Jeff Hoover’s presentation at the 2010 Annual Meeting. Jeff has been studying the ecology, behavior and conservation of birds for

the past 18 years, including bird communities in upland and bottomland forests, second growth, and grassland habitats. His

research emphasizes studying the response of bird communities to restoration/conservation efforts, and collecting field data that

can be used to direct conservation plans and measure the success of conservation actions.

Jeff received his B.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. His M.S. was earned

from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) where he studied the effects of forest fragmentation on the nesting

success offorest birds – specifically wood thrush and ovenbirds. He received his PhD under the direction of Scott

Robinson at the University of Illinois where he studied factors affecting lifetime reproductive success in

prothonotary warblers. Jeff currently holds the position of Avian Ecologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey.

The Annual Meeting will be held at the Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, 8505 Church Street, located at

the end of Market Street off of Ridgefield Road in Ridgefield. The meeting will begin with members gathering at 5:30

p.m. for a potluck dinner that will commence at 6:00 p.m. Dr. Hoover’s program will then begin at 7:00 p.m.

The annual raffle will follow the presentation, so please bring $$$! Also, remember to bring a dish to pass, a utensil to

serve it with, reusable tableware, and your favorite non-alcoholic beverage. Coffee will be available at the meeting. Members of

the public are welcome to attend.

Get up close to more than 75 species of exotic butterflies and stunning bird species from the Southern hemisphere in a 2,700

square-foot greenhouse filled with pools of water, flowers, tropical trees and 1,000 butterflies, including those never-before-seen

in our region. McHenry County Audubon members are invited to escape the cold of winter to enjoy a behind the scenes tour of this

tropical sanctuary in the Judy Istock Butterfly Haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Vincent Olivares, a biologist at the

museum, will conduct the tour beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Once the tour is completed, the group will find a good restaurant where we’ll enjoy lunch before returning home. This “green” trip

will involve taking the train and a bus to the museum. Some walking will also be necessary, so plan to wear good walking shoes

and dress warm. Plan to leave the train station (free parking) in Crystal Lake at 8:00 a.m. and return there by mid-afternoon.

Please call Nancy Schietzelt at 815-356-1710 by no later than Thursday, January 28th if you plan to attend this field trip.

Hundreds of gulls and ducks “attend” the Illinois Ornithological Society’s annual Gull Frolic, and you can warm up

inside between viewings. Our renowned Gull experts will again be available to answer questions. This year,

COS is sponsoring a program on “Slaty-backed Gull Identification” by Alvaro Jaramillo, at 11:00am. Slaty-backed gulls,

which breed in Asia, have been turning up in small, but increasing numbers in the Midwest. Illinois has hosted this beautiful, darkbacked

gull only a few times and sightings in the northern part of the state are long overdue. Al’s pre-lunch program will focus on

plumage and other identifiable features of slaty-backed gulls and will help prepare you to find Illinois’ first in one of our typical lake

front flocks of herring, ring-billed and lesser and greater black-backed gulls. The $10 registration fee includes a breakfast of

muffins, doughnuts, fruit, coffee and tea, the traditional lunch of the world famous Sea Gull Stew, Vegetarian Chili, pizza, a drink,

salad, and dessert. The fee will help defray facility expenses. Any surplus will go to the IOS Grant Program to benefit Illinois birds

and birding. Free coffee, tea and hot chocolate will be available all day.

Directions: To reach the Winthrop Harbor Yacht Club take the I-94 toll road north towards Milwaukee. Exit at Route

173. Turn right (east) and go to Sheridan Road (Rt. 137). Turn left and proceed to 7th Street. Turn right on 7th Street

and follow the North Point Marina signs to the yacht club. DO NOT SPEED on 7th Street! It is actively patrolled by the

Winthrop Harbor police.

Volunteers are still needed. Sponsors are also needed. Contact Brian Herriott at wrybill@sbcglobal.net or visit

www.illinoisbirds.org for registration and more information.

balcony provide outstanding opportunities to comfortably view eagles perched in trees on Leopold and Plum Islands

or fishing below Starved Rock Lock and Dam. During “Bald Eagle Watch Weekend,” members of the Starved Rock

located on Dee Bennett Road, across the Illinois River from Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois. The Visitor

Center is adjacent to the Starved Rock Lock and Dam. For more information, go to www.illinoisaudubon.org or

call them at 217-544-2473.

Save the dates! GBBC is Coming! The next Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place Friday,

February 12 through Monday, February 15, 2010. The National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of

Ornithology are calling on everyone to “Count for Fun, Count for the Future!” Bird watchers coast to coast

are invited to take part. Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers of all

levels of birding experience to count birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges. Each

checklist submitted by these “citizen scientists” helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and

the National Audubon Society learn more about how the birds are doing—and how to protect them.

Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants

count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings

online. During last year’s count, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent’s largest

instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. We hope you’ll join us again and help spread the word, since the

success of the count depends on people tallying birds from as many locations as possible across the continent. Each year, we

rely on you to spread the word about the GBBC. One way we do this is through our volunteer ambassador program. Volunteer

ambassadors do a variety of things, including hanging up GBBC fliers, giving presentations in their community, and even talking to

their local media. For more ideas on how to promote the GBBC, fill out the online ambassador sign-up form at

www.birdsource.org and specify the kinds of activities you’d like to do. For more information about the GBBC, visit the same

website at www.birdsource.org. Or contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473 or (outside the U.S., call (607) 254-

2473) or gbbc@cornell.edu, or Audubon at citizenscience@audubon.org or (215) 355-9588, Ext 16.

The 2009-10 season of Project FeederWatch ends April 9, 2010. FeederWatchers keep track of their birds through the winter and

report their tallies each week. This helps scientists track changes in winter bird populations from year to year.To learn more and to

sign up, visit the Project FeederWatch website at www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw. New participants receive a kit with a handbook, a

bird-identification poster, calendar, and instruction booklet. There is a $15 fee ($12 for Lab members) to help cover the costs of

materials and participant support.

help determine the winter distribution of this blackbird whose populations have plummeted. Last year, birders throughout the

country scoured the countryside for wintering rusty blackbirds to help us understand their distribution and find important local

concentrations (hotspots). We learned a lot (see http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MigratoryBirds/Research/

Rusty_Blackbird/blitz_results.cfm). But there is much more to learn. We want to blitz for several years to both locate more

hotspots and determine how stable the already discovered hot spots are from year to year. Already, the information gained is

being used to implement research and conservation efforts! With your help….the “Return of the Rusty Blackbird Blitz” will be

bigger and better than the original!

Although the cause for this alarming decline is not known, winter habitat loss and degradation are likely candidates. Rusties are

getting scarce and patchy in their winter distribution, making it difficult focus research and management we need to save the

species. Collaborating with Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s and National Audubon Society’s e-Bird project, we are enlisting

the power of the birding public (you!) to help locate local, but predictable wintering concentrations of rusty blackbirds. We are

mobilizing an all out “blitz” to locate rusty blackbirds and create a map of wintering rusty

blackbird “hot spots” that will help focus research, monitoring and conservation attention..

locations and habitats deemed as potentially suitable for wintering rusty blackbirds,

particularly flocks or concentrations (e.g., dozens or even hundreds of birds). Areas of

concentration will be revisited in the future to determine if they are indeed rusty blackbird

hot spots.

sing!) and the population is relatively sedentary.

winter range: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,

Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North

Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (east),

Virginia, and West Virginia.

intuition, local legend, or local knowledge – to search the most likely places for wintering rusty

blackbirds. You can go wherever you like, whenever you like, and as often as you like anytime between the dates of 30 January –

15 February 2010. Checking known places is good. Exploring the unknown for new hotspots is even better! We are simply

seeking observations on the number of birds present at each location visited, along with very basic habitat information. All you

have to do is submit your observations via e-Bird. We will do the rest! (Failure to find rusties is important information as well).

the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s Rusty Blackbird website: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/

MigratoryBirds/Research/Rusty_Blackbird/ Information and instructions will also be available on Cornell Laboratory of

Ornithology’s e-Bird site: ebird.org. Sponsored by: International Rusty Blackbird Technical Working Group, Cornell Laboratory of

This is one more setback/challenge Operation Migration has faced during this year’s migration. In November the engine on one

of the ultralights failed, and Chris made an emergency landing. The engine subsequently had to be replaced. Also in November,

the hangar at Necedah was robbed and vandalized. Some of the OM team had personal property stored there. And more recently

their top cover plane had to make an emergency landing. The plane was too damaged for their continued participation in this

year’s migration. This is such a dedicated group; and despite all this, they always manage to have a smile for you. If you would

like to help, following are a few links that may be of interest, like the Give A Whoop! program:

http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html

http://www.operationmigration.org/mile_makers.htm

http://www.operationmigration.org/contribute.htm#contribution

http://www.operationmigration.org/contribute.htm#top

If you would like more information, please contact Karen Lund.

On November 20th, McHenry County Audubon

member Lori Valus and her cousin traveled to Jasper-

Pulaski Wildlife Area in Indiana to see the Sandhill

Cranes stopping there on their southern migration.

The offficial number from the ranger station was

around 13,000. Here, she shares some photos from

the day.

Saturday morning, December 12, 2009 —

Lindenhurst, IL. From my driveway I was

200 or so birds.

Rich Hugel

This morning (Tuesday Dec. 15th) some crows were making a

lot of noise & Ken saw a BIG hawk they were chasing. The

hawk landed in a tree near the martin house in the back yard

and sat there long enough for me to get the bins and get a

good look. Then he took off and circled (crows chasing all

the while) over the field -back and forth-giving good views

year. This makes 161 for the backyard count.

Darlene Fiske

December 14 and 16, 2009 - A ruby-crowned kinglet

is hanging around our house and pecking at peanut

feeders. See photo at left.

Randy and Nancy Schietzelt

“corporate pond” near I-294 and Rt.60 (Townline Road).

the Chicago area from late March thru late October,

except for a post-breeding window in August during which time they

were considered “uncommon”. At the time this book was published,

the latest documented fall observation date was on November 5, 1977

down at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Game Area in Indiana. How times

have changed!

