Wilda Sutherland of Pleasant Hill has been writing a birding column for the local newspapers for years. The column focuses on birds and birding in north Calhoun and southern Pike Counties. Mrs. Sutherland has been kind enough to allow the McCully Heritage Project to publish her column on our webpage. Below you will find the most recent installments.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
15 March 2009
Calhoun county had a very successful Spring Bird Count on May 9th especially considering the many hot spots that were underwater. There were 19 loyal birders in 11 parties participating, and altogether we counted 120 species and 6,974 individual birds. Many thanks to all those who helped. You did a wonderful job. A special thank you to Johanna Shipley who did a great job compiling final results, getting them to Vernon Kleen, and reporting to the birders.
Here are the top twenty birds counted with the number seen in parentheses following the name: American robin (512), Indigo bunting (500), Red Winged blackbird (492), Common grackle (358), Barn swallow (335), House sparrow (320), Rose breasted Grosbeak (286), European starlings (277), American goldfinches (247), Chipping sparrows (230), Brown headed cowbirds (207), Turkey vulture (157), Canada Geese (149), Purple martins (147), Mourning doves (144), Ruby throated hummingbirds (41), Northern rough wing swallow (39), Eastern bluebirds (103), Baltimore oriole (103), and White crowned sparrows (95).
Probably the rarest bird seen was a glossy ibis seen and documented by Ross Adams at Muddy Rivers Resort. Johanna Shipley also documented the three Henslows sparrows she saw.
One of the eleven other species making the list a single time was the American white pelican which had been around in droves from the first of February until two days before the count. It is a little ironic that our number of water birds was down due to high water, don't you think?
The roadsides are nicely dressed sporting orange day-lilies, blue chicory, and white Queen Anne's lace. Elderberries are blooming too and flower gardens are sporting marigolds, zinnias, coneflowers, petunias, geraniums, lilies, and larkspurs with the very first sunflowers showing. It is a pretty time of the year.
Don & Vicki Peebles seem to be sharing two hummers and a downy woodpecker, who has learned to drink at the hummingbird feeders, with us. It is about a block as-the-birds-fly between our feeders.
Usually hummers go northward during our hottest weather and then come back in late August or early September. Have you noticed a difference in the number at your feeder?
Birding hint: several bird species including house wrens are setting up a second nesting now. If you did not get wrens before, you might want to observe. You may have them now.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
15 March 2009
A week ago when it was toasty warm in South Pike and North Calhoun a humming bird paid a quick visit to Merlyn and Margot Winchell's front porch. They're the folks just outside the Pleasant Hill Village limits who had the Rufus hummers last September to November. I asked Merlyn which species had come by. He said it went so fast that all they knew was "humming bird". They did what most of us would have done next. They scurried around and hung out a feeder quickly.
The water was coming up onto the road between the levee and the Mississippi at Clarksville Landing today. A lot of ducks were riding the water's surface down almost to the dam or causeway, flying back upstream, then drifting quickly back again. There were canvasbacks, buffleheads, golden eyes, scaups, and ruddy ducks taking part. Out in the deep current white pelicans and gulls were joining in. In the Artesian Well lagoon were mallards, gadwalls, shovelers, a pair of hooded mergansers, and a pair of pied billed grebes. The white on the shovelers looked iridescently bright.
On the bank of the first island upstream from the dam there were so many pelicans that the land looked white.
There were fewer bald eagles, fewer kestrels (aka sparrow hawks), and fewer Canada geese today than on my last trip to the river.
The snow goose hunters have hundreds of decoys out. The only snow geese I've seen were on a trip to Quincy in winds so high I wondered at the wisdom of going. The geese came pulsing northward in wave after wave.
I want to say "thank you to whoever left me several bags of birdseed on my carport. They are being enjoyed by the neighborhood birds. I've asked several people if they were my fairy god-mother, but no one has "fessed" up. The gift is appreciated.
We have a few crocuses blooming, old fashioned hyacinths in bud, jonquils you can see the yellow on. They are not blooming out like those along the Methodist Church house have for a week. The forsythia will be in full bloom if the weather warms back up as promised.
I saw a pileated woodpecker today. They are such big, interesting birds, but seeing this one made me realize that I have not seen a downy woodpecker yet. Have you seen one? They are usually at the suet feeder on Jan. 1st but not this year.
Rhonda Burr of Louisiana, Mo. area has been able to train titmice to eat from her hand. My hint for doing this would be to store up a whole lot of patience before you begin. Congratulations for accomplishing this, Rhonda.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
14 February 2009
The Great Backyard Bird Count is in full swing. I thought it began today but it started yesterday and runs through Monday the 16th. Anyone can take part. All you need is 30 min. or longer to record the birds in your back yards or some other good birding spot. You need to count the most individuals of a species seen at one time. I've counted the English sparrows at the feeders 4 times today. I counted 24, then 16, then 31, and lastly 20. I've written down 31 and that will be the count I turn in unless more English sparrows are there when I count again. You can get the particulars at www.birdcount.org.
Many skeins of Canada geese flew over Pleasant Hill yesterday. They seemed headed in a south westerly direction.
I drove to Clarksville Landing yesterday. Verna Puterbaugh and Marilyn Hougland both had told me about seeing the white pelicans and numerous bald eagles in that area a day or two earlier.
There were several of each. When I had been there 8 days earlier there had been no pelicans and at least three quarters of the eagles were sitting on the ice. After our spring-like temperatures all the ice was gone, and the eagles were high up on tree limbs.
An aide at the "Manor" reported seeing a flock of 50 robins in her yard. They are getting more plentiful daily all over South Pike and North Calhoun. They run about five steps, stop, and throw their heads back. They're recognized by how they move.
