May 13, 2021 – As the springtime brings awe-inspiring color to the forest floor with a variety of wildflowers like Dutchman’s breeches, Virginia bluebells and Woodland phlox, likewise the flowering dogwood and redbud trees standout brightening up the understory with their new blooms that is easily visible through the emerging greens of the awakening landscape. April and May are exciting months here in Northeastern Illinois and as the new plant growth comes in, there are also migrating birds arriving and bringing their own variety of color and excitement. The bright orange plumage of the male Baltimore oriole is a highly anticipated favorite this time of year to the backyard feeders. These long-distance migrants are lured in with grape jelly and cut oranges that feeders put out, and these birds never disappoint with their rich songs and amazing beauty. Cat birds, King birds, and flycatchers have arrived to take up summer residence for the nesting season. A variety of small colorful warblers, drab kinglets, and tiny Ruby-throated hummingbirds appear like magic, some are here to nest while others are just passing through on their way much further north. Many species of well known birds show up like clockwork each year, their songs and their plumage are as familiar to most as the clouds in the sky. But there are other birds like American Golden-plover that go practically unnoticed even though they spend three or four weeks staging on the agricultural fields in our rural areas of Iroquois and Kankakee counties. The American Golden-plover is larger than a robin but smaller than a crow. It is not always easy to spot in the farm fields with its dark colored plumage, a good camouflage for a ground nesting bird like the plover. Even when there are hundreds of birds in a field they can be easily missed by the passerby. These birds have come a long way from their winter home on the grasslands of Argentina and Uruguay and it is an amazing sight to see them over the few weeks they spend here waiting for the right conditions to move north. When the plovers do finally leave for their nesting grounds they will fly above the Arctic circle onto the vast tundra from Baffin Island to Alaska completing the northbound part of their trip of over 8000 miles.
