Young great blue herons watching a helicopter. Filmed June 20, 2026, at Oak Woods Cemetery.

I believe this damselfly is a Familiar Bluet. From Hackmatack NWR near Richmond, IL. 🐞 📷

It’s hard to articulate how special an all-white hummingbird is. There have been perhaps only three or four seen in the Midwest in the past two decades. www.twibchicago.com/p/the-psalm-...

Vandals have left my back yard fountain greenish and full of algae. 🤦‍♂️

Wild Turkeys can be elusive in the Chicago area, but Hackmatack NWR near the Wisconsin border is a fairly reliable place to find them. 🪶

“I’m going to have to lay down in front of a bulldozer if I have to.” www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/04/k...

Maybe the only article you’ll see that attempts to weave together viral Chicago nature news with stuff that happened years ago two states over. open.substack.com/pub/twib/p/c...

🐺 The animal kingdom, arranged according to its organization, serving as a foundation for the natural history of animals. v.1 plates. London: G. Henderson, 1834-1837. [Source]

Excited to be part of this film fest! There will be a showing on 6/21 at 1:30p. The legend of the stump lives on. 🎞️

This was fun…in the 100th anniversary year of Route 66! 🖼️

So glad to learn of this. “Tony had circles within circles of friends,” [Greg] Neise said. www.wbez.org/arts/2026/05...

My kind of morning.

Current* conditions near Milwaukee, WI:

Signs of the impact of Piping Plovers on this town are everywhere. Uptown Branch Library, the mural by Dorian Sylvain.

We're pleased to share we've acquired the collection of Poetry Slam founder Marc Kelly Smith, who started the series in Chicago in 1984. The collection consists of over 30 linear feet of materials documenting the history of the Slam and its predecessors. www.newberry.org/news/the-new...

This is going great www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/19/c...

A family of mute swans in Indian Ridge Marsh on Chicago's Southeast Side, May 17, 2026

Spring migration was in full swing in one of our nearby forest preserves this morning. It was warm and humid, and there was a flurry of activity in between rain showers. 🪶

Writing in 1904, Schuyler Mathews described the Brown Thrasher's song as Shuck it, shuck it, sow it, sow it; Plough it, plough it, hoe it, hoe it. Don't stop get it, get it, Watch me as I navigate, ha ha ha ha.

Best thing about spring birding on the prairies? Slough peeping! Every little pothole wetland is just bursting with life #birds

Spring ephemerals 🌼 recently, taken while visiting Hackmatack NWR near Genoa City, WI. I’ll be there regularly this year, getting a chance to experience this special place. 🪴 🌱

The brilliant Florence Merriam Bailey once described the Great Crested Flycatcher as having an "olive coat, ash-gray vest, and bright sulphur-yellow knickerbockers!" and I'm here for it. Wrote about this in my newsletter today: www.twibchicago.com 🪶

New class alert! I’ll be teaching a class at Chicago Botanic Garden this June, on Mondays starting 6/8. About the intersection of birds, art, and history - Willughby, Catesby, Stone, and Bewick. Register on the garden’s website. #historysky

Sorry to be this person, but it’s driving me batty that these headlines repeatedly say “born” instead of hatched. Know your nature verbs.

May we all be this relaxed. Related: blue bells seem to be everywhere right now.

From our artifacts cage with Library Assistant Alexis - "Officium Seraphici Patris Nostri Sancti Francisci" is an oversize a choral score by the Franciscan Order in 1773. The book was intended for use in mass, the musical notation being large enough for parishioners to read it from a distance.

April sunset

Imani will be 5 this summer, looking back at his eventful first few weeks after hatching. 🪶 www.twibchicago.com/p/appreciati...

Brown centipede found while sweeping the patio today. 🐞

Bluesky friends, what to do with plant stalks from last year, in a smallish city lot? We don’t want to discard them, due to all the potential insect life. 🪴 🌱

As late as 1890, people believed that smaller birds migrated by riding on the backs of geese, swans, storks, and cranes. This wasn't just urban legend, this was the esteemed outdoors publication Forest and Stream going out of its way to make this point. #historysky

This is the most flooded I’ve seen the North Branch in my six or so years living nearby.

A Brown Thrasher from Schuyler Mathews’ 1904 Field Book of Wild Birds and Their Music. One of “our finest singers,” the song is paraphrased as Shuck it, shuck it Sow it, sow it Plough it, plough it Hoe it, hoe it 🪶

Pippin's back. And now Imani is too! www.chicagotribune.com/2026/04/13/p...

Welcome home, Pippin! 🤍🟢 Our beloved Pippin has returned. Many will remember he departed last summer with something tangled around his foot. We feared the worst. Pippin has returned to us with his right foot missing and a limp but otherwise appears well. 📸:Liam Francis Shanley

Pippin is back at Montrose! www.instagram.com/p/DXFjr4VkYb... 🪶

New in This Week in Birding: The case for cowbirds 🐦‍⬛ www.twibchicago.com/p/in-defense... 🪶

Another macro from the yard...this is some turkey tail (I believe) that has sprung up on an old log. It looks like it's getting more colorful in this season? 🍄 📷 📸

Practicing with a macro lens today, and Norway Maple buds bursts made for good subjects. 🌿🌱🪴

I snapped a photo of one of the area male goldfinches just as the bright yellow feathers are coming in. 🪶

I took a look at birds that exhibit cooperative behaviors after seeing an unmated Canada Goose looking out for another pair's goslings. www.twibchicago.com/p/lending-a-...

A flooded woodland like this is Eden for migrating sandpipers and waterthrushes. Only two or three weeks until they return.

Always birding - including at the Art Institute of Chicago. Vessel in Form of a Bird, Tang dynasty (618-907), first half of 8th C, China. The bird may be either a mandarin duck or a wild goose; both traditionally symbolized peace, prosperity, and marital love (looks like a small goose to me).

today in photos. some birds i've seen in my backyard. taken with a lumix g9 and the pana-leica 100-400mm telephoto lens

🐦‍⬛ House Wrens arrive in this area by the last week of April and nest in cavities including readily in birdhouses. They typically raise two broods before heading south to the Gulf states and Central America. Photo: August 2024 #birds #chicago 🪶

Whoa

The first hole at Edgebrook Golf Course is underwater this morning after last night’s rain. They have a drainage pump going at the moment to dry this out.

Loved helping out with this story! 🖊️

“I want you to put the word out there that we back up.” The feeder cam is online again and ready for spring migration. 🪶

Why is Montrose Point such a migration hotspot? Flying straight across the lake from places like Indiana is faster, consumes less energy, and is probably safer than going around the lake. The point juts into the lake and has the food and shelter that is critical during migration. 🪶