Sandy Davison on 8/29 reported via e-mail: Saw this evening 6 Broadwinged Hawks in a kettle using thermals to soar overhead - in St Charles near Riverside & South

Paul Whalen on 8/26 reported via e-mail: Sighted hundreds of Cedar Waxwings along the river at Jon Duer FP [on 8/24]. Also a Broad Wing Hawk, Bald Eagle, White Breasted Nuthatches and Black Capped Chickadees.

John Heneghan on 8/24 reported via e-mail: First fall warblers in the yard in Big Rock, 3 female Redstarts.

Mike Klancnik on 8/21 reported via e-mail: A pair of Sandhill Cranes were very near my van on Big Timber Road after work Aug 20th...
Luckily, at least I had a camera with a short 55mm lens.
 

Marion Miller on 8/16 reported via e-mail: "It's still here" was the morning text I received from Theresa LeCompte. The American Bittern continued at Nelson Lake "pothole" on the west side.   This secretive marsh bird was giving some great open view poses as it foraged in the marshy waters when Rich and I arrived around 7:30a.
 

Laura Simpson and Barbara Laughlin-Karon on 8/14 reported via eBird: At the pond near the Main Street entrance to Nelson Lake/Dick Young Forest Preserve, an American Bittern.

Walt Lutz on 8/13 reported via e-mail: I made the rounds this morning in northern Kane County trying to add a Night Heron to my year list. I struck out but can definitely say it's been a decent year for Wood Ducks.

1st stop was Burnidge Forest Preserve - all 8 Mute Swans continue on what's left of the large pond, which isn't much.

Fairly quiet at Pingree Grove water treatment plant marsh.

Pingree Grove Forest Preserve had a perched Kestrel, quite a few Kingbirds and a handful of Green Herons.

Rutland Forest Preserve had a few Red-headed Woodpeckers and a lot of Wood Ducks.

Freeman Kame Forest Preserve (north unit) had a good number of Wood Ducks and a lot of Great Egrets among the usual suspects.

Lastly, the pond at Binnie Forest Preserve had 35+ Wood Ducks which I could see so there was likely twice that number present.
 

Theresa LeCompte on 8/7 reported via e-mail: Immature Black-crowned Night Heron at Vaughan Athletic Center ponds this morning.
 

Diane Hansen on 8/5 reported via e-mail: On the KCA Nelson Lake walk Saturday the highlight of the day was seeing a Luna Moth. This was a first for a few of us including me. Others said they had never seen one alive before.

A couple of us took pictures as best we could but none of the photos was very crisp. I shot a little video and pulled a frame from that as it was a little better than my photos. It was fortunate that we had a large group so many people were able to see the moth. Thanks to Ann and Wes for spotting it.
 

Debra Leingang on 8/1 reported via e-mail: This trio of sand hill cranes walked and squawked their way through our backyard on July 31, 2019 in NW St Charles township.  We've seen the trio in our neighborhood multiple times this year. They paraded around three houses in a circle "talking" before settling back down in the park which is where they usually hang out. Soo fun to watch and hear!