Peoria Audubon Society is a local affiliate of both:
National Audubon Society & Illinois Audubon Society
Birding the Illinois River
March 10, 2007
Hats off to John Mullen of the Peoria Park District and Maury Brucker of the Peoria Audubon Society for organizing and hosting an all day field trip that showcased wildlife conservation habitats along the Illinois River. The field trip covered several backwater habitats along both sides of the Illinois River, from Peoria to Havana.
57 species were viewed at Chautauqua, Emiquon, and Banner Marsh, as well as smaller sites along the way. John was able to procure a 15-passenger Peoria Park District van to help with the logistics. More importantly, John and Maury pointed out the highlights of the birding experience. Many of the novice birders really appreciated their patient explanations of bird identification and the stories that went along to make the day an enjoyable experience for all.
While at Chautauqua, John and Maury indicated that the recent warm weather melting of ice helped to create a feeding frenzy at a few key locations where the current concentrated "recently thawed out" fish. The birds certainly knew where the food was and our experienced guides knew where to look.
Along the way, Dennis snapped a few photos to remember the day:
Thousands of ducks and geese take flight near Banner Marsh
Northern Shoveler, male, on remnant of ice at Chautauqua
Common Merganser, female, at Chautauqua
Hooded Merganser, male, at Chautauqua
Bald Eagle at Chautauqua
Mute Swans at Banner Marsh on ice
Organizers and Wildlife Guides: John Mullen & Maury Brucker at Chautauqua
Picnic at Dickson Mounds [Thanks John for organizing this!]
Several of the participants on the "Birding the Illinois" tour reiterated their appreciation for the Peoria Park District sponsorship of this event that helps draw the community together and improve the quality of life for all.
'Birding the Illinois' Species List
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Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Greater White-fronted Goose Snow Goose Canada Goose Mute Swan Tundra Swan Gadwall American Widgeon American Black Duck Mallard Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Canvasback Redhead Ring-necked Duck Lesser Scaup Bufflehead Common Goldeneye Hooded Merganser Common Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Red-tailed Hawk American Kestral American Coot |
Killdeer Bonaparte’s Gull Ring-billed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe (at Forest Park) Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow Back-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse (at Forest Park) White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren American Robin European Starling Song Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow Eurasian Tree Sparrow
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