It was nearly 80 degrees, unusually windy and 2 p.m. — not exactly ideal birding conditions. On the plus side, the calendar said it was April. Spring migration was well under way, so there would be plenty of birds around. Hopefully some big one...

By Susan Dibble sdibble@dailyherald.com Not everyone would want to live where they work. Joy Kaminsky, the new director of horticulture at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, couldn’t be happier about it. “It’s perfect for me,” she said. “Living on the proper...

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of birding — at home and away from home. Yard birding and field birding. Like most birders, I enjoy them both. Today's column is about the backyard, where many of us spend the majority of our bird-watching minut...

There are multiple storylines to keep Fox Valley boys track and field fans intrigued this spring. Will Wisconsin-bound Dundee-Crown senior Anthony Manfrin, who missed last season with a hip injury, continue to show the form that carried him the indo...

A day after the big blizzard in February, I did the sensible thing and flew to Miami. It was a preplanned trip to visit my parents in Key Largo. There would be some golf, a Super Bowl party and, of course, plenty of amazing birds. Golf is really ju...

It wasn't a Christmas Count bird — a few days late for that. It wasn't a “lifer” either. But it was a bird I'd been waiting to see for a long time. Almost 11 years, in fact. My last column, you might recall, featured a fine photo of a Northern shrik...

Visitors to Wheaton's Cantigny Park have selected three grand prize winners in the museum's 2009 Cantigny in Focus amateur photo contest. The winners are: First Place Mary Lemak of Batavia for her artfully composed detail of the Robert R. McCormic...

As I like to say every December, it was a good year to be a birder! Allow me to reflect a little bit on 2010 and share a few random thoughts and observations. It seemed like a banner year for blue jays and cedar waxwings two of the best-dressed bi...

Advice to highly endangered bird species: Stay clear of Cincinnati. Fly around it. Don't land. In particular, avoid the Cincinnati Zoo, my choice for the saddest place in our country's ornithological history. Two very special birds died at the zoo a...