Early May Water Birds Arrive in Northern Illinois

MAY DAY! MAY DAY!

A Green Heron with its fierce watchful eye, waiting for a meal to happen by, Rock Cut State Park; 5/5/2012.

The first week of May saw many more new birds arrive in Northern Illinois. Granted, many of the birds I have listed below may already have been here in April, but it wasn't until May when I first witnessed their presence. 

Water Birds: Spotted Sandpipers (Bottom), and Green Herons (Above & Below). Land Birds listed at the bottom of this blog post.

A Green Heron stalking prey, Espenscheid Forest Preserve; 5/26/2012.

The same Green Heron ready to strike, Espenscheid Forest Preserve; 5/26/2012.

I happened to have the opportunity to watch a Green Heron stalking small prey a couple of weeks ago, while hiking in Espenscheid Forest Preserve. Initially I though it was catching frogs, but whatever it was catching and gulping down in one swallow, were too small to be frogs.

A Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Cut State Park, 5/8/2011.

Some of the early May Land Birds were: American Redstarts, Baltimore Orioles, Barn Swallows, Black-throated Green Warblers, Cerulean Warblers, Gray Catbirds, Harris Sparrows, Indigo Buntings, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Northern Waterthrushes, Ovenbirds, Pine warblers, Warbling Vireos, Wood Thrushes, Yellow-throated Warblers, and Yellow Warblers.
Tomorrow I will post about Catbirds and Thrushes, Sunday I will feature Swallows, and next week I will feature some of the Wood Warblers that I have seen in the Rockford area during May.