Joan O'Mara on 5/31 reported via e-mail: Sighted a Turkey Vulture in Elgin on May 30th consuming a carrion on a residential street.

Colin Campbell on 5/28 reported via e-mail: We first a juvenile leucistic sparrow near one of our feeders yesterday. It was back today. It's still begging an adult to feed it. I have not been able to get a good photo yet but will keep trying.

Scott Bowers on 5/28 reported via eBird: Seeing a Mississippi Kite at Nelson Lake/Dick Young Forest Preserve on the evening of Tuesday, 5/26.

Sue Wagoner on 5/27 reported via e-mail: I took a short hike at the Nelson Lake/Dick Young Forest Preserve prairie off Main Street this morning and there was very little activity, possibly due to the winds. But that did not stop this singing Savannah Sparrow. The Goldfinches were also harvesting the Dandelion seeds.
 

Savannah Sparrow photo courtesy Sue Wagoner

American Goldfinch photo courtesy Sue Wagoner

Larry Byers on 5/25 reported via e-mail: Visited Fermi lab with my wife Cindy today and picked up a couple of "lifers" in the western, Kane County portion of the lab property. Eastern Towhee (picture attached) and heard a Blue Grosbeak along the trail that runs along the eastern edge of the "Big Woods" just inside the Pine street entrance.
 

Eastern Towhee photo courtesy Larry Byers

Sue Wagoner on 5/25 reported via e-mail: Among other warblers seen at Jon Duerr Forest Preserve Friday, May 22 was this Canada Warbler.
 

Canada Warbler photo courtesy Sue Wagoner

Barb Rask on 5/25 reported via e-mail: That she has Pine Siskins feeding their offspring at her yard feeders. (The southern boundary of their breeding range is generally agreed to be northern Wisconsin.)

Gloria Dimoplon on 5/21 reported via e-mail: 5/21/15 at J. J. Duerr Forest Preserve. Margaret Mechtenberg and I heard a Connecticut Warbler singing this morning and eventually had some very good looks at it.

Jackie Bowman on 5/21 reported via text: A pair of Olive-sided Flycatchers are observed west of tracks at Jon Duerr FP.

Ken Schnieder on 5/19 reported via e-mail: I heard a very loud but unfamiliar warbler song from near the ground at the edge of the trail as we walked into Hannaford Woods at about 10:00 AM today. At first I could not find the origin of the song, though I recorded it before the bird moved away. Walking back, I heard it again, and this time saw this Connecticut Warbler. However, this bird was not singing, so there was a second one as well. Listening to my recording, the song was quite certainly that of another Connecticut Warbler. The location was about half way to the open meadow, walking towards the southwest.
 

Connecticut Warbler photo courtesy Ken Schneider

Jim Fallow on 5/18 reported via e-mail: I spotted this Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Batavia on 5/16. It had flown into a window and was a bit stunned, making it easy to get a photo while it recuperated in the grass. The good news is that he flew up into a nearby tree when I tried to get even closer for a better shot. About 15 minutes later it flew away, apparently fully recovered.
 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo photo courtesy Jim Fallow

John Leonard on 5/18 reported via IBET: The BLUE GROSBEAK reported by Alan Magerkurth Sunday, 5/17 was still present today at 3:00 in the median "strip" between the eastbound and westbound branches of Pine street near the Wilson building at Fermi Labs. I heard it singing loudly as I drove past, parked in official building lot and walked back to hear it still singing away. Recorded song on iphone before finally, after more than 5 minutes, getting great views. It never crossed either Pine street while I was there, rather remained in the middle of the two .

Alan Magerkurth on 5/17 reported via eBird: Finding a Blue Grosbeak on the path that travels along the western edge of "The Big Woods" at Fermilab in Kane County.

Marion Miller on 5/16 reported via e-mail: Rich and I did a transect monitoring in our Grassland breeding survey area this morning at Nelson Lake. The rainy weather didn't stop the Grasshopper Sparrows and Henslow Sparrows from singing. Both usually difficult-to-see sparrows gave some nice looks this morning. Bobolinks were also plentiful and more than I have seen here in 4 years.
 

Henslow's Sparrow photo courtesy Marion Miller

Grasshopper Sparrow photo courtesy Marion Miller

Sue Wagoner on 5/16 reported via e-mail: On a walk through Les Arends on Tuesday, May 12 I saw this Palm Warbler which was close and just asking to be photographed but it was only when I looked at the photos at home that I noticed the very short wing feathers (secondaries I believe). It apparently did not affect his flying but was unusual in appearance.
 

