Sand Bluff Bird Observatory, 10602 Haas Road, Rockton, IL (2026)

10/11/2026

Sunday, October 11, 2026-Volunteers began opening the nets today at 4:45 am hoping to trap a couple of owls under the starry skies with a temperature of 53 degrees F. Last night's crew did manage to capture one Northern Saw-whet Owl around 10:30 pm but that was it and we did not have any success during our morning hours. By the time the nets were closed at 11:15 am we had trapped and banded 80 new birds, with an additional 20 recaptures, both making for 20 species today.

Warblers are really beginning to wind down but we did manage to get a new bird for the year today, a Northern Parula (hatching year female), caught during our last run for the day. We do not always get this little warbler species, so it is always a treat when we do capture one (Pictures #4-6). Our complete bird listing for today is as follows: Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay (2), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (15 new, 2 recaps), Golden-crowned KInglet (4 new, 2 recaps), Winter Wren, Swainson's Thrush, Hermit Thrush (24 new, 10 recaps), American Robin (4), American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow (2), Slate-colored Junco, White-throated Sparrow (12 new, 1 recap), Song Sparrow (2), Lincoln's Sparrow (1 new, 1 recap), Orange-crowned Warbler (1 new, 2 recaps-Picture #3), Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler (Pictures #1-2), Myrtle Warbler (4), and Northern Cardinal (recap).

Many thanks to our dedicated volunteers today; Mike, Deb, Cindy, Ethan, Ashton, Meaghan, Peyton, Chloe, Averi, Aletta, Damon, Matt, Lee, and John. A special welcome to Jackie our newest volunteer today. We also thank our FB friends for their continuing support through their likes, comments, and sharing of our posts. And lastly a big thanks to all of our visitors and donors, both groups that continue to support our efforts here at SBBO for the birds.

Our next banding session will be Thursday, October 15, 2026. Always check the weather before coming out, thank you.

10/10/2026

Saturday, October 10, 2026-Volunteers began opening nets today, World Migration Day, at 5:00 am under a beautiful starry skies and a temperature of 57 degrees F. Not a lot of movement last night but there were some minor changes in species as we were able to get our first Fox Sparrows of the fall and a Red-breasted Nuthatch. By the time we closed the nets at 11:15 am we had trapped and banded 90 new birds, with an additional 14 recaptures, both representing 18 species.

While celebrating World Migration Day today we also honored our SBBO donors with our annual Breakfast With The Birds (Pictures #5-10). People were able to have a nice breakfast while looking at the birds that were brought in for banding and great conversations about the state of birds. Our total listing of today's birds is as follows: Red-bellied Woodpecker (recap), Hairy Woodpecker (recap-Picture #2), Blue Jay (Picture #4), Black-capped Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet (25 new, 2 recaps), Golden-crowned Kinglet (7 new, 1 recap), Red-breasted Nuthatch (Picture #3), Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush (23 new, 1 recap), Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow (2 new, 1 recap), Fox Sparrow (2-Picture #1), Slate-colored Junco [8], White-throated Sparrow (11 new, 4 recaps), Lincoln's Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Orange-crowned Warbler (1 new, 3 recaps), and Myrtle Warbler.

We thank all of our dedicated volunteers today who helped support our Donor's as well as take care of the birds today; Mike, Deb, Ashton, Meaghan, Cindy, Ethan, Dawn, Thelma, Donna, Damon, Kat, Steve G., Aletta, Megan, Reita, Jane J., Anna, Ellen, Patty, Lee, Paul, and John. We also thank our many FB friends who continue to like, comment, and share our posts. Thanks also to our donors who came out to have breakfast with the birds today and continue to support our many efforts for the birds.

Next banding session, Sunday, October 11, 2026.

10/08/2026

Thursday, October 8, 2026-Volunteers began opening the nets this morning at 5:15 am under mostly clear skies with the sounds of Barred & Great Horned Owls calling and a temperature of 45 degrees F. Another night of good migration last night and some turnover here at the station. By the time we closed the nets we had trapped and banded 126 new birds, with an additional 23 recaptures, both making for 23 species.

