Ecological Survey - Summer 2020

Ecological survey for Arlington Heights Illinois. All images taken off wikipedia.

Climate

Arlington Heights

Temperature:

	°C	°F	Date
Low	1.5	34.7	May 27
High	36.67	98.01	Aug 10
Mean	21.69	70.88

Climate data (Download CSV)

Wildlife

McDonald Creek

Coordinates: 42.13120/-87.97922 (OpenStreetMap)

Animals

Species	Count
Red-winged blackbird	some
Eastern Cotton-tailed Rabbit	some
Monarch Butterfly	some
Crayfish	1
Unknown Frog	3
Unknown Tadpole	5+
Unknown Wasp	some
Unknown blue dragonfly	some

Mallards Bog

Coordinates: 42.12794/-87.96206 (OpenStreetMap)

Animals

Species	Count
Red-winged blackbird	many
Blue dasher	many
Mallard	24+
Great blue heron	1
Sleepy Orange Butterfly	1
Pond skipper turtle	4
Unknown Fish	some
Unknown snail	some

Golf club

Species	Count
Blue jay	2

Log

Black Swallowtail Butterfly

Beautiful little floating flower. Member of the swallowtail family, or Papilionidae. Identified as a black swallowtail, but could also be a spicebush swallowtail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_polyxenes

sightings	sex	count
2020-09-02	F	1

Bees + wasps

Identifying bees/wasps in Illinois

Bumble Bee

Half-inch to one inch long. Fuzzy bee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee

Eastern Carpenter Bee

Big black rump, no stripes on it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_carpenter_bee

Western Honeybee

A fuzzy-buzzy. Seen playing in the flowers, polinating and eating nectar. Smaller than honeybees; about a half-inch in length

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_honey_bee

Paper wasp

Builds nests in upsided down overhangs. Eats wood from tables, chairs, trees, to make their nests.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_wasp

Yellowjacket

Aggressive and constructs paper nests. Can sting many times without losing its stinger.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjacket

Crayfish

Found a single crayfish in McDonald Creek near my house while cleaning up garbage and litter.

sightings	count
2020-08-29	1

Canadian Goose

Huge honker. Famalies starting to move south as the summer nears its end.

sightings	count
2020-08-22	8

Canada Goose Status & Trends - eBird.org

Striped skunk

Big stinker, seen in the evenings and at night.

Northern Cardinal

Male

Female

Common bird with a great whistle.

eBird Abundance Map

eBird Recording

Norther Cardinal Status & Trends - eBird.org

American Robin

Very common bird in the neighborhood in the spring and early summer. Not seen as much around now in August. Many different songs and calls.

eBird Abundance Map

eBird Recording

American Robin Status & Trends - eBird.org

American Goldfinch

Seen mostly in the early evenings.

eBird Abundance Map

eBird Recording

American Goldfinch Status & Trends - eBird.org

Monarch Butterfly

(Female pictured) Similar looking to Viceroy butterflys, but can be distinguished by looking at the vein patterns. Notice here:

With the monarch on the left, and the viceroy on the right, one can tell the difference by looking at the vein parallel to the edge of the wing.

Males can be identified from females by looking for a spot on one of the veins.

male	female

On the bottom wings of the male, there are black spots, but there are no spots on the female.

sightings	count	location
2020-09-05	1	Backyard
2020-09-06	2	Backyard
2020-09-07	1	Backyard

Baltimore Oriole

Vibrant orange body with a striking black head and wings. Member of the Icterid family of blackbirds.

sightings	count	sex	location
2020-08-17	1	M	Backyard
2020-08-29	1	M	Northbrook IL

eBird Abundance Map

eBird Recording

Baltimore Oriole Status & Trends - eBird.org

Eastern Cotton-tailed rabbit

A common friend around the neighborhood. Inquisitive and often hungry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_cottontail

Downy Woodpecker

A beautiful woodpecker with many black and white striped designs, and pearl speckled wings. Males have red feathers on the top of their heads, females do not.

sightings	count	sex	location
2020-08-17	1	F	Backyard

eBird Abundance Map

eBird Recording

Downy Woodpecker Status & Trends - eBird.org

Red tailed Hawk

I've seen some hawks fly through the neighborhood every now and then. Identified as a red-tailed hawk since they are the most common it seems, but I am not sure.

eBird Abundance Map

eBird Recording

Red-tailed Hawk Status & Trends - eBird.org

Great blue Heron

Wades on the shallow end of the bog, feeds on small fish. Quiet and lonesome.

sightings	count	location
2020-06-27	1	Buffalo Creek
2020-07-12	1	Mallards Bog

eBird Abundance Map

eBird Recording

Great Blue Heron Status & Trends - eBird.org

Red-winged blackbird

Male	Female

Males are a jet black with striking orange and yellow shoulderblades. Females are brown with a grey and white head. Incredibly complicated tones, sounds like telephone bells. Members of the Icterid family