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Field Trip: Looney Trip, Lake County

Saturday, March 30, 2024

Join David Johnson for another of his special trips around the Lake County lakes looking for loons, pelicans, ducks, and anything else we can find. 

Meeting at 8:30 a.m., Gale Street Inn, parking lot, Mundelein.

Register with David Johnson, djohnsoda@comcast.net

Leader: David Johnson

 

PROGRAM: Vic Berardi

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Hawkwatching in Northeastern Illinois: Vic Berardi

In person at Robert Crown Community Center 7:30 p.m.

Vic Verardi is a long time ENSBC member and a long-time hawkwatcher and terrific photographer.  Vic's presentation will include all the raptors regularly seen at the hawk watches in Northeastern Illinois during the fall migration period, including Illinois Beach State Park, Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve and the Greene Valley Forest Preserve. He will highlight favorable times of the fall for sightings of each species along with several photos describing them.  He will also include charts showing trends over the sites' 24 years of data collecting and some insight on why.

 

 

PROGRAM: Bob Dolgan "Films and Fluddles"

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

On Zoom. Social Time begins at 7:00 p.m. Program begins at 7:30.

BOB DOLGAN: "FILMS AND FLUDDLES"

What do "FILMS AND FLUDDLES" Montrose Point, The Magic Stump, and fluddles have in common? They are all topics of Bob Dolgan's films. Bob will join us to share excerpts of his work and some behind-the-scenes stories from the making of these films. He'll also highlight continued opportunities for advocacy and conservation. Dolgan is a birder, journalist, filmmaker, and marketer who has made two films about Chicago's late Piping Plovers, Monty and Rose.  His films "The Magic Stump" and "Fluddles" are the first two in a Prairie State trilogy about Illinois.

PROGRAM: Ari Rice: "Birds and Hybridization"

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

On Zoom

Ari Rice

Approximately 16% of all bird species have been known to interbreed (i.e., hybridize) with each other, and thanks to genetic tools, eBird, and increasing numbers of attentive birders, the list keeps growing. Ari Rice is a lifelong ENSCBC member and PhD student at Texas Tech University who studies the genetic, ecological, and evolutionary outcomes of avian hybridization. Join him for a talk on why some species hybridize more than others, what can be learned from each case of hybridization, and what hybridization means for birders and bird conservation. A significant portion of this talk will also focus on his current research, which involves an unusual and little-known population of hybrid Virginia's x Colima warblers in the mountains of West Texas.

ENSBC CBC Countdown

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

On Zoom, 7 p.m. ENSBC Christmas Bird Count Countdown

ENSBC Christmas Bird Count

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Contact John Leonard, jleonard5440@gmail.com to participate in the count.  The countdown party will be on zoom, starting at 6 pm.

To participate in the Feeder Count, contact Joel Greenberg, joelgreenberg@gmail.com.

 

PROGRAM; Dan Klem: "Solid Air" - Birds and Buildings

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Dan Klem: "Solid Air" - Birds and Buildings

On Zoom

The Zoom will open at 7 p.m. for social time, and the program will begin at 7:30 p.m.

 

Daniel Klem is the author of Solid Air, Invisible Killer: Saving Billions of Birds from Windows.  From the editorial reviews by David Allen Sibley: “A thorough, important, and ultimately hopeful review of everything that is known about bird-window collisions, by the world’s leading expert in the field.  This book is filled with useful information that should help all of us tackle this insidious problem.” Klem did the original research on bird-window collisions at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale beginning in 1974. He is currently Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where, among other activities, he serves as technical consultant to glass manufacturers developing bird-safe sheet glass.  Dan will provide an overview of his book as well as his sometimes surprising most recent work. 

 

PROGRAM: John Bates "Bermuda"

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

at the Levy Center - 7:30 p.m. Bobby's Room

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.

 

PROGRAM: Finding Owls in Your Neighborhood

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Mark Glenshaw: Finding Owls in Your Neighborhood

Co-sponsored with Lake Cook Audubon

at Heller Nature Center 2821 Ridge Rd, Highland Park, IL 60035, 7 pm

Mark H.X. Glenshaw has spent nearly 20 years studying a family of Great Horned Owls in Forest Park, a large urban park in St. Louis, and shares his love of owls through lectures, owl prowls and more. In this program,  Glenshaw will explain how to find owls on your own – whether in a subdivision, city neighborhood, pocket park or large public park. He will discuss the three species of owl you are most likely to see or hear, how to look for them in a safe and ethical manner, how to spot them in trees as well as from the evidence they leave on the ground, what to listen for including both owl calls and the warning calls of other birds and animals, and the importance of research and collaboration.  

Field Trip: Northwestern University Campus North

Saturday, October 7, 2023

Northwestern University Campus North 7:30 a.m.

