Listing Through Life

calidris (speckled water bird) melanotos (from melas, black, and noton, back)

Friday, April 18, 1980 — 12:00 noon

Northbrook, Illinois

As the weather got warmer and migration started, I began going outside every chance I found to see birds. I even took advantage of my lunch time at a distribution company to wander around a nearby empty lot and golf course behind the building.

For these birds, however, I didn’t have to go very far. Between the back of the building and the parking lot was a small grassy area. As soon as I walked outside, I spotted them wading in puddles in the grass. They fed, dipping their bills in the water as they moved around. When I got too close, they flushed, flew around the field once, then took off out of sight.

passerculus (little sparrow) sandwichensis (of Sandwich, Unalaska, in the Aleutians)

Thursday, April 17, 1980 — 4:45 pm

Deerfield, Illinois

On a college campus was an overgrown garden where the married students grew vegetables in the summer. I spotted several sparrows feeding in among the weeds and dried vegetable plants. I chased them back and forth for a long time, trying to see the field marks. Whenever I flushed one, it would fly a short distance and land, usually out of sight on the ground, but occasionally in one of the tiny trees in the area. Since I had time, I continued chasing them until I saw all the marks, including the notched tail.

actitis (shore dweller) macularia (spotted)

Sunday, April 13, 1980 — 4:00 pm

Lisle, Illinois — Morton Arboretum

I’ve been to the Arboretum three or four times during my birding life, and I’ve never been particularly impressed. The roads and paths wind through many different types of woods, fields and gardens. It is undeniably beautiful, but the birding is unspectacular.

After my wife and I saw my lifer Northern Rough-winged Swallow, we walked around for a while. We ended up back by Meadow Lake and there saw this Spotted Sandpiper. The “lake” is a small pond in a field near the main building. This April, it wasn’t more than two-thirds full of water and was surrounded by mud flats. The sandpiper was standing in the mud, teetering up and down at the edge of the water. It flew out over the water as we approached and landed further down the shore. It had peculiar wing beats with jerky down strokes.

stelgidopteryx (from stelgidos, scraper, and pteryx, wing) serripennis (unknown)

Sunday, April 13, 1980 — 3:00 pm

Lisle, Illinois — Morton Arboretum

The Northern Rough-winged Swallow was flying back and forth over a small pond that goes by the pretentious name of Meadow Lake.

melospiza (from melos, song, and spiza, finch) georgiana (of Georgia)

Sunday, April 6, 1980 — 4:30 pm

Barrington, Illinois — Crabtree Nature Center

This bird was foraging in a strip of brushy trees along the edge of Bulrush Pond, across from the blind.