28 LLLINOIS AUDUBON BULA 
LD NOtES 
by VERNON M. KLEEN 
SPRING MIGRATION 
The spring season was good for migrating birds, but “slow” for the 
observers. Weather made it easy for the birds to maintain consistent, 
uninterupted movements with only a few minor holdbacks allowing 
migration waves; no major waves were detected or reported. 
There were many interesting and valuable reports this spring; however, 
in general the season will not be long-remembered. 
This is the second Spring season we have had the opportunity of compil- 
ing migration as it progressed across the state. The number of observers 
contributing has increased and better reports have resulted. As usual, most 
observers obtain an arrival date, but few get the departure dates—TABLES 
1 and 2, respectively. FIGURE 1 shows the counties in each District. The 
following symbols have been used in the Tables: zero (0), the species was 
not reported to the District Compiler during the season; plus (+) or dash 
(—), the species was reported, but not early or late enough to be considered 
the first arrival or latest departure; a “W”, migrants could not be safely 
differentiated from wintering individuals; an “S”, departing individuals 
could not be differentiated from summering individuals. 
A few problems were still evident; some observers unintentionally 
neglected to send their county records to the appropriate District Compilers. 
Therefore, there are more zeros, plusses and dashes in the Tables than 
there should be (especially since some species were observed on the Spring 
Bird Count but not reported to the District Compilers). These compilers 
deserve much credit for organizing and assembling the data submitted to 
them; that data is then used in preparing the large statewide Migration 
Tables which could only be done by careful alignment of all 18 District 
Tables. In some cases, more observer data became known later, but not 
through the appropriate District Compiler; therefore, it was imposisble to 
include such data in the Tables even though it should have been. Some 
of the more valuable records have been used in the written report that 
follows and when the dates were more significant than those printed in the 
Migration Tables, they have been denoted by the letters: CIMT, meaning, 
Change In Migration Table. It is hoped that in the future all observers will 
send migration data to the appropriate District Compiler; by so doing, there 
will be no need to request changes in the large master tables after they have 
