I visited Wadsworth nine times this spring. Although there were days of mild temperatures I seemed to select the cold ones. Several outings in mid-April were so chilly the chorus frogs did not begin singing until noon, about the same time I took off my gloves. The wind and low temperatures also kept me from [...]
It had been a couple of years since I have visited the two fens of Elgin and even longer since I have made the pilgrimage in spring. My friend Sara Russell lives in that general vicinity so it was a great opportunity for a joint field outing in her neck of the woods. (For an [...]
Continue reading about With Fens Like This: A Trip to Elgin, Illinois
Organizing spring and Christmas bird counts in Lake County, IL requires getting permission from an array of organizations. Great Lakes Naval Training Center is always our most challenging location, ease of access varying as security fears ebb and flow. Last year, we learned that visits on weekends were impossible. This year, though, we thought we [...]
Continue reading about International Events Affect the Lake County (IL) Spring Bird Count
We spent the night in Traverse City for our appointment the next morning with Mary Cummings. Mary hosted us in their recently renovated museum and we learned that a board member had approached a gentleman in town asking if he would like to contribute to the museum. He replied only if they had a passenger [...]
Continue reading about P3 in Michigan: More of Lizzie’s and Joel’s Marvelous
At the Chicago Project Passenger Pigeon (P3) meeting I suggested to Pam Rasmussen of the Michigan State University Museum that we ought to hold a similar meeting at her shop to help organize Michigan. Michigan is one of the most important states in ppigeon history, being that it hosted many of the last large nestings [...]
Continue reading about P3 in Michigan: Lizzie’s and Joel’s Marvelous Adventure
It was late Saturday afternoon on April 9 and I had already made arrangements with Tim Wallace to meet him early the next morning to cover Wadsworth. Then the phone rang. Andy Sigler was at the other end telling me that he was watching a mountain bluebird, a species that has certainly occurred in Illinois [...]
Continue reading about A Mountain Bluebird Visits the Plains of Central Illinois
The long blog hiatus is over. The lack of posts has not been due to any paucity of material but because so much has been going on. And most of it is related to Project Passenger Pigeon.
P3 is an effort involving institutions and individuals from around ppigeon range and beyond to both expose the widest [...]
I have been present for five of the ten worst snow storms in Chicago history, missing only one that occurred in my lifetime. This one just recently departed deposited 20.2 inches on O’Hare, making it the third heaviest ever. My area, to the south of the airport, received closer to 22 inches (Illinois Beach State [...]
Chicago Lakefront CBC prides itself in being one of the very counts that is actually held on Christmas day. If you are Jewish, it’s a good way to work off the egg foo young and moo goo gai pan you had the night before. And for those without family and friends, what better away to [...]