Both the Quincy Herald Whig and National TV have quoted the Audubon Society as saying birds are wintering an average of 40 miles north of where they were 10 years ago-some even 200 miles farther. They say the earth is 5 degrees warmer which is the cause.
A flock of 12 swans was seen again the past week. Male red wing blackbirds are here as well as the first common grackles and killdeers.
Weeping willow limbs have turned golden.
It is soothing to hear doves, cardinals, house finches, and song sparrows greeting the morning even if it's a dreary day, isn't it?
Birding hint: keep an eye out for evening grosbeaks which look like American gold finches on steroids. It's been five or six years since there were many around, and this is the time of year for them to come.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
7 January 2009
On Jan. 1st I drove through part of South Pike and part of North Calhoun looking for birds while heading toward Clarksville Landing. I start a new bird count each New Year's Day. This year I identified 15 species in Calhoun and 6 species in Pike.
The Artesian Well Lagoon just before the levee for the Mississippi River generally is a bird magnet. I counted 107 Canada Geese standing on the ice and saw several Gadwall ducks swimming in melt holes. Across the road in the three feet of open water along the far bank of what I've labeled A.W.L. east, stood a row of Great Blue Herons fishing for their suppers.
The Mississippi River was low; the ice in it was in big blocks like our grandparents used to buy for their ice boxes. Bald Eagles were sitting on several of the blocks, bumping slowly along toward Clarksville Dam. Ring Bill Gulls flew above the river. Sand bars were showing the full length of the Backwater Bay with only a few frozen ponds tucked in among them. At least three more of the huge sycamores along the Bay have uprooted and fallen crown first into it.
On Saturday morning, Jan. 3rd Jerry Rodhouse called about having 12 Tundra [AKA Whistling] Swans in a field near his house where cattle were feeding. Hugh and I drove right out there but the swans had flown. Keep your eyes open for them.
The white morph of the Red Tail Hawk species is often being seen just beyond Martinsburg on the road to Pittsfield. Marilyn Hougland reported seeing it with a "regular" Red Tail. Verna Puterbaugh and her grandson, Lance McElfresh, saw it while he was visiting for Christmas.
The most surprising bird I've seen so far is a Red Headed Woodpecker. I thought they migrated.
Robbie Thomas Snider sent us a picture of an owl which looked very much like a Long Eared Owl. When she said it was only 10 inches tall I had to believe it to be an Eastern Screech Owl. I'd been pretty excited since I've never seen a Long Eared Owl. Have you?
Birding Hint: This is a good winter to watch for Snowy, Short, and Long Eared Owls to be pushed southward into Pike and Calhoun Counties by heavy snows to our north. Lapland Longspurs, Pine Siskins, Evening Grosbeaks, Snow Buntings, Purple Finches, and White-winged Crossbills are more apt to show up at our feeders too.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
1 October 2007
I was chastising myself for getting started to Clarksville Landing so late on Thursday morning when I caught sight of a high circling hawk just beyond the Sportsmen's Club. When I put my binoculars on that one hawk, there turned out to be a kettle of at least 50 broadwing hawks traveling in lazy circles toward the southwest. One turkey vulture had joined with the hawks, making a contrast in size and color. Had I been earlier I would have missed the show.
There were still tree, cliff, and roughwing swallows on the utility lines near Emert Lake-although far fewer than a month ago. The water level in Emert Lake is low, while Spring Lake is dry and full of weeds. The rainfall amounts we got in South Pike and North Calhoun Counties from the storm system which passed through the area on Tuesday and Wednesday was inconsistent from place to place, but left most places still thirsty. It did cool things down nicely, though. Meanwhile snow is being forecast for the Big Horn and Bitterroot Mountains in the western U.S. Maybe we should be enjoying our pleasant fall days.
Two migrating species seen near the Mississippi Thursday were ospreys and yellow rump warblers [aka Myrtles]
Hummingbirds have begun to head for their winter destinations. It has been nearly a month since I've seen an adult male. It's hard to distinguish adult females and immatures. It may well be that the adult females have flown as well. It is suggested that we keep our feeders going at least through October. It is understandable if those of you having serious bee problems have given up.
Kent Schlieper had a flock of 16 turkeys in his yard one recent morning. Wouldn't that be exciting to see? I was pleased to see a bluejay back in our yard today finally.
There are still several kinds of butterflies around. I've seen monarchs, azures, sulfurs, painted ladies, buck eyes, mourning cloaks, red and white admirals, pearly eyes, Hobomoks, black and tiger swallowtails. Marilyn Hougland told me earlier of seeing giant swallowtails, too.
Those of you who have kept your flowers watered adequately have had more butterflies recently than the rest of us. I have a few marigolds, salvia, wood asters, hostas, silver lace, and purple aster right now.
Birding Hint: This is prime birding time. The warblers are going south through our area. You still need to spray yourself before venturing afield. There were reports of more West Nile Disease in this week's newspapers. Also bow season deer hunting begins on Oct, 1st. Have fun safely.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
10 September 2007
This is one of those Saturdays that remind people that fall is about to pounce on all those living in South Pike and North Calhoun Counties. The train whistle has a melancholy twinge. The crickets, katydids, and locusts seem to have incorporated that same note into their eternal songs.
AT least a third of area cornfields have already been harvested. Several farmers were hard at that job this morning even with a few light sprinkles falling.
Fishermen, duck blind builders, and others had left their trucks with boat trailers at Clarksville Landing and sailed away on their business. Let's hope it didn't rain too hard on them.
We have returned from a visit in West Virginia. Natives there thought it was unreasonably not and humid. It was in the 90s there when it was over 100º here. It always cooled into the low 60ºs, the 50ºs, or even the 40ºs at night. They had been dry in June and July, and I did not see a blue winged warbler or a black throated green warbler there. I always count on them plus the rufus sided towhee, and the American redstart. I did see both of these last two, then I saw a redstart in Calhoun County today.
