Read the latest installment of Dan Lory’s regular Thursday thoughts on birds of the Chicago region.
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Read the latest installment of Dan Lory’s regular Thursday thoughts on birds of the Chicago region.
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COS has been keeping an eye on plans for development in Jackson Park, including a new golf course in the South Shore neighborhood. Birders and community residents are voicing their concerns about wildlife protection.
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In December COS celebrated its Conservation Awards, given to volunteers who have given freely of their time and energy to do the avian-based restoration work at LaBagh Woods.
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Save the date! April 22 at 6:30pm at Galway Arms in Lincoln Park, COS will be hosting a fundraiser for LaBagh Woods. We're honored to have live music by Congress of Starlings!
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We are really starting to see progress being made at the this Swamp White Oak grove area, and I am so proud of our volunteers for what they have accomplished in this area. But like most restoration efforts, no rest for the weary. We will continue removing unwanted dead trees, pole trees and buckthorn to prepare this area for seeding (immediately) and planting (in the near future).
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Just what is your COS Board doing on this unseasonable warm February Monday evening, besides eating lasagna?
Your COS (Chicago Ornithological Society) Board is comprised of 10 volunteers lead by Carl Giometti, our COS President for 2017. The board meets a minimum of once per quarter and deliberates on a number of initiatives COS is involved with for Chicago area birders.
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The native shrub plantings are finished for 2016, and now we begin to prepare other parts of LaBagh for native shrub plantings and native herbaceous plant seeding in 2017. This is important work, but more than anything else, IT'S FUN!
Read MoreJoin one of Chicagoland’s most active Christmas Bird Counts on December 18, 2016. Nearly 100 people volunteer their time on a wintery Sunday to count birds. The count circle includes a wide variety of habitats from the forests of Palos to the pine plantations of the Morton Arboretum to the open grasslands of Green Valley. The Lisle Arboretum Count is part of the National Audubon Society’s national Christmas Count program.
Read MoreThis year the Forest Preserve District decided to establish birding competition teams in every preserve that provides a leader and a team. The competition starts March 1 and is designed to get birders into the Forest Preserves and record their data on e-bird. Learn more about the competition here: Forest Preserve District Big Year
Read MoreThe 67th Lisle-Arboretum Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, 20 December 2015. There was only a brief freeze in the weeks prior to count day, so that we had a lot of hope for a good count. The 90 field observers and nine feeder watchers also had reasonably warm weather to work with, without any snow on the ground. Despite this, most field parties bemoaned the lack of birds.
Read MoreHave you been out to LaBagh Woods lately? If you have, you have seen that the LaBagh Big Year has made a huge difference. Planting is complete for this year, but fund-raising and scouring LaBagh for new species has not stopped.
How have we done?
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LaBagh Woods Big Year - 1/3 Done!
It seems like just yesterday that COS kicked off the LaBagh Big Year with a field trip there on a snowy January 1. Here we are now in May, with migration in full swing, over one-third of the way through 2015. So how do we stand?
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The 67th Lisle-Arboretum Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, 20 December 2015. There was only a brief freeze in the weeks prior to count day, so that we had a lot of hope for a good count. The 90 field observers and nine feeder watchers also had reasonably warm weather to work with, without any snow on the ground. Despite this, most field parties bemoaned the lack of birds.
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Quietly, and with little fanfare, before the Ivory Gull was even a thought forbirders in the Chicago area, a very special year-long event kicked off at LaBagh Woods. Chicago Ornithological Society (COS), in conjunction with a number of other conservation-minded partners, launched a fundraiser for the restoration of the understory at LaBagh in 2015 and beyond.
Read MoreCOS has launched its 2015 fundraiser for LaBagh Woods, located at Foster Avenue and Edens Expressway. LaBagh Woods is a critical habitat for migrating birds, but is not in good shape. Years of neglect have resulted in a significantly degraded habitat. Thanks to recent re-dedication by the Cook County Forest Preserve, volunteers have received a grant to remove the buckthorn and other invasive species that have overrun LaBagh. Unfortunately, the dollars aren’t there to purchase shrubs, trees and the fencing to protect new plantings from hungry deer.
This is where you come in!
Read MoreWe have collected hard copies of our newsletter, The Chicago Birder, from Volume 1 Issue 1 in 1989 through Volume 23 Issue 4 in 2010. Before turning over the complete set to the Chicago Academy of Sciences for permanent safekeeping, I am collecting a second set of newsletters for backup purposes and so they will be readily available to our members.
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