Rich Hugel

November 15, 2009 - Walking from the parking

lot into the Crystal Lake Home Depot around

10:45 am, I heard a familiar sound and

southwest direction. It was a beautiful

sight and sound.

Carol Howard

feeders. It did not seem to

understand how to get any food from

the feeders.

Randy and Nancy Schietzelt

December 12 - Vicki Buchwald and I were at Pleasant Valley

Conservation Area yesterday afternoon. There was a

lot, not much else to report. Pleasant Valley

is an MCCD property located on Pleasant

Valley Rd., approx. 1 -1/2 miles west of Rte.

47 and 1/4 mile south of Rte. 176.

Karen Lund Genoa, DeKalb County

Industrial wind turbines are rapidly becoming a common feature of the Illinois landscape. Already, Illinois has wind energy

capacity of over 1,100 Megawatts, with 700 more Megawatts scheduled to become operational by the end of 2009. That

represents about 1,200 operating turbines. And wind developers are just getting started!

A common fear is that wind turbines will kill high numbers of birds. Many opponents of wind energy cite the infamous Altamont

Pass wind farm in California which, despite recent upgrades and new configurations, still kills thousands of birds every year.

Fortunately, Altamont Pass has proven to be atypical; few other wind farms around the world kill more than a small fraction of the

casualties there.

At four hundred feet high, with blades slicing more than an acre of air, turbines present a daunting obstacle to flying creatures.

However, most rotate at something less than 20 rpm, which means a blade tip passes a specific point once every second. That

does not seem fast compared to the speed of Grandpa’s old windmill out on the farm. But with blades up to 40 meters long (over

130 feet) their tips are moving at well over 200 mph!

Nevertheless, the only published mortality study of a wind farm in Illinois, at the Crescent Ridge Project in Bureau County, found

that each turbine killed only one or two birds in a whole year, about half of what the typical single-family home kills. Mortality

studies at other Illinois wind farms, though not yet completed or published, appear to be producing similar results. Compared to

other sources of human-caused avian mortality, wind farms will stay far down the list for a long time

to come.

Avian deaths seem spread over a large number of species in sustainable numbers. That may not

be the case with bats. As odd as it seems, three bats die for every bird struck. Because bats are not

as reproductively prolific as birds, these losses may not be sustainable in the long-term. A

tremendous amount of research effort is underway to try to better understand bat ecology and the

reasons wind turbines seem to be so deadly to them.

We are contemplating changing our by-laws to allow two additional Board members. We will

vote on this change at our annual meeting in January. If you cannot attend the meeting & you

would like to vote on the proposal, send an email vote to: buroak@owc.net.

Thanks,

McHenry County Audubon

Existing language:

New Language

• Coffee and Feeder Watch at Susan Tauck’s

• Bob Guge Bird Woodcarving Tour

Jeff Hoover’s presentation at the 2010 Annual Meeting. Jeff has been studying the ecology, behavior and conservation of birds for

the past 18 years, including bird communities in upland and bottomland forests, second growth, and grassland habitats. His

research emphasizes studying the response of bird communities to restoration/conservation efforts, and collecting field data that

can be used to direct conservation plans and measure the success of conservation actions.

Jeff received his B.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. His M.S. was earned

from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) where he studied the effects of forest fragmentation on the nesting

success offorest birds – specifically wood thrush and ovenbirds. He received his PhD under the direction of Scott

Robinson at the University of Illinois where he studied factors affecting lifetime reproductive success in

prothonotary warblers. Jeff currently holds the position of Avian Ecologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey.

The Annual Meeting will be held at the Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, 8505 Church Street, located at

the end of Market Street off of Ridgefield Road in Ridgefield. The meeting will begin with members gathering at 5:30

p.m. for a potluck dinner that will commence at 6:00 p.m. Dr. Hoover’s program will then begin at 7:00 p.m.

The annual raffle will follow the presentation, so please bring $$$! Also, remember to bring a dish to pass, a utensil to

serve it with, reusable tableware, and your favorite non-alcoholic beverage. Coffee will be available at the meeting. Members of

the public are welcome to attend.

Get up close to more than 75 species of exotic butterflies and stunning bird species from the Southern hemisphere in a 2,700

square-foot greenhouse filled with pools of water, flowers, tropical trees and 1,000 butterflies, including those never-before-seen

in our region. McHenry County Audubon members are invited to escape the cold of winter to enjoy a behind the scenes tour of this

tropical sanctuary in the Judy Istock Butterfly Haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Vincent Olivares, a biologist at the

museum, will conduct the tour beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Once the tour is completed, the group will find a good restaurant where we’ll enjoy lunch before returning home. This “green” trip

will involve taking the train and a bus to the museum. Some walking will also be necessary, so plan to wear good walking shoes

and dress warm. Plan to leave the train station (free parking) in Crystal Lake at 8:00 a.m. and return there by mid-afternoon.

Please call Nancy Schietzelt at 815-356-1710 by no later than Thursday, January 28th if you plan to attend this field trip.

