The Big 'Chicago' Year: January Bird Notes

January was a cold month.

My 7yo son and I are doing a Big 'Chicago' Year (which includes Cook County). With school 5 days a week and several days in January being below 20 degrees we didn't get out very often, but we did get a couple of accidental or rare birds - and I added to my life-list...did I say it's only January?!

My 2013 List: 26

My son's 2013 List: 24

As can happen, I saw a bird or two just out driving in the car to and from, so my list is a little longer. Soon enough my son will catch up.

Our Highlights include the Evening Grosbeak (that took three tries to find) and the Varied Thrush. The pictures were taken with cloudy and rainy conditions. I also included our first American Goldfinch of the year with a little surprise Downy Woodpecker butt on the side.

Evening Grosbeak - Female 1/30/13 Rosehill Cemetery

(same) Evening Grosbeak 1/29/13 Rosehill Cemetery

Varied Thrush - Male 1/30/13 Evanston, IL.

American Goldfinch - Male. D.Woodpecker Butt 1/30/13

The reason we were able to find the 'rare' birds was because of 'ilbirds.com' - I imagine we will be using website on a regular basis to help us find more birds than we would have otherwise.

We also met quite a few fellow birders this month; wonderful, helpful, interesting people. This is going to be an interesting year!

Here's to good hunting in February - hopefully we won't get below 20 degrees!

Alexandra Gnoske is a nature lover, writer, and environmental expert.