Elaenia-mania

Novembird is a moment in time when legends are made for birders. No, it’s not the same as November. It is a period that generally begins around mid-November and ends in December. But Novembird follows no calendar date. It comes and goes on the whims of the weather, climate, and extreme weather events happening on a continental scale. It is the especially volatile time at the end of fall migration that brings jaw dropping waves of birds through the Chicago region from cranes, to hawks, to waterfowl, and, most importantly, rarities.

One such Novembird arrival that blew birders away in 2021 was the appearance of an Elaenia. Discovered by Susan Miller-Zelek in a yew bush straddling the beach and an industrial park in Waukegan, IL, the bird remained in the same thicket where it was found for twelve days, delighting birders from across not just the Chicago region but the country. The Elaenia, likely a Small-billed, is an incredibly rare vagrant from South America and only the fourth to ever be found in the U.S. Interestingly, the first such record was also from the Chicagoland area being found in Douglass Park on the west side of Chicago in 2012. How was this incredibly turned around fly catcher found? Here is Susan’s first hand account!

Mega rare bird species found in Lake County Illinois on November 26, 2021, a small south American bird, Small-billed Elaenia (tentative ID awaiting ABA approval) was located at Waukegan Beach, Illinois.

I decided to go north to look for birds (shock!! Me looking for birds, LOL) that I haven’t seen yet this year. I started that morning (18°F at 8 AM) at Waukegan Beach looking for water fowl and gulls. I switched my search to looking for all other bird species in the area. I walked towards the water treatment plant and noticed a small group of birds sitting on the top of the fence. One bird stood out in my mind, not sure why, but it did. I used my binoculars to get details of the bird but the birds dropped down into the thickets behind the fence before I could move to the camera to take photos. Step one: get details. Step two: take photos. Guess I should have reversed those steps! I waited a couple of minutes but they didn’t come back up so I moved on.

I returned to that spot 15 minutes later but still no birds. I turned to take one last look south when I noticed a silhouette in a pine tree near the spot the birds had been sitting. It was buried deep within the Pine. At first, I thought it was a pinecone but upon a second look I noticed it was a silhouette of a bird. I had to make quick adjustments to my camera settings in order to get the dark, silhouetted bird sitting on a branch. I had no idea what the bird was at that point. It could’ve been any bird, but I felt compelled to get the photos. I got off six shots of the bird before it flew off into the brush.

When I got to my car to leave the beach, I looked at the photo but all I could make out was possibly some kind of flycatcher, very late for the season. Something in the back of my head said “Elaenia”, but I thought “Not a chance in hell end of subject.” I returned to Waukegan beach one last time before going home. I was compelled to find that bird again but didn’t.

When I got home 9 hours later (long day birding), I dumped the photos into the computer. Still no positive ID. I put 1 photo on Advanced Bird ID on Facebook. Not seeing any response to the post after 4 hours, I posted the same photo to the ABA What’s this Bird group on Facebook. Less than a minute later, someone posted a comment which I read sarcastically at first:

“Fine, I’ll put it out there then: that’s an Elaenia.”

I responded with a laughing emoji. There was no way I could ever find something that rare, not ever. The jokes on me. I’m so glad my birding instinct had me paying attention Friday morning. Now that the dust has finally settled and everything has sunk in, I can finally say WOW. I can’t believe that I found a mega, mega rare bird species in Illinois. I’m not sure if it was luck or skill but it happened. I got photos and many, many people got to go see this mega rare bird!

-Susan Miller-Zelek

Other great coverage of this amazing birding event!
American Birding Association blog: https://www.aba.org/just-another-small-billed-elaenia/
WTTW Chicago: https://news.wttw.com/2021/12/01/why-so-much-fuss-over-plain-jane-bird-landed-waukegan-it-s-half-world-course