Listing Through Life

clangula (noise) hyemalis (winter)

Monday, March 16, 1981 — 4:45 pm

Evanston, Illinois — Northwestern University — Lake Michigan

In the spring of 1980, I would drive to Lake Michigan after work to bird. I saw a lot of interesting birds, but the one I most wanted to see, the Oldsquaw, eluded me. I knew they were there, flying just out of binocular range. (I was still using the individual-eye-focus binoculars Dad gave me.)  I could see birds out over the lake, but I just couldn’t make them out. Were they Oldsquaw? Scoters? Goldeneye? It got to be a crusade with me, and it got very frustrating.

I decided to buy a spotting scope. We had very little money, but I scrimped and saved and finally got the necessary $200. I took it to the lake for the first time on this Monday and … success.

The Oldsquaws were swimming and drifting in a loose raft well out in the lake. Without the scope, I couldn’t have identified them. They frequently disappeared behind the waves and reappeared on the crests. Occasionally, one would dive under the surface. A few minutes after I spotted them, most of the raft took a nap with heads tucked into their back feathers. One of the females rose up and flapped her wings, affording me a great view of her dark wings. When they drifted with their backs to the wind, their long tails curled up over their backs. It wasn’t as good a look as I could have wished, but I could tell they were beautiful. It justified the cost of the scope.

Notice downtown Chicago on the far right.

scolopax (pointed) minor (lesser)

Sunday, March 15, 1981 — 1:45 pm

Barrington, Illinois — Baker’s Lake — Beese Park

My wife and I were walking along the path that runs along the slope above the lake. There was a strip of trees and brush approximately 10 yards deep between the path and the shore. We were startled by a loud whistling of wings. The Woodcock burst out of the brush about 20 feet in front of us and flew just above the treetops, shortly disappearing from view.

For the next two or three years, I could see a Woodcock anytime I wanted to during the spring. Close to the Beese Park parking lot, there was a little patch of short, brushy trees. Every time I walked through this patch in late March or April, I would flush a Woodcock. And no matter how slowly or carefully I moved, I never saw one before it flushed. On two or three occasions, when I was there at dusk, I saw one (or, more properly, the silhouette of one) in courtship flight. They would come out of the brush into a clearing, perform their courtship dances, and make their strange calls.

pinicola (from pinus, pine, and colere, to dwell) enucleator (to take out kernels)

Friday, January 2, 1981 — 10:45 am

McNaughton, Wisconsin — Spider Lake Road

Next to the house was a large tree with a few feeders hanging from the branches. These two docile birds spent some time eating at the feeders, some time feeding on the ground, and a lot of time sitting in the tree looking around. They were very large gray finches with white wing-bars and long tails. Their heads and rumps were red/orange.

carduelis (thistle) flammea (flame)

Friday, January 2, 1981 — 10:30 am

McNaughton, Wisconsin — Spider Lake Road

My friends and I went back to the farm a little later in the morning when it had warmed up to 4 degrees. There were other birds we wanted to see. A Common Redpoll was foraging on the ground under a feeder. It also ate on the feeder some. But most of the time we watched, it sat in a bush next to the garage. It was very tame and allowed me to get within three feet. There were also Black-capped Chickadees, Evening Grosbeaks, Red-breasted Nuthatches, House Sparrows, Blue Jays, Pine Grosbeaks, Downy Woodpeckers, and Hairy Woodpeckers at the feeders.

plectrophenax (from plektron, a clawlike tool, and phenax, false) nivalis (snowy)

Friday, January 2, 1981 — 9:25 am

McNaughton, Wisconsin — Spider Lake Road

My friends and I got up at dawn on Friday and drove to a friend’s farm to bird by their feeders. When we first arrived, it was -18 degrees. We hung around for a while watching Evening Grosbeaks, Hairy Woodpeckers and other common birds.

As we were leaving, I spotted a bunch of white flecks zipping around in the hay field across the road. I knew immediately that they were Snow Buntings and went nuts. The birds were very active, hopping and flying about constantly. At any kind of distance, when they were flying, only the white wing patches were visible, and they often disappeared against the snowy background. We barely got to the edge of the field when they fluttered out of sight.