Articles in: Birding
Illinois Spring Bird Count – 2013
May 15, 2013 | No comment
Every year members of the Birdfreak Team participate in the Illinois Spring Bird Count, a citizen science project geared at counting birds across the state. County by county, birders try and find as many birds as possible during migration. This year we found out that some less-covered counties are counting on Sunday instead of the [...]
Biggest Week in American Birding – Volunteers Help Make it Happen!
May 8, 2013 | No comment
Saturday morning the Ohio Birdfreaks headed to the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. Though it was tempting to start birding as soon as we arrived, we were signed up as volunteers at the info booth that morning so to work we went! Ohio Young Birders Club Volunteers The three of us (including new birder Jamie) manned [...]
Biggest Week in American Birding 2013 – About to Begin!
May 2, 2013 | No comment
The Biggest Week in American Birding is getting ready to start! Northern Parula Online registration has closed BUT that doesn’t mean you can’t still sign up! They are accepting walk-in registration at the festival registration table at Maumee Bay Lodge and Conference Center and at Black Swamp Bird Observatory for just $20. The registration table [...]
Biggest Week in American Birding Registration is Open!
March 5, 2013 | No comment
So…what’s going on MAY 3 – May 12, 2013? YES – The Biggest Week in American Birding! Registration is now open! Some of the workshops and field trips are filling up fast so it is definitely not too early to reserve your place for a bird-filled week of fun! The entire week (10 days!) is [...]
Rock Cut Christmas Bird Count Recap (#113)
January 14, 2013 | No comment
Marking the 113th Christmas Bird Count I coordinated my newish circle (5th year) covering Rock Cut State Park and some nice forest preserves in Boone County (northern Illinois). This year was the lowest in terms of counters so we did not find too many birds. One group had a misunderstanding of when the count was [...]
Snoring Hummingbird? Coming Out of Torpor and Oh So Cute!
November 13, 2012 | 2 comments
Stacia sent me a link to this and it is just too adorable not to share. This hummingbird was being measured for how much oxygen it uses and the video captured what sounds like hummingbird-sized snoring. Watch the video (might have to refresh this page) and read the full writeup from It’s Okay to Be [...]
New Dekalb County Forest Preserve: Prairie Oaks
October 22, 2012 | 4 comments
This past weekend we visited a newly opened preserve in DeKalb County, Illinois called “Prairie Oaks Forest Preserve”. Immediately we were impressed by the variety of habitat which included some wetlands, large stately oaks, and some restored prairie/savanna. There is also a fairly large, older forest that is far removed from the road. The preserve [...]
Female Scarlet Tanager
October 3, 2012 | 4 comments
Last weekend I went on a fairly long hike but didn’t discover too many birds. Loads of Eastern Bluebirds and this female Scarlet Tanager that tried to blend in with the foliage. I haven’t been out birding much lately as construction on our house began and we have been super busy with that! -Eddie (Birdfreak)
