With a few exceptions, dramatic hawk flights never did materialize this fall.
David Bohlen of the Illinois State Museum was waiting through September and into October for large concentrations of hawks.
”They usually would have come through Central Illinois by now,” he said. ”The most I ever saw on any given day was maybe seven. Other years you could expect to see up to a thousand.”
The broad-winged hawk migrates in large flocks, called ”kettles,” that swirl around on thermals. The kettle moves from thermal to thermal, making its way to wintering grounds in South America.
The broad-winged migration also can come in a rush, sometimes lasting just a few days in any given area.
”It`s possible the birds were there, but we just missed them,” Bohlen said. ”Or they could have taken a different route.
”If the same thing happens next year, or if they don`t come through in the spring, that might be cause to worry.”
– A good flight of birds was carried by northerly winds last week. When warm southerlies blew in, the birds dropped down and many are lingering in the area, waiting to hitch a ride on northerly gales.
There seem to be flocks of kinglets everywhere, especially the golden-crowned kinglet, which tends to migrate a little later than the ruby-crowned kinglet.
The next northerly winds should carry many of those birds away, but bring with them a good flight of ducks. A number of species, including shovelers and ruddy ducks, haven`t yet arrived in large numbers.
The first buffleheads at the Botanic Garden, near Glencoe, arrived on Tuesday.
– Also at the Botanic Garden on Monday and Tuesday was a great horned owl.
”He`s been seen twice, in the middle of the afternoon,” said Carol Fialkowski, manager of education at the garden. ”He`s been out on the limbs, not back against a trunk like he was roosting.”
