The weekend of September 18 and 19 I joined The St. Louis Audubon Society’s annual trip to Carlyle Lake near Carlyle, IL, for a weekend of warblers and then pelagic birding out on the lake.
On Saturday the 18th the weather was beautiful. This day was dedicated to land birds. We started the day off by meeting at the local McDonald’s at 7:30 am and then headed to the swimming beach to watch the gulls.
Ring-billed Gulls following the boat looking for a handout
Most people I know think that all gulls are the same, but there are actually 55 species in 6 genera. On the beach we spotted the most common gull in the region, the Ring-billed Gull. We also saw another semi-common gull the Herring Gull. The best find on the beach with the flock of gulls was a Lesser Black-backed Gull. The Lesser Black-backed Gull is common across Europe and is an uncommon species in North America, but we get annual visitors during the fall and winter months. While looking around we also found Forster’s Terns, Mallards, and a Canada Goose Nest.
A Yellow Billed Cuckoo - often heard, but seldom seen
The group then headed to Eldon Hazlet State Park to spot birds that call the wood their habitat. The weather that morning was perfect, but the birds were not moving in big numbers. We spotted a nice variety, including: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wood Thrush, Tennessee and Nashville Warblers, a Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted, Black-throated Green, Black and White, Magnolia and Blackburnian Warblers, a Common Yellowthroat, an American Redstart and Philadelphia, Red-eyed, White-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos.
Our next stop was on the other side of the lake. This location had a nice lookout point that allowed us to survey the lake to see what we could find and what might be possible for Sunday. After some careful looking I spotted a Jaeger that had been seen a day earlier. It was a nice juvenile Parasitic Jaeger. Jaegers prey upon other birds, especially their babies, but are not true birds of prey. Jaegers have long, pointed and angled wings, They breed in the arctic regions and migrate to southern regions for the winter. In the fall Jaegers frequent the Great Lakes and are considered casual visitors inland. We were looking over this area to try to find this bird and another specialty, the Sabine’s Gull, which a few of us confirmed was on the lake, but extremely far out, even with good telescopes.
Day two, Sunday, began at 7:00am meeting at the McDonald’s again, but instead of nice weather we had lots of rain and chilly weather. Since the morning’s intended birding was delayed for a while, we headed for a shelter in Eldon Hazlet State Park where we could look out over the lake to see what we could find and also observe the swallow flock. We were looking for a Cave Swallow that had been seen the day before.
The Cave Swallow is special because it is normally found in Southern Texas and Florida. Over the years more Cave Swallows have turned up in other parts of the country in the fall. We looked for the bird, but with the lighting and the large number of other swallows we never located this particular swallow.
We moved around to different locations during the morning hours trying to locate any birds we could find in the misting to heavy rain. At our last stop before heading to the boats we did have a great find--a Merlin. Merlin’s are a smaller falcon that nests in more northern climates and migrate through the region in fall and winter.
The weather finally cleared and we were off to Pelagic Birding. Pelagic Birding is where you take a boat out onto a body of water like a large lake or ocean and search for bird species that live in open waters rather than along the shore. The St. Louis Audubon Society rented 3 party boats for this purpose. We then split into groups and headed out onto the lake to see what we could find.
As we were riding along we tossed popcorn off the sides of the boats. This brings the gulls in closer to the boats and allows for super views and great photography. The first target species was the Parasitic Jaeger. One of the boats located the Jaeger and the word was spread from there. The boat I was on was the last to arrive, but we still had nice passes by the Jaeger.
A beautiful Sabine's Gull showing his beautiful markings
The next target species was the Sabine’s Gull. The Sabine’s Gull is an arctic species that migrates to the Southern Hemisphere for the winter. I believe this is one of the prettiest gulls. As adults they have a dark gray head, yellow and black bill, and a striking black, gray and white wing pattern. Juvenile birds lack the dark gray head, but have a soft gray brown crown and nape, black bill, and black tail band. The juvenile’s wing pattern is not as striking as in an adult, but is still very beautiful. We had seen the bird on Saturday off in the distance, and then on Sunday the call came out. We went racing from our location over to see this bird.
While slowly moving into position we also spotted five Red-necked Phalaropes, but most of us were more interested in the gull. This was not my first Sabine’s Gull, but it is always a pleasure to see because they are just so beautiful. We watched the bird for several minutes. I was able to get some nice photos, both in-flight and sitting on the water. Just being able to see this bird up close and to watch it in flight is always a joy.
I am already looking forward to next year's trip!!!
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