Thompson Lake at Emiquon

Scott and I drove down to Emiquon yesterday. It warmed up the longer we were out. I actually enjoyed my walk out to where Path 2 used to be along Pumphouse Road. The wind was calm, the sky was blue, and the lake was frozen and covered with snow. On our drive around Emiquon we found 2 American Kestrels, 8 Red-tailed Hawks, and a female Northern Harrier.

As I drive down IL 78/93 and come around the bend at the top of the bluff, I get my first glimpse of Thompson Lake at Emiquon.


I go a little farther and I see it in its glory: Thompson Lake! A lake which had completely vanished under farm land has been reborn. You can see Prairie Road leading to The Nature Conservancy on the right.


Pumphouse Road runs through the lake now. You need a canoe to cross to the other side when it isn't frozen. Today I supposed I could walk across, but I didn't try that.


I look to the south, and I see Havana's powerplant, steam billowing into the air.


To the north I see frozen lake covered in snow with the bluffs in the distance.


As we drove north on 78, an American Kestrel flew from the wire to the other side of the highway.



We drove along Emiquon Prairie Road past The Nature Conservancy.




We saw a hawk on the side of the road. When he took off we could see that it was a female Northern Harrier. I wasn't prepared for that! Photos are fuzzy, but here they are:




We found six hawks along Clark Road. Of course I was driving, and by the time I would get out of the car to take a photo, they were gone. They seemed to be in pairs, hunting the fields on the east and the bluffs on the west side of the road.


This guy posed briefly before flying to the other side of the bluff.


This guy, most likely a Red-tailed Hawk, landed way out in the prairie, with the sun providing a back light that made him or her a mere silhouette.


This guy, a Rough-legged Hawk, flew directly over my head while I was out of the car.


Emiquon is a delight, no matter the time of year or time of day. Conditions continually change and the landscape changes with it. I eagerly await the open waters of spring!

Emiquon in Late December

I visited Emiquon on December 28 with my friend Ed. We found two Northern Harriers working the wet prairie by Thompson Lake.




Sister Creeks Farm is visible miles away from the tranquil lake.


A Red-tailed Hawk posed briefly before flying away:


A juvenile Bald Eagle sat in a tree along Dixon Mounds Road:


Scott and I went back on December 30 and found thousands of geese, mostly Canada, but with a mix of several hundred White-fronted geese and a thousand or so Snow Geese! What fun!







A Red-tailed Hawk cruised along the levee:



On the way home,what we think were three Trumpeter Swans were in a corn field just south of Duck Creek Road:

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.

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.


-- from jward199 - (?)

-- from jward199 - (?)

-- from jward199 - (?)

-- from jward199 - (?)

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

-- from jward199 - (?)

Hundreds of waterfowl flushed:

-- from jward199 - (?)

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

-- from jward199 - (?)

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

-- from jward199 - (?)

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

-- from jward199 - (?)

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

-- from jward199 - (?)

View from Prairie Road:

-- from jward199 - (?)

Canton power plant off in the distance.

-- from jward199 - (?)

A cave in the bluff along Clark road.

-- from jward199 - (?)