Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District May 3, 2013 “Long live the king! Dutch folks everywhere cheered this past week as their much-beloved Queen Beatrix abdicated the throne to her son, Willem-Alexander. He became the Netherlands’ first king in more
Bird, Fly, Kinglet
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District April 26, 2013 “Sweet, sweet, sweet…blah blah blah yada yada.” “Sweet, sweet, sweet…blah blah blah yada yada.” “Sweet, sweet, sweet…blah blah blah yada yada.” Sound familiar? No, it’s not the talk of some crazed
Bird, Fly, Song Sparrow
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District April 5, 2013 “Kill-deer!” “Kill-deer! Kill-deer! Kill-deer!” Yep, there’s no doubt. The killdeer have returned. These medium-sized birds, members of the plover family, are famous for their namesake call – and for their propensity
Bird, Fly, Kildeer
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District March 15, 2013 Any handyman will tell you, having the right tools will make a job go a heck of a lot easier. Birds, I’ll bet, would say the same thing. A hawk’s beak
Bird, Cross Bills, Fly
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District November 2, 2012 Wow. The facts blowing around in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy are staggering. The massive weather event took at least 160 human lives in the U.S. and Caribbean, knocked out power
Bird, Eastern Wood Pewee, Fly, Migration
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District September 14, 2012 Driving along Peck Road the other day, a merry band of naturalists spotted a TV dinner on the pavement. Even better, the TV was right next to it! Now, before visions
Bird, Fly, Turkey Vulture
September 7, 2012 Once upon a time Canada geese were just that—geese from Canada. Well, Canada and thereabouts. A denizen of the north, the birds’ appearances in our area were primarily during migration, and their flocks were a sight to behold. I remember one fall, I want to say it was in the mid-1970s, when
Bird, Fly, Sandhill Crane
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District June 8, 2012 I remember the first time I ever saw a Baltimore oriole. I was in the backyard of my grandmother’s house in downstate Atterberry, IL, (which, not so coincidentally, is my mother’s
Baltimore Oriole, Bird, Fly
“Aw, crud.” Those were the words I uttered a few days ago when I stepped outside my office to take the picture for this week’s column. High above our service entrance, at the back of Hickory Knolls, a robin’s nest still sat among the supports of our photovoltaic, or solar energy, panels. My intent this
Bird, Fly, Robin