Palm Warbler with short feathers photo courtesy Sue Wagoner

On a walk through the woods of Burnidge Forest Preserve Friday May 15, a variety of warbles were seen-- Chestnut-Sided, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's, Magnolia, Northern Parula, Black-Throated Green, Golden-Winged, Black and White, Yellow-Rumped, Palm, Canada, American Redstart Tennessee, Yellow, and this Blackburnian contemplating consuming a June Bug. Also seen were Red-Eyed Vireos, Warbling Vireos, Blue-Headed Vireo, Baltimore Orioles, Eastern Towhee, and Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.
 

Blackburnian Warbler photo courtesy Sue Wagoner

Marion Miller on 5/15 reported via e-mail: The fluddle on Green rd in Elburn continues to bring in new shorebird species albeit in small numbers. This afternoon 2 Semipalmated Plovers joined the Least Sandpipers (6), Semipalmated Sandpiper (1) and Solitary Sandpipers (2). The fluddle is very close to the road and I find just sitting in the car and observing does not spook the birds and they remain very close.
 

Semipalmated Plover photo courtesy Marion Miller

Justin Wrinn on 5/13 reported via IBET: I found an Eastern Screech-Owl nest cavity this evening at Campton Forest Preserve in a dead tree in the woods about 50 feet off of the path. I heard at least 3 babies were squealing from inside the cavity, but it is not possible to see down into the cavity, so I couldn't see any of them. I also couldn't locate the parents in the nearby trees. You can see the cavity opening and hear the babies in this YouTube video.

Brendon Lake on 5/13 reported via e-mail: Late this evening, I checked the fluddles by the Burlington Park. The past couple of days, there have been good numbers of Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpipers, and adult and newly-hatched juvenile Killdeer. New this afternoon were five Least Sandpipers, two Spotted Sandpipers (copulating), and a pleasant surprise of six Dunlin! These fluddles are located on Burlington Road, just south of the railroad tracks. There is a gravel parking lot you can park at to view these fluddles on the west/southwest side of the road. When viewing these fluddles, make sure to stay back from the water's edge at the fluddle closest to the parking lot. This fluddle almost always has the biggest numbers of the smaller shorebird species. A scope is recommended for the best viewing.

Eric Secker on 5/13 reported via eBird: Seeing a Worm-eating Warbler on Tuesday, the 12th, at Judson University.

Marion Miller on 5/12 reported via e-mail: A pair of Dunlin joined the Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs and Solitary Sandpiper at the Green Rd fluddle in Elburn. The fluddle is just south of the corner of Green and Smith Roads.
 

Dunlin photo courtesy Marion Miller

Justin Wrinn on 5/12 reported via IBET: Unfortunately the American Golden-Plovers and Black-bellied Plovers I had seen at my company earlier today were gone by the time I got off of work at 5 (although they were still there on my mid-afternoon break at 3PM), so I decided to stop by WTP Marsh in Pingree Grove to try for the continuing Yellow-headed Blackbirds. After walking about a mile to get there because I wasn't sure where I could safely park, I was in luck, because there were 5 calling males perched near the top of the reeds. I also saw one possible female chased down into the reeds by one of the males, but only got a quick look, and it could have been a female red-winged. Other birds of note were at least 6 singing marsh wrens, first eBird record of Bobolink for the marsh (singing in the long grass along the mowed path down to the marsh), and several late ducks on the fenced reservoir to the south of the marsh (1 female Red-breasted Merganser, 1 male Ring-necked Duck, and 2 male Lesser Scaup). The Scaup didn't stick around, but the Merganser and Ring-necked were still there when I left around 7PM.

Mark Bowman on 5/12 reported via e-mail: Today, 5-12, my bird feeders were very active with cardinals, blue jays, grackles, starlings, cardinals, baltimore orioles, chickadees, house sparrows, house finches, gold finches, white-breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker and I had my first seen ruby-throated hummingbird. Also had my usual 3-4 pine siskins which have been hanging around late the last 3 years, even into June. Here is one of the orioles at my feeder, please ignore the price tag on the orange, I did not charge the bird for the juice !!
 

Baltimore Oriole photo courtesy Mark Bowman

A few days ago I was able to get this pic of a black-throated green warbler at Les Arends Park.
 

