Ducks are very much tied to the seasons in Barrington. Mallards can be found locally all year long. Other ducks nest in the Barrington area during breeding season, species like wood duck
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I honestly cannot remember the first time I saw a Cooper’s hawk – or, rather, knew that I saw a Cooper’s hawk. It must have been after college when my husband and
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There are probably few adults, and even schoolchildren, who cannot identify the American robin (Turdus migratorius). In the many illustrated children’s books that crowd my shelves, both natural history ones and fiction,
An unexpected experience with fourth graders from Sunny Hill School in late September prompts this month’s bird profile. We were just entering the prairie atop Galloping Hill, part of the ongoing prairie
On these waning summer evenings, one sweet birdsong often pierces the quiet that’s settling in. It belongs to the eastern wood pewee (Contopus virens), a bird that soon will depart for the
Summer evening diners at one of the downtown Barrington restaurants with outdoor patios may note twitters in the sky above – not the twitter accounts regularly consulted on mobile devices, but those
On a bird walk at Crabtree Nature Center in early May, when trees still stood leafless though very warm weather had suddenly blown in, one small bird stood out like a little
Can there be a sweeter or more convincing herald of spring than the song sparrow? Certainly the bugling cries of sandhill cranes streaming overhead in March signal the emergence of fresh plant
January through April are prime months for ducks in the greater Chicago area and Barrington is no exception. Their location depends largely on where the ice is and where it is not.
With the approach of the Christmas season, thoughts turn to traditional holiday music. Among the most popular carols is “The Twelve Days of Christmas” which cites “two turtle doves” and leads us
Several recent appearances of an uncommon visitor to the Barrington area prompt me to add it to the growing assemblage of Barrington bird profiles. I struck out on a walk in the
Several years ago – actually, it may have been twenty! – there was a message on our voicemail from a neighbor to let me know that he had seen four eagles on
There are not a lot of birds singing this time of year. Most species have nested, raised their young, and have either scattered or are staging (gathering) in flocks before southward journeys.
For many migrant birds that nest in the Barrington area, it’s easy to predict where and when they’ll appear for their annual sojourn. Year after year, different habitats attract the species associated
Barrington hosts a fair number of large birds, ones that exceed four feet in length or six feet in wingspan. Think great blue heron, Barrington’s official town bird, or bald eagle, a