Every now and then, a teacher will reach out to us asking for help leading a bird walk. How can we refuse? But what if physical help isn’t easy to come by?
COS has been keeping an eye on plans for development in Jackson Park, including a new golf course in the South Shore neighborhood. Birders and community residents are voicing their concerns about wildlife protection.
In December COS celebrated its Conservation Awards, given to volunteers who have given freely of their time and energy to do the avian-based restoration work at LaBagh Woods.
Save the date! April 22 at 6:30pm at Galway Arms in Lincoln Park, COS will be hosting a fundraiser for LaBagh Woods. We're honored to have live music by Congress of Starlings!
We are really starting to see progress being made at the this Swamp White Oak grove area, and I am so proud of our volunteers for what they have accomplished in this area. But like most restoration efforts, no rest for the weary. We will continue removing unwanted dead trees, pole trees and buckthorn to prepare this area for seeding (immediately) and planting (in the near future).
Just what is your COS Board doing on this unseasonable warm February Monday evening, besides eating lasagna?
Your COS (Chicago Ornithological Society) Board is comprised of 10 volunteers lead by Carl Giometti, our COS President for 2017. The board meets a minimum of once per quarter and deliberates on a number of initiatives COS is involved with for Chicago area birders.
The native shrub plantings are finished for 2016, and now we begin to prepare other parts of LaBagh for native shrub plantings and native herbaceous plant seeding in 2017. This is important work, but more than anything else, IT'S FUN!
Join one of Chicagoland’s most active Christmas Bird Counts on December 18, 2016. Nearly 100 people volunteer their time on a wintery Sunday to count birds. The count circle includes a wide variety of habitats from the forests of Palos to the pine plantations of the Morton Arboretum to the open grasslands of Green Valley. The Lisle Arboretum Count is part of the National Audubon Society’s national Christmas Count program.
This year the Forest Preserve District decided to establish birding competition teams in every preserve that provides a leader and a team. The competition starts March 1 and is designed to get birders into the Forest Preserves and record their data on e-bird. Learn more about the competition here: Forest Preserve District Big Year
The 67th Lisle-Arboretum Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, 20 December 2015. There was only a brief freeze in the weeks prior to count day, so that we had a lot of hope for a good count. The 90 field observers and nine feeder watchers also had reasonably warm weather to work with, without any snow on the ground. Despite this, most field parties bemoaned the lack of birds.
Have you been out to LaBagh Woods lately? If you have, you have seen that the LaBagh Big Year has made a huge difference. Planting is complete for this year, but fund-raising and scouring LaBagh for new species has not stopped.