Black-throated Green Warbler photo courtesy Mark Bowman

Justin Wrinn on 5/12 reported via IBET: I found 3 American Golden-Plovers and 2 Black-bellied Plovers in the field across from my company (FYH Bearings in Huntley) on my lunch break at noon today. I don't know how long they will stick around, and I can't see them from my office window. But if anyone nearby wants to try and find them, they were last seen around 12:55 in a small fluddle on the north side of Jim Dhamer Dr. just west of Hennig Rd. You can get the basic location from my eBird report.

John Heneghan on 5/11 reported via e-mail: 4 Bobolinks were seen today at the north parking area along the untilled ag field at Big Rock Forest Preserve. I have not seen them there in the past.

Ella Mae Goshen on 5/11reported via e-mail: My daughter and I went to Phillips Park in Aurora. We were in grove of oak trees between the sunken gardens and the golf course. Found 2 fledging great horned owls and an adult, scarlet tanager and lots of warblers. My daughter's glasses weren’t strong enough for me to see details on warblers .

Justin Wrinn on 5/10 reported via IBET: Yesterday I attempted a big day at Burnidge Forest Preserve for eBird Global Big Day and unofficially for the Kane County SBC. I have birded the preserve every day since mid-March and know it pretty well by now, so I wanted to see how many birds I could find if I birded an entire day. I thought 90 was reasonable since I had broken 80 the previous weekend in kind of a trial run, and there were a lot of new arrivals during the week. But if the weather and warblers cooperated, I thought it might just be possible to break 100. I did so and then some, ending up with 103 species. I camped at the preserve so I could start before the gates opened and birded from 3AM until 8:30PM, covering more than 90% of the preserve (it is difficult to adequately bird the whole thing in a day since it is so large). My first bird was woodcock - several were displaying in the field next to the campground even before I got up. I had 90 birds by noon, 77 of those around the lake by the west entrance, and 93 by 2 when I broke for lunch. Everything so far was in the north half of the park. Then I headed into the south half which doesn't usually have as many species but often has some good ones and was able to squeeze out another 12. Then I headed back to the west entrance lake and was able to pick up a Purple Martin on my 3rd try, bird 103. It was around 6:30 by then, and I still had a couple of hours and several other possible birds. I gave it my best try, but nothing else was to be found, so I waited until the woodcocks came out again so I could add them to my daytime checklist, and called it a day. Highlights were Sora and Virginia Rail, at least 17 singing Henslow's Sparrows, 22 warbler species (23 if you include Chat), and FOY Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which is one of my favorite birds. My biggest miss was probably Solitary Sandpiper, which I had seen Friday evening and almost every day for the previous week on the lower pond by the north entrance. Anyway, I was completely exhausted and could barely walk by the end of the day, so I am not sure yet whether I will try again next year, but it sure was a lot of fun. You can see the complete species list here.
 

This morning I found a Louisiana Waterthrush in Burnidge along the back (south) side of the west entrance lake close to where the old road hits the treeline.  I've been checking every Northern Waterthrush since they showed up a week or so ago, and finally it paid off when I found one with a clean white throat framed by mustache stripes.  Other bird of note was 2 cliff swallows sitting on the wire in the middle of the lake. Both were FOY for me, and the Waterthrush was the first eBird record for the preserve and not very common in Kane County.

Ken Schneider on 5/9 reported via e-mail: On Saturday morning MAY 9, Mary Lou and I took a brief walk at the east entrance of Nelson Lake/Dick Young FP. It was foggy and our walk was cut short by light rain. On our way back to the parking lot a single Bobolink appeared and roosted quite near the path.
 

Bobolink photo courtesy Ken Schneider

Walter Lutz on 5/9 reported via e-mail: Lark Sparrow at Jelke Bird Sanctuary Saturday afternoon.

Julie Long on 5/8 reported via e-mail: There was a Eurasian collared dove today, May 8, in a farmyard on Jones Rd, Big Rock area. I was on the gravel road between Galena Rd and Jericho Rd.

Scott Cohrs on 5/8 reported via IBET: ...I haven’t actually posted to IBET in while, but I thought I would mention a few good birds in advance of tomorrow’s SBC. I took a walk at Les Arends FP this morning before work. I had both a Cerulean and a Kentucky among 16 warbler species. They were relatively close to each other. From the parking lot, head north along the bike path. Eventually you will see a giant house for sale. Go north of that house, and there is a path that goes up into a yard for a smaller house (they have some sort of outdoor chimney or stove up on the bluff as a landmark). The Kentucky was in the shrubs right on the bike path at that spot. The Cerulean was a little north of this area. It was originally in the yard of the two giant houses (one has a basketball hoop), but moved a little south of that area, closer to the Kentucky spot. Both were singing, so hopefully they can be relocated. Those are two of the harder species for me to find locally, and I have never seen them both on the same day in the county. Also, please note that these were easily seen from the bike path. I did not go into any of the yards to chase these….

