Lunch Break Big Year: February

Don’t forget to submit your lunch break observations checklists to blog@chicagobirder.org to be included in our monthly tallies!

Numbers at a glance: species count // checklists // # of birds
Edward & team Shedd — 22 // 14 // 1377

A hardy Hermit Thrush that’s hung around all winter

February was a curious month to say the least. But then, what February isn’t? Extreme cold, unseasonable heat, another month of record lake levels. What else is new? Well, not much, but this month did see a few new additions to the bird list. The big notable addition was the Long-tailed Duck. Two in fact! As I mentioned last month, I was really hoping Monroe Harbor would net me a few unique water birds. Well, the avian gods answered. One of our main conference rooms on the third floor overlooks the lake. It was here during a meeting that I noticed them (I was paying attention, I swear!). Whenever I glance out on the lake from this vantage point, I always note a few ducks. While identification sans binoculars can sometimes be hard depending on how far out they are, it’s still usually easy to broadly peg them as Scaup, Goldeneyes, or Mergansers. Or in this case, clearly not one of those and therefore of note. The two already stood out as being estranged from any of the other grouped-up water birds and were diving fairly close to the break walls. I had a hunch, but wasn’t able to see enough of the birds to make a definitive call. ID closure would have to wait, but I still found myself quite happy to be mesmerized by their rhythm: deftly bobbing up and down in the waves for a few moments before they plunged into the murky waters, their dart-like postures quickly fading from seen to unseen in the depths, and finally emerging after an anxiety-inducing amount of time to repeat the cycle.

Lunch came not a moment too soon. I hustled along the concrete pathway above the water as much to keep warm as to find my quarry before it disappeared. It didn’t take long and I wasn’t disappointed. Two beautiful Long-tailed Ducks accompanied by a lone Goldeneye took turns bobbing and diving. I spent so much time shooting pictures and simply marveling that I really didn’t look at much else that day. As I considered these longest- and deepest-diving of all North American ducks, I couldn’t help but draw at least one parallel between them and the penguins just a few hundred feet away in the Aquarium. As each wave swelled up beneath them, the ducks stretched out their wings almost as if to use them like a rudder or a stabilizer. Every time they dove, I could see their wings partially extended, once again like rudders as they rocketed to the boulders below. I’d argue it isn’t much of a stretch to compare the two as both of these aquatic birds make their living “flying” under the waves. Too bad I can’t count Magellanic Penguins in my big year but I’m content to list these pseudo-penguins.

I actually saw fewer birds this month that I did in January overall, so there’s not much more to share. I’ll leave you however with some lucky pictures I took of this Snowy Owl not far from museum campus. I chased this bird just outside of lunch hours so it doesn’t count, but who doesn’t love a good snowy pic? As I write this, the red-wings are noisily reclaiming their territory. The winds of spring have returned and with them, some more friends very soon…

Running Species List:
Canada Goose
Redhead
Greater Scaup
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Red-breasted Meganser
Rock Pigeon
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
American Goldfinch
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal