This Week in Birding

Articles

Piping Plover site has personal meaning

1 week ago | twibchicago.com | Bob Dolgan

There is a lot that goes into making a beach hospitable for Piping Plovers. Even then, there is no guarantee one or two will even show up. Still, the St. Louis River Alliance, a nonprofit located in Duluth, Minnesota, has been working diligently to care for a beach in nearby Superior, Wisconsin. Leading those efforts is Mikayla Erickson, who’s been dedicated to the critically endangered shorebird since 2019. “My goal is to keep this site beautiful,” Mikayla says.
For peat's sake: where 36 warblers are headed

2 weeks ago | twibchicago.com | Bob Dolgan

Today’s post re-visits a TWiB entry from Spring 2021. The New York Times featured birding prominently in a piece in 2021 about spring migration, “Birds by the Billions: A Guide to Spring’s Parade.” The Times included a comment from Chicago birder Geoff Williamson. “The epitome of spring birding for me is the passage of wood-warblers,” Mr. Williamson said.
Dispatch from a brackish pond

3 weeks ago | twibchicago.com | Bob Dolgan

Recently I was at 25 degrees north latitude, near the Tropic of Cancer, and had a chance to explore a brackish pond—that is, an inland pond usually found near the sea coast that has a touch of salt. The salinity of the water is about 5% that of sea water and well more than fresh water. The depth was no more than 3 feet and usually less than that. Algae mats I soon realized were the source of the pond’s orange coloration. The mats serve an important purpose, preventing leakage of the water downward.
TWiB Notes: A goose at Wrigley, first plovers, lakefront tour, and a tasty ale

1 month ago | twibchicago.com | Bob Dolgan

The Old Man: Did you hear about this guy who swallowed a yo-yo? Mrs. Parker: Swallowed a yo-yo? The Old Man: On a bet. Some clodhopper down in Griffith, Indiana. Mrs. Parker: They write the silliest things in the newspapers. The Old Man: What do you mean, silly? I mean that's real news. That's not like that politics slop. Now this here is real news! I think the Old Man, the dad from A Christmas Story, would agree.
Great expectations: Piping Plovers stir high hopes

1 month ago | twibchicago.com | Bob Dolgan

If you have been to Great Lakes beaches in April, you know they aren’t exactly the sun-drenched pink sands of Harbour Island in the Bahamas. The wind is whipping, and the threat of sleet and snow is ever-present (in fact northern Michigan is just now recovering from a historically awful ice storm). On some days, the beach, the sky, the trees, and the water all appear to be the same shade of gray. Enter Stephanie Schubel of the Great Lakes Piping Plover Conservation Team.
Happy April Fools' Day

1 month ago | twibchicago.com | Bob Dolgan

Today has me thinking about a birding experience years ago, when I was out walking with my buddy, Sidd Finch. When we got together, the conversations were mostly about baseball since Sidd and I played on the same team in high school in Ohio. We’d walk by the banks of the Calahooga River, near the steel mills. We were walking along, probably discussing the finer points of the Calahooga pitching staff, when we saw a little feathery blob descend from a wood piling and plop into the water.
What I write about when not writing about birds

1 month ago | twibchicago.com | Bob Dolgan

Spring break is a time to look back and enjoy some recent accomplishments and unique experiencesâbirding and non-birding. One of my favorite on-the-job moments happened in late 2023. This is a Q&A I did with underwater explorer Mensun Bound, whose successful discovery of Ernest Shackletonâs Endurance in Antarctica has now been turned into a major National Geographic film by Director Jimmy Chin.
A fresh sound of spring

1 month ago | twibchicago.com | Bob Dolgan

“The little song sparrow, which is so appropriately named from his own sweet lay, is a bird of promise and hope; for in late February or early March while the clouds are still gray and the air has no touch of spring, he sings his courageous song of perfect trust and good cheer.” —Angelia Kumlien Main, Bird Companions, 1925The Song Sparrow is one of the only birds that is singing on cold spring days. Through much of the year, there’s nothing particularly exciting about finding a Song Sparrow.
Going quackers: the glories of Lord Mallard

2 months ago | twibchicago.com | Bob Dolgan

Humans and birds interact with each other in peculiar ways. One of those ways is in the form of a tradition that started nearly 600 years ago and lives on to this day. According to legend, a very large Mallard flew out of a drain during the construction of All Souls College, one of the many colleges that make up Oxford University in England. All Souls isn’t an undergraduate college, but one of the most competitive postgraduate schools in the world, made up of very accomplished scholars.
Nature shouldn't be feared

Nov 13, 2023 | twibchicago.com | Bill Davison

Talk to enough people about birds, and one comes to some conclusions about the views of non-birders, the Muggles among us who go about their days without an eye toward avifauna. One is that people sometimes irrationally fear nature. Sure, folks get freaked out by snakes, spiders, and the like, but is there really anything to worry about? Some people have just seen Hitchcock’s “The Birds” too many times. This came to mind when I saw a social media post in a neighborhood group recently.