Illinois birders. I therefore knew that Dan Kassebaum and Keith McMullen would be the most likely to help, both because of their general birding knowledge, their specific knowledge of the Metro St. Louis area, and also because of their generous spirits; it seems like they are always willing to share their knowledge and help out other birders. Dan has been checking for the buntings multiple times every year, so he was able to give me as much information as I needed.

Memorial Day birding trip

I got in touch with Ted Wolff, with whom I have had good luck chasing birds, from our first trips in 2013 for a Harlequin Duck at 63rd Street in Chicago and the Spotted Redshank at Goose Pond, Indiana, which was our first long-distance trip,

This trip had a major, but not a single, focus. We hoped to see a number of rarities, knowing full well we had little to no chance of getting some, but if you don’t look you definitely won’t see!

The bird we thought we had the best chance of getting was a Brown Pelican that had been seen at Melvin Price Lock and Dam in Alton, on the Mississippi River, but unfortunately it has not been reported for a week prior to the trip. We went there first on Saturday afternoon, May 28, and missed it. We went back Saturday evening, and again Sunday morning before seeing the Painted Bunting, but we missed it every time.

Other target birds included White-winged Dove (reported outside of Springfield the day before we left), Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Black Rail (the unlikeliest of them all), and more southern Illinois specialties.

Ted picked me up early in the morning, and we left Oak Park and headed for the White-winged Dove spot in Menard County, where we ran into Phil Doncheck and enjoyed the hospitality of the birder and homeowner, and passed a pleasant hour on his deck looking at the feeders, but without seeing the dove. We left for East St. Louis, and just past Lake Springfield I saw a report on IBET of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks at Lake Springfield. We turned around, got to the lake, and quickly found the group of ducks on the far bank, near the power plant, in the shade of some trees.

We then continued to Alton, where we failed to refind the Brown Pelican early Saturday afternoon; headed to Front Street in East St. Louis, where we dipped on the bunting; and then back late Saturday afternoon for another miss on the pelican. We went one last time early Sunday morning, hoping to get there before the fishermen showed up and disturbed the bird, but again there was no pelican.

After dipping for the last time we headed to Front Street in East St. Louis where this time, after an hour of viewing and listening, we first saw the Painted Bunting singing and giving great looks on the power line near the Illinois American Water Company facility.

Mission accomplished!

After I calmed down I texted a few of my birding buddies to let them know that the bird had been refound, and we decided to continue our trip to southern Illinois for the other specialties.

The rest of the trip

We headed south, and after just a few miles we saw Black-Necked Stilts in a roadside wetland. Ted stopped the car, backed up, and we got the stilts in view on the far side of the wetland. Then I looked down on the near bank and there, partially hidden by the vegetation, was a group of three Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks! It’s always great to see an uncommon species, but it’s so much sweeter to discover the bird on your own. This was icing on the cake of an already great morning. I texted Keith McMullen, who lives nearby in Fallon, as I was sure he’d rather drive for fifteen minutes to see the ducks than drive all the way to Lake Springfield.

Other good birds on the trip included Western Kingbird at the casino in E. St. Louis and at the substation outside Havana, the Whimbrel found by Kevin Richmond, also outside Havana, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, King Rail, and Least Tern.

Birds we missed were the Brown Pelican, Black Rail, Upland Sandpiper, Glossy Ibis, White-faced Ibis, and Western Sandpiper.

A little bit about me

I used to be a lot bigger on chasing than I am now. Now most of my birding time is spent at the former US Steel South Works property on the south side of Chicago, which I call the “87th Street steel mills.” This includes Steelworker’s Park and Park 566.

The only potential target birding I currently have in mind is a hunt in southern Illinois this winter for a Great-tailed Grackle. I don’t have any other specific birding plans at the moment, but I can never turn down a good trip.

I am going into the second semester of my sophomore year at Illinois State University. I have settled on public relations as my major with a minor in math and business analytics. Beyond that, my interests mainly lie in music and birds. I hope to have an internship this summer at a public relations agency and continue working at Wonder Works Children’s Museum in Oak Park. However, I always find time to go birding, mainly because my sanity requires it.

Beau: So tell us a little bit about who “Andy Stewart” is.
Andy: Well, I grew up in Texas and have always been interested in natural history. Collecting has also always been an interest of mine. I have a sort of “hoarding gene” if you will. Birding sort of fits in that category of “collecting” species. I started birding in high school in Texas in the early ‘70s. It was great fun birding in Texas then. Once I graduated from the University of Texas my birding kind of slowed down a bit. I would chase specialties or lifers. But I didn’t really pursue it as a full-time hobby after starting at Abbott and starting a family and the whole bit. When I retired from Abbott five years ago, it became more of an interesting thing to do full time.

Beau: When you were working, what was your job?
Andy: I was a medicinal chemist at Abbott for 27 years.