• Behind-the-Scenes Butterfly Tour

Hundreds of gulls and ducks “attend” the Illinois Ornithological Society’s annual Gull Frolic, and you can warm up

inside between viewings. Our renowned Gull experts will again be available to answer questions. This year,

COS is sponsoring a program on “Slaty-backed Gull Identification” by Alvaro Jaramillo, at 11:00am. Slaty-backed gulls,

which breed in Asia, have been turning up in small, but increasing numbers in the Midwest. Illinois has hosted this beautiful, darkbacked

gull only a few times and sightings in the northern part of the state are long overdue. Al’s pre-lunch program will focus on

plumage and other identifiable features of slaty-backed gulls and will help prepare you to find Illinois’ first in one of our typical lake

front flocks of herring, ring-billed and lesser and greater black-backed gulls. The $10 registration fee includes a breakfast of

muffins, doughnuts, fruit, coffee and tea, the traditional lunch of the world famous Sea Gull Stew, Vegetarian Chili, pizza, a drink,

salad, and dessert. The fee will help defray facility expenses. Any surplus will go to the IOS Grant Program to benefit Illinois birds

and birding. Free coffee, tea and hot chocolate will be available all day.

Directions: To reach the Winthrop Harbor Yacht Club take the I-94 toll road north towards Milwaukee. Exit at Route

173. Turn right (east) and go to Sheridan Road (Rt. 137). Turn left and proceed to 7th Street. Turn right on 7th Street

and follow the North Point Marina signs to the yacht club. DO NOT SPEED on 7th Street! It is actively patrolled by the

Winthrop Harbor police.

Volunteers are still needed. Sponsors are also needed. Contact Brian Herriott at wrybill@sbcglobal.net or visit

www.illinoisbirds.org for registration and more information.

• Illinois Ornithological Society’s 9th Annual Gull Frolic

balcony provide outstanding opportunities to comfortably view eagles perched in trees on Leopold and Plum Islands

or fishing below Starved Rock Lock and Dam. During “Bald Eagle Watch Weekend,” members of the Starved Rock

located on Dee Bennett Road, across the Illinois River from Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois. The Visitor

Center is adjacent to the Starved Rock Lock and Dam. For more information, go to www.illinoisaudubon.org or

call them at 217-544-2473.

• Illinois Audubon Society 13th Annual Bald Eagle Watch Weekend

• Take a Mid-Winter Nature Break With the Great Backyard Bird Count!

Save the dates! GBBC is Coming! The next Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place Friday,

February 12 through Monday, February 15, 2010. The National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of

Ornithology are calling on everyone to “Count for Fun, Count for the Future!” Bird watchers coast to coast

are invited to take part. Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers of all

levels of birding experience to count birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges. Each

checklist submitted by these “citizen scientists” helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and

the National Audubon Society learn more about how the birds are doing—and how to protect them.

Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants

count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings

online. During last year’s count, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent’s largest

instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. We hope you’ll join us again and help spread the word, since the

success of the count depends on people tallying birds from as many locations as possible across the continent. Each year, we

rely on you to spread the word about the GBBC. One way we do this is through our volunteer ambassador program. Volunteer

ambassadors do a variety of things, including hanging up GBBC fliers, giving presentations in their community, and even talking to

their local media. For more ideas on how to promote the GBBC, fill out the online ambassador sign-up form at

www.birdsource.org and specify the kinds of activities you’d like to do. For more information about the GBBC, visit the same

website at www.birdsource.org. Or contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473 or (outside the U.S., call (607) 254-

2473) or gbbc@cornell.edu, or Audubon at citizenscience@audubon.org or (215) 355-9588, Ext 16.

• Second Annual Rusty Blackbird Blitz

• Project FeederWatch Ends Soon!! April 9, 2010

The 2009-10 season of Project FeederWatch ends April 9, 2010. FeederWatchers keep track of their birds through the winter and

report their tallies each week. This helps scientists track changes in winter bird populations from year to year.To learn more and to

sign up, visit the Project FeederWatch website at www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw. New participants receive a kit with a handbook, a

bird-identification poster, calendar, and instruction booklet. There is a $15 fee ($12 for Lab members) to help cover the costs of

materials and participant support.

help determine the winter distribution of this blackbird whose populations have plummeted. Last year, birders throughout the

country scoured the countryside for wintering rusty blackbirds to help us understand their distribution and find important local

concentrations (hotspots). We learned a lot (see http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MigratoryBirds/Research/

Rusty_Blackbird/blitz_results.cfm). But there is much more to learn. We want to blitz for several years to both locate more

hotspots and determine how stable the already discovered hot spots are from year to year. Already, the information gained is

being used to implement research and conservation efforts! With your help….the “Return of the Rusty Blackbird Blitz” will be

bigger and better than the original!

