Finishing up the month strong

Cook County, IL

Monday 1 February 2021 33 °F

Today I noticed I was two birds away from the Cook County January record, so I set out in search of two target birds: Eurasian Collared-Dove and Pine Siskin which are both somewhat unremarkable birds, but had the potential to boost my standing at 87 species to a record-breaking 89.

The feeders at the Trailside Museum had a FOX SPARROW and more common species, but nothing that I needed for the year, so I continued on to Palmer St in River Grove where Eurasian Collared-Dove is a guarantee. And that they were! You can barely make out the dove’s collar in this picture. This tied me and my friend Isoo at both 88 birds for Cook County this year.

There were 49 in total! This picture doesn’t include all of them — but it does most.

So then I went on the longest chase I will probably ever do for a Pine Siskin — I drove all the way to Sagawau Canyon Environmental Center where the feeders there pretty reliably host one or two with the Goldfinches. Upon arriving, I walked in, inspected the feeders, and within two minutes found my year bird PINE SISKIN hanging out with the other finches. Awesome! With that I set the record for most birds seen in Cook County in the month of January. A negligible record compared to Isoo’s earth-shattering Cook County Big Year in 2020, but at least something!

Read about his awesome big year here — http://www.traveltobird.com/travelogue

I then continued onto Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center to see if there would be anything random there like a Northern Flicker, Purple Finch, or Sharp-shinned Hawk — no luck on any of those birds or any further year birds but did have another nice look at a FOX SPARROW: