To celebrate our one-year anniversary of dating, my boyfriend and I planned a camping trip to southern Illinois. We wanted to visit locations like Snake Road, Heron Pond, and Trillium Trail, all within the massive Shawnee National Forest. Here is how our trip went. Arrival We left at 5:40 in the morning and drove the
Category: Birding
Enjoying the Sun with Golden-crowned Kinglets and Other Wildlife
The weather was finally nice again this past weekend, so to enjoy the sun and the wildlife it brought with it, we went hiking in our local area and photographed what we saw. Birds were not especially active when we went, although we did see two Red-tailed Hawks, some Turkey Vultures, some woodpeckers, and many,
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5 Methods for Finding New and Interesting Birds
I have been a birder for my entire life. I would often go birding with my aunt, my uncle, my mom, or my grandparents. As I got older, however, we all had less and less time to go birding. Now, as an adult, I have been getting back into birds and nature in general, and
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In Search of Spring – Harbinger of Spring
Spring is at our doorstep, and with the nice weather comes a plethora of new birding opportunities. To make the most of the dawn of spring, Michael Ostrowski, a botanist and photographer, and I, the newest writer for the Birdfreak team, made our way to Will County in search of spring. While there, we saw
3 Generations Counting Birds
Each spring I try to participate in the annual Spring Bird Count in northern Illinois. In the last 15 years I may have missed two or three. Counting birds is a great excuse to get out and go birding, even if life is extra busy. This year I headed out into the field with my
Montana Audubon’s Wings Across the Big Sky Bird Festival
I’ve visited Montana only once and have been dreaming of returning ever since. Montana is enormous and blessed with over 400 species of birds spread across a surprisingly diverse landscape. Wings Across the Big Sky is an annual birding festival hosted by Montana Audubon and this year marks the 20th for the festival. American Prairie
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Birds and Beans Triple Certified Coffee
Coffee and birding go together like bacon and more bacon. Birds and Beans Coffee is the only brand of coffee that solely sells organic, shade-grown, and Bird Certified® coffee. Bird Friendly® coffee is coffee that comes from family farms in Latin America that provide good, forest-like habitat for birds. Rather than being grown on farms
17-year Cicadas are for the Birds!
In 2007, the Birdfreaks went Cuckoo for Cicadas. A 17-year periodical cicada called Brood XIII emerged to the delight of bird species in northern Illinois and a few nearby states (MAP). It was amazing to see so many cicadas at once, the noise was deafening and the birds went crazy for them! We even found
