I n June 1999, I spent a few days hiking in Arches National Park in Utah. The park is famous for its stunning geological formations: red rock cliffs, balancing rocks, and more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches. (Alas,

I was not a birder then. Some 200 species have been reported in the park.) A lesser known, but no less important, aspect of the park is its cryptobiotic soil. The knobby, black crust is

an amalgam of lichen, mosses, green algae, microfungi, bacteria and cyanobacteria. These organisms play a vital role in forming and stabilizing the soil in the park’s arid landscape.

What might look like mere dirt and sand is surprisingly delicate. Cryptobiotic soil is more like a soufflé than the infield at Wrigley Field. The crust can take years to develop. Hiking or biking on cryptobiotic soil crushes it. Since crustal organisms need light to photosynthesize, compressing the soil can kill them and upset the whole ecosystem. Once the soil is no longer held in place by a web of microorganisms, it’s easily carried away by wind and water.

That’s why signs everywhere implore hikers to stay on marked trails or durable surfaces such as rocks or sandy washes. And yet, incredibly, I saw many people wandering off trail. In one case, a family of four stomped across a tract of cryptobiotic soil just to get a photo in front of a blooming cactus. To get there, they literally walked around a sign telling them to stay on the trail.

I was reminded of that incident recently in the wake of the appalling confrontation May 25 between a white woman and a black birder in New York City’s Central Park. That morning, a white woman named Amy Cooper was walking her dog in an area of Central Park known as the Ramble. Christian Cooper (no relation to her), a black birder, noticed that Amy’s dog was unleashed and running free, even though the Ramble is not classified as an off-leash area and signs state that dogs must be leashed. Christian politely asked Amy to leash her dog, she refused, and as the interaction proceeded, Christian began recording on his cellphone.

Christian’s video begins with Amy approaching him and asking him to stop recording. He repeatedly asks her to not come near him. She then calls the police, telling the 9-1-1 operator that an African-American man is threatening her. Amy’s actions have been widely criticized. She has been accused of falsely presenting herself as being in immediate physical danger. Worse, prior to placing the call, she repeatedly tells Christian that she is about to tell the police an African-American man is threatening her. Many see that as evidence that she was “weaponizing” the widely perceived prejudice of the police against people of color.

Sadly, the confrontation was just the latest in a string of racial incidents that have sparked nearly a month of protests and civil unrest. What bothers me as much as Amy Cooper’s blatant racism is the fact that she—like that family in Arches National Park—believes rules don’t apply to her. The confrontation never happens—and Amy would still have her lucrative job at an investment firm—if she simply followed the rules and leashed her dog. Was that so difficult? Unfortunately, too many of us don’t like to follow rules, even when they are in-tended to protect wildlife or other people. Leash your dog. Stay on the trail. Wear a mask. You can’t tell me what to do!

As we emerge from the COVID pandemic, let’s all strive to be a little kinder, a little more understanding, and a little more respectful.

—John Sprovieri

KCA to Host Online Meeting July 8

A s you know, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to cancel our April and May meetings, as well as our walks and rambles. And that’s too bad, because we missed some good speakers, not the least of which

were our very own Pam Otto and Valerie Blaine. Well, I’m pleased to announce that KCA is boldly entering the 21st century, and we are going to bring you

Pam and Valerie’s presentation, “Women in Conservation,” as our first ever live webinar on Wednesday, July 8, at 7 p.m.

KANE COUNTY AUDUBON NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2020

From the Presidential Bird Feeder

If we can’t meet in person, we might as well meet on-line, right? Here’s more about the presentation:

“Women in Conservation,” featuring Pam Otto and Valerie Blaine The history of environmentalism is replete with men like Aldo Leopold, Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir and Henry David Thoreau. However, women have made significant contributions, as well. In this presentation, Valerie Blaine, nature programs manager for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, and Pam Otto, the out-reach ambassador for the St. Charles Park District, will discuss the impact of women in conservation.

The meeting will be conducted through Zoom. Our virtual seating is limited, so you’ll have to register to at-

tend. It’s free, and, hopefully, painless. To register in advance for this meeting, click, or copy and paste, this link into your browser:

https://tinyurl.com/y9gz4pss. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Don’t miss it! —John Sprovieri

Spring Bird Count Logs 165 Species

S ome 39 birders turned out May 9 for KCA’s 49th annual Spring Bird Count. Birders identified 158 bird species and tallied 13,533 individual birds.

The total number of species recorded in 2020 was above the historic average of 144, but it was the second lowest total in the past 10 years.