Both Hugh and I saw ruffed grouse, which are called pheasants and have a hunting season in W.VA. We hadn't seen them for five years.
I'm hearing that three is a lot of hummingbird activity at feeders lately. Kent Schlieper has been mixing and feeding two pounds of sugar a day. Florence and Don Guthrie, our next door neighbors, have at least four active birds. Connie and Dave Windmiller and Marilyn and Jerry Hougland are also busy hosting hummers. A friend who had a hummingbird fly into a window allowed me to survey the corpse. I wonder how banders ever get something snug around such tiny legs. According to what I've been reading the males will leave soon; then the adult females, and finally the immature birds. They will fly to Florida or Texas, fatten up a little, and then fly across the water to Central or South America. They don't ride on geese. Think how lost our human kids would be with a similar type of training!
I learned this morning that a kingfisher can "talk" [or at least rattle] with his mouth full of fish. They must make the rattle in their throat.
Around Pleasant Hill if we set our garbage out early we usually bring it back in, because we fear that loose dogs or cats will rip the sacks. In W. VA. people were also on the alert for crows because they'd been known to slit the bags with their sharp beaks, reach inside and pull stuff out.
If we'd get a good soaking rain the flowers would perk up. They are mostly dry and brown. I did see color on chicory, goldenrod, wild sunflowers, thistles, evening primroses, wild lettuce, morning glories, Queen Anne's lace, trumpet vine blossoms, red sumac leaves, and red berries on honeysuckles.
Birding Hint: Do not be shocked to find dead deer. There is a gnat borne disease that is killing whitetails and their relatives in Southern Illinois and Southern Missouri. It has not hurt humans or their livestock yet.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
23 July 2007
It was 50º in South Pike and North Calhoun Counties this morning. Snuggling in that warm spot under the covers felt so good that several of us had a hard time getting up and going to Sunday School. I was lying in bed identifying the birds I could hear singing and thinking about the weather we had during the 2007 Pike Fair week. I heard people say,
"It's always hot." Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday undoubtedly were hot. Others said, "It always rains." We had two days with rainy times. No one said anything about a cool spell, but we had that, too. Some of everything!
About the bird chorus this morning: the robins were first, then cardinals, next was mourning doves, house wrens, and a song sparrow. A little chatter from chimney swifts got mixed in.
The humming bird situation is unusual. Marie Clendenny says the numbers have eased at her house, but she's still filling feeders twice a day. She thinks her flowers are enticing birds away from the feeders. The flowers are being visited by numerous black swallowtail butterflies lately, too.
While we were in the state of Virginia last weekend, Hugh's cousin, Paula and R.L. Sutherland said their hummers were still numerous and had become acclimated to having people about. Hugh's sister and brother in law, on-the-other-hand, complained about a lack of hummers although they were feeding as usual. Then I learned that they have their son's cat as a house guest. Most birds stay cautious around cats.
There were write-ups in the Virginia newspapers about the U.S. Government paying $600,000 for 54,000 turkeys tested on a farm along the Shenandoah Parkway. The Government Agents found antivirus to Avian Flu in the birds, which meant that though the birds had survived they had been exposed to a strain called H5N1 which is not caught by humans. The money will pay for the turkeys, their slaughtering and burning of the bodies. The litter from the turkey operation will have to be destroyed also. Ordinarily that littler is spread for fertilizer in 17 counties. Farmers use it mostly in spring and fall, so there is no great cry about the litter going right now. What this means to you and me is fewer turkeys, which translates into higher turkey prices.
Roadsides in all four states we drove in were showy with chicory often mixed with Queen Anne's lace. It is mowing time however. We saw New York iron weed and Joe Pye weed along with lots of black-eyed Susan's, vetch, bouncing Betty, coneflowers, monarda, and some lilies.
Elizabeth Greenstreet has an unusual small sunflower with about 50 blooms on it. She also has a couple tall sunflowers which the goldfinches are into. Her hibiscuses are beautiful also.
Bill Browning invited us to see his wildflower gardens in Quincy. They were very colorful with a wide variety of plants. I was pleased to see zinnias, cosmos, and milkweed for the butterflies. Bill has tomatoes also including two hanging ones. All are doing well.
Birding Hint: I have begun seeing swallow groups sitting on utility wires, and the fall insects are singing at night lately. In a couple of weeks our purple martins will head south. It is time to be alert for shorebirds and sandpipers on their way south already!
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
9 July 2007
Joe Suhling says his hummingbirds seem to be gone, and either a downy or a hairy woodpecker is drinking from the feeder. Judy Forgy says the Baltimore orioles, woodpeckers and squirrels have claimed her hummingbird feeders and have chased off the hummers. Most people have fewer hummers than in 2006.
Jerry and Diane Rodhouse came by with pictures Diane had taken of the Eurasian Collared Doves posing on the fence at their house. Jerry said he'd been tempted to use force to hush the doves when they began to sing before 5:00 A.M. Our next door neighbor, Florence Guthrie, finds their calling bothersome also. It certainly is different from mourning doves!
I'm writing this article on Sunday night. The temperature here in South Pike and North Calhoun counties has been hot the last several days, and the humidity has been building. Mike Roberts, weatherman on Channel 5, St. Louis, gave the forecast for our area a while ago. We are forecast to be cooler than the norm and wetter than the usual for the month of July. Meteorologists think we should get a cool down midweek after showers.
The only bird seen for the first time this year during the past week was the common night hawk [aka bull bat] from Wal*Mart's parking lot, Pittsfield.
After being gone for about a month house wrens are back singing up a storm in our yard. They, the chipping sparrows, cardinals, and mourning doves were still singing enthusiastically when Hugh and I pulled out heading for Quincy about noon today. I remarked about their singing when they usually are taking a siesta that time of day.