No new species for the fall today but an interesting Northern Saw-whet Owl was trapped early this morning that already had been banded (Pictures #1-2). This hatching year female must have been banded by one of the banding stations north of us. We await to hear what station north of us will claim this bird. Another interesting looking bird today was a Slate-colored Junco with a sizeable white patch on its crown (Pictures 3-4). White feathers on a normally colored bird generally mean that there is some component of leusiticism or absence of color (white).

Our complete listing of today's birds is as follows: Northern Saw-whet Owl (recap), Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay (2 new, 2 recaps), Tufted Titmouse (2), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (15 new, 3 recaps), Golden-crowned Kinglet (6 new, 2 recaps), Winter Wren (2), Hermit Thrush (22 new, 7 recaps), American Robin (3), Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Slate-colored Junco (17 new, 1 recap), White-throated Sparrow (22 new, 7 recaps), Song Sparrow (5), Lincoln's Sparrow, Eastern Towhee (2 recaps), Ovenbird (2 new, 1 recap), Orange-crowned Warbler (3 new, 1 recap), Nashville Warbler, Western Palm Warbler (3), Myrtle Warbler (18), and Northern Cardinal (2 recaps).

Thank you to today's volunteers; Mike, Deb, Donna, Cindy, Ethan, Steve G., Alleta, Bridget, Patty, Chris, David, Lee, and John. Thanks also to our many FB friends who continue to like, comment, and share our posts. We also thank our visitors today from Nature on the Confluence as well as our many donors, both groups continue to help us in our mission to help birds.

Next banding session, Saturday, October 10, 2026.

10/07/2026

Interesting small sample study on Cooper's Hawks and their attack behaviors around feeders. (From Indiana)

10/07/2026

Tuesday, October 6, 2026- A small crew of volunteers began opening the nets this morning at 5:15 am under mostly clear skies and a temperature of 50 degrees F. Today was "Make-up Tuesday", an attempt to try and make-up for so many rainy days that we have experienced this fall. Overall a great day at the station, by the time we closed we had trapped and banded 109 new birds, with an additional 23 recaptures, both making for 28 species for the day.

Our first bird this morning and a first for the year was a beautiful second year female Northern Saw-whet Owl. Owltober is so called because we trap and band the small Northern Saw-whet Owls as they migrate through the area during the month. Our complete listing of birds for today is as follows: Cooper's Hawk (Pictures #3-4), Northern Saw-whet Owl (Pictures 1-2), Red-bellied Woodpecker (2), Eastern Phoebe (Picture #9), Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay (2), Black-capped Chickadee (1 new, 4 recaps), Tufted Titmouse (Picture #8), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (17 new, 5 recaps), Golden-crowned Kinglet (7), Brown Creeper (2), Northern House Wren, Winter Wren (3 new, 1 recap[Picture #11]), Gray Catbird (1 new, 2 recaps), Eastern Bluebird (4), Swainson's Thrush (1 new, 1 recap), Hermit Thrush (17 new, 7 recaps), Chipping Sparrow (13), Slate-colored Junco, White-throated Sparrow (12 new, 2 recaps), Swamp Sparrow, Eastern Towhee (2), Tennessee Warbler (3 new, 1 recap), Orange-crowned Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler (Picture #10), Western Palm Warbler, and Myrtle Warbler (6).

Many thanks to today's volunteer crew; Mike, Deb, Cindy, Ethan, Meaghan, Abigail, Emilia, Steve G., and John. Thanks also to our FB friends who continue to like, comment, and share our posts. And lastly thank you to our visitors today as well as our many donors, both groups who continue to actively support our efforts for the birds.

Next banding session is Thursday, October 8, 2026.