Twenty-one birding parties spent a total of 125 hours in the field and logged 120 total miles (on foot and by car) in search of Kane County’s birds. The latter figure is the lowest total number of miles in count history.

New high counts were reported for multiple species: Ruddy Duck, Caspian Tern, Forster’s Tern, Barred Owl, Brewer’s Blackbird and Summer Tanager.

Below-average counts were logged for numerous species—most notably for American Crow, American Coot, American Redstart, Chipping Sparrow, Savan-nah Sparrow and Brown Thrasher.

—Joy Duerr

Thank You, Theresa and Tim

O n the first Saturday of each month, KCA has traditionally held a bird walk around Nelson Lake at Dick Young Forest Preserve in Batavia.

The late Terry Murray led those walks for eight years. Theresa LeCompte then took over for the past 37 months. Now, Theresa has passed the baton to Tim Klimowski.

“When Terry passed this on to me, he told me to keep a written journal of the walks, including details such as attendance and weather. He kept journals, as well,” says Theresa. “When I asked Tim to take over the walks, I passed my journal onto him. And did you know that even though the Nelson Lake walks are not being held be-cause of COVID-19, Tim still goes around the lake on the first Saturday of the month just to keep that journal up to date?”

Now that’s the KCA spirit! Thanks for all your efforts, Theresa, and thank you, Tim, for stepping up! Hope to see you all at the lake very

soon! —John Sprovieri

Barred Owl Photo by John Sprovieri

Kirtland’s Warbler Sighted in Kane County for First Time

T he COVID-19 pandemic sure put a damper on our planned birding trips this year. Since we could not do our usual trip to Magee Marsh in Ohio, we birded our local area pretty much every day (rain or shine).

There are 35 species of warblers that pass through Illinois and Kane County during migration. We hoped to see them all.

Our son, Tony, was furloughed just at the start of migration, so he joined us on our walks. His young eyes and ears were a definite plus. Several mornings, we walked from Quarry Park in Batavia to Les Ar-ends Forest Preserve and got an amazing number of warblers. On one walk, we saw 66 species of birds, of which 24 were warblers. So far, we have seen 31 of those 35 warblers and are still looking for the missing ones. The ones we missed (Cerulean, Kentucky and Hooded) are usually hard to find. (We might still go looking for them in their usual haunts after migration is over.)

Some birds we have missed in past years (Canada, Golden-Winged and Mourning) were found this year. One of the biggest surprises was the Kirtland’s Warbler that we found May 18 at Bennett Park in Geneva. Tony and I were wandering through the park when we saw an unusual warbler. The bird was very cooperative and perched in the open on a branch near us so we could observe its field marks: split eye-ring; yellow throat, chest and belly; gray head. It was a Kirtland’s Warbler! I sent out an alert, and several birders came and refound the bird. To my knowledge, the Kirtland’s Warbler had never been seen in Kane County, so this was a county first!

With all the time we spent birding this year, we were rewarded with some very good birds. Despite all the clouds that COVID-19 brought us, we did find a silver lining.

—Bob Andrini

More Than 6,500 Species Recorded on Global Big Day Despite the pandemic (or maybe because of it), the spring Global Big Day on May 9 brought together 50,957 bird-ers from around the world. That is an incredible 32 percent uptick from last year’s efforts. Those birders recorded a whopping 6,502 species from balconies, backyards, neighborhoods, parks and beaches.

The United States led all other countries in terms of the number of people participating, with 29,879 submitting 68,425 checklists. Rounding out the top 5 participating countries were: Canada, Colombia, Panama and India.

The total number of checklists submitted for May 9—120,000—surpassed the first 2.5 years of eBird’s exis-tence!

Almost 9,000 birders signed up with eBird for the first time in order to participate in Global Big Day. Species leaders at the country level were: Colombia, 1,446. Peru, 1,132. Ecuador, 1,033. Brazil, 942. U.S., 712. Here in Kane County, Global Big Day coincided with our spring bird count. We had 34 birders recording 155

species. This tremendous outpouring of support for birding just goes to show what we already know: Birding makes us

feel good and can be practiced safely even in these uncharted times. Stay safe and go birding! —Regina McNulty

Kirtland’s Warbler Photo by Scott Cohrs

KCA Apparel Shoppe Now Open

K ane County Audubon is pleased to announce the opening of the KCA Apparel Shoppe. Now you can strut your stuff while sporting the latest fashions featuring the KCA

logo. These fine items aren’t just for birding outings. They’ll look fabulous whether you’re taking an invigorating morning walk through the neighborhood or strolling the grocery store aisle.