When I drove to Clarksville Landing on Wednesday I saw several Canada geese right at the Artesian well, and there were a couple of white domestic geese and at least one white fronted goose with the flock.
Stubby, the neighborhood short tailed squirrel, was here yesterday with one of her youngsters along. Although Stubby came down to eat sunflower seeds when Hugh put some out, the young one chose to get in an apple tree and chew on apples. I have heard that blackberries are ripe, but the ones I've seen are still in the red state. Have you been picking ripe blackberries?
Rose of Sharon, hibiscus, phlox, black-eyed Susan, Bouncing Betty, geraniums, Asiatic lilies, day lilies, blue-flowered hostas, petunias, marigolds, sweet peas, hollyhocks, coneflowers, monardas, feverfew, cosmos, zinnias, cannas, salvias, and daisies brighten yards in our counties. Have you noticed how many deep colors the petunias are this year? From the wild mainly I can add false dragon's head, trumpet vine, Queen Anne's lace, chicory, sweet clovers, button bushes, and the rare cardinal flower.
Monarch butterflies, sulfurs, whites, black and tiger swallowtails, small checker spots, red admirals, and silver spotted skimmers were seen last week.
Birding Hint: You cannot be too careful where ticks are concerned anytime you are outdoors. They are very thick this year. We've both picked them up in our yard in town, and I've heard of two Calhoun men who have had Lyme Disease. Please spray before you play.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
2 July 2007
The big news in the birding world this week is that the Bald Eagle has been removed from the endangered species list where it had been for 40 years. There are said to be at least 10,000 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states with at least one nest in each state. Back in 1963 there were only 417 nesting pairs documented and the survival of the species was in doubt. DDT, which had been used to control insects since the 1940's, was banned in the United States in 1972, and the Endangered Species Act was put into force in 1973. The DDT had seeped into waterways and was in fish eaten by the eagles, which caused the production of eggs with fragile shells that often broke in the nests.
Killing Bald Eagles is still illegal. A law against it was made in 1940 by Congress, and will continue to be enforced.
A lot of birders and conservationists are nervous about this decision of the Interior Department to drop the Bald Eagle from the Endangered Species List. The fear it will be the beginning of the dropping of animal and plant species that are not as well known as the Bald Eagle, which is, after all, the symbol of our country.
We have had a deeply appreciated soaking rain here in South Pike and North Calhoun Counties. It was sucked into the thirsty soil greedily. Heading out on Wednesday for my weekly trip to the Mississippi River, I paused before turning of King Road onto the River Access Road to look at the tasseled fields off corn spreading off to the west. The resembled a sculptured beige carpet of incredible size. Nearly all the corn between Pleasant Hill and the River is tasseled and silked and has ears. Our farmers do an incredible job!
Michelle Berg Vogel, Director at McCully Heritage Division, has emailed that they have been finding dead birds as well as a barred owl that was in such bad shape that it could not be saved. I've been looking and I've seen a few starling, two baby birds that fell from nests, and some birds killed in the road. Have you seen more dead birds than you usually see? If you have will you please call Michelle at 618-653-4687 or me at 217-734-2462.
I think I saw a loggerhead shrike as I approached Pittsfield on the Martinsburg Road. We turned around, but it had flown.
Have you noticed crickets and cicadas and other summer insects are singing now?
Nature was putting on a floral display on Wednesday before the rain. I bet it's even lusher now. I saw Queen Anne's Lace, trumpet vine, sumac, mulleins, moth mulleins, vermilions, milkweed, bounding Bet, sweet clovers, regular clovers, day lilies, buttonbush, yellow dicks, evening primrose, spiderwort, spotted knapweed, chicory, psysostegia [AKA false dragon's head], sand burrs, morning glories, and St. Johns wort in the country. Added to the pretty flowers in town were phlox.
Birding Hint: There were several great egrets in Backwater Bay at the River. It is wise to look them over carefully. There can be white morphs of the little blue heron among the egrets. They will be smaller sized, their beaks will be a slate gray color instead of yellow, and their legs will be a green yellow instead of shiny black.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
25 June 2007
When I made a quick trip to the Mississippi River last Wednesday (6-20-07) the Back Water Bay above Clarksville Dam was full of water, and a few fishing boats had put in leaving their trucks and trailers behind. I'm wondering if the dam's gates gave been opened in anticipation of the rush of water coming downstream from the 7-12 inches of rain north of South Pike and North Calhoun Counties on Friday. Areas around Macomb, IL, and parts of MO were flooded. Our area had a nice shower on Saturday, which bought our farmers a little time. Fred Rodhouse said he got half an inch of rain. There is a possibility of more today (Sunday), Wednesday, and Thursday.
A new primitive campsite has been established at the Pleasant Hill River Access-[AKA Clarksville Landing]. It is #24 along the river, and there is a sign listing rules for using. I saw several poison ivy plants while walking over to read the signs.
Becky Wintjen told me that her hummingbirds seem to have left. Are yours thinning out in numbers? Trumpet vines and many other wild plants are blooming now. Some hummers do go farther north when their young are hatched and the temperatures are hottest. It does seem early for that. Sandra Jo Cody, who works at Harris in Quincy where our son works, has complained about honeybees clogging her hummingbird feeder. Some people have had trouble with bumblebees chasing hummingbirds off to get at the sugar water.
Last Friday afternoon, when we drove up the Martinsburg Road, we saw a field where the wheat had been harvested and the stubble burned. We couldn't tell if it had been planted in soybeans yet. Just across the fence was another harvested wheat field, which looked as if the straw had been baled. I’d made a note that wheat fields looked ready for cutting.
A Carolina wren has been singing in our yard a lot lately, but it manages to hide when I come on the scene. When I thought I had it for sure yesterday what walked out of the grass onto the sidewalk was a chipping sparrow.
