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Grassland Birds Proliferate at Spring Creek

Grassland birds are flocking to Spring Creek Headwaters Forest Preserve in South Barrington, Illinois. Alan Anderson, who has been monitoring birds there for years, wrote in a June e-mail: "Whew what a NICE SURPRISE!! TONS OF BIRDS--I ran out of space to mark down grassland species for certain points! The MOST EVER dickcissels I have EVER seen in Cook County! Plus many of the 'usual suspects,' including Henslow's, grasshopper, savanna and field sparrows, bobolink and e. meadowlark, plus blue-winged warblers, veery (two!!), American redstart and much more!"

The survey follows the removal of trees and brush from portions of the preserve, an effort to increase habitat for grassland birds, which depend on large open prairie. Anderson's observations bore that out: "The grassland birds preferred to be in the middle of the grasslands, away from the woods, in most instances (one dickcissel, one Henslow's, one grasshopper were fairly close to border)."