Nygren Wetlands, Rockton, IL

A typical October scene at the Nygren Wetlands, American Coots in the foreground, Canadas and mallards in the middleground, and a Great Blue Heron in the background; 10/15/2011.


A month ago I visited the Nygren Wetlands near Rockton to check out the migrants that may have shown up. I managed to identify 32 species of birds during my couple hour hike, but nothing new nor unusual.

List of Water and Shorebirds: Great Blue Herons, Lesser Yellowlegs, American Coots, Mallards, Canada Geese, Northern Shovelers, Pied-billed Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants, Wood Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Sandhill Cranes, Ring-billed Gulls.

List of Landbirds: Wild Turkeys, American Crow, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped-Chickadees, Northern Cardinal, American Robins, Eastern Towhee,  Eastern Phoebe, Dark-eyed Slate Colored Junco, Goldfinches, Yellow-rumped Myrtle and a half dozen species of sparrows: Fox Sparrow, White-throated Sparrows, White-crested Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow.

Mallards take flight, Nygren Wetlands, Rockton, IL; 10/15/2011.

Below are photos of some of the swimmers, divers, waders and shorebirds I observed during the visit:

A Great Blue Heron joins a Double-crested Cormorant on a dead branch overlooking the wetlands.

A Double-crested Cormorant cruising over the Nygren Wetlands, Rockton, IL; 10/15/2011.

A Great Blue Heron, Nygren Wetlands, Rockton, IL; 10/15/2011.

A Great Blue reflecting in the still waters of a flowage, Nygren Wetlands, Rockton, IL; 10/15/2011.



A flush of Wood Ducks trying to stay hidden in one of the obscure ponds in the back acreage of the grounds, Nygren Wetlands, Rockton, IL; 10/15/2011.



In my next post I'll feature photos of some of the landbirds I observed on this visit.