Today, a surprising spring discovery on West Lakeside Place. An american woodcock was sighted just outside our wrought-iron fence. We were cleaning up our yard when a bird flushed just west of us. The distinctive whistling of the wings was enough to ID it as a woodcock, and the long bill and woodcock-ian flight were evident as well. It flew north between two condo buildings. Obviously, the first shorebird for our yard list, and one of my top all-time Chicago neighborhood sightings (virginia rail still No. 1).
Spring is here although we found a hidden chunk of ice amid the leaves and winter detritus today (it was like one of those impacted glaciers that formed all the bogs around here). There are some tiny chutes starting to come up in our yard, and I saw a red-winged blackbird fly over Lake Shore Drive today. Our stirring of the front yard soil attracted a hearty american robin as well. The spring reports of migrating birds are coming in from all over the Midwest.
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