“Waiting until late at night, I march down some nearby railroad tracks that run alongside the woods. I have been here many times in daylight, but never has this passageway seemed so forbidding. I am cold. There is no moon. The hair on my neck stands on end. Although it is remarkably quiet for the area, I hear nothing. Whatever is watching me this night, it remains hidden.”
Read the latest of Dan Lory’s Thursday thoughts on birds of the Chicago region. This week’s post is about a bird with a voice like a hawk, songbird, or rusty door depending on its mood.
Birds & Bytes has reached its 25th episode! Talk about a lot of content to rehash, revisit, and celebrate. Despite the dark origins at the beginning of COVID, the program has continued strong for nearly 3 years and filled a birding community niche.
Birder You Should Know has been a long running series with COS in our newsletter. Get to know our birding community with these short interviews. This month, meet Judy Cheske!
“Migration usually catches me by surprise. It always seems too early. The leaves are still thick on the trees, and the sun still warms the beaches by the lake. Migration should come when the thudding drums of frost begin their heavy march south over the plains, driving warm-blooded creatures before them. Not in August, before the kids have gone back to school.”
It's Christmas Bird Count season! With well near a dozen counts happening throughout the Chicagoland area, how does one get started? We've got you covered!
West Nile may be largely under control in human circles, but the story is far from over for one of the virus’s most susceptible creatures; American Crows.
Read the latest of Dan Lory’s Thursday thoughts on birds of the Chicago region. This week’s post is about a bird with with a tale involving royals and tidal flats, the American Avocet.
“There are no loons near us now, though people occasionally try to convince me that one was spotted on the golf course reservoir near the dam where the pontoon boats are docked. But there are other birds to be sought from between the gunwales of a canoe, birds that have tenaciously persisted upon some of the most heavily transformed landscapes on earth.”
Birder You Should Know has been a long running series with COS in our newsletter. Get to know our birding community with these short interviews. This month, meet Christina Harber!
Read the latest of Dan Lory’s Thursday thoughts on birds of the Chicago region. This week’s post is about a bird with a typo in its name, the Clay-colored Sparrow.
“It’s not a statistically meaningful concept; there’s no field for it on eBird, and it’s probably not in the latest field guide or app with sonograms and silhouettes. You won’t find it on the Cornell website, though King David leaned on it and Aldo Leopold knew that without it there could be no land ethic.”
“Would I be the only newbie on the walk? Would I be judged for my banged-up binoculars? Would there be a quiz?” Lauren Kostas on some of the questions that may nag a new birder and how to jump with both feet into the wide world of birding.
Chicagoland was recently graced by an ultra-rare visit from a Painted Redstart! This Central American species paid a brief visit to become the first such sighting in Illinois, but hung around long enough to delight some speedy birders.
“There seem to be bird people, and plant people: the ecological gardener who appreciatively inspects the yard, and yet is unfamiliar with the birds that dwell there. Gardening for birds is one way to bridge this divide.”