Although the cause for this alarming decline is not known, winter habitat loss and degradation are likely candidates. Rusties are

getting scarce and patchy in their winter distribution, making it difficult focus research and management we need to save the

species. Collaborating with Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s and National Audubon Society’s e-Bird project, we are enlisting

the power of the birding public (you!) to help locate local, but predictable wintering concentrations of rusty blackbirds. We are

mobilizing an all out “blitz” to locate rusty blackbirds and create a map of wintering rusty

blackbird “hot spots” that will help focus research, monitoring and conservation attention..

Who? Birders from all of the rusties’ winter range (see below).

locations and habitats deemed as potentially suitable for wintering rusty blackbirds,

particularly flocks or concentrations (e.g., dozens or even hundreds of birds). Areas of

concentration will be revisited in the future to determine if they are indeed rusty blackbird

hot spots.

sing!) and the population is relatively sedentary.

winter range: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,

Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North

Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (east),

Virginia, and West Virginia.

intuition, local legend, or local knowledge – to search the most likely places for wintering rusty

blackbirds. You can go wherever you like, whenever you like, and as often as you like anytime between the dates of 30 January –

15 February 2010. Checking known places is good. Exploring the unknown for new hotspots is even better! We are simply

seeking observations on the number of birds present at each location visited, along with very basic habitat information. All you

have to do is submit your observations via e-Bird. We will do the rest! (Failure to find rusties is important information as well).

the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s Rusty Blackbird website: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/

MigratoryBirds/Research/Rusty_Blackbird/ Information and instructions will also be available on Cornell Laboratory of

Ornithology’s e-Bird site: ebird.org. Sponsored by: International Rusty Blackbird Technical Working Group, Cornell Laboratory of

This is one more setback/challenge Operation Migration has faced during this year’s migration. In November the engine on one

of the ultralights failed, and Chris made an emergency landing. The engine subsequently had to be replaced. Also in November,

the hangar at Necedah was robbed and vandalized. Some of the OM team had personal property stored there. And more recently

their top cover plane had to make an emergency landing. The plane was too damaged for their continued participation in this

year’s migration. This is such a dedicated group; and despite all this, they always manage to have a smile for you. If you would

like to help, following are a few links that may be of interest, like the Give A Whoop! program:

http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html

http://www.operationmigration.org/mile_makers.htm

http://www.operationmigration.org/contribute.htm#contribution

http://www.operationmigration.org/contribute.htm#top

If you would like more information, please contact Karen Lund.

On November 20th, McHenry County Audubon

member Lori Valus and her cousin traveled to Jasper-

Pulaski Wildlife Area in Indiana to see the Sandhill

Cranes stopping there on their southern migration.

The offficial number from the ranger station was

around 13,000. Here, she shares some photos from

the day.

Saturday morning, December 12, 2009 —

Lindenhurst, IL. From my driveway I was

200 or so birds.

Rich Hugel

This morning (Tuesday Dec. 15th) some crows were making a

lot of noise & Ken saw a BIG hawk they were chasing. The

hawk landed in a tree near the martin house in the back yard

and sat there long enough for me to get the bins and get a

good look. Then he took off and circled (crows chasing all

the while) over the field -back and forth-giving good views

year. This makes 161 for the backyard count.

Darlene Fiske

December 14 and 16, 2009 - A ruby-crowned kinglet

is hanging around our house and pecking at peanut

feeders. See photo at left.

Randy and Nancy Schietzelt

goose on a soccer field among several hundredcanada geese; one stubborn

“corporate pond” near I-294 and Rt.60 (Townline Road).

the Chicago area from late March thru late October,

except for a post-breeding window in August during which time they

were considered “uncommon”. At the time this book was published,

the latest documented fall observation date was on November 5, 1977

down at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Game Area in Indiana. How times

have changed!

Rich Hugel

November 15, 2009 - Walking from the parking

lot into the Crystal Lake Home Depot around

10:45 am, I heard a familiar sound and

southwest direction. It was a beautiful

sight and sound.

Carol Howard

feeders. It did not seem to

understand how to get any food from

the feeders.

Randy and Nancy Schietzelt

December 12 - Vicki Buchwald and I were at Pleasant Valley

Conservation Area yesterday afternoon. There was a

northern shrike along the road in. Other than a couple dozen

lot, not much else to report. Pleasant Valley

is an MCCD property located on Pleasant

Valley Rd., approx. 1 -1/2 miles west of Rte.

47 and 1/4 mile south of Rte. 176.

Karen Lund Genoa, DeKalb County

Industrial wind turbines are rapidly becoming a common feature of the Illinois landscape. Already, Illinois has wind energy

capacity of over 1,100 Megawatts, with 700 more Megawatts scheduled to become operational by the end of 2009. That

represents about 1,200 operating turbines. And wind developers are just getting started!

A common fear is that wind turbines will kill high numbers of birds. Many opponents of wind energy cite the infamous Altamont

Pass wind farm in California which, despite recent upgrades and new configurations, still kills thousands of birds every year.

Fortunately, Altamont Pass has proven to be atypical; few other wind farms around the world kill more than a small fraction of the

casualties there.

At four hundred feet high, with blades slicing more than an acre of air, turbines present a daunting obstacle to flying creatures.