We’ll start at the North End of Campus looking for migrants.  We may explore the wooded area and and the dunes near Lincoln Street and then head south on campus.  Meet at the end of Campus Drive.  Turn east off of Sheridan Road at Lincoln Street and follow Campus Drive around the athletic building all the way to the end. Park at the farthest parking lot. Leaders:  Meet at 7:30 a.m. Sarah Flax and Libby Hill

 

Field Trip: Birds & Coffee at Jarvis Bird Sanctuary

Friday, September 29, 2023

This 7.84-acre nature area with paths and viewing platforms attracts local and migratory birds. Meeting directions to be provided.

The Leaders: from Red Hill Birding, will be on the platform from 7:30-9:30, so you can come any time. Coffee and fixings are provided.

 

 

 

Field Trip: Perkins Woods

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Look for fall warblers, thrushes, and other migrants.  Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Ewing Ave. and Grant St. 

Leader: John Bates and Josh Engel

 

Field Trip: West Ridge Nature Park

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

We will look for fall warblers, other migrants, local raptors along the trails through this nearly 22 acres of restored woodlands, wetlands, and a pond. Meet 7:30 A.M. at the main park gate on the east side of Western Ave. (5801 N. Western Ave, where Ardmore dead-ends into Western). Free street parking on both sides of Western Avenue.

Leader: Scott Judd

 

 

PROGRAM: Geoff Williamson: Current status of Illinois Birds

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

 

Geoff Williamson: Current status of Illinois Birds

At the Ecology Center, 2024 McCormick Blvd, 7: 30 pm. Social time starting at 7 pm.

                       The status and distribution of birdlife in Illinois is always shifting, though generally quite slowly. In the last several decades, however, birders have seen instances of very rapid changes. We'll look at some of what is going on from the viewpoint of the Illinois Ornithological Records Committee, or IORC, by focusing on rarities. IORC maintains a "Review List" of species sufficiently rare to warrant evaluation of observational evidence of their occurrence. The stories behind movement of species on and off the Review List provide insight into how their status and distribution – or the nature of the birding community – is changing. Geoff’s presentation will be illustrated with lots of bird photos. 

 

                   For decades Geoff Williamson has been active in local, state, and national birding organizations. Currently he heads the Illinois Ornithological Records Committee of the Illinois Ornithological Society and is co-compiler of the Illinois-Indiana region's seasonal reports for North American Birds, the journal of ornithological record published by the American Birding Association.

 

Field Trip: Birds & Coffee at Jarvis Bird Sanctuary

Friday, September 22, 2023

This 7.84-acre nature area with paths and viewing platforms attracts local and migratory birds. Meeting directions to be provided.

The Leaders: from Red Hill Birding, will be on the platform from 7:30-9:30 A.M., so you can come any time. Coffee and fixings are provided.

 

Field Trip: Perkins Woods

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Look for fall warblers, thrushes, and other migrants.  Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Ewing Ave. and Grant St. 

Leader: John Bates and Josh Engel

Field Trip: Waukegan Beach

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Trip FULL! email libbyhill@comcast.net to be added to the waiting lilst.

 

It’s hard to beat Waukegan Beach in September.  Shorebirds are moving through in good

numbers and migrant warblers begin to reach their peak.  We will spend the morning birding the

beach, swales, and wooded lots of the Waukegan Beach area.  On the beach, we will be targeting

migrant shorebirds, where a good morning could include Baird’s and Semipalmated Sandpipers,

Sanderling, and others.  In previous years, more specialties have shown up including Whimbrel

and Buff-breasted Sandpiper, so we will be ever-vigilant.  In the swales, we will keep our eyes

peeled for early waterfowl and lingering Least Bitterns which breed amongst the reeds.  In the

wooded lots and beachfront park, migrant warblers can be abundant on the right day, and we

hope to find Blackpoll, Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, Wilson’s and Magnolia Warblers among the

20+ that could be present.  We will be hiking the beach and wooded lots, which will total around

1-2 miles of walking at a birder’s pace. The Leader will have a scope, but if you enjoy carrying your own,

you are more than welcome to bring one. Hiking boots or sneakers are both appropriate for this walk,

but please be prepared for walking on sand.  Duration: ~3 hours

Meeting directions to be provided.

Leader: Adam Sell

Registration is required and space is limited to 12 participants. Register

with libbyhill@comcast.net

 

Field Trip: Northwestern University Campus

Saturday, September 16, 2023

 

 

7:30 a.m.

 

The NU campus has long been a stopover for migrants of all kinds headed south.

 

Park on the lakeside of the upper deck of the south parking lot off Sheridan Rd. and Clark St., north of Clark

St. beach, at 7:30 a.m.  Note earlier time!

 

Leaders: Libby Hill and Sarah Flax.

 

Field Trip: Birds & Coffee at Jarvis Bird Sanctuary

Friday, September 15, 2023

This 7.84-acre nature area with paths and viewing platforms attracts local and migratory birds. Meeting directions to be provided.

The Leaders: from Red Hill Birding, will be on the platform from 7:30-9:30 a.m., so you can come any time. Coffee and fixings are provided.

 

Field Trip: Perkins Woods

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Look for fall warblers, thrushes, and other migrants.  Meet at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Ewing Ave. and Grant St. 

Leader: John Bates

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