Trees Downed at Copperas Landing

The city of Canton is putting in a water line along Banner Dike Road. They have done much damage to the trees along the dike, which is very disheartening for the wildlife in the area. However, I never dreamed of the destruction that would take place among the huge old Cottonwood Trees along the river. I took these photos last month, on November 22, 2008. I plan to go back to photograph the rest of the destruction sometime next week.





While there that day, we found an eagle in one of the remaining large trees, and it makes me so sad to think of the loss of habitat for these majestic birds.

Eagles on the Frozen River

Saturday morning Ed and I drove north on I-26 along the Illinois River, crossed the river at Henry and drove back to Peoria along I-29 and River Beach Drive. All together we spotted 14 eagles, most hunkered down on the ice out on the river trying to stay out of the 30 mile/hour wind. Two were flying together just north of the Marshall County eagle nest; we think they were the resident eagles. Another was a very dark juvenile eagle flying over the bluffs, the remainder were out on the ice.

Prairie Lane and Baker's Hollow in Banner Township

Well, it looks like citizen alerts to threatened and endangered species are not welcome by the owners of the land near Banner Marsh and Rice Lake Conservation Areas. They have erected a fence with a gate across the road.


It looks like something to keep trespassers out. The fence runs along Rt. 24, stopping at the creeks on both ends. However, still no visible No Trespassing sign.

It runs down to Baker Hollow Creek where it ends.

Here is a look at the creek from the Rt. 24 bridge.

A closer look:

Here is a view of the bridge showing the other side of the highway.



I then tried to drive down Banner Dike Road on the other side of the site, but it was closed for work on a pipeline, unrelated to the coal mine activities. So I went to the adjacent state conservation area, Bell's Landing at Banner Marsh SFWA where I found many swans and some other waterfowl too far out to identify. Hunters were probably in the blinds near by, but I didn't hear any shots.



Two Horned Larks flew in front of my car as I drove towards the levee.


The beaver lodge was quiet on this overcast early December morning.



Then I spotted a Northern Harrier, a marsh hawk, flying low over the grassy areas. Harriers are an endangered species, so finding it close to the mine site is important.


The area where it was flying was approximately 1/2 mile from the proposed mine site. Harriers and Short-eared Owls could very well be hunting that area as well.

On the way out, I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk flying out to a tree in the grasslands of the protected Waterfowl Preserve.



On Sunday I will drive out (no pipeline workers!) and see if I can find any harriers on the mine site!

Emiquon and Duck Island in November

I made it to once this month, unless I drive down there tomorrow! I drove down early this month, on the 7th. I stopped at Duck Island, Rice Lake Conservation Area. It was pretty quiet. The sand and gravel mine was quietly churning away. From the road it sounded like a freight train in the distance.

Gulls were swarming around Rice Lake.


A blind out on the water surrounded by decoys probably had a hunter in it, but I didn't hear any shots while I was there.


Actual Ducks were hiding in the flooded back waters of the waterfowl preserve, safe from the hunters.


At Thompson Lake,waterfowl covered the lake. Most of the ones I could identify were coots, but there were also some Gadwalls, Blue-winged Teal, and Pied-billed Grebes.




A Northern Harrier was flying over the bluffs along Prairie Road.


A Sharp-shinned Hawk sat in a tree along the bluff with glaring light behind him.

Riverside Park, Springfield, Sangamon County and Update on IDNR Banner Mine Hearing

During the lunch break at the IDNR hearing on the proposed Banner Mine on
Friday, I drove to Riverside Park along the Sangamon River. Several
Red-bellied Woodpeckers were working the woods, along with some Nuthatches
and Chickadees. A Belted Kingfisher flew up from the river and perched on a
branch right in front of my parked car. I ate my lunch watching the bird for
about 5 minutes. He didn't leave when a car drove by. Of course, as soon as
I stepped out of the car, he flew across the river to a perch on the other
bank. It was kind of muddy, and cloudy, but I enjoyed getting out for a
while.

Regarding the hearing, all testimony, including direct, cross, and rebuttal,
has been heard by the hearing officer. Now the Attorney General's
representative, who has been representing the petitioners, will write a
brief; the attorneys for the coal company and the DNR will respond; the AG
will respond to that; then the hearing officer will make a decision. This
decision likely will be appealed no matter which way the hearing officer
rules. Also, there are other permits necessary before any mining can begin.
So, they won't be mining right away, and that is a good thing!

