November 2017 – Wildlife In Nature

A Northern Harrier

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Gary R. Soper

A Northern Harrier swoops low across the tallgrass prairie

November 27, 2017 – A Northern Harrier swoops low across the tallgrass prairie at the Kankakee Sands on a late November morning as it searches for a vole or a mouse that might be spotted sneaking through their secret trails deep in the winter grasses. A quick mid-air pause, with a sudden turn, and the harrier quickly drops down on the small mammal in the thick tangle of the dried cover. Northern Illinois and Indiana are at the northern edge of the harrier’s winter range where you can see them gliding low across grassy waterways, prairies and roadside ditches. Keep an eye out for the bright white patch at the top of the tail on the harrier’s backside and those long wings of this slow glider.

Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Gary R. Soper

Sandhill cranes foraging in bean stubble

November 20, 2017 – The last count posted for Sandhill crane numbers at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area was November 14 showing 7,706. On Monday, numbers most certainly have grown with hundreds of new arrivals daily feeding and resting in the surrounding agricultural fields. Many hundreds can be seen at the Goose Pasture Viewing Area in the park. We are now in the peak viewing season for these noisy travelers with their unmistakable chorus of rattling and croaking sounds that fill the chilled November skies. I also spotted a juvenile and an adult Golden eagle patrolling the very windy skies Monday near the Goose Pasture. One photograph shows two adult Sandhill cranes foraging in bean stubble and the other photo shows a young Golden eagle with the bright white tail feathers and the distinct white parts under the wings, the adult Golden eagles being mostly dark.

Juvenile Golden eagle

A Peregrine Named Donovan

Posted on November 12, 2017 by Gary R. Soper

Peregrine falcon named Donovan

May 4, 2016 – A male Peregrine falcon named Donovan that was hatched on May 21, 2014 at UIC – Chicago as part of their Peregrine nesting program in cooperation with the Field Museum and banded June 13, 2014 was spotted atop a church bell tower in downtown Kankakee on Wednesday May 4, 2016 at 5:06 PM. Even though it was somewhat of a dark and cloudy afternoon I was able to get some photographs of the leg bands on the bird showing b/r H/46 L. The Peregrine was perched on the roof part of the bell tower on the church on the northwest corner of Indiana Ave. and Court St. The bird at times was being quite vocal and I was hoping perhaps there was some kind of interaction going on with our local Peregrine that is often seen on the buildings in downtown Kankakee.

Midwest Peregrine Society Link for Donovan’s Profile.

Falcons leg bands

Kankakee’s Peregrine Falcon

Posted on November 12, 2017 by Gary R. Soper

Peregrine falcon on ledge of Kankakee Pubic Library

November 1, 2016 – Our local Peregrine falcon was perched on the Kankakee library building north ledge near the top of the building at 9:30 am. Around 9:45 am the Peregrine began feeding on a Yellowlegs sandpiper, maybe a Lesser, that it had on the ledge. The falcon begin pulling out feathers and I could see some of the feathers floating to the landscaped shrubs and pavement below on their last sad flight.

Peregrine falcon plucking feather from its’ prey

By 10:15 am the bird seemed to be finished as it cleaned its’ beak on the metal that sticks up on the rim of the ledge. I left at about 10:30 am but returned to find the bird still perched at about 2:10 pm. I watched the bird rest and at times sleep until about 2:30 pm when it begin to stretch its’ wings and legs.

Peregrine falcon

It continued to preen and stretch until about 3:20 pm when the bird seemed to get very excited walking back and forth on the ledge with its’ wings spread.

Peregrine falcon holding sandpiper head in its’ beak

Picking up the head of the unfortunate sandpiper the falcon spread its’ wings continuing its’ walk on the ledge back and forth with the head in it’s beak. As I watched it walk the edge it seemed like a tight rope walker and was showing a strange excitement.

Peregrine falcon stretching wings getting ready for a hunt

I felt as though I was observing some kind of pre-hunt ritual. This bird became very much alive as it stared off to the north with its’ wings out and then with a quick launch like a little rocket it was gone on its’ afternoon hunt.

Peregrine falcon off to the hunt

Rough-legged hawks Return

Posted on November 12, 2017 by Gary R. Soper

Rough-legged hawk

November 10, 2017 – A steady and chilly wind reminds us that another winter is approaching the prairies of Illinois and now, just ahead of that stark and frozen season, the Rough-legged hawks have returned. High over the fallow fields, pastures, and the dormant prairies, appearing suspended like tethered kites hovering and maneuvering in the gusts are the arctic birds of prey that have migrated to their less forbidden winter range. There are no ptarmigans or lemmings here, a food source on the tundra during the hawks nesting season but there are plenty of other small mammals and birds that will sustain these wonderful hunters for the next five or six months before they return to their nesting areas on the cliff faces and outcroppings overlooking the vast and open country of the arctic.

Rough-legged hawk hunting over the prairie in Northern Indiana

The Hermit Thrush

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Gary R. Soper

Hermit Thrush

October 25, 2017 – Perched on a branch low to the ground or scratching the leaf litter below a bush in search of insects is the lovely Hermit Thrush that can silently slip from branch to shadow with little notice. Migrating south out of Canada and the northern most parts of the lower 48 the Hermit Thrush is considered a short-distance migrant and can be seen during its’ south bound travels at the edge of a forest opening while feeding on insects and berries in the shrubs and trees in the company of other migrating species. If not actually seen you may hear the exquisite but melancholy songs that can easily send one down an introspective path when experiencing those delicate notes heard in the woodlots on an early autumn morning here in Illinois. This unassuming bird, the Hermit Thrush, has become the subject and inspiration for poets and authors. Walt Whitman includes the Hermit Thrush in his lament for the death of Abraham Lincoln in the poem “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”. Keep your eyes and ears open for a visit by the Hermit Thrush as it passes through northern Illinois heading south where it will winter in far southern Illinois and the southern United States and south into Central America.