KCA members can choose from a variety of t-shirts, hats, fleece jackets (or vests), sweatshirts and more. Both men’s and women’s styles are offered in a variety of colors and sizes. Each item is made and shipped individually from a local company in Marengo, IL. No need to wait until everyone places an order.

Show your support for your favorite club wherever you go and keep warm, dry, cool and stylish at the same time. To order your KCA merchandise: https://www.hyperstitch.com/category/clubs/kane-county-audubon.

—Regina McNulty and Chris Madsen

What’s on Your Life List?

R ecently, I sent out a request to find out about KCA members’ life lists. Here are the life-list totals for the ABA area, excluding Hawaii:

From 200 – 300: 2 members. From 300 – 400: 5 members. From 400 – 500: 5 members. From 500 – 600: 4 members. From 600 – 700: 9 members (two are at 699). From 700 – 800: 2 members. In the ABA area, including Hawaii, most of those reporting are between 600 and the low 700’s. KCA boasts quite a few globe trotters, too. Here are the world life-list totals for some of our members: Below 2,000: 11 members. 2,000 – 3,000: 2 members. Over 4,000: 1 member. Thanks to those that responded. This small sample shows that some members are active birders and travel to

see birds. It is not necessary for one to have a life list to enjoy the feathered creatures that inhabit our planet. Some members travel all over the world in search of birds and enjoy sharing their findings with others.

If you don’t have a life list, think about starting one. Use the KCA checklist, which can be downloaded from the KCA website to start your life list. Many of our members send in electronic lists to eBird. This is a great way to keep a list and help scientists know what birds are being seen. If you would like to start an eBird account, but don’t know how, let me know. I can help.

—Bob Andrini

Flying With the Swifts

C himney Swift activity in the fall of 2019 had its highs and lows. On one hand, it was an unusual year. Many historically reliable roosts were observed with little or no Swifts

present. These occurrences left many puzzled and concerned. We wondered what happened to these chimneys. Had they been altered in some way? Did the Swifts bypass Kane County this year? Are the lower numbers a reflection of Swift population declines in Canada? Those are questions that remain unanswered.

On the other hand, we did experience a few highs. Some new roosts popped up that gave the migrating Swifts a safe haven. One of these roosts provided Swift observers some thrills and counting headaches as the roosting numbers hit the thousands. Another roost was a personal “high” for the season, because it gave me an opportunity to fly with the Swifts.

More on that later. First, let me report on last fall’s Swift Night Out and Chimney Swift Sit.

Held Sept. 13-15, the Swift Night Out is a continent-wide event to raise awareness about Swifts. Volunteers observed Swift roosting sites and reported the number of birds they saw. We were grateful to have 20 participants, eight of whom were new.

This year a total of 20 roosts were checked: 17 in Kane County and three in Cook County. Four new roosts were located: three in Kane and one in Cook. Of the 20 roosts checked: 10 were active with roosts rang-ing from 10 to 1,165 Swifts. Of the 10 active roosts nine were in Kane and one was in Cook. All totaled, volunteers counted 2,761 Swifts for the three days. All roosting structures were chimneys. Our largest roost of 1,165 Swifts grew to 2,100 in the weeks that followed. It was a frequent gathering spot for people who just couldn’t get enough of watching these tiny birds going to roost. Overall, however, the fall roosting numbers were lower than in the past.

On Sept. 21, the KCA Annual Chimney Swift Sit took place at Abbott Middle School in Elgin. I anticipated the event was going to be one of the lows for the season—both for birds and for people. Rain and possible thunder-storms were predicted for around the time of the Sit. Rich and I didn’t even bring umbrellas, anticipating no one would show.

As the event start time drew near, a light rain arrived. And to my amazement so did people. We left the shelter of our car and joined the group as they gathered on the sidewalk behind Abbot School. Some 125 Swifts flew into the area. We thought it would be a quick show since the drizzle was becoming a significant rainfall and would keep the bugs down. If there aren’t bugs, why should the Swifts fly? They may as well go to roost and conserve their energy. But this wasn’t the case. The Swift numbers increased over the next half hour. They were giving us a great show. It was interesting to watch the tight circle of Swifts move from going around the chimney to circle around the lighted playground area next to the school and then above the nearby trees. There was no flying away and scattering and then coming back type activity, which is common at roosting time. It was a different flying be-havior than I had seen. Perhaps the rain caused the bugs to congregate in those area and there was no need to spread out.

