Farm Birds
Yesterday we drove out to DeKalb to visit an apple orchard. Along the way through Kane and DeKalb counties, I kept track of the birds we were seeing.
It was a beautiful, autumn-like day: cool temperatures and broken clouds. The fields are turning brown, but the roadside was punctuated with stands of goldenrod and other yellow composites.
The most abundant birds by far were starlings, and I observed several flocks that easily had several hundred birds in them. The flocks seemed to consist entirely of starlings: no blackbirds of any kind mixed in with them.
Mourning Doves were probably the next most common species, but I saw far fewer. Occasinally a pair or trio would fly across the road, and two or three times I would spot a small flock perched on utility lines.
Red-tailed Hawks were perched along the highway, and I saw a soaring Turkey Vulture in each county.
Canada Geese are assembling in flocks. I saw one of only a bout six birds in Kane County. Leaving DeKalb, there were another six feeding on the sides of Kishwaukee River.
The activity in my own yard has definitely declined. Goldfinches visit the feeder, and I can hear Blue Jays and Red-bellied Woodpeckers calling at at intervals. The most interesting sighting to me was a flock of six robins at the top of the spruce trees in the yard. I hadn't seen robins at the birdbath or in the yard for several days. The birds made their presence known by soft calls before flying off in unison.
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