However, most rotate at something less than 20 rpm, which means a blade tip passes a specific point once every second. That

does not seem fast compared to the speed of Grandpa’s old windmill out on the farm. But with blades up to 40 meters long (over

130 feet) their tips are moving at well over 200 mph!

Nevertheless, the only published mortality study of a wind farm in Illinois, at the Crescent Ridge Project in Bureau County, found

that each turbine killed only one or two birds in a whole year, about half of what the typical single-family home kills. Mortality

studies at other Illinois wind farms, though not yet completed or published, appear to be producing similar results. Compared to

other sources of human-caused avian mortality, wind farms will stay far down the list for a long time

to come.

Avian deaths seem spread over a large number of species in sustainable numbers. That may not

be the case with bats. As odd as it seems, three bats die for every bird struck. Because bats are not

as reproductively prolific as birds, these losses may not be sustainable in the long-term. A

tremendous amount of research effort is underway to try to better understand bat ecology and the

reasons wind turbines seem to be so deadly to them.

We are contemplating changing our by-laws to allow two additional Board members. We will

vote on this change at our annual meeting in January. If you cannot attend the meeting & you

would like to vote on the proposal, send an email vote to: buroak@owc.net.

Thanks,

McHenry County Audubon

Existing language:

New Language

McHenry Audubon Board of Directors

Other McHenry County Audubon Contacts

Audubon Contacts

Public Lands

Also coming in February 2010:

• Coffee and Feeder Watch at Susan Tauck’s

• Bob Guge Bird Woodcarving Tour

Jeff Hoover’s presentation at the 2010 Annual Meeting. Jeff has been studying the ecology, behavior and conservation of birds for

the past 18 years, including bird communities in upland and bottomland forests, second growth, and grassland habitats. His

research emphasizes studying the response of bird communities to restoration/conservation efforts, and collecting field data that

can be used to direct conservation plans and measure the success of conservation actions.

Jeff received his B.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. His M.S. was earned

from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) where he studied the effects of forest fragmentation on the nesting

success offorest birds – specifically wood thrush and ovenbirds. He received his PhD under the direction of Scott

Robinson at the University of Illinois where he studied factors affecting lifetime reproductive success in

prothonotary warblers. Jeff currently holds the position of Avian Ecologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey.

The Annual Meeting will be held at the Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, 8505 Church Street, located at

the end of Market Street off of Ridgefield Road in Ridgefield. The meeting will begin with members gathering at 5:30

p.m. for a potluck dinner that will commence at 6:00 p.m. Dr. Hoover’s program will then begin at 7:00 p.m.

The annual raffle will follow the presentation, so please bring $$$! Also, remember to bring a dish to pass, a utensil to

serve it with, reusable tableware, and your favorite non-alcoholic beverage. Coffee will be available at the meeting. Members of

the public are welcome to attend.

Get up close to more than 75 species of exotic butterflies and stunning bird species from the Southern hemisphere in a 2,700

square-foot greenhouse filled with pools of water, flowers, tropical trees and 1,000 butterflies, including those never-before-seen

in our region. McHenry County Audubon members are invited to escape the cold of winter to enjoy a behind the scenes tour of this

tropical sanctuary in the Judy Istock Butterfly Haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Vincent Olivares, a biologist at the

museum, will conduct the tour beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Once the tour is completed, the group will find a good restaurant where we’ll enjoy lunch before returning home. This “green” trip

will involve taking the train and a bus to the museum. Some walking will also be necessary, so plan to wear good walking shoes

and dress warm. Plan to leave the train station (free parking) in Crystal Lake at 8:00 a.m. and return there by mid-afternoon.

Please call Nancy Schietzelt at 815-356-1710 by no later than Thursday, January 28th if you plan to attend this field trip.

• Behind-the-Scenes Butterfly Tour

Hundreds of gulls and ducks “attend” the Illinois Ornithological Society’s annual Gull Frolic, and you can warm up

inside between viewings. Our renowned Gull experts will again be available to answer questions. This year,

COS is sponsoring a program on “Slaty-backed Gull Identification” by Alvaro Jaramillo, at 11:00am. Slaty-backed gulls,

which breed in Asia, have been turning up in small, but increasing numbers in the Midwest. Illinois has hosted this beautiful, darkbacked

gull only a few times and sightings in the northern part of the state are long overdue. Al’s pre-lunch program will focus on

plumage and other identifiable features of slaty-backed gulls and will help prepare you to find Illinois’ first in one of our typical lake

front flocks of herring, ring-billed and lesser and greater black-backed gulls. The $10 registration fee includes a breakfast of

muffins, doughnuts, fruit, coffee and tea, the traditional lunch of the world famous Sea Gull Stew, Vegetarian Chili, pizza, a drink,

salad, and dessert. The fee will help defray facility expenses. Any surplus will go to the IOS Grant Program to benefit Illinois birds

and birding. Free coffee, tea and hot chocolate will be available all day.

Directions: To reach the Winthrop Harbor Yacht Club take the I-94 toll road north towards Milwaukee. Exit at Route

173. Turn right (east) and go to Sheridan Road (Rt. 137). Turn left and proceed to 7th Street. Turn right on 7th Street

and follow the North Point Marina signs to the yacht club. DO NOT SPEED on 7th Street! It is actively patrolled by the

Winthrop Harbor police.