Another nasty weed has shown up on our patio. After going through, "A Golden Guide, Weed" I think it must be a type of goosefoot weed. Are you familiar with it?
This was the first week for me to see Monarch butterflies. I also saw red admirals, zebra and black swallowtails, Sulfurs, whites, azures, checker spots, and angel wings. Lightning bugs were everywhere, too.
Along with the trio of orange daylilies, chicory, and Queen Anne's Lace blooming along country lanes I saw the following last week: trumpet vines, white and yellow sweet clovers, white and red clovers, rabbit footed trefoil, thistles, morning glories, vetch, elderberries, wild rose, dandelions, smartweed, evening primroses, bouncing Bet, pink milkweed, and spiderworts. In area yards are geraniums, Asiatic lilies, Stella do oros, Mandeville's, coreopsis, red and blue salvias, Monarda, yuccas, petunias, fever few, marigolds, Shasta daisies, coneflowers, hollyhocks, sweet peas, clematises, roses, cosmos, and zinnias.
Birding Hint: Female robins leave their nearly grown brood with their mates while they build a second nest, rehab the one just used, and begin to lay a second clutch of eggs. Survival is so low in most migrating birds that they work at raising young all summer. Guess any vacations they get have to be in the winter.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
18 June 2007
Things have been quiet around our wren house the last three times I've hung out clothes. That house is hanging from the end bar of the clothes line, and an adult wren used to get pretty agitated. I don't think little wrens have come "off the nest". I've seen them in past years. My sister-in-law, Betty, who lives in Yorktown, VA, sent an e-mail telling about their pampered cat catching a wren, which her husband forced the cat to release. This got me to thinking about all the "unclaimed" cats that prowl this end of town, and how the adult wrens often hunt on the ground. Now I'm worried that the little wrens may have starved in the house because the parents were killed. I'll work up my nerve and take a look.
Mary Beth Guthrie Wilson has a pair of Baltimore orioles, which are coming to her hummingbird feeder to eat. The female oriole sits and sips politely, but the male flips his head about and flings the sticky syrup onto a window. During the night gnats get stuck in it making a royal mess. Mary Beth has a good picture of the male oriole sitting on the hummingbird feeder while ignoring the oriole feeder with grape jelly out in the yard. Lately a downy woodpecker has been flying up and sipping from the hummingbird feeder, too.
Tomorrow [June 21st] is the day of the year with the most hours of daylight in South Pike and North Calhoun Counties and most of the rest of the northern hemisphere. It will be the first official day of summer even though we've already had some hot weather.
The bay above Clarksville Dam was full of water again last Thursday. It's like a yo-yo.
The Mayflies [AKA willowbugs] are hatching along the riverbank these days. They have a four-year life cycle-egg, nymph, and adult. The flying adults, which hatch in mid June in Pike and Calhoun Counties, have no digestive systems. Their only purpose is to mate and lay eggs in the water to insure the next generation. Most of them die within one day of hatching. Fish and birds such as swallows, starlings, redwing blackbirds, and woodpeckers, find "easy pickings" as long as the hatch lasts.
CNN Headline News showed people being bombarded by red wing blackbirds in Peoria, IL, and in Davenport, IA, where the people dared to get close to nests with young birds. They also showed a robin with a nest on a truck tire in a car sale's lot. The nest had two nearly grown offspring and a very vocal parent bird, but no dive-bombing.
I saw a pair of great crested flycatchers, which were new for 2007. I've heard them before, but it took me until Friday to see them.
Queen Anne's lace, day lilies, chicory, coneflowers, mulleins, vervains, golden Alexanders, trumpet vines, morning glories, four kinds of clovers, pink milkweeds, bouncing Bet, elderberries, spiderwort, honeysuckles, mayflowers, and yarrow are blooming in the wild. Sweetpeas, petunias, salvias, geraniums, marigolds, clematises, larkspurs, hollyhocks, bachelor's buttons, primroses, roses, and some beautiful big fragrant lilies at Marge Webb's were among the cultivated plants seen last week.
I saw three zebra swallowtails butterflies along the Artesian Well Lagoon. Also seen were black and tiger swallowtails, checkerspots, red admirals, sulfurs, azures, pearly eyes, angelwings, and silver spotted skippers.
Birding Hint: As the days heat up more in the afternoons, early mornings and late evenings become even better choices for birding. You still need to be sprayed.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
11 June 2007
It is a lovely Saturday afternoon for doing chores outside in South Pike or North Calhoun County. The sun is shining, but not blisteringly hot. The breeze is blowing the clothes on the line gently-not 40 mph like Wednesday night or Thursday.
Stubby, our nearly tailless 14-year-old squirrel, showed up for a handout a little while ago. I put sunflower seeds on two different tables knowing that another squirrel often comes and chases her away. One did. She then went to the second table and finished her snack before getting a drink at the birdbath and leaving the yard for her nest in a maple tree at the end of the block. We were worried about Stubby a couple of months ago. She had a large growth on one cheek, but nature seems to have taken care of it for her.
The grackles, English sparrows, starlings, goldfinches, house finches, cardinals, and other birds will gladly cleanup any sunflower seeds left by the squirrels. I don't know whether the catbird will eat them or not. I know he will take the raspberries before they are ready for human consumption.
Our part of the state did not get 80 mph winds with broken trees, damaged utility poles, and electric outages as places farther north did. Still when I looked out Friday morning and saw a cat jabbing a paw at something moving, I thought a bird must have been blown from its nest. I yelled at the cat and complained to my husband who pointed out that the cat could have had a garter snake cornered. This did make me feel a little better.
The family of fly catchers called empidonax are exceedingly hard to I.D. unless you are lucky enough to hear an individual call. I was lucky enough to hear a willow flycatcher call several "fitz bews" this morning at Emert's Lake. This gave me a new year's bird for this week.
