Robin-sized bird with chest to camera, looking left, displayed a black eye with yellow irus, a thick black beak and a black mask from beak extending around the eye. The rest of the bird isblocwn and black with narrow verticle streaks. — Rusty Blackbird. *Photo by Dustin Weidner, Montrose Point, Oct. 15, 2023.*

words by trip leader Sammy Cabindol

A luminous fall morning sun shone through a clouded sky at Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington, IL, on Oct. 20. Six birders, from Cook, DuPage, McHenry, and Kane counties, set off to find as many birds as they could despite the morning’s cool weather.

The group began their walk at Sulky Pond. The pond has two central islands with clumps of bare trees. A Northern Flicker keer-ed from atop a branch’s apex. Then, a swirl of blackbirds trickled in. This flock consisted of Red-winged Blackbirds of mixed ages. The adult males’ red-colored wing patches were prominent against the gray sky. Other individuals differed in the amount of black, brown, streaking, and wing patch color in their plumage.

Suddenly, the Red-winged Blackbirds took off and a different flock of blackbirds took their place. Upon further observation, these birds had shiny, bronze anterior portions and piercing eyes. These were Rusty Blackbirds. Their vocalizations sound more shrill and jumbled compared to those of the Red-winged Blackbirds. Just as quickly as they had appeared, the Rusty Blackbirds were deterred from the bare trees where Common Grackles then made their landing. Their iridescent blue heads shimmered with the sun beginning to peak out of the clouds.

Sparrow facing left, standing on ground. Gray head with brown and black streaks on the top and on the wings. The chest is gray with more widely spaced straks. Pink legs. — Lincoln’s Sparrow. *Photo by Fran Morel, Montrose Point, May 5, 2021.*

The group continued on to find droves of sparrows flying eye-level ahead and away on the path. And, like a page from a field guide, three sparrow species perched themselves adjacent to each other on an eye-level bush: White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and Lincoln’s Sparrow. The birds sat there content as the birders picked apart each of their distinguishing features.

A little bit further down, Eastern Bluebirds gave the group surprise appearances. As the bluebirds darted between branches and grasses, they also perched on the trees like nuthatches clinging to the bark in a vertical orientation. This was a fun behavior to note as nobody in the group had observed this perching behavior before.

At the site’s Bullrush Pond, the group watched waterfowl forage along the shore. Canada Geese, Mallards, and Gadwall dabbled continuously. A Great Egret and Great Blue Heron hunkered down in the dried reeds.

With their time together winding down, the birders walked Crabtree’s Bur Edge trail, which features Bullrush Pond to one side and prairie-woodland edge to the other. Then, high in the sky, the group observed a flock of large birds. At first, they identified the birds as Canada Geese due to the nearly perfect V-flight formation. As the flock came closer, it was apparent that they were not geese. The birds possessed long beaks, had quick wing flaps, and were all black in coloration. They were Double-crested Cormorants.

As the birders walked the trail, they noted a group of Purple Finches at the top of a nearby tree. The raspberry-red color of the males and the bold, thick eyebrow stripe of the females were unmistakable.

Sparrow-like bird facing left, perched on a twig. Streaky brown on head, back and wings, with fainter brown streaks on white breast. Bold white eyebrow and thick pale beak. — Purple Finch. *Photo by Ian Sarmiento, Little Red Schoolhouse, Jan. 29, 2023.*

As the birders wrapped up the field trip, an Eastern Phoebe perched on a park sign no more than two yards away. Their tail bobbed up and down as their gaze fixed on the birders. All-in-all, the group tallied 42 species for the trip.

Field Trip Recap: Crabtree Nature Center