Take a walk with curious birders

By Patti Jeffrey

Have you noticed that every time you get outside, birds are everywhere? Birds can actually help us make an easy connection with our natural world. Look closer and you’ll soon find that spotting bird species also can thrill us with the hunt for elusive treasures, much like geocaching. Start a new adventure by going on a birdwatching walk at Eagle’s Pride Golf Course. For 10 years, birders have gathered monthly to walk around the wilder parts of the golf course, trying to spot birds they’ve not seen before.

Organizer Denis DeSilvis says, “This is a good place to go for birding with knowledgeable people. We have a unique area — a forest bordered by a prairie and wetlands. And the best time to watch birds here is April through June during breeding season.”

Denis should know — his education includes a bachelor’s degree in zoology and master’s in wildlife ecology. He says, “When I was in fourth grade, I wanted to be an orthinologist and I’ve had bird feeders since I was a kid. I’ve been birding here since 1979; it’s a phenomenal area for birding.”

When you first start birding, Denis says that you naturally want to spot species by sight. But most of the group’s identification comes through hearing their songs and calls. “We try to track them down and see them,” he says, “but sometimes we can’t since the trees are 80–100 feet tall.”

The group has encountered surprises over the course of walks. “We identified a northern harrier raptor, which was totally unexpected for this location,” says Denis. “And few months ago, we found almost 50 varied thrushes — an unusual amount — and in the exact same spot the next month, we had 120 robins. Why there? How does this happen?

“A red-tailed hawk has nested several years by Hodge Lake, the only natural lake on the golf course,” Denis continues. “You usually see them eating voles and other small mammals, but we found they’ve been eating earthworms for their protein! We’ve also seen other unusual breeding birds nesting on or by the lake, including Bullock’s orioles and grebes.”

After each walk, the number and types of species spotted are entered into eBird, a Continued on page 39.