10/04/2026

Sunday, October 4, 2026-Another beautiful morning on the prairie began with volunteers opening the nets at 5:30 am with an occasional owl calling and a temperature of 50 degrees F. Lots of movement the last couple of nights as many birds continue to migrate through the area. By the time the nets were closed today at 11:15 am, we had trapped and banded 76 new birds, with an additional 9 recaptures, both making for 22 species.

No real surprises and no new birds for the season today. Our complete listing is as follows: Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue-headed Vireo (Pictures #1-2), Blue Jay (4), Black-capped Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet (18 new, 1 recap), Northern House Wren, Gray Catbird, Swainson's Thrush (3), Hermit Thrush (12 new, 3 recaps), American Goldfinch (2), Field Sparrow (1 new, 1 recap), Slate-colored Junco (3), White-throated Sparrow (13 new, 1 recap), Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow (4), Eastern Towhee (recap), Ovenbird, Tennessee Warbler (2), Mourning Warbler (Pictures #3-4), Magnolia Warbler (2) Western Palm Warbler (3 new, 1 recap), and Northern Cardinal (recap).

Many thanks to today's volunteer crew; Mike, Deb, Meaghan, Ashton, Megan, Cindy, Ethan, Kurt, Damon, Haysie, Aletta, Bridget, Lee, and John. Thanks also to our many FB friends who continue to like, comment, and share our posts. And lastly, thanks to today's visitors and our generous donors, both groups continue to support our efforts for the birds.

Next banding session, Thursday, October 8, 2026.

10/03/2026

Saturday, October 3, 2026-Volunteers were anxious to get the nets opened early this morning since Thursday was a total washout. Nets were opened at 5:15 am under mostly clear skies and a temperature of 41 degrees F. Definitely a cool morning after a couple of night of good overhead migration as millions of birds poured south. By the time we closed the nets at 11:15 am we had trapped and banded 88 new birds, with an additional 4 recaptures, both representing 26 species. So not a bad day today.

No real surprises with no new season birds for the day. Our complete listing of birds is as follows: Red-bellied Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee (recap), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (8 new, 1 recap), Brown Creeper (3-Picture #1), Gray Catbird (2), Gray-cheeked Thrush, Swainson's Thrush (5), Hermit Thrush (20 new, 1 recap), American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Slate-colored Junco (5 new, 1 recap), White-throated Sparrow (9), Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow (6), Eastern Towhee (Picture #6), Ovenbird (4), Orange-crowned Warbler (3), Nashville Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler (Picture #4), Western Palm Warbler (5), Black-throated Green Warbler (Picture #5), Northern Cardinal (3), and Indigo Bunting (Pictures #2-3).

Migration is moving along steadily as we move into October many of the warblers will soon be gone as well as most of the thrushes other than Hermit and robins. October tends to be more sparrows and owls around here so hopefully we will be sharing multiples from both groups.

Many thanks to our many volunteers who showed up to help today; Mike, Deb, Cindy, Ethan, Ashton, Meaghan, Megan, Damon, Reita, Dawn, Steve G., Dave, Ellen, Kurt, Lee, and John. We also welcome Piper who came out to volunteer too. Thanks also to our many FB friends who continue to like, comment, and share our posts. We had a number of visitors today, a group from the Northwest Illinois Bird & Nature Alliance came out and enjoyed many of the birds today. And lastly, we thank not only the visitors but also our donors, both groups continue to support our efforts for the birds.

Next banding session is Sunday, October 4, 2026.

09/30/2026

Banding initially scheduled for Thursday, October 1, 2026, has been canceled due to the weather.

Next banding session is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2026. Thank you for your understanding.

09/29/2026

Tuesday, September 29, 2026-Volunteers began opening the nets this morning at 5:00 am under mostly clear skies and a temperature of 48 degrees F. Flocks of Killdeer were flying overhead prior to sunrise today as the nets were being opened. Not sure what the day would hold for us but because Thursday looks like a washout, it was decided that we try to squeeze in one more day yet in September. We ended up with 73 new birds, with an additional 9 recaptures, both making for 31 species by the time we closed the nets at 11:00 am.

