Have 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 MoreSixteen birders showed up on a cool but sunny fall day. It was a great to be out birding. Unfortunately birds have wings and all of the swans seen yesterday were gone. We did have some quality birds. An American Pelican swam around and was very visible. An adult Bald Eagle flew around but quickly disappeared in on of the corners. The waterfowl seen unfortunately were hugging the west side and difficult to ID.
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.
Read MoreA joint Chicago Ornithological Society-Illinois Young Birders field trip led by Eric and Aaron Gyllenhall attracted 40 birders to Douglas Park on Chicago's Westside. Combining eBird lists of four different birders, the group list for the trip stands at 62 species!
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On July 6, 2014, a beautiful Sunday morning, Dick Riner escorted our group of about 20 birders around Bartel Grasslands. After dousing ourselves with insect repellant and some folks donning rubber boots we were ready for the birds and mosquitoes.
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Christine and Geoffrey Williamson led a group of about 20 individuals around Montrose Point in Chicago's Lincoln Park this morning (Saturday, 26 July 2014), and we located 38 species of birds. We spent some time looking at the 64 shorebirds (of six species) at the beach, which included the following.
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It was another memorable Memorial Day trip. In less than three days, we saw and heard 147 different species.
Read MoreA group of over 60 students from Mark Sheridan Academy went on a field trip to Palmisano Park on the near South Side of Chicago. The weather on this sunny June 5 was perfect for exploring the grasslands and the old stone quarry of the park. We split into two groups and were able to show the students many of the birds in their Openlands field guide.
Read MoreOur COS group had two wonderful days of birding in the Emiquon/Chautauqua area. On Saturday, we concentrated on waterfowl of all kinds and we were certainly not disappointed. Highlights at the South Globe Unit of Emiquon included great views of 5 Dunlin, 25 Black-necked Stilts, 4 Hudsonian Godwits, 51 Long-billed Dowitchers, 16 American Golden Plovers, 2 Wilson’s Phalarope, and 20 Bonaparte’s Gulls.
Read MoreGeoffrey Williamson led the Chicago Ornithological Society field trip along the Chicago lakefront on Sunday, 16 Feb 2014. Our group of 13 birders visited Montrose Point, Belmont Harbor mouth, Diversey Harbor mouth, and then hoofed it to the Whiting Refinery Beach in Whiting, Indiana. Our targets were ducks and gulls, and we did pretty well on both scores.
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