On Monday, April 8, 2024, I travelled approximately 260 miles to east central Indiana to view the first total solar eclipse I have seen. I had been looking forward to this event since the last eclipse in 2017 that occurred while I was working at the College of DuPage. I didn’t have the opportunity to … Read more
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 is a day I’ll remember for a long time! For on that day, I checked off one of the items I’ve aspired to on my personal birding bucket list: seeing and photographing a Whooping Crane! I had seen a Whooping Crane flying with a flock of Sandhills back in March of … Read more
I’ve been blessed to see lots of Bald Eagles over the course of my life. The effects of the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the outlawing of the use of DDT in that same year has led the Bald Eagle back from the brink of extinction to being a fairly common sight in the … Read more
I still am, but not the Snowy Owls! Regular readers of this space know that I enjoy looking for Snowy Owls during the winter months. Over the last several years I have enjoyed searching for, and finding, these beautiful visitors from the Arctic North. This winter has been no exception, at least in the searching … Read more
As I write this column (on January 9, 2024) at a normally quiet time for wildlife in the dead of winter, the Bald Eagles in the area have already begun to prepare their nests for the upcoming nesting season! By the end of February or very beginning of March, most of the nesting pairs of … Read more
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! As we enter the holiday season, the birding scene in the Fox River Valley has undergone some dramatic changes since the warmer months of summer and fall. The leaves have fallen from the trees and most of the birds that migrate south for the winter have left … Read more
I was hiking down the main trail to the Fox River observation platform in the Hoover Forest Preserve (one of my favorite outdoor activities) near Yorkville just a couple of weeks ago in early October when I heard several unfamiliar calls emanating from the crowns of some tall white oak trees about half-way from the … Read more
I’ve always loved to come across a Green Heron when I’m on the river fishing or hiking in a riverside forest preserve. These interesting herons are less frequent sights than their larger cousins, the Great Blue Heron and the Great Egret in our area. These beautiful birds have been on the decline over the last … Read more
My sister and l recently took a ride out to the site of the Little Rock Creek Bald Eagle nest that I have written about in this space previously. While the eaglets had fledged a few weeks ago, I was hopeful that one or two of the juvenile eagles or their parents might be paying … Read more
As I write this article in early July, I’m celebrating the beginning of a wonderful Independence Day weekend for our country, but also the emergence from the nest of a new-year-class of Bald Eagles. They are making their debut in the skies over the Fox River watershed! I have been closely following the progress of … Read more