Several people have asked how they can help fight the mine at this site.
You can help by looking for endangered or threatened species in the area. I
encourage birders in the area to look for and post sightings of any rare,
endangered, or threatened species found. I searched the IBET archives for
sightings in the area over the past three years and found more than 70
reports of rare, endangered, or threatened birds. I'm sure there were more
sightings that were not posted to the list. I encourage you to post every
sighting at Bell's Landing, every sighting along Banner Dike Road (the road
leading to Copperas Landing) between Banner and the entrance to Rice
Lake, every sighting at Slim Lake or the north side of Rice and Big Lakes.
These areas are all adjacent to the proposed mine sight. Please submit
reports to IBET, for a public record, and also submit formal reports to the
Illinois Natural Heritage Database:
http://dnr.state.il.us/conservation/naturalheritage/images/sightingreport.pdf

Please be advised that address on the form is incorrect. Send it to:

IDNR
Illinois Natural History Database Program Manager
Watershed Management Section
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62702-1271

Here is a link to a list of Endangered Species, with links to descriptive
web pages:
http://walkwithmepart2.blogspot.com/2008/10/threatened-and-endangered-illinois.html

I am hoping to find Short-eared Owls this year (they were found there in
2007, but not last winter), as well as Northern Harriers. I hope to spot
them flying across Banner Dike Road from the mining area to the area in
Bell's Landing where I spotted them in 2007. In 2007, they flew into Bell's
Landing, coming over the levee. They came from some place, and my theory is
that they came from the proposed mine site. I just have to prove it now!

Thank you to everyone who signed the petition. I was waiting until the
hearing sessions were over before submitting it to the USFWS. I will send the
petition with 454 signatures and all of the comments by certified mail on
Monday morning.

Emiquon Bio Blitz

Saturday October 11 was the Emiquon Bio Blitz. In the morning, I went out in a canoe with a biologist looking for water fowl (and struggling to paddle the canoe! good thing the water was pretty calm that morning!), and then pulled on some high water waders and went out searching for invertebrates living in Thompson Lake. In the afternoon, after a wonderful lunch of burgers grilled at the UIS field station, I attended workshops looking at the invertebrates under microscopes and identifying prairie plants, which was a challenge after the blooms have dried up and the seeds have blown away.


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A pair of juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons flew over:

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Hundreds of waterfowl flushed:

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Hundreds of Tree Swallows swarming in and out of the few trees growing along the former agricultural canals:

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A view down the canal, tiny white specs are egrets roosting in the trees:

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A beaver swimming to his den along the side of the canal:

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A Common Yellowthroat peeking out from the corn growing along Prairie Road:

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View from Prairie Road:

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Canton power plant off in the distance.

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A cave in the bluff along Clark road.

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Baker Hollow Creek

I had the opportunity to walk down Baker Hollow creek, the creek that runs down the bluff on the west side of US 24 and empties into the field of asters on the proposed mining site. Baker Hollow creek is full of life. We found minnows, leopard frogs, cricket frogs,and a northern water snake. I'm sure many more species are living there than we were able to see. At night there are likely salamanders, but I won't see them, since I am not a night person! More minnows and frogs than we could count fled as we proceeded down the creek in our high-water boots. The creek bottom starts out as solid rock, then begins breaking up into first large pieces, then smaller pieces, and finally and gravel before it disappears into the field. Agricultural canals surround the field, in an attempt over the years to drain field into what is now Morgan Ditch. However, it is apparent that the system has not been successful, and therefore the field was left dormant in most years after the flood waters receded. When we got out towards the end of the creek, we could see the field of asters. It is all brown now, but the asters are still standing. State botanists have censused the population there and at Rice Lake.

Baker Hollow Creek:

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Minnows swimming in one of many deep pools:

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Creek Bottom along the bluff:

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US 24 Bridge over Baker Hollow creek. This bridge was built to with stand a large volume of water back in the 1930s and it is still standing.

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Creek bottom east of US 24 bridge:

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The old Prairie Lane bridge.

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Butternut (Juglans cinerea), also called white walnut or oilnut, grows on well-drained soils of hillsides and streambanks in mixed hardwood forests. We found 3 or 4 of these trees with many butternuts scattered along the creek bottom.

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The receding flood left the decurrent false asters (Boltonia decurrens) standing, though brown and brittle, in the field where I found them before. Their seeds will scatter, and many will have been carried away with the flood waters, but they will appear again, if the field is not mined.

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We found several huge Sycamore trees growing along Baker Hollow creek.

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A worm, one of several, that we found in the water or banks of Baker Hollow.

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This leopard frog and northern water snake were lying on the bottom of the creek in the clear water in one of the deeper areas against the creek bank.

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We found many crawdad holes (Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads--all the same thing) along the creek banks.

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This crawdad hole is fresh! It has a current resident, who did not make an appearance for the camera.

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We found quite a few little frogs, which I think are Cricket frogs.

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And we found several Leopard Frogs:

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