Volunteers are still needed. Sponsors are also needed. Contact Brian Herriott at wrybill@sbcglobal.net or visit

www.illinoisbirds.org for registration and more information.

• Illinois Ornithological Society’s 9th Annual Gull Frolic

balcony provide outstanding opportunities to comfortably view eagles perched in trees on Leopold and Plum Islands

or fishing below Starved Rock Lock and Dam. During “Bald Eagle Watch Weekend,” members of the Starved Rock

located on Dee Bennett Road, across the Illinois River from Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois. The Visitor

Center is adjacent to the Starved Rock Lock and Dam. For more information, go to www.illinoisaudubon.org or

call them at 217-544-2473.

• Illinois Audubon Society 13th Annual Bald Eagle Watch Weekend

• Take a Mid-Winter Nature Break With the Great Backyard Bird Count!

Save the dates! GBBC is Coming! The next Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place Friday,

February 12 through Monday, February 15, 2010. The National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of

Ornithology are calling on everyone to “Count for Fun, Count for the Future!” Bird watchers coast to coast

are invited to take part. Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers of all

levels of birding experience to count birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges. Each

checklist submitted by these “citizen scientists” helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and

the National Audubon Society learn more about how the birds are doing—and how to protect them.

Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants

count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings

online. During last year’s count, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent’s largest

instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. We hope you’ll join us again and help spread the word, since the

success of the count depends on people tallying birds from as many locations as possible across the continent. Each year, we

rely on you to spread the word about the GBBC. One way we do this is through our volunteer ambassador program. Volunteer

ambassadors do a variety of things, including hanging up GBBC fliers, giving presentations in their community, and even talking to

their local media. For more ideas on how to promote the GBBC, fill out the online ambassador sign-up form at

www.birdsource.org and specify the kinds of activities you’d like to do. For more information about the GBBC, visit the same

website at www.birdsource.org. Or contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473 or (outside the U.S., call (607) 254-

2473) or gbbc@cornell.edu, or Audubon at citizenscience@audubon.org or (215) 355-9588, Ext 16.

• Second Annual Rusty Blackbird Blitz

• Project FeederWatch Ends Soon!! April 9, 2010

The 2009-10 season of Project FeederWatch ends April 9, 2010. FeederWatchers keep track of their birds through the winter and

report their tallies each week. This helps scientists track changes in winter bird populations from year to year.To learn more and to

sign up, visit the Project FeederWatch website at www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw. New participants receive a kit with a handbook, a

bird-identification poster, calendar, and instruction booklet. There is a $15 fee ($12 for Lab members) to help cover the costs of

materials and participant support.

help determine the winter distribution of this blackbird whose populations have plummeted. Last year, birders throughout the

country scoured the countryside for wintering rusty blackbirds to help us understand their distribution and find important local

concentrations (hotspots). We learned a lot (see http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MigratoryBirds/Research/

Rusty_Blackbird/blitz_results.cfm). But there is much more to learn. We want to blitz for several years to both locate more

hotspots and determine how stable the already discovered hot spots are from year to year. Already, the information gained is

being used to implement research and conservation efforts! With your help….the “Return of the Rusty Blackbird Blitz” will be

bigger and better than the original!

Although the cause for this alarming decline is not known, winter habitat loss and degradation are likely candidates. Rusties are

getting scarce and patchy in their winter distribution, making it difficult focus research and management we need to save the

species. Collaborating with Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s and National Audubon Society’s e-Bird project, we are enlisting

the power of the birding public (you!) to help locate local, but predictable wintering concentrations of rusty blackbirds. We are

mobilizing an all out “blitz” to locate rusty blackbirds and create a map of wintering rusty

blackbird “hot spots” that will help focus research, monitoring and conservation attention..

Who? Birders from all of the rusties’ winter range (see below).

locations and habitats deemed as potentially suitable for wintering rusty blackbirds,

particularly flocks or concentrations (e.g., dozens or even hundreds of birds). Areas of

concentration will be revisited in the future to determine if they are indeed rusty blackbird

hot spots.

sing!) and the population is relatively sedentary.

winter range: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,

Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North

Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (east),

Virginia, and West Virginia.

intuition, local legend, or local knowledge – to search the most likely places for wintering rusty

blackbirds. You can go wherever you like, whenever you like, and as often as you like anytime between the dates of 30 January –

15 February 2010. Checking known places is good. Exploring the unknown for new hotspots is even better! We are simply

seeking observations on the number of birds present at each location visited, along with very basic habitat information. All you

have to do is submit your observations via e-Bird. We will do the rest! (Failure to find rusties is important information as well).

the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s Rusty Blackbird website: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/

MigratoryBirds/Research/Rusty_Blackbird/ Information and instructions will also be available on Cornell Laboratory of

Ornithology’s e-Bird site: ebird.org. Sponsored by: International Rusty Blackbird Technical Working Group, Cornell Laboratory of

