“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.
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It's Christmas Bird Count season! With well over a dozen counts happening throughout the greater Chicagoland area, how does one get started? We've got you covered!
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We are very excited to announce a new partnership with Illinois Native Plant Society. Starting this spring, we’re joining forces, bringing our experts together, and rolling out a series of virtual and in-person birding and botany programs.
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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.
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“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.”
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Let’s Go Birding Together is Audubon Society’s LGBTQ inclusive bird walk series. COS participated in the Chicago-area walk, hosted at Humboldt Park and co-sponsored by Feminist Bird Club and Audubon Great Lakes on June 22, 2019. Almost 40 people attended on a warm, sunny June morning.
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Each family occupied their own nesting platform/tree, but a marsh as vast as the Tuttle wildlife area apparently wasn’t big enough for the male Osprey. He mounted a concerted, prolonged attack on one of the eagles as it flew over the marsh to its nest. The aerial acrobatics were astonishing, especially the way the eagle could flip over onto its back in the air in an instant to aim its talons at the Osprey.
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Paul Douglas Preserve was created by combining a mixture of farmland and wooded private land which mostly is on higher glacial ridges featuring very mature oak woodlands. This birder group compiled a list of 40 bird species, all summer residents of this beautiful preserve.
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The Plum Creek Forest Preserve walk started in the meadow and got great looks through the scope at Henlow's and Grasshopper Sparrows, as well as Dickcissel, Eastern Meadowlark and Bobolink.
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With a count of 48 species, we had a nice walk introducing some folks to a pretty sweet urban birding spot!
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Spring birding is in full swing, as seen at this COS bird walk at Skokie Lagoons. Led by Aerin Tedesco, the group checked off 54 species.
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A great showing for a New Years Day walk! COS kicked off 2019 on a cold, gray day but with a lot fun birding.
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Every now and then, a teacher will reach out to us asking for help leading a bird walk. How can we refuse? But what if physical help isn’t easy to come by?
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The 18 participants on the Sept. 15 COS-Sierra Club nature and birding tour of Montrose Beach and bird sanctuary hit the jackpot in terms of weather and cooperative local breeding birds.
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A dozen birders explored prime sparrow habitat finding singing Henslow's and Grasshopper Sparrows, as well as a number of more common species, like Field, Song, Savanna and Lincoln's Sparrow.
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This Earth Day Bird Walk was not too springy but very birdy! We spotted 53 species, including a Merlin, Eastern Meadowlarks, a Virginia Rail, Rusty Blackbirds and a leucistic Winter Wren.
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A group of birders met at Whistler Woods on another summer-like morning.
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A group of 15 birders met at the Field House in Humboldt Park with a brilliantly blue sky and summer-like temperatures.
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