Birding the Spoon River bottomlands is not something that can be counted upon without fail. At one extreme, the river is quite likely to be at some level of flood, sometimes with no dry land in sight; or at the other extreme, it may be so low that the backwaters have dried out completely, leaving little habitat for waterbirds. But so far this winter, river levels and backwaters were at their perfect levels: water enough for migrating waterfowl with ample dry land for hiking. And so, hike I did, following a long favorite route through the oxbow area at the Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, where the Spoon River flows into the Illinois River.
Walking was easy over the extremely flat ground. And at no time at all, I reached my first stop of the morning: on a natural levee bordering one of the oxbow lakes, formed long ago when the oxbow was actually part of the Spoon River itself. Several years ago, in this very spot, I sat for a long time watching great blue herons feeding on Asian carp, an experience detailed in Chapter 3 of my book Side Channels (http://www.side-channels.com/). On this day, I saw only one heron, but the lake was filled with waterfowl, and the trees with hundreds of noisy red-winged blackbirds and grackles. I used an old punky log as a seat cushion and a silver maple tree as a backrest, and I was comfortable and warm for the time being, surrounded by wildlife, forests, and wetlands. Then from the direction of Havana, a trail whistle blew, reminding me that I was only a few miles, not thousands of miles, from home. Green-winged teal called from all directions around the lake. They flew around the refuge in small close-knit flocks, along with hundreds of mallards, and lesser numbers of northern pintails, ring-necked ducks, and northern shovelers. Far on the other side of the lake, three buffleheads bobbed heads and flapped wings in the throes of courtship.
But after only a short time, the winds began increasing, and I realized that it was probably around mid-morning. The bright sun shined through cloudless skies, but it provided little warmth on this early March day. And my rotten log sofa was not as dry as it looked; through my pants I could feel the cold dampness. It was time to generate some heat. And so I walked on.
My path over the soft alluvial ground eventually led to the Spoon River, which I followed to its end. Here I found a tree leaning at just the right angle, where I planted myself for a late breakfast sandwich and reading. But this time, I used my backpack as protection against the cold, damp soil of the forest floor, and I stayed warm and comfortable. There were whitecaps on the river and the strong winds tossed around one of the first turkey vultures of the year like an autumn leaf.
Though I could have stayed in that place all day, my original plans were to hike along the Illinois River to the Thompson Lake levee, which forms the northern boundary of the refuge, for a view of the Thompson-Flag Lakes bottomlands beyond the refuge boundaries. But it was late morning, and little Charlie the dog had been in his “pen” for over four hours; he would need to be let out soon, or I would face the consequences. So I gathered up my backpack and slowly meandered back to the parking lot, fine with my decision. Thompson-Flag Lakes would be there for another day.
Bird List, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, March 10, 2012
Canada Goose Blue Jay
Wood Duck Black-capped Chickadee
Mallard White-breasted Nuthatch
Northern Shoveler Brown Creeper
Northern Pintail Carolina Wren
Green-winged Teal American Robin
Ring-necked Duck American Tree Sparrow
Bufflehead Song Sparrow
Great Blue Heron Dark-eyed Junco
Turkey Vulture Northern Cardinal
American Coot Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull Common Grackle
Mourning Dove American Goldfinch
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Map of Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Fulton County, Illinois
(Click to enlarge)