November 29, 2013 Coopers Hawk If you sat down to a turkey dinner this week, count yourself in the majority. According to a Turkey Quiz recently circulated by Kane County Audubon (thanks Bob Andrini!), 90% of American homes serve turkey on Thanksgiving Day. These folks, present company included, help account for the 45 million turkeys
Bird, Cooper's Hawk, Fly
November 1, 2013 Winter Wren I don’t know about you, but I’ve never really thought of the TriCities, or even the greater Chicagoland region, as a hotbed for cave dwellers. But what do I know? Turns out I’ve actually seen three this year, so far. Each time the encounters were brief, so much so that
Bird, Fly, Winter Wren
September 27, 2013 Chimney Swifts If the answer is “Flying cigars,” what do you suppose the question might be? If you said something involving George Burns, Groucho Marx and an airplane, you’re gifted (or burdened) with the same weird sense of humor I have…but you’d be incorrect. A more suitable response, at least here, in
Bird, Chimney Swift, FlyPam’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 March 1, 2013 Driving to work the other day, I saw a familiar sight: hundreds of Canada geese scattered across the frozen athletic fields of James O. Breen Community Park in St. Charles. Like
Birds, Flocks, FlyPam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District January 18, 2013 Call it an omen, call it what you will, but Wednesday on my way to work I saw [insert your favorite dramatic crescendo]…snow buntings. There I was, sitting in the left,
Birds, Fly, Snow Buntings