I had several other FOYs for me during the walk, but not anything that hasn’t been reported by others. Best of the rest was probably Veery...

Bill Koch on 5/7 reported via e-mail: For the second year a Bell's Vireo has returned to the same shrubs in the subdivision I live in on Elgin's West Side. A pair nested here last year and I assume it is the same male as the species are know to return to the same site year after year. I heard the unmistakable call this morning while walking by the area. I finally got an OK shot on my fourth visit.
 

Bell's Vireo photo courtesy Bill Koch

Lucy De Lap on 5/7 reported via IBET: A couple of hours at Raceway Woods this morning did not produce a large number of bird sightings though we could hear many...

We did, however, note a large influx of Catbirds since Tuesday afternoon. They were very abundant. We had a lovely and lengthy look at an Indigo Bunting. We briefly spotted a male Wood Duck on a pond way off the main areas. We also saw quite a number of Eastern Towhees both days.

The best birding so far this spring had been our own yard [in East Dundee].

The Baltimore Orioles are fighting over the jelly feeder, with as many a 3 or 4 males and females at a time taking their turns (impatiently). We also had both male and female Orchard Orioles stop by yesterday.

One Ruby Throated Hummingbird did a flyby on Sunday but has not returned.

Yesterday morning our trees were visited by abundant Yellow-Rumped Warblers.

Today I spotted Tennessee Warblers in the same trees.

Also yesterday, I had a magnificent view of what I believe was a Second Year Bald Eagle. His head was white, he had a distinct black collar, massive dark wings and a white tail tipped in black.

Ann Haverstock on 5/6 reported via email: Here's a photo of a Northern Waterthrush taken with my "point-and-shoot" camera on Monday morning (5/4) at Gunnar Anderson Forest Preserve.
 

Northern Waterthrush photo courtesy Ann Haverstock

Brendon Lake on 5/5 reported via e-mail: I had a great afternoon of birding at Burnidge Forest Preserve in Elgin this afternoon. I saw 54 species with 12 warbler species. Those 12 were: Yellow-Rumped, Palm, Black-Throated Green, Blue-Winged, Nashville, Orange-Crowned, Black-and-White, Canada, Northern Waterthrush, Northern Parula, American Redstart, and Ovenbird. Also notable many Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, a Great-Crested Flycatcher, two Least Flycatchers and an Indigo Bunting.
 

Canada Warbler photo courtesy Brendon Lake

Sue Wagoner on 5/5 reported via e-mail: Like everyone else I am reaping the benefits of the rains - seen in my backyard 5-4 and 5-5 were: 2 Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, several White-Throated Sparrows, several White-Crowned Sparrows, Gray Catbird, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, and my first-in-the-yard Lincoln's Sparrow. (Photos taken through the window)
 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak photo courtesy Sue Wagoner

Marion Miller on 5/4 reported via e-mail: I have passed the flooded field on Green Road (Elburn), when I go to work, for the last 3 weeks hoping for shorebirds. Today they arrived! There were Lesser Yellowlegs (9), Pectoral Sandpiper (22), Solitary Sandpipers (7), Spotted Sandpiper (1), Least Sandpiper (5) and Semipalmated Sandpiper (1). There also were 2 American Pipits feeding in the muddy waters. The fluddle is on the east side of the road just south of the corner of Smith Rd and Green Rd.
 

Pectoral Sandpiper photo courtesy Marion Milleer

Least Sandpiper photo courtesy Marion Miller

Chris Madsen on 5/4 reported: A nice morning at Gunnar Anderson Forest Preserve with plenty of activity. An even dozen warblers: Blackburnian, Northern Parula, Black-and-white, American Redstart, Palm, Yellow-rumped, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Northern Waterthrush, Yellow, Ovenbird, and Cape May. I ran into Ann Haverstock on the creekside trail. She reported having a Blue-winged Warbler. I didn't hear or see it, but had what I thought was a Golden-winged calling at the intersection of the path to the parking lot with the creek path.

In addition, I saw two thrushes (beside Robin): Hermit and Gray-cheeked. Finally, Yellow-throated and Blue-headed vireos.
 

Cape May Warbler photo courtesy Chris Madsen

Hermit Thrush photo courtesy Chris Madsen

Ann Haverstock on 5/4 reported via eBird: In her neighbor's yard in Geneva, a Worm-eating Warbler. "Traveling with mixed flock. Saw well at 25 feet. Gone before I could get my camera. Plain sleek looking warbler with bold black stripes on head."

