Bird columnist Jeff Reiter talks about his passion for feathered fowl
When Jeff Reiter leads the Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, Dec. 17, at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, chances are the 20 or so participants will record sightings of birds they’ve seen before.
But you never know.
Reiter, who leads monthly bird walks at Cantigny, says that, in November, the group saw the first red-breasted nuthatch ever spotted at the park. Though red-breasted nuthatches are regular visitors to the peanut feeder he has in his Glen Ellyn backyard, they’re just not the kind of bird you see every day, he says.
“A lot of my birder friends are very jealous of that,” he says. “Red-breasted nuthatch is a premium bird that everyone wants to have, especially in their backyard.”
Asked about his own most memorable bird-watching experiences, Reiter recalls the time he spotted a prothonotary warbler in his backyard at 6 a.m. one April morning. The bright yellow bird makes its home in wooded, swampy areas, and there’s no marsh close to Reiter’s suburban neighborhood.
“The best birders know what to expect. They also know to expect the unexpected,” he says. “It’s almost a miracle that that bird would be in my yard. It’s things like that you remember and really keep you going.”
Seeing birds he’s never observed before and sharing his passion with others has kept Reiter a serious birder for 17 years.
The senior communications manager at Cantigny Park, Reiter writes the monthly Words on Birds column in the Daily Herald and has a blog by the same name.
“It’s sort of my way of giving back to the hobby,” he says.
Reiter, who has led bird walks at Cantigny since 2008, says they have attracted new bird watchers. He is especially pleased that some of them have been kids.
“They’re a lot of fun,” he says. “They get excited about red-tailed hawks, blue jays and nuthatches. They’re seeing a lot of these birds for the very first time.”
Eye for birds
Growing up in Canton, Ohio, Reiter was a casual bird-watcher early on. The self-described nature boy remembers copying and coloring birds out of the Golden Guide for birds and learning to identify all the common neighborhood feathered fowl.
But it wasn’t until he spotted a hooded warbler at Kiawah Island, S.C., in 1994 that he became a serious birder. He went to the local nature center where the naturalists offered bird walks and saw his first bald eagle there, too.
Reiter has kept his eyes on the sky ever since. His life list of birds he’s seen is up to 490 species, but he describes himself as an intermediate birder with lots to learn.
“There are about 10,000 species in the world. In North America, it’s about 750,” he said. “Birds are very entertaining, and they’re accessible.”
Reiter takes his binoculars with him wherever he travels. Two of his favorite bird watching locations are Florida, where his parents live, and southeast Arizona, where he saw the elegant trogon, a colorful, parrot-like bird that breeds in that area.
Now he’s hankering for a trip to south Texas, where birds from Mexico venture north.
“If there’s one place in the country to see the most kinds of birds, it probably would be southern Texas,” he says.
Like many serious birders, his dream trips would be Costa Rica, Central and South America, but those trips will wait until his teenage daughter and 10-year-old son are older, he says.
Plus, he points out that there are plenty of birds to see nearby. Two of Reiter’s favorite places to bird watch are Cantigny Park, where 131 species have been spotted, and his own backyard, where he’s sighted 110 species so far. In fact, some bird watchers never take their hobby beyond their backyard, he says.
“Right there, you can see an awful lot, especially if you put up two or three different kinds of feeders,” he says. “There’s so many different levels of bird watching.”
Reiter figures he spends two mornings a month bird watching, plus some additional bird spotting here and there, or when he hears about an interesting bird somewhere in the area. He keeps track of unusual bird postings at the IBET (Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts) site, ">groups.yahoo.com/group/ILbirds/, where sightings of a suspected broad-tailed hummingbird in Oak Park recently generated excitement.
Reiter#146;s own current most wanted #8212; or nemesis #8212; bird to see is a worm-eating warbler. They are in the area. In fact, Reiter found a dead one on the sidewalk in downtown Chicago and reported the find to the Field Museum. But a live one still eludes him.
#147;I know I#146;m going to get in the way of one of those birds someday,#148; he says. #147;I#146;m not in a big rush.#148;
Bird sharing
Although bird watching can be a competitive sport as portrayed in the movie #147;The Big Year#148; released this fall, for Reiter and many bird watchers, it#146;s more about sharing.
He#146;s a past-president and board member of the DuPage Birding Club, which has about 200 members. The club sponsors bird walks and meets eight times a year, sometimes bringing in big name speakers.
Club members and any birders who want to participate will join Reiter on the Dec. 17 Christmas Bird Count at Cantigny. A national event sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the count is a 112-year-old tradition conducted between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5. Participants record all the birds they find within their designated areas and submit the data to the Audubon Society, which uses it to assess the health of bird populations and guide conservation efforts.
Cantigny Park is one of many local sites where the DuPage Birding Club will administer counts on Dec. 17. After the count, participants are invited to join a Countdown Dinner at 4:30 p.m. at Portillo#146;s in St. Charles, where the day#146;s discoveries are discussed. The cost is $15 and reservations must be submitted to Jeff Chapman at"> jchapman1@sbcglobal.net.Fellow DuPage Birding Club members also help Reiter with the monthly bird walks at Cantigny, which have grown to as many as 80 participants. Before Reiter#146;s arrival in 2008, the 500-acre estate and golf course had tried in vain to start a bird program, says Matt LaFond, executive director of Cantigny Park.
#147;We thought we had a great piece of property for bird watching, but until Jeff came, we didn#146;t have anyone to organize it,#148; he says. #147;It#146;s been highly successful and growing.#148;
Jim Frazier, a former president of the DuPage Birding Club who volunteers to help out with the Cantigny bird walks, attributes the success of the walks to Reiter#146;s devotion to educating others about birds.
#147;He#146;s always willing to answer questions,#148; he says.
Reiter says the Cantigny bird walks, as well as the DuPage Birding Club, are good places for beginners.
#147;They benefit a lot from being with others when they ">start out. You just learn so much more,#148; he says.
But, really, all that#146;s needed to get started on bird watching are a good bird guide and a decent pair of binoculars, Reiter says. He recommends spending at least $200 on the binoculars. A multitude of guides are available, but Reiter says he likes #147;The Sibley Guide of Birds#148; for its simplicity and layout.
Bird guides can be divided between those that have illustrations of birds and those that have photos. Reiter (who has a library of more than 100 bird books) uses a variety of guides but prefers illustrations, such as those in Sibley#146;s.
#147;They show the birds the way they should look,#148; he says.
The best times to see the most kinds of birds are in spring and fall when they are migrating, with May being a particularly good month, he says.
#147;The season is very important, as well as the habitat,#148; he says. #147;It#146;s a matter of time spent outdoors, walking and watching.#148;
Reiter#146;s blog, Words on Birds, can be found at"> wordsonbirds.blogspot.com;http:// jreiter@wordsonbirds.com[/URL]. [URL]For information on the DuPage Birding Club, see"> dupagebirding.org. For details on the Christmas Bird Count, visit birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count.
If you go
What: Christmas Bird Count
When: Starts 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17
Where: Meet at Visitors Center at Cantigny Park, 1S151 S. Winfield Road, Wheaton
Cost: Free
Sign up: <a href="http://jreiter@mccormickfoundation.org[/URL]
">jreiter@mccormickfoundation.org</a>