Chris and Jackie Bowman on 1/29 reported via e-mail: Today we were happy to find that our thistle feeder was visited by flock of about 20 Common Redpoll.  
 

Common Redpolls photo courtesy Jackie Bowman

Jason Newton and Jay Sturner on 1/28 reported via eBird: An American Wigeon at the Pingree Grove water treatment plant.

Walt Lutz on 1/25 reported via e-mail: So most people know this Great Horned Owl at Fabyan F.P. and it looks probable it will be nesting again, likely in the same tree.

This year, if I see a circus going on there, with people standing on picnic tables, bringing ladders, etc I'm going to speak my mind and I encourage others to do the same.
 

Great Horned Owl photo courtesy Walt Lutz

Julie Long on 1/22 reported via e-mail: I had at least fifty redpolls under and on my thistle feeders today. I had counted about 35 yesterday but they are very skittery so it’s hard to be accurate. I also had a yellow rumped warbler show up under the feeders and a brown creeper on the tree. But a coopers hawk swooped in and spooked all as he picked off either a downy or hairy woodpecker sadly. But I guess they have to eat also.

Scott Cohrs on 1/21 reported via eBird: At Riverside Park in  Geneva, a Monk Parakeet. "Heard vocalizing from yard due west across river. Unable to visualize due to fog. Later visited area on west side but unable to relocate. Area is very close to general area 1-2 birds have been reported from in the last year."

Chris & Jackie Bowman on 1/20 reported via e-mail: Today we birded our way up the Fox River from Batavia to Elgin. Despite all the ice there weren't many birds and very few gulls. The highlight of the day was our last stop at the Kimball Street dam in Elgin, where at the south end of the park we found two American Coot and three male Redhead, what a treat!
 

American Coot photo courtesy Jackie Bowman

Redhead photo courtesy Jackie Bowman

Urs Geiser on 1/20 reported via IBET: I drove through western Kane and DeKalb Counties on Saturday in the hope that there would still be enough snow to push the field birds (longspurs, buntings) to the edge of the gravel roads. I had no luck in that respect, and even the HORNED LARKS were sparse, with only a few seen here and there. A nice surprise, however, was an adult PEREGRINE FALCON with a meal on top of a utility pole along Lasher Road (Kane County). I added a few more common year birds, but only because I haven't been birding much so far this year.

Alexandra Shroeder on 1/20 reported via e-mail: There are two Mute Swans on the Fox River in St. Charles, near the Prairie Street bridge. Beautiful sight against the snow covered background.

Mary Burr on 1/20 reported via e-mail: One adult Bald Eagle in Surrey Hill neighborhood in St. Charles, early morning.

Jay Sturner on 1/17 reported via eBird: Saw a Wilson's Snipe at Sauer Family Prairie Kame Forest Preserve.

Mary Burr on 1/14 reported via e-mail: This morning around 11:00am I saw two adult Bald Eagles near the dam in Batavia.

Barb Rask on 1/12 reported via e-mail: New Yardbirds at my thistle feeders today, 3 PM. Photo a little grainy due to the screens on the windows but I had a small group of redpolls.
 

Lucy De Lap on 1/10 reported via IBET: An hour walk around the area at 3:30 this afternoon yielded quite a few incidental sightings.

About 40 Goldeneyes were clustered just of the Village Squire parking lot in West Dundee. They flew south along the river a short time after we spotted them.

A single Common Merganser was circling the center of the river slightly to the north.

Many Canada Geese and Mallards were strewn along various ice floes between the downtown and the pedestrian bridge.

A large flock of Canada Geese numbering close to 200 was to the north of the pedestrian bridge.

A Belted Kingfisher flew by hugging the eastern shoreline.

While we did not see any this afternoon, I did see a large immature Bald Eagle this morning in a tree along the river near North Street, and 2 adults plus a juvenile in a tree along the river across from the park at Barrington Avenue yesterday morning.

Jonathan Schuler on 1/10 reported via e-mail: On Monday 1/8 my father -- who was visiting from Pennsylvania with the rest of my family -- and I had a very brief time to walk around outside before heading to downtown Geneva for another engagement. We decided to see if the Spotted Towhee in West Aurora Forest Preserve was still hanging around, despite no recent sightings. We spent about 30 minutes checking its last known address but came up empty handed (not surprised). We decided to take a quick jaunt down the road to Hannaford Woods Forest Preserve to see if we could get an eye on the pair of Pileated Woodpeckers. We spent about 10 minutes walking the main trail and heard the pair call (one on each side of the trail). We then heard them drumming and spent a good 20 minutes trying to locate them. We were not able to get a visual before we had to leave (sigh), but they are definitely there, seemingly back deep in the woods. On the way into downtown Geneva, not prepared to go down without something, we stopped for a few short minutes at the Herrington Inn and Spa, a rather reliable spot to see Bald Eagles either perched in the trees next door, or soaring above the Fox River. There were two juveniles and one adult that day. The adult came swooping in right toward us just as we arrived. One of the juveniles took off and gave us a show for a few minutes before we had to bolt. Although we've seen plenty of eagles over the years, I will never tire of getting a good look; this is a great spot for a closeup.