Beau: What got you into birding?
Andy: I think it is part of my collecting/hoarding pursuit. I’m just a natural collector, and, as I mentioned before, it also combines with my interests in natural history. I started with butterfly collecting in 1st grade. Snakes were a preschool interest of mine. I also had fossil collections and stamp collections, so I kind of always liked collecting, finding and organizing stuff. Growing up in Texas in the ‘60s you spent a lot of time outside constantly seeing a lot of interesting birds. I wondered what all was out there and it became a hobby for me to find out and “collect” all these birds. It also seemed like a “hippie” cool kind of thing to do back then.

Beau: Did you have a mentor growing up at all?
Andy: When I first moved to Austin as a freshman at the University of Texas, I went on a Travis Audubon Society Field Trip and met Texas birder Ed Kutac, one time president of both Texas Ornithological Society and the Travis Audubon Society. He was an accountant by profession but he was an avid birder. From 1972-1980, I joined Ed on many field trips to Big Bend, The Valley, Texas Coast, High Island, etc. After that, I was pretty much on my own.

Beau: When did you move to Illinois from Texas?
Andy: 1985

Beau: What did you find about birding in Illinois that was different about birding in Texas?
Andy: Initially, birding only part time, I would only chase lifers by following the phone answering tape rare bird alert. Rare gulls, Snowy Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Snow Bunting…basically your northern specialties that normally cannot be found in Texas. White-winged Scoter was another lifer I chased at Waukegan. But I have now seen that Lake County also experiences amazing bird migration, influenced by the lake. Some of the peak migration days in May and fall can be similar to impressive passerine migrations I remember on the Texas coast.

Beau: So let’s go over some highlights of your Lake County Big Year last year. What was your species total?
Andy: 269 (previous best was 265)

Beau: Best bird?
Andy: It was the Hudsonian Godwits at Atkinson Rd. fluddle in May. Both a male and female in breeding plumage. The only down side was that I didn’t find that bird. That was the bird of the year for sure, but there were tons of other great ones, 9 Short-eared Owls one windy morning at Illinois Beach State Park (IBSP) South, another morning 6 Whimbrels on the beach at the Dead River were unforgettable. I think shorebirds were a highlight because I found almost all of the expected birds or those that had been seen in the area.

Beau: Was there a favorite day that you had?
Andy: Some day in May. There are so many great days with such a density of birds that it’s hard to pick one. The Sparrow migration in both spring and fall is also fantastic.

Beau: What did you miss that you think you should have gotten?
Andy: Wilson’s Phalarope, Red Knot (We actually saw this bird at IBSP during a big day but the fog covered it to the point where it was only a silhouette). We saw only shape, and we called the ID. But we couldn’t really call it for sure, or “count it” with the view we had, without seeing any color or plumage field marks. Someone else reported and photographed a Red Knot on eBird 2 hours later also from our location. Ross’ Goose (1 day late!), missed 2 Swanson’s Hawks at the IBSP Hawkwatch by about 30 min one morning, and also missed Northern Goshawk (almost an expected miss).

Beau: What continues to fuel your interest for birds these days?
Andy: Just the beauty of birds up close combined with the magnitude and power of seasonal bird migration. It’s almost unbelievable. It gives you a sense of reality that you can’t get any other way. It’s also the mental challenge of staying focused every day to find as many species as possible. I think 300 is a good number (Lake County life birds).

Beau: What was your biggest challenge last year?
Andy: Physically you just can’t bird 10 hours a day 365 days a year. You can’t. Not just physically but mentally. Going to the same place every day knowing you’re probably not going to see anything new can wear you down. How many times do you look up in a tree for a Long-eared Owl and see nothing? Maybe I’m not organized enough to thoroughly check out different spots at different times but it can be mentally exhausting.

Beau: Did your big year help you improve as a birder?
Andy: Absolutely. I think you always improve as a birder just by getting out a lot. I look at gulls every day and I still learn new stuff about them when I see them. Herring Gulls are so diverse. The repetition helps you to learn.

Beau: You did a really nice job of documenting your sightings. What equipment did you use out in the field?
Andy: I use 12x Leica binocs, and for documentation a Samsung Galaxy S5 phone for pics through my scope (Leica Televid 77). I like the added magnification of the 12x bins for finding waterfowl especially, but I’ve just grown used to them and could never go back to 8x magnifications of any of my favorite birds. If you’re an experienced binocular user you adjust to and accept the limitations of 12x bins. Weight and stability while following distant flying birds is the most problematic.

Beau: What’s your favorite field guide?
Andy: Sibley just because it has the most pictures. That’s what field guides are about is pictures. I also really like the artwork in the old Peterson guides.