The area of the Mississippi River above the Clarksville Dam has changed drastically this week. It now consists of several sand dunes and piles of logs. There must have been a lot if fish caught aground, because turkey vultures and crows seemed to be tearing at bloated bodies.
Some of you know that I like to see orange daylilies, blue chickory, and Queen Anne's lace blooming together. The first two are blooming, but don't be fooled into thinking water hemlock is the third component. I've noticed bright orange-red buds on some trumpet vines also. Golden Alexanders, white and yellow sweetclovers, red and white clovers, dandelions, honeysuckle vines, spiderworts are all blooming now. Many cultivated plants are adding color to yards too.
The tiger and black swallowtail butterflies, fritillaries, angelwings, sulphurs, azures, whites, silver spotted skippers, and checkerspots are flitting about among the flowers.
Have you noticed the large number of lightning bugs just before dark here in early June?
Birding Hint: It is more important to take water along with you as the temperature gets hotter. Keeping your system replenished is one of the most important ways to fight the heat.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
4 June 2007
We have a catbird with an extremely raspy and squeaky voice spending its time in our back yard and the yard across the alley from us. I 've been able to recognize the reproduced sounds of blue jays and whippoorwills only and a lot of squeaks and squeals. I'd think it, being a mimic thrush, could copy the sounds of cardinals, grackles, starlings, robins, and English sparrows, which are abundant in South Pike and North Calhoun Counties. I wonder at what point of development catbirds learn their songs.
Debbie Kinscherff told me they had a visiting hummingbird with a white breast with a few spots on that breast. It doesn't stay all the time, but it comes fairly often. We talked a little about partial albinism since the shape and other colors are very much like a ruby throated hummingbird.
The Quincy Herald Whig had two articles about a serum to prevent or help cure bird flu, which has been made using the blood of four Asian ladies who survived the flu. The serum has been successfully used in mice already, and a laboratory is looking at it with hopes of developing it for humans. Maybe it can ease some tension since around 200 people have knowingly died from the bird flu thus far.
Our area seems to be producing a bumper crop of Canada Geese this year. When I drove to the Clarksville Dam on Friday there were eight geese near the Artesian well, 18 others in the river above the dam, and many others calling beyond the trees north of the artesian well lagoon.
I saw one new-for-the-year bird: a yellow-billed cuckoo. Since they eat worms from sticky webs, they are very welcome where there are tent caterpillars or fall web worms.
Since Friday was June 1st I paid special attention to all the plants I could see blooming. Here they are starting with the ones growing wild: honeysuckle bushes, mayweeds, wild petunias, red ozier dogwoods, meadow rue, beards tongue, yellow dicks [brown puffball stage], wild roses, chicory, golden alexanders, yarrow, plantain, water hemlock, dandelion thistles, white and yellow sweet clovers, red and white clovers, mustard plants, spiderworts, elderberries, and violets. Cultivated flowers included Stella 'de ora lilies, yuccas, prickly pear cactus, hollyhocks, roses, petunias, bachelor's buttons, salvias, big orange lilies, Asiatic lilies, checkered lilies, snow on the mountains, feverfew, marigold, weigelias, coreopsis, yellow and pink primroses, red geraniums, pinks, clematises, and sweet peas.
Some people in our two counties have been complaining because so many bumblebees have been drinking from and clogging up the hummingbird feeders. I've heard bad news about honey bees, also. One other comment came from Jean Sturgiss about the invasion of her humming bird feeder by a white-breasted nuthatch. The hummingbirds ran it off.
Birding Hint: It is time to start being very careful in poison ivy country. The plants are about knee high now. Stay out of them if you are susceptible, and remember to wash with strong soap once you reach home.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
28 May 2007
A few last words about the results of the Spring Bird Count in Calhoun County. There were 18 people divided in 10 groups working. We spent a total of 67 hours and 20 minutes covering a total of 343.05 miles while seeing 10, 339 individual birds of 133 different species.
Birds seen by all groups making them the most widespread populations in Calhoun were red wind blackbirds, house sparrow [aka English sparrow], brown headed cowbird, indigo bunting, cardinals, crows, blue jays, barn swallows, robins, titmouse, red tailed hawk, mourning doves, ruby throated hummingbird, red bellied woodpecker and downy woodpecker.
The birders were a hard working crew, and they have my heartfelt thanks.
I had call from Carlene Cress who has seen more than once a hummingbird with what seems like a ring of yellow colored feathers around its neck. I've looked in 8 different books without finding any hummer with a yellow feather necklace. Has anyone else seen such a hummer?
Kent Schlieper reports that his four young eastern bluebirds died. He thought it might have been the heat, which did them in. I suggested gnats possibly.
South Pike and North Calhoun Counties have been lucky enough to escape Cicada Brood XIII which are doing their noisy best to drive people to our north crazy. Can you remember a couple of years ago when cicadas were flying onto you every time you went outdoors and singing went on 24 hours a day?
My friend, Joyce Estridge, who lives near Elkins, W.Va. has sent me an article from the paper there telling about plans to build 50 power producing windmills on the mountain overlooking our property there. Environmentalists are worried about the birds and the bats that will be killed. I'm worried about the birds and the noise that will occur.
Brenda Schlieper Foster sent me an article from a Peoria paper about a couple of girls aged 9 and 12 who made and sold origami birds from which they have earned $2500 and prompted an additional gift of $2000 to the International Crane Foundation. Nadia and Eve Studnicka followed the migration and the death of the whooping cranes led to Florida where all but one of them drowned. The girls hope to fund more whooping cranes being bred. These girls seem to have their priorities straight, don't they?
