The scope looked familiar as we drove by, so I turned the car around and went back. An elderly couple (even older than I) had stopped at a wayside and were looking out over the water with their tripod mounted spotting scope. It just happened to be the same brand as mine, but it could have been any kind. Call it the brotherhood of the scope. I was as curious about what they had found as they were eager to share.
It was like old home week. They talked excitedly about the mergansers, both red breasted, and common. Golden eyes had caught their eyes, as well. “Here take a look,” she pointed to the spotting scope. As I peered into the eyepiece, she said, aren’t those mergansers beautiful? They wanted to know whether I might have seen any lesser scaup. I explained where I’d seen a few, and they could hardly wait to go check them out. Their enthusiasm reminded me why I had started birding in the first place. It’s a perfect connection to biodiversity as well as to the environment. To monitor migration is to have a finger on the planetary pulse.
As we stood there, we heard the cricket-like call of the golden crowned kinglet, back among the trees, or might it have been brown creepers? Some motion caught our attention and as we looked through binoculars, there were both species. The kinglets were showing off their bright golden crowns, the creepers just looked dirty brown.
As a couple of sand hill cranes passed by I thought of Naturalist, Aldo Leopold, “we hear the trumpet in the orchestra of evolution.” Most other birds are far more subtle. These are the songs which have reverberated throughout springtime for millennia. They have always been part of our environment.
Throughout human evolution, our ancestors were inexorably connected to critters. We have a natural affinity for flora and fauna, what Dr. E.O. Wilson calls “biophilia.” Unfortunately civilization has made us ever more distant… as we ride in cars from climate controlled houses to climate controlled offices and schools, and focus on “virtual reality” rather than just plain reality. We are becoming aliens in our own world. Ask most people what some bird or flower is and you’ll get a mystified look. This disconnect comes at a cost.
Getting to know the birds and recognizing migrants as well as year-round residents can be fun and rewarding… they can be a barometer of environmental change. Plus, it gets you out to the most beautiful natural areas. All you need is a decent field guide and a serviceable pair of binoculars. The Illinois River is a migration corridor. From the Hennepin/ Hopper wetland near Hennepin, to Forest Park Nature Center, to Banner Marsh, to the Emiquon, Chatauqua complex near Havana, there are numerous birding hotspots.
Just as birds of a feather flock together… birders tend to gravitate to the same places. At these locations you can find unusual birds as well as interesting people. It’s as if bird watchers are privy to some esoteric knowledge. If you happen to see some people with a scope on a tripod, or with binoculars, and looking at a book… you might stop to ask what they are finding. Like field marks or calls, binoculars and scopes are indicators. As you might expect, there’s always more to it. Turns out the birder we had approached was a botanist who had been retired for a decade. His interests, like his wife’s, were focused on, not just birds, but on wildflowers. It’s a great way to meet new species but also kindred spirits.
Among birders, a bird song can interrupt any conversation in a heartbeat… someone will quietly point in the direction of the tell-tale song. Probably the best way to ID birds is to recognize their songs. In spring, the birds always tell you who they are. There are a couple basic tricks to birding by ear. Most people are familiar with the “cheer-up, cheerily, cheer-up, cheerily” of the robin, the “caw caw caw” of the crow, and the “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” call of the chickadee. Many birders have learned to recognize the “robin with a sore throat” song of the scarlet tanager, or the musical “very very pleased to meet-cha” of the chestnut sided warbler. Indigo buntings have a redundant song, repeating short musical phrases “chew chew, see see, twee twee.”Brown thrashers also repeat phrases, but are more slow and definite, and have a lower voice. Henry David Thoreau worded their song as, “drop it, drop it…. pick it up, pick it up… plant it, plant it…” It’s a safe bet that a birder would be able to identify, “Madge Madge Madge… put on your tea kettle-ettle-ettle…” as the melodic music of the song sparrow put to words. It’s surprising how frequently this song reverberates in both urban and rural areas, and yet how many of us are totally unaware of the singer.
Spring, that magical time of resurrection, is an appropriate time to re-connect. Native bird songs have been reverberating through the valley of the Illinois River for many thousands of years. They constitute the voice and the spirit of this unique ecosystem. Birds are announcing who they are and where they are… all it takes is a little bit of detective work and gradually you can put a bird with its song as you learn the language of the landscape. Once you have a name, google the critters and learn about your avian neighbors.
Staff at Forest Park Nature Center can answer questions. They offer books and tapes, as well as birding hikes to help you with identification: Saturdays… May 14, 21, and 28, at 7:30 a.m. Also they are hosting “Celebrate Urban Birds Day,” on Saturday, May 28, at 9:00 a.m. and on Sunday, May 29, at 1:00 p.m. (Please pre-register for Bird Day). For more information stop by the Nature Center, or call 686-3360.