Beau: So what would be your advice to anyone doing a Lake County Big Year?
Andy: Start in January, so plan ahead. Plan on spending lots of field hours on the lakefront. There are very few birds that you won’t get on the lakefront. You can switch over to the Des Plaines River area in May to look for warblers, but most of the year, the lakefront is where it’s at. North Point Marina and IBSP South Unit. Waukegan is more hit or miss but always produces its rarities.

Beau: Favorite brding location?
Andy: Probably the South Unit at IBSP just because of the varied habitat and the wide expanse of shoreline. Final thoughts: eBird has made finding birds much easier, and is great for planning and organizing county level Listing.

The 5th Edition of the IOS Field Checklist of Illinois Birds is now available. Download the checklist now!

In advance of the IOS Gull Frolic, Amar Ayyash gives some advice to those just starting to get bit by the gull watching bug. Read Amar’s tips on his blog, Anything Larus.

Shanin Abreu interviews Joe Phipps, who set a new McLean County Big Year Record in 2016 with 244 species.

Shanin: Tell us a little about yourself, Joe.
Joe: I am originally from East Peoria, IL, and I currently live in Bloomington with my incredibly supportive wife, Sam. I work for Vallen as a Storeroom Manager at a DuPont site. My interests outside of birding include photography, hiking, insects and spiders, and reptiles.

Shanin: When and why did you first become interested in birding and what has kept you interested?
Joe: I’ve always had a love for animals and nature as far back as I can remember, but I didn’t develop my fascination with birds and birding until I was a freshman at Illinois Wesleyan University. At IWU, I made friends who were also nature enthusiasts, and we took our first birding trip after reading an article about the large flocks of American White Pelicans at Lake Springfield. We borrowed binoculars and a field guide from the school, and things have never been the same since then.

Shanin: What has been your favorite birding moment or your favorite bird? Not necessarily rare, just meaningful…
Joe: This year has been filled with amazing birds and incredible experiences. One of my favorite birds to see this year was the Le Conte’s Sparrow. Not only was this bird a lifer for me, but it was very close and cooperative and I saw it with several of my favorite birders. It was definitely not an Ammodramus encounter that most birders get to experience.

Shanin: What is your favorite field guide? Favorite binoculars?
Joe: The Sibley Guide has been my go-to field guide from my first birding trip until today. Like many new-age birders, my Sibley guide is used as a reference in the field, but I most often find myself looking for the answers to tough IDs on list serves, blogs, and in birding groups.

I can’t say that I have a favorite pair of binoculars. I have had the Eagle Optics Rangers since I upgraded from my parent’s old Bushnells in 2011, and they have suited me in my endeavors. Like most birders, I dream of one day having a pair of Zeiss or Swarovski binoculars, but until then I will be content with whatever lets me see the birds.

Shanin: Where is your favorite place to bird in Illinois? In McLean Co?
Joe: Emiquon is easily my favorite place to bird in the state of Illinois. I love ducks, waders, and shorebirds, and Emiquon provides all of that and more. A good number of my life birds have come from Emiquon.

It’s harder to pick a favorite place in McLean County. For a long time I would have told you that Ewing Park was my favorite place because it offers so much with so little effort, but after this big year both Evergreen Lake and Schroeder Nature Sanctuary have become two of my favorite places to be. Both offer a diverse range of habitats, and are nice to be in even without the birds.

Shanin: Do you have anyone in the birding or environmental community that you consider to be your mentor? Why?
Joe: I have a couple of mentors that have played major roles in my development as a naturalist and a birder. When I was at Illinois Wesleyan, Dr. Given Harper took me out on some of my first birding trips. He taught me that birding is more than just seeing birds. It’s also about appreciating, understanding, and protecting them.

Benjamin Murphy has been my biggest mentor and motivator through my birding career as a county and state lister. We have spent countless hours together chasing rarities, checking local hot spots, and working on our buddy list. Ben has taught me most of what I know about the county, and without him I wouldn’t have been successful this year.

Shanin: What bird have you not seen this year that you feel you really should have seen?
Joe: I spent many hours driving around the county looking for Short-eared Owl and Northern Shrike both last winter and this one. There is still some time to look, but those two birds have taken so much of my time that I thought I would have one by now.

Shanin: What were some unexpected hurdles of your county big year?
Joe: Getting married in the middle of my big year was no small hurdle. I could no longer be gone all day, every day, with no consequences. It also came as a shock to me when I reached the point where birding stopped being fun and became a chore. It took some time to find a balance between birding because I enjoy it, and birding because I might add another species.

Shanin: What advice do you have for a birder attempting a county big year?
Joe: I would recommend that anyone interested in taking on a big year make sure that they have plenty of time to spend birding, a good understanding of what they need to be looking for and when, and a network of birders they can rely on. I think having any one of these things will lead to a productive year, but I wouldn’t have made it this far without all three.

Shanin: Do you have a favorite bird/birding quote or saying?
Joe: I have spent far too long thinking about an answer to this question, but if I had to quote any bird: “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” – Barred Owl