Category Archives: Lake-Cook Audubon

On Sunday, September 13th we took our last field trip of the IAS Fall Gathering. We joined about a dozen other birders and leader Jeff Sanders at Waukegan Beach for some shorebirding and warblering.

It was our first visit to Waukegan Beach and we were treated to some great birds. The morning started foggy, but by the time we reached our spot at the end of the pier it started to clear up.

On the beach closest to us we spotted a pair of Sanderlings busy scooting about. They weren’t too shy and one even jumped on the pier for some scurrying action.

Arthur spotted a lone bird on the far beach which turned out to be our lifer American Avocet. Later, a Hooded Merganser flew in and we spotted a couple of Gadwall.

Closer to the harbor a small wooded park provided habitat for migrating songbirds. The trees and shrubs were full of warblers and other birds including our first fall Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Here’s our trip list:
1 Canada Goose
2 Northern Shoveler
3 Hooded Merganser
4 Double-crested Cormorant
5 American Avocet
6 Killdeer
7 Greater Yellowlegs
8 Sanderling
9 Ring-billed Gull
10 American Herring Gull
11 Downy Woodpecker
12 Least Flycatcher
13 Cedar Waxwing
14 Red-breasted Nuthatch
15 Brown Thrasher
16 Grey-cheeked Thrush
17 Swainson’s Thrush
18 American Robin
19 Nashville Warbler
20 Blackpoll Warbler
21 Cape May Warbler
22 Yellow-rumped Warbler
23 Palm Warbler
24 American Redstart
25 Chipping Sparrow
26 Rose-breasted Grosbeak

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I had a great time at the Midwest Birding Symposium, and will have some blog posts to share with you about the weekend. But first I’ve still got a couple of short posts to wrap up our birding from the previous weekend at the Illinois Audubon Fall Gathering…

After our afternoon field trip on Saturday, all participants of the gathering headed to a wine and cheese reception at Mettawa Manor, an historic 65-acre estate.

Upon arrival we were offered handouts which described the history of the estate.

The main house and grounds were built in 1927, as a gift to Elizabeth Morse upon her marriage to William Covington. They were part of a larger family compound that included two other homes, various outbuildings and nearly 100 acres of land. Elizabeth and William Covington raised five children in their home, and used it and the gardens, designed by Swain Nelson & Sons Co., to create a wonderful “country life” only 40 minutes from the center of Chicago. They entertained extensively, holding a 60th wedding anniversary party that is still talked about. Upon Elizabeth Convington’s death at the age of 86 in 1990, the house and 9 acres of land were put on the market.

Since then the new owners have worked to restore and freshen the estate as well as reacquire additional acres of land. The manor and grounds were absolutely beautiful – and a joy to explore.

Besides a lovely selection of snacks and wine, we got to enjoy the grounds of this beautiful property. Tram tours were given every 10 minutes but attendance was so high that not everyone was able to tour the grounds this way. Arthur and I elected to walk on the prairie and forest trails that crisscrossed the property. Birds seen included Flicker, Red-tailed Hawk, American Goldfinches, and Blue Jay.

The gracious owners had invited us to make ourselves at home and so when we came upon a treehouse in the woods, we had to have a look at the elevated view.

Back at the gardens we tried raspberries and blueberries right off the bush, and freshly fallen pears were begging to be tasted. All of the garden delights were free from pesticides and extremely tasty.

We passed through the formal flower garden as we returned to the house.

Our visit to Mettawa Manor was quite a coup for the local host Audubon club and a perfect bridge between the day’s field trips and the evening banquet.

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