John Bates: Birds of Bermuda

Levy Center, 300 Dodge Ave. Evanston, 7:30

Bermuda is 54 square miles of islands in the Atlantic Ocean and is a destination for tourists lying 650 miles east of North Carolina and is about the same distance from Massachusetts and Puerto Rico.  Despite its isolation, almost 400 bird species have been recorded here.  In April 2023, John Bates, Curator of Birds, Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum, and University of Chicago graduate student Louise Bodt organized a trip to study and sample European Goldfinches which have been living on the island for over 100 years.  Working with local experts they visited multiple sites on the island.  They will present on the birds of Bermuda based on their ongoing research and what they learned on their trip.

Canal Shores is a great place to see spring migrants. Meet on Maple Avenue in Wilmette just west of the Canal and walk the golf course’s birding loop. Free street parking. Participation limited to 15 people. Register with Matt Rooney at matthewarooney@gmail.com.

Look for warblers and other migrants (and a great display of spring wildflowers). 

Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Ewing Avenue and Grant Street.  Park along Ewing Avenue.  Leaders: John Bates and Josh Engel.

Sunday – May 21, 6:00 a.m.- all day

The Kankakee Sands trip is back!.  Near Morocco, Indiana, this 8,000-acre prairie and wetland restoration was originally part of the 500,000-acre Grand Marsh of the Kankakee River.  The site is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy, which describes it as a “birders paradise” with over 200 species recorded since restoration began in 2001. The destination is a two-hour drive from Evanston and carpooling is recommended and may be arranged through the trip leader. 

Plan on an all-day trip. Meet at the Old Orchard Parking lot at 6:a.m. for carpooling and return no later than dinner hour, depending upon the birding. We will enjoy a bountiful continental breakfast, courtesy of leader Mark Vaughan, at the picnic shelter at the 10,000 acre Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area adjacent to Kankakee Sands. (The last trip in 2019 was a 2-hour breakfast because of the abundance of Red-headed woodpeckers, flycatchers, Eastern Kingbirds, bluebirds and warblers.)  Lunch will be in a nearby local restaurant in Morocco. Leader: Mark Vaughan.

Register with libbyhill@comcast.net.

These trips pack a great list of warbler species during spring migration. Meet at 7:30 a.m. at Erickson Woods Forest Preserve parking lot. Turn north into the parking lot from Willow Road just east of the Eden’s Expressway. Leaders: Ed and Rebecca Rice.

The Grove, Glenview. Look for warblers and other passerines.  Meet at 8:00 a.m. at The Grove: east side of Milwaukee Avenue, just south of Lake Avenue, in the second parking lot that leads to the Interpretive Center.  Leader: Nancy Halliday.

Canal Shores Golf Course is a great place to see spring migrants. For Canal Shores North Birding Loop, meet on Maple Avenue in Wilmette just west of the Canal and walk the golf course’s birding loop. Free street parking. Participation limited to 15 people. Register with Matt Rooney at matthewarooney@gmail.com.

A World Migratory Bird Day event!

The NU campus has long been a stopover for migrants of all kinds headed north. Park on the lakeside of the upper deck of the south parking lot off Sheridan Road and Clark Street, north of Clark Street beach, at 8:00 a.m.  Leaders: Libby Hill and Sarah Flax.