Paul Mayer on 5/4 reported via phone: He now has Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at his feeders in Elburn.

Ken Schneider on 5/3 reported via e-mail: I got out briefly to the east side of Nelson Lake in late morning before the rains came. Walking along the grass path that runs south from the observation platform I found a Field Sparrow on the ground up ahead and after it flew into one of the small trees to the east I thought I found it but this one was a Lincoln's Sparrow. Then, at the muddy area where the creek runs under the path I heard the loud and close song what I thought was a Louisiana Waterthrush but did not see it. However on the way back I sighted a waterthrush and got photos through the brush, but this was definitely a Northern Waterthrush. No warblers except for Palm and Yellow.
 

Lincoln's Sparrow photo courtesy Ken Schneider

Northern Waterthrush photo courtesy Ken Schneider

Justin Wrinn on 5/3 reported via eBird: At Burnidge Forest Preserve, a Northern Goshawk, "Flyover, heading north, but got a good look. Large raptor, dark grayish above, light below - white or light gray with no rusty like Cooper's Hawk (too far up to tell if it had fine streaking). Long tail, gray with fairly thick dark gray or black bands. Couldn't clearly see face. Appeared too large for Cooper's Hawk, no white rump like Harrier, tail too long for buteo, wings not pointed in flight like falcon. I saw a Cooper's Hawk a few minutes later, and it appeared smaller and had obviously rusty striping underneath."

John Heneghan on 5/3 reported via IBET: Birded Les Arends this AM in Kane Cty. Praire Warbler, Blue Winged Warbler, Black Throated Blue and Black throated Green Warblers, Black and White Warbler, numerous Yellow Rumped warblers, Palm warblers, Cape May Warbler, Baltimore Orioles, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Bells and Warbling Vireos, Catbird, Blue Gray Gnatcatchers.

Stopped by Fabyan Forest Preserve where we saw a Northern Parula and Blackpoll Warbler. Baltimore Orioles were seen also. White Crowned and White Throated Sparows seen also.

Had an Indigo Bunting and a Baltimore Oriole at home [in Big Rock]. We continue to have Pine Siskins (25 today) and a White Crowned sparrow. We had a Rose Breasted Grosbeak yesterday.

Eric and Sally Secker on 5/3 reported via IBET: We had 8 or 9 species of warblers at Burnidge this morning, highlighted by a nice male Blackburnian, Blue-winged, and Orange-crowned. Lots of grosbeaks and towhees.
 

Christopher Cudworth on 5/3 reported via IBET: From Norris Woods in St. Charles. Interesting light but found some interesting species in an hour's walk. Not rife with warblers yet.
 

Chris Madsen on 5/3 reported: You can out out your Oriole feeders now. Carla and I spent the day along the river in Geneva and Batavia yesterday and saw several Baltimore Orioles and heard even more. Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers were also plentiful. In addition we had Yellow Warblers and one Orange-crowned Warbler on the dead-end grass path at the north end of Fabyan West. The highlight of the day was a Prothonotary Warbler on the path that breaks off from the bikepath and travels along the river on Fabyan's east side. We had earlier struck out on Brendon's Prothonotary on the Quarry path.

Lucy DeLap on 5/2 reported via IBET: Here's my sightings for a 2-hour walk on this beautiful day. While the birds were active (especially the swallows), the really fun sighting was the amazing turtle show. One pond sported several branches in the water, all decorated with sunning turtles. One trunk by itself had at least 50(!) turtles all lined up.

25 species total
 

Brendon Lake on 5/1 reported via e-mail: Don Lowe reported a Prothonotary Warbler to eBird this morning along the bike trail south of Quarry Park in Batavia. Scott Cohrs was successful in re-locating it, and good views were had by Scott, Marion, Bill A. and I for a while. The bird was near a wooden bridge in a swampy wooded area on the west side of the trail, just south of a clearing with some flowering redbuds.
 

Prothonotary Warbler photo courtesy Brendon Lake

Rich Miller on 5/1 reported via e-mail: Marion and I were hoping to find early migrating warblers yesterday morning, but instead found this cute Warbling Vireo singing away. We got great looks, which doesn't usually happen with this bird. It was at the river's edge near Jerusha Ave (dead end street south of Judson University) in Elgin. Also in the same area we got several Spotted Sandpiper, Green Heron, and a Belted Kingfisher.
 

Warbling Vireo photo courtesy Rich Miller