That’s what brought me to historic Graceland Cemetery on Chicago’s North Side for a walk with Larry “Skillethead” Krutulis earlier this month. He is perhaps the dean of Chicago’s cemetery birders and has 174 species on his Graceland list.
I needed a cackler for my 2018 year list and it seemed a lock since a few birds had been reported online. As much as eBird and social media have transformed birding, it’s still challenging to pull up to a hotspot and expect to find the bird.
Check out COS board member, Stephanie Beilke’s recommended reading! Stephanie is a Conservation Science Associate with Audubon Great Lakes. She leads marsh bird monitoring to inform conservation in the Chicago area and Indiana. She also volunteers with the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors.
As we watched, the bird landed close to the road and disappeared into the brush. When we looked down into a gap in the brush we realized what were seeing….
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?