Then the bird made a sound that was pure raven: a gurgling croak that started somewhere way in the back of its throat. “It vocalized a couple of times, and I said ‘I guess this is happening,’” Kyle adds.
COS’s board of volunteers works hard to bring you the very best in hikes and programming all year. In lieu of those, they are working even harder to now bring that same quality of programming and content to you through cyberspace.
“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…”
This year, to fully embrace and normalize going out at this ornithologically mediocre time frame, I’m doing a big year. A lunch break big year! All through 2020, I will be trying to find as many birds as I can while on my lunch break. That said, what fun is such an endeavor without one’s friends? That’s why I’m inviting you, birder friends currently or to be, to join me.
Bird populations across North America have declined by nearly 3 billion. You can’t care about something as much as members of our community do without getting very emotionally invested. Doubts are inevitable. Frustration is likely. You may even find yourself somewhat in despair. We want you to know, we’re here for you.
As a trip leader, there’s nothing more satisfying than being able to guide participants to and show them something they’ve never seen before, bird or otherwise. At this point, that’s happened in spades. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when, on top of everything, after throwing in the towel and turning into the wind to make the long trek back to our cars and our respective homes, I too, got a life bird.
Read the latest scoop from Stephanie Beilke on birding hotspots easily accessible via public transit that every Chicago birder needs to check off their list.
“We were reminded of one of the cardinal rules of birding. ‘Always bird the parking lot.’ Does this timeless advice apply at night as well? With nothing to lose by giving it a shot, we played our audio one more time.”
The long running online forum, IBET or Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts, is moving from it’s current platform on Yahoo Groups to a Google platform.
