Field Notes: Migration Rarities and Notables

Upland Sandpiper. Photo by Evan Smith.

By aerin tedesco, CCAS Field Trip Chair

As we turned the corner from April into May, we finally got some showers and some fluddles forming throughout the county. The end of the month saw some great notables, like Black-necked Stilt, Wilson’s Phalarope, and Upland Sandpiper. And a Black Tern showed up, too, proving that it’s not just shorebirds that like a good fluddle!

Migration is now almost in full swing and warblers, vireos, thrushes, grosbeaks, orioles, wrens, and more are coming through again. Rarities didn’t let us down: a singing Cerulean Warbler turned up, as well as an even rarer Western Tanager. Can’t wait to see what other surprises the end of May has in store for us!

Sunday walks at Busey Woods/Crystal Lake will finish at the end of May, and the field trip to Mouth of the Jordan Reserve had a few spots left as of May 12. Watch our events calendar (https://www.champaigncountyaudubon.org/events-calendar) for upcoming events.