A friend and I birded the Monroe County, Illinois, levee area on Sunday morning, September 11, 2005. It was sunny and getting warm when we turned off Bluff Rd. around 8:45. We had been hoping to find shorebirds, and I was elated when my friend pointed out an American Golden Plover and two Buff-breasted Sandpipers at the Emerald Turf sod farm. The birds gave us a good view, and I was able to spend some time studying them. My experience with shorebirds is extremely limited, so I appreciated having the opportunity to watch their behavior and pick out field marks.
Both are beautiful birds. The golden plovers were in transitional plumage and still had quite a bit of black on their undertail coverts. I was struck by the delicacy of the Buff-breasteds, and even by that of the golden plovers, which didn’t have the burlier appearance of the Black-bellieds.
On the way back to the city we swung by Sauget Marsh where we found a few Wood Ducks, Great and Snowy Egrets, and Killdeer.
We saw several species of butterflies in fairly good numbers.
Here’s the trip list:
- Great Egret
- Great Blue Heron
- Little Blue Heron
- Snowy Egret
- Green Heron (I missed this one)
- Turkey Vulture (1 or 2)
- American Kestrel
- Killdeer (many, around 20 at Sauget Marsh alone)
- American Golden Plover
- Buff-breasted Sandpiper
- Mourning Dove
- Rock Pigeon
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Chimney Swift
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Barn Swallow
- European Starling
- Horned Lark
- Song Sparrow
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- American Goldfinch
- House Sparrow
Round trip: ~80 miles