Some old fashioned rose bushes are blooming around our area. Yellow sweet clover and white clover are both blooming well now. I still have weigelia blossoms and columbines, a few dame's rockets [aka sweet rocket], irises and peonies. There are yellow and pink primroses both around town. The butterflies have been quite active this week. Tiger & black swallowtails, azures, sulfurs, and whites are the most noticeable ones winging by.
Birding Hint: The Quincy Herald Whig ran an article this week about Lyme disease being diagnosed in two Adams County people. It was encouraging to learn that the black-legged tick has to be attached for 24 hours before it begins passing the virus to its host. Taking antibiotics for a couple of months will cure it if it is caught early. The easiest way to prevent the ticks from sticking on is a good spraying with repellant and a thorough search of your body after you leave the woods.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
21 May 2007
All the reports from the birders in Calhoun County on May 5th are finally in and have been tabulated. There were 18 birders in 10 parties birding the likely places searching for the usual as well as unusual species. There were 15 species which had at least 200 individuals counted. They were redwing blackbird [1071]; indigo bunting [610]; robin [534]; purple martins [457]; double crested cormorant [433]; cardinals [397]; tree swallows [385]; starlings [376]; grackles [371]; house sparrow [364]; barn swallow [275]; gold finch [373]; coot [252]; white crowned sparrow [228]; and white pelican [200]. The number in brackets following the name indicates the number of that species seen.
There were a dozen species represented by a single bird: osprey, cooper's hawk, night hawk, chuck will's widow, whippoorwill, olive sided flycatcher, blue winged warbler, golden winged warbler, orange crowned warbler, prairie warbler, veery, and bald eagle.
The counters on May 5th were Jean and Dean Barton, Gordon and Marie Clendenny, Jerry ands Marilyn Hougland, Sam Harrison, Karen Cahill, Dan Martin, Johanna Shipley, Robbi Thomas Snider, Patti and Les Sontag, Wilda Sutherland, Joe Friedel, Doug Riddle, Joyce Clark and Bonnie Gibson. If you see any of these workers, please tell them, "thank you". Together they managed to see 133 different species during the one-day count.
Last Monday I drove to Clarksville landing and was surprised to see so much sand exposed. Five days before the Backwater Bay was full of water. I saw two different sandpiper-like species. One I could i.d. as semi-palmated plovers, but the other was too far away and too good at hiding. The semi-palmated plovers were my only new-for-2007 birds except for a nighthawk seen Thursday over Georgia Street in Louisiana, MO.
Connie Windmiller is recommending Wal*Mart in Quincy and its parking lot as good birding sites. She saw hummingbirds inside their flower area, and heard that there had been cardinals earlier. On the parking lot they saw Canada Geese and three mallard ducks. The ducks, especially the one female, were very nonchalant concerning kids, adults, and cars. We joked about her becoming pressed duck if the cars didn't see her.
The near-grown robins are squawking up a storm around here. They're as big as their parents but still have spots and that squawk.
I've seen pink evening primroses blooming along with mock orange bushes, white violets, and the very first Stella d'ora lilies. Red geraniums and hanging pots of red petunias or nicotina from Mother's Day are colorful. Irises are going fast as are peonies.
Birding Hint: Keeping a reliable source of water out for birds is probably as vital as putting out food right now.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
14 May 2007
South Pike and North Calhoun Counties have the distinction of being included in the swath of territory from Springtfield, IL west into Missouri which is literally besieged by Buffalo Gnats. This is the first year I've heard of them. Were you previously aware of them?
Last Wednesday in Bob's grocery store in Pleasant Hill Sheila McKinnon asked whether I'd heard of the gnats killing Kim Gregurich's chickens by clogging their nostrils until they smothered. I've not been able to reach Kim for verification, but on Thursday in the Quincy Herald Whig there was an article about area birds being killed by the gnats, although it sounded more like their blood was being sucked out. Ms. Dunker in the Hull bottoms said that her bluebirds, doves, pigeons, and chickens had died. This is worrisome after all the effort people have made to get bluebird populations strong again. If you get bitten you may develop a marble sized bump that itches like crazy. Many folks are applying vanilla water made with real vanilla, not imitation. It is supposed to work for a while.
Marie Clendenny has seen a pure white pigeon at their farm. She says it’s definitely a pigeon, not a dove. I saw what I thought was a white dove in Mozier over a month ago. Of course it flew before I got turned around and went back to where it was bathing or drinking from a puddle. Keep your eyes open for a pure white pigeon or dove. Marie said she has an estimated 150 hummingbirds which are fast becoming a chore to keep fed. She also has had several rose breasted grosbeaks, and hopes some are, or will be, nesting at their place.
Vickie Scranton says she may not be able to become a full fledged bird lover because of what the birds are doing to the liner of her flower boxes. They apparently find it useful in nest construction.
We had a flock of 14 or so cedar waxwings in a pecan tree last Tuesday morning. I heard their "zee-zees" before seeing them. They did not tarry long.
Nancy and Merlyn McKinnon recently gave a small book called "The Bird Guide, Land Birds East of the Rockies from Parrots to Bluebirds" by Chester A. Reed to the local museum, Harman House. Here are the names of four birds listed and shown in the guide. See if you can figure out their modern names. They are listed at the end. [1] Derby flycatcher; [1] Arkansas kingbird; [3] Gray-Crowned Leucosticte; and [4] Snowflake. The bird book was published in 1946.
Some flowers blooming now are lead plant, irises, spiderworrt, honeysuckles, golden ragworts, multiflora roses, blackberries [still], some peonies, rhodadendrons, spirea, azaleas, wigelias, lily of the valley, starflower, lilacs, violets, white clover, and that noxious weed, water hemlock.
Birding Hint: one way given to protect domestic fowl was to keep them inside with a strong fan blowing. Another way was to keep them in a place with all openings screened with screen 24 inches to the inch.
