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
A bird that I’ve come to associate with early spring is the blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) , a woodland sprite that returns in early to mid-April from its wintering territory in southern
When I first became a serious birder while living in northern Virginia, I heard friends talk about the Amercian woodcock (Scolopax minor) and its extraordinary aerial displays in early spring. But I
One of the pleasures of winter birding is the search for wintering waterfowl. Ducks that have bred in wetlands at more northerly latitudes fly south to swim and forage in ponds and
The early birds have been singing again and that can only mean one thing. It’s about time for the return of Wendy Paulson’s Barrington Area Spring Bird Walks & Hikes! Hot off
Recent spells of arctic weather have left many of our natural areas seemingly bereft of birdlife. Except for a crow here and a red-tailed hawk there, it appeared that most birds in
Twice during the first week in October I received messages and photos from friends about little birds they had spotted in the city, one on a balcony rail thirty stories high and
On a recent bird walk at Beverly Lake in Spring Creek Forest Preserve, our group stood for several minutes in the parking lot, transfixed by a river of blue jays passing overhead.
For most birds that spend the summer in our area, August is a relatively quiet month. Courtship, nest building, incubation, chick-raising are finished chapters in the annual cycle. It’s a time to
One of our local summer bird residents, despite its dazzling appearance, is so small it often goes unnoticed. Several times in June a quick movement has caught my eye and it has
I probably would not have chosen the black-billed cuckoo (Coccyrus erythropthalmus) to profile in Birds of Barrington for some years (when I was running out of species!), as it’s a secretive bird,
This time of year I eagerly await the arrival of local nesting birds which have wintered elsewhere. One such returnee, a short-distance migrant, never fails to make me smile when I hear