Gauging interest - birding by bike
So, along with being obsessed with cycling, I'm also a birder, albeit not a super hardcore life-lister-type birder. I've been toying with the idea of getting some like-minded cycling folks together for a ride out through some birding hotspots to maybe see what we can see, what with Fall migration getting underway. Anybody else up for something like this? All you'd need would be a bike, binoculars, and the bird guide of your choice.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi on -
I just read that the Shedd Aquarium built a garden on the lake side that is intended to attract birds on the fall migration. I could manage that :-).
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Permalink Reply by Anne B. on -
This would be so cool! I'm really busy these days but would try and make it to this.
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Permalink Reply by James BlackHeron on -
For a moment I thought this was going to be post #4 of that Wall Street Journal type of bicyclist article...
Birding is fun. When I was in Peru we spent a week in the Amazon and one of the other guests was a professional ornithologist on vacation (studied hummingbirds) which was really fun to have as a resource. He was pointing out all sorts of different and rare birds all of the time wherever we went. My wife would always ask him when something flew by on the river, "what is THAT one?" and he'd usually reply, "that's ANOTHER Kingfisher again..."
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Permalink Reply by Steven E Gross on -
I've been birding all week by bike. The first day I walked with it at the magic hedge. After that I brought a lock. Great birding right now at the hedge. Today I didn't bird, instead I just kept riding.
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Permalink Reply by kiltedcelt on
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Yeah, I've walked The Hedge before, having driven the car up there, but the one time I walked through with another friend when we had our bikes, it was a pain in the butt. I don't know where you'd lock up securely around there. Where did you lock up? Was it right near the Hedge or somewhere close by? For a first trip, I could see something like maybe starting up north at the Hedge and then riding south to Northerly Island, then checking out the sanctuary on the south side of McCormick, then the prairie plots south of there and finally finishing up at Jackson Park/Wooded Island.
It'd be nice to see what's out there on some of the trails outside the city. I rode the Fox River Trail with a friend a week or so ago and we saw TONS of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. I'm sure if I'd brought my binoculars I could've seen lots of other cool birds that weren't quite as obvious. Unfortunately, I'm winding down from my stretch of having a weekend day off, so my birding trips will only be weekdays starting the first week of October. I don't know how many people would be able to do a birding ride in the middle of the day on a Wednesday/Thursday.
Like I said, I'm not a supremely knowledgeable birder by any stretch, but I'd be willing to organize and sort of lead a trip. However, if it's going to be catching the tail end of Fall migration here, then it'll have to be a weekday since that's when I'll be off. If no one can make a weekday ride, there's always Spring migration.
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Permalink Reply by Anne B. on
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I think there's a rack right by the western entrance to the hedge FYI. On the side near the harbor.
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Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on
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As a closeted newbie birder (thanks to House Sparrows at My House) I am coming out. In addition to the Hedge at Montrose Point the Bill Jarvis Bird Sanctuary is jsut south of the Waveland Clock Tower and even has an observation deck. The McCormick Bird Sanctuary in Burnham Park has 6 acres and is just south of McCormick Place. Another is at 63rd Street Beach, and still one more is at Osterman Beach just north of Hollywood. Seems like enough for a good ride for birding along the lakefront.
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Permalink Reply by kiltedcelt on
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Of course Fall/Spring migration are really good times to go birding, but you can usually see cool stuff pretty much all year. One of the advantages is that the various prairie restorations and the forest preserve areas provide enough good habitat that you can get out and do some birding pretty much all year around. Of course you see more at certain times of the year like the migrations, but there's still stuff to see if you look. I actually saw a Snowy Owl (near 35th),on the LFP winter of this year. I have also seen up close and personal on the LFP a Red-tailed Hawk (near 31st), and a Peregrine Falcon (just north of Navy Pier).
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Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on -
Birding is something I've wanted to get at least a little familiar with for a while now. I'd be down for this for sure.
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Permalink Reply by David crZven 10.6 on
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It gets busy on weekends, but the North Park Nature center is pretty good as well. You are more likely to see other Woodland creatures, but its close in and rather nice. (Essentially Bryn Mawr and Pulaski (or is it Cicero))
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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on -
The entrance is at the stoplight on Pulaski between Bryn Mawr and Peterson.
David crZven said:It gets busy on weekends, but the North Park Nature center is pretty good as well. You are more likely to see other Woodland creatures, but its close in and rather nice. (Essentially Bryn Mawr and Pulaski (or is it Cicero))
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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on
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Living near the far southwest corner of the city, I'm fortunate to live on the migration path for sandhill cranes between Wisconsin (Horicon Marsh and thereabouts) and Florida. I expect to be seeing them before too long.
In the spring, warmer than average weather worked to my advantage. Since I was spending more time gardening and out on my bike, I happened to be outdoors when many flocks were passing through, so I saw a lot more of them than in a typical year.
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