Modern names for birds: [1]Great Kiskadee, [2]Western Kingbird; [3] Gray crowned rosy finch, and [4] Snow bunting.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
7 May 2007
Weather in South Pike and North Calhoun Counties the week preceding the Illinois Statewide Spring Bird Count last Saturday, May 5th, was mostly rainy or at least threatening to rain. So a hint of fog at 4:30 A.M. Saturday did not seem all that bad.
My first stop was at the water running across the road in Rip Rap only a few feet beyond the first bridge. Oh, well, the birds were singing even if they did all look like black spots flying through the mist. I parked and got out of the car and was promptly beset by hordes of gnats and mosquitoes in spite of being heavily sprayed with Deep Woods Off. They did not bite, but they whined and tried to get in my eyes, nose, and ears. It was soon obvious that the one little green heron [aka green back heron] and three Canada geese that I'd seen might be my total water birds for the day. I gave up and escaped the bugs by getting back into the car with the windows rolled up until I got beyond the water. Up until ten o'clock the fog got denser as I drove up the hollows away from Rt. 96.
True, it did not rain, but I found only 65 species in the 5 hours I spent looking in Calhoun. Over half of them were by sound. Later when it had cleared and I was working in Pike County more findings were visual.
The species I saw that were most numerous were indigo buntings, red winged blackbirds, and white crowned sparrows in Calhoun and English sparrows [aka house sparrows], grackles, and turkey vultures in Pike.
New-for-the-year birds seen were Eastern wood peewees, lark sparrows, rose breasted grosbeaks, mocking birds, bobwhite quail, dickcissel, bobolinks, and savannah sparrow.
I'll 'tell you more about the day once the other birders send their reports in. They have until the 15th to do so.
`When I came home for lunch my husband, Hugh, showed me a magnolia warbler in an apple tree in our yard which he had seen while counting birds here. I was impressed.
Our wigelia bush is blooming, but the blossoms are stunted. A few hummingbirds are visiting it, however. I have not seen any at the columbine yet. Other flowers blooming include irises, Dames's rocket [aka sweet rocket], pineapple weed, white clover [recovering from the frosts], rhodendrons, azaleas, snowball bushes, star flowers, mustards, pepper weeds, golden ragwort, violets, and the last of the wild sweet Williams. Add the fresh bedding plants, and things are perking up. Some people are having asparagus, onions, radishes, and lettuce [admittedly small]. I've heard of mushrooms, too.
Birding Hint: The old timers talk about blackberry winter. It's supposed to be a cold snap about the time the blackberries bloom. They are in bloom now; so beware.
P.S. I added a pair of wood ducks to those other two species of water fowl.
Birding, Etc. by Wilda Sutherland
1 May 2007
On Saturday morning Hugh and I were among 20 birders who met at the McCully Heritage Center south of Kampsville at 8:30 for a bird walk. Most of the participants were members of the Great Rivers Birding Club and/or Wagtails. Johanna Shipley, a member of the Board at McCully led the birders across a boardwalk through the wetlands, through a tree lined meadow, along a road, by two ponds, and through the woods. The birds were very cooperative. I saw 8 new-for-the year species among the 36 species seen in the two and a half hours I lasted. Among the most interesting birds seen were a pair of bluegray gnatcatchers that were tending a nest made of lichens on a descendingly curved limb of a cypress tree on the bank of the larger of the two ponds we saw. We speculated that they were feedng young birds.
Other new-for-this-year birds we saw were orchard oriole, common yellow throat, little green heron, broad winged hawks, northern parula warbler, hairy woodpecker, and red eyed vireo.
If you haven't been to McCully, or if it has been a while since you were there, it will surprise you. It has good trails for hiking or birding, a picnic area, and some fishing. I mentioned last year that there is a gazebo by the big pond where several weddings have occurred.
Michelle Berg Vogel is the director at McCully. You can reach her at 618-653-4687 if you have questions about the center [cell-217-653-2098]. Or, info@mccullyheritage.org. or P.O. Box 244, Kampsville, IL 62053.
Friday was another beautiful day here in South Pike and North Calhoun Counties. I saw a cedar waxwing before I got out of bed. It was the first of 10 new species for the day on a trip to Clarksville landing. The others were: house wren, eastern kingbird, cliff swallows, marsh hawk [aka northern harrier], myrtle warblers [aka yellow rumped warblers], great egrets [aka common egrets], greater yellow legs, lesser yellow legs, and yellow warbler.
Two days as fruitful seldom come to a birder as close to home as Friday and Saturday did for me. I felt very lucky.
People are beginning to see ruby throated hummingbirds regularly now. Connie and Dave Windmiller are having three, Florence Guthrie has had one, Robbie Thomas Snider has some, and I bet Marie Clendenny [who was buying some red flowering plants to replace what the frost had killed the last time we talked] has several now, too.
Both Robbie Snider and Kay Brown have been hosting rose breasted grosbeaks.
The house wrens are extremely busy and highly vocal lately. David Windmiller had one sit on his shoe toe and serenade him.
Tiger and black swallowtail butterflies, azures, sulfurs, some brown with gray ones, and large and small whites have become active as the weather heats up.
Golden ragwort, wild mustard, pepperweed, a few sheltered dogwoods, honeysuckles, wild cherry, snowball bushes, allium [aka flowering onion], the first irises, lily of the valley, spring beauties, and sweet williams are blooming presently. We saw corn up in several fields in Pike County on Sunday.
Birding Hint: Ticks are already active. Anytime you are going to be in thick unmowed grass or bushes please spray yourself. It is smart to pull your socks over the bottoms of your pants legs, too. Hugh and I each brought a tick home with us Saturday; so this is the voice of experience.
P.S. Any slow moving vehicle you see this Saturday [May 5th] may contain birders counting and recording birds for the Spring Bird Count. Please treat them with patience and friendliness.