This is one more setback/challenge Operation Migration has faced during this year’s migration. In November the engine on one

of the ultralights failed, and Chris made an emergency landing. The engine subsequently had to be replaced. Also in November,

the hangar at Necedah was robbed and vandalized. Some of the OM team had personal property stored there. And more recently

their top cover plane had to make an emergency landing. The plane was too damaged for their continued participation in this

year’s migration. This is such a dedicated group; and despite all this, they always manage to have a smile for you. If you would

like to help, following are a few links that may be of interest, like the Give A Whoop! program:

http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html

http://www.operationmigration.org/mile_makers.htm

http://www.operationmigration.org/contribute.htm#contribution

http://www.operationmigration.org/contribute.htm#top

If you would like more information, please contact Karen Lund.

On November 20th, McHenry County Audubon

member Lori Valus and her cousin traveled to Jasper-

Pulaski Wildlife Area in Indiana to see the Sandhill

Cranes stopping there on their southern migration.

The offficial number from the ranger station was

around 13,000. Here, she shares some photos from

the day.

Saturday morning, December 12, 2009 —

Lindenhurst, IL. From my driveway I was

200 or so birds.

Rich Hugel

This morning (Tuesday Dec. 15th) some crows were making a

lot of noise & Ken saw a BIG hawk they were chasing. The

hawk landed in a tree near the martin house in the back yard

and sat there long enough for me to get the bins and get a

good look. Then he took off and circled (crows chasing all

the while) over the field -back and forth-giving good views

year. This makes 161 for the backyard count.

Darlene Fiske

December 14 and 16, 2009 - A ruby-crowned kinglet

is hanging around our house and pecking at peanut

feeders. See photo at left.

Randy and Nancy Schietzelt

goose on a soccer field among several hundredcanada geese; one stubborn

“corporate pond” near I-294 and Rt.60 (Townline Road).

the Chicago area from late March thru late October,

except for a post-breeding window in August during which time they

were considered “uncommon”. At the time this book was published,

the latest documented fall observation date was on November 5, 1977

down at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Game Area in Indiana. How times

have changed!

Rich Hugel

November 15, 2009 - Walking from the parking

lot into the Crystal Lake Home Depot around

10:45 am, I heard a familiar sound and

southwest direction. It was a beautiful

sight and sound.

Carol Howard

feeders. It did not seem to

understand how to get any food from

the feeders.

Randy and Nancy Schietzelt

December 12 - Vicki Buchwald and I were at Pleasant Valley

Conservation Area yesterday afternoon. There was a

northern shrike along the road in. Other than a couple dozen

lot, not much else to report. Pleasant Valley

is an MCCD property located on Pleasant

Valley Rd., approx. 1 -1/2 miles west of Rte.

47 and 1/4 mile south of Rte. 176.

Karen Lund Genoa, DeKalb County

Industrial wind turbines are rapidly becoming a common feature of the Illinois landscape. Already, Illinois has wind energy

capacity of over 1,100 Megawatts, with 700 more Megawatts scheduled to become operational by the end of 2009. That

represents about 1,200 operating turbines. And wind developers are just getting started!

A common fear is that wind turbines will kill high numbers of birds. Many opponents of wind energy cite the infamous Altamont

Pass wind farm in California which, despite recent upgrades and new configurations, still kills thousands of birds every year.

Fortunately, Altamont Pass has proven to be atypical; few other wind farms around the world kill more than a small fraction of the

casualties there.

At four hundred feet high, with blades slicing more than an acre of air, turbines present a daunting obstacle to flying creatures.

However, most rotate at something less than 20 rpm, which means a blade tip passes a specific point once every second. That

does not seem fast compared to the speed of Grandpa’s old windmill out on the farm. But with blades up to 40 meters long (over

130 feet) their tips are moving at well over 200 mph!

Nevertheless, the only published mortality study of a wind farm in Illinois, at the Crescent Ridge Project in Bureau County, found

that each turbine killed only one or two birds in a whole year, about half of what the typical single-family home kills. Mortality

studies at other Illinois wind farms, though not yet completed or published, appear to be producing similar results. Compared to

other sources of human-caused avian mortality, wind farms will stay far down the list for a long time

to come.

Avian deaths seem spread over a large number of species in sustainable numbers. That may not

be the case with bats. As odd as it seems, three bats die for every bird struck. Because bats are not

as reproductively prolific as birds, these losses may not be sustainable in the long-term. A

tremendous amount of research effort is underway to try to better understand bat ecology and the

reasons wind turbines seem to be so deadly to them.

We are contemplating changing our by-laws to allow two additional Board members. We will

vote on this change at our annual meeting in January. If you cannot attend the meeting & you

would like to vote on the proposal, send an email vote to: buroak@owc.net.

Thanks,

McHenry County Audubon

Existing language:

New Language

McHenry Audubon Board of Directors

Other McHenry County Audubon Contacts

Audubon Contacts

Public Lands

Also coming in February 2010:

• Coffee and Feeder Watch at Susan Tauck’s

• Bob Guge Bird Woodcarving Tour