No real surprises and nothing like last Sunday's banding day but we did manage to pick up 4 new birds for the season; 1] Western Palm Warbler (Picture #3), an 2]Orange-crowned Warbler (Picture #2), 3] a Blue-headed Vireo (Picture #1), 4] and our first "Snow bird", a Slate-colored Junco (Picture #4). Our complete bird listing for today is as follows: Red-bellied Woodpecker (2), Yellow-shafted Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee (recap), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3), Northern House Wren (2), Gray Catbird (9), Gray-cheeked Thrush (4), Swainson's Thrush (5), Hermit Thrush, Wood Thrush, Slate-colored Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow (2), Ovenbird (11 new, 2 recaps), Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Tennessee Warbler (3), Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler (3), Common Yellowthroat (recap), American Redstart (3), Magnolia Warbler (11 new, 1 recap), Bay-breasted Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Western Palm Warbler (2), Northern Cardinal (recap), and Indigo Bunting (recap).

Many thanks to our crew of volunteers today; Mike, Deb, Cindy, Ethan, Donna, and John. We also thank our many FB friends who continue to like, comment, and share our posts. And many thanks to our visitors and donors, both groups help support our mission for the birds.

Next banding session is Saturday, October 3, 2026.

09/27/2026

Sunday, September 27, 2026-Volunteers began opening the nets at 5:30 am under partly cloudy skies, a Harvest Moon, and a temperature of 45 degrees F with ground fog. Not a lot of new birds today but those that we did get were rather special. By the time the nets were closed at 10:45 am we had trapped and banded 45 new birds, with an additional 25 recaptures, both representing 22 species.

So we actually had a couple of surprises today; first, we trapped a red phase Eastern Screech Owl (first in a decade and one half) and then we went up the hill to find many Blue Jays carrying on because there was a Barred Owl (first one since 2017) in one of the nets along with 3 Blue Jays. So today was more about quality than quantity with the birds. Our complete bird listing is as follows: Black-billed Cuckoo (Picture #5), Eastern Screech Owl (Pictures #1 & 4), Barred Owl (Pictures #2-3), Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay (4 new, 1 recap), Black-capped Chickadee (3 new, 8 recaps), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2), White-breasted Nuthatch (recap), Gray Catbird (4 new, 5 recaps), Gray-cheeked Thrush (1 new, 1 recap), Swainson's Thrush (3 new, 2 recaps), Cedar Waxwing (2), Field Sparrow (2 recaps), Song Sparrow, Eastern Towhee (recap), Ovenbird (4), Tennessee Warbler, American Redstart, Magnolia Warbler (7 new, 1 recap), Bay-breasted Warbler (3 new, 1 recap- Picture #6), Northern Cardinal (1 new, 1 recap), and a Indigo Bunting.

So today ends banding for the month of September, 2026. A good month overall but we lost 3-4 days to rain right during the crucial peak of warbler migration so that really put a hurt on our numbers for the month. A complete September 2026 new bird listing can be found on Picture #8. We also want to recognize some of our younger volunteers as we close the month with images of them while getting to hold one of the owls from this morning. Many thanks to them for all of their help and we thank all of today's volunteers for an outstanding job today; Mike, Deb, Ethan, Cindy, Dave, Sharon, Ashton, Meaghan, Matt, Damon, Megan, Dawn, Chloe, Aletta, Payton, Lee, Donna, and John. Thanks also to our many many FB friends who continue to like, comment, and share our posts. And lastly, thank you to today's visitors as well as our many donors, both groups help contribute to our mission of helping birds.

Next banding session, Thursday, October 1, 2026. Please watch the weather forecast for that day.

Sand Bluff Bird Observatory

10/11/2026

10/10/2026

10/08/2026

10/07/2026

10/07/2026

10/04/2026

10/03/2026

09/30/2026

09/29/2026

09/27/2026

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