Wes Sadler on 1/7 reported via eBird: Seeing on 1/5 a Trumpeter Swan at Glenwood Park Forest Preserve. "Adult bird eye broadly connected to bill, straight edge between bill and feathers. Unable to get front view of bird, it was sitting on ice facing opposite direction. Did not get any views to determine U vs V border on forehead."

Chris Bowman on 1/6 reported via e-mail: Jackie and I braved the cold today (1-6-18 Saturday), and went in search of the pair of Pileated Woodpeckers which were documented again, 2 weeks ago at Hannaford F.P……this pair has apparently been in the area since September 2017, intermittently being seen at either the connecting Hannaford or Bliss Woods. We had an audio in Carpentersville a few years back, but until today no Kane County visual on this species, despite multiple attempts in September/October 2017 at Bliss FP.

At noon we walked the Hannaford FP main path, beginning at the main north parking lot, walking all the way to the Bliss FP border, then back toward our car. Around 2 PM, we heard a vocalization consistent with Pileated, about a 100 yards south of the Hannaford FP parking lot. Jackie then visualized one of the pair, before I got on them. The birds were quite skittish, staying about 70 yards away. We were able to stay on them for about 10 minutes, from a distance.

Kathy Benedetto on 1/4 reported via e-mail: Today at the South Elgin dam there are plenty of eagles feeding..

Eric Secker on 1/2 reported via IBET: We had 31 participants show up in spite of the frigid cold temperatures to cover nine different areas within the 15 mile diameter count circle in northern Kane Co. and part of southern McHenry Co along the Fox River in the east and going west to Burlington and Hampshire, IL. Sites in the circle included the Algonquin, Carpentersville and Elgin Dams, Brunner F.P., Burnidge F.P., Fox River Shores, Raceway Woods, Pingree Grove, Fitchie Creek, Rutland, Freeman Kame, Hampshire F.P., Muirhead Springs, Binnie F.P., Tyler Creek, Exner Marsh, and others. Here's a map of the area.

Two intrepid birders did some owling predawn without any success in the cold and wind, but we still added owls later in the day and during some owling in the evening. Most participants started the day between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. with the temperature around 3 degrees (F) and a -17 degree windchill. Fortunately the skies were clear almost all day and the sun make for a still beautiful day. After a long day of both short walks by many, long walks by more intrepid individuals than myself, breaks for lunch, and lots of birding by car, about 15 people concluded their day with a casual dinner and opportunity to share their results at Jimmy's Charhouse on Randall Rd. in Elgin.

We ended the day with a total of 66 species! The full list with totals is below. Congrats to everyone who helped. That's a very respectable number for thirty people, a very cold day, and our first time ever conducting a count here. We also had at least 7 additional birds reported during the extended "count week" window between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2.

Most areas had about 20-25 species with the river areas coming in higher partially due to the birds congregating along the water and in the ravines and woods near the river. 40 Bald Eagles were seen just between the two sections of river in our area. We also had 6 species of ducks and all the expected woodpeckers (no Red-headeds) as well as Carolina Wrens, Winter Wrens, and Tufted Titmice. The western areas represented with Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and all the expected country roadside birds included Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, and Snow Buntings. Area 4 also had a nice mix of the count's only Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and Rusty Blackbirds. Red-breasted Nuthatches and Pine Siskins were both represented in a number of areas this year. The only two documentable species included two Thayer's Gulls and a California Gull, all seen at Carpentersville Dam. Many woodland birds as well as hawks and sparrows were in low supply due to the cold.

If you didn't join us this year, but are interested in helping in the future, feel free to contact me to get added to next year's contact list. We're glad to have help recruiting too if you know of others who might be interested in joining. Next year's tentative date will be Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018 with Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019 as a secondary option depending on everyone's availability and potential conflicts with other counts.

Thanks again to everyone who participated. Have a wonderful new year and here's to hoping that this new count becomes a fun yearly tradition as well as a great resource for documenting the birds wintering in this area.
 

Total Species in Area: 66

33 - Walked: Miles
30.25 - Walked: Hours
352.75- Driven: Miles
34.75 - Driven: Hours
0.75 - Owling: Miles
1 - Owling: Hours
16 - Parties
 

Daryl Coldren on 1/2 reported via eBird: A Rusty Blackbird south of Elburn on Route 47.

Henrey Deese on 1/2 reported via eBird: Finding a California Gull at the Carpentersville dam. "1st Cycle. Larger than ring-billed, but smaller than herring (see mallards for size comparison). Fairly uniform coloration overall, seems a little light, but still darker than I'd expect a ring-billed to be. ID'd mainly the dark primaries and retricies, the uniform underwing coloration, and lack of gray on the back."

Bill Ahlgren on 1/2 reported via eBird: Seeing a continuing Ruby-crowned Kinglet at his feeders in Batavia.

Bill & Carol Ludemann on 1/1 reported via e-mail: On December 31 we spotted a Fox Sparrow on the ground under our bird feeder. We live in the Windings Subdivision west of St Charles.
 

Fox Sparrow photo courtesy Bill Ludemann