Date June 10, 2022
Location Big Jump Prairie, Oregon, IL
Big Jump Prairie is part of Nechusa Grasslands. I researched on eBird where I might find this species. I picked out four locations that had them reported in the spring of 2022, two in the Nechusa area and two up by Rockton. Big Jump Prairie was my first stop.
I proceeded down the "trail" from the parking lot -- it was basically an overgrown dirt road. Very tall grass surrounded me on both sides. There were some trees about a hundred yards to my right and a small pond. I could immediately hear Field Sparrows and Dickcissels, so I knew I was in a promising location.
I listened very intently for the short song, figuring I probably wouldn't actually see them, only hear them. I pulled up about 10 minutes in, but I eventually decided that it was a terse cricket.
About 10 minutes after that, I unequivocally heard the song, repeated just three times. After wandering down the trail a bit more, I decided to head back. I began hearing the song a lot more. I paused and did a little pishing just for the heck of it. Whether it actually worked or not, I do not know, but shortly thereafter, about 30 yards away, a bird flew up and perched on one of the long stalks of grass. It was a Henslow's, with the greenish head, chestnut back, and streaky sides. He/she just perched there, shifting back and forth on the grass, for a couple of minutes, then finally dropped down back into the thick cover. I did not see it sing, so it was possibly a female.
I was gratified to read in my field guide the following, because it jibed with what I had just observed: "Secretive, but after being flushed several times may perch in the open for a few minutes before dropping back into cover."
No comments:
Post a Comment