I left soaked that night, but more enriched from experiencing a new Chimney Swift flying activity. Thanks to the 15 participants who chose to dance in the rain and count 690 Swifts go to roost.

The personal high of the 2019 Chimney Swift season was a roost reported to me in early October. I received a text that a chimney was observed with about a hundred roosting Swifts. That’s not unusual. But the fact that this roost was being observed from slightly above the chimney and about 30 yards away, definitely piqued my interest. I was prepared for this one to be an easy count. I was not prepared for what I would enjoy during my observation time at this site. The high observation post provided great unobstructed views of the chimney and a beautiful sun-set. I was standing looking down and Swifts were flying all around me. Zooming past my head just a few feet away, coming from the left, the right, above and below as I looked out over the structure. I twirled around at one point and saw Swifts flying behind me at almost eye level with the backdrop of the pinkish orange sky. I just threw out my arms and twirled as those sweet “flying cigars” continued to amaze me with their agility and speed.

For just a few seconds, I felt like I was flying with those Swifts. Some 196 went to roost that night and it will go down in my memory as the night I flew with the Swifts.

Hope to see you enjoying the Swift shows in 2020! —Marion Miller

Great news! Chimney Swifts are once again nesting in the man-made tower at Brunner Forest Preserve. Photo courtesy Marion Miller

An Early March Morning

I t was a very cold March morning as Kath and I walked around Delnor Woods in St. Charles, doing our monthly monitoring of the woods. I felt like an onion, dressed as I was with many layers of clothing. I even had hand

warmers in my gloves to keep my fingers from getting cold. As I emerged from the cover of trees, I noticed the rising sun at my back and turned to let it bathe me in its

warming rays. As I walked through the frost-covered grass, I was thankful that I was wearing waterproof boots and thick socks to keep my toes warm.

I was not the only one who used the sun to warm up. At the tops of three trees, a Blue Jay, American Robin and Red-winged Blackbird also were facing the sun to enjoy its warming radiance. Are the birds like us, or are we like the birds (and other animals) when facing the sun and feeling its rays bathe us in warmth?

Nature provides many examples of ways to conserve body heat and survival skills needed to withstand the harsh environment.

—Bob Andrini

Book Review The Jewel Hunter by Chris Gooddie

I f you are like me, you are longing for a birding adventure, even if it is of the armchair variety. The Jewel Hunter delivers on the adventure and the

birds in spades. It’s the true story of Chris Gooddie, a sales executive in Eng-land who chucks his job and sets off around the world on a seemingly impos-sible quest—to see all 32 species of Pitta in the world in one year.

Only 32 birds in a year, you say? I can get 32 species in an afternoon at Nelson Lake. Ah, but Pittas would never be found at Nelson Lake or any-where that is easily accessible. They are found in hot steamy jungles, snake-infested ditches, sweltering mountaintops and remote islands.

Pittas are a family of jewel-bright birds that are shy rainforest dwellers. Back in 2009, there were “only” 32 species of Pitta, but today there are 44. With names like Rainbow Pitta, Superb Pitta and Azure-Breasted Pitta, you get the idea that these are beautiful birds well worth seeing.

Indian Pitta Internet Photo

Kane County Audubon, A Chapter of Illinois Audubon Chapter President John Sprovieri, 630-776-0924 Vice President Bill Ludemann Secretary Nancy Schnaitman Treasurer Jane McMillan Program Chair Paul Mayer Field Trips Jon Duerr Historian Bob Andrini Hospitality Sue Peterson, Carol Ludemann Website Chris Madsen Publicity Regina McNulty Stamps Tim Klimowski Ink Cartridges Cheryl Hayes IAS Representative Chuck Peterson KCA website WWW.KANECOUNTYAUDUBON.ORG

We crisscross the globe with the author from Thailand to the Phillipines, Vietnam to Australia, Borneo and Uganda. And that’s just a partial list. Logistics, language barriers, weather, loneliness, injury and illness all play a part in this grand adventure of one man’s quest to see every Pitta species in the world in 12 months. You may start planning your own quest after reading this epic journey.

—Regina McNulty

Saturday Walks to Resume Soon

O n June 26, Gov. JB Pritzker said all four regions of Illinois will be able to move to Phase 4 of reopening the economy.

Among other things, that means meeting venues can reopen with a limit of 50 percent capacity, up to a maxi-mum of 50 people. Phase 4 also allows for outdoor public gatherings of up to 50 people, compared to only 10 peo-ple in earlier phases.

That should allow KCA to resume Saturday walks. Stay tuned to the KCA website and Facebook pages for more information.

—John Sprovieri