Temperature madness

It's been relatively mild this March, although cooler lakeside per usual in the spring. The next few days will demonstrate the awesome weather spectrum March has to offer, just in time for the arrival of astronomical spring. The temperature is expected to plunge from 70 tomorrow to the 30s Saturday, with snow. Unfortunately, this means the good birding days are taking place midweek and the weekend birding days will be less than ideal weather-wise. Still, I'm birding vicariously through the Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts Yahoo! Group. The latest reports indicate tree swallows as far north as Grundy County. Also, there are a few more signs of spring around including daffodil sprouts.

Terrible tributaries

New York City's waterways have made headlines lately. First, Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal was named a Superfund site, meaning it will receive a federal cleanup. The New York Times posted a photo gallery of reader-submitted canal pictures.

Then, dolphins were seen in the East River and Newtown Creek, a creek near Long Island City that makes Gowanus Canal look as clean as an alpine spring. One commenter indicates whales have turned up in the Gowanus before, too. And recently a seal showed up in Staten Island.

Finding refuge

The Chicago area may be getting a new National Wildlife Refuge, and for the first time I've seen a name proposed. The Hackmatack NWR would span the Illinois-Wisconsin border, in McHenry County in Illinois and Walworth County in Wisconsin. Openlands reports that Sen. Dick Durbin is soliciting support for the designation. There are some amazing wild lands in that area so let's hope they get the protection they deserve.

Vernal journal

Spring hasn't really "sprung" here. Maybe inched a bit forward, but not sprung. The days are getting longer. The sunlight is shifting a little bit, sending more rays down our street in the morning. I saw a european starling hanging around a nesting site yesterday. The house sparrows seem to be chirping a little bit more loudly. There are reports of woodcocks as far north as DuPage County. And sandhill cranes and red-winged blackbirds are in the area, too.

It seemed like everyone was outside today, relishing the mere 45 degree temperatures. The sun seems to be especially bright, but after weeks of overcast that is to be expected. We're in our seventh-longest historical stretch without a 50-degree temperature (last one was Dec. 1). But we are indeed in meteorological spring, which started on March 1.

Bjorn again

Ole Einar Bjorndahlen is an incredible biathlete, but is “Bjorndahlen” simply the verb form of former great Bjorn Daehle?....The United States winning all those medals in Nordic combined is about the equivalent of Team USA winning the soccer World Cup. Amazing….Yes, the Winter Olympics now have too many sports. They are being X-Games-ified. At least we’re spared ski ballet…Lindsey Vonn has won just two career medals to Julia Mancuso’s three, yet has received so much more hype…Riding in a bobsled (or “bobsleigh” as it’s officially called) is scary enough, but careening in a bobsleigh upside down is beyond terrifying…If snow isn’t really a requirement to host a Winter Games, let’s bring them to Chicago. Maybe mountains don’t have to be a requirement either….I never thought I’d say this, but Cris Collinsworth has become a favorite sports announcer. Great voice, blunt, smart. I miss Jim Lampley at these Games, though.

Effective lake

There's nothing like a good old-fashioned lake effect snow squall. There's a thick band of snow blowing in off Lake Michigan right now, moving northeast to southwest. We only get one or two of these a season here on the west side of Lake Michigan (unlike our fortunate counterparts on the other side of the lake). Everything outside is shrouded in white right now, and an inch or two can pile up in a matter of minutes.

Lake walk

I started today by walking directly to Lake Michigan, near where Lawrence Avenue meets the northern extremity of Montrose Beach. I think it’s safe to say the weather was raw—cold and damp with some fog. The shoreline in this area is a concrete revetment with an iron breakwall. It’s nondescript but offers a sort of emptiness that’s pleasing on a winter day. There were big ice formations along the beach but the water was mostly ice-free. There were actually a fair number of people around—walking their dogs, jogging and biking.

I saw a handful of female common goldeneyes along the breakwall. A group of about a dozen flew over from the west and then north and out of sight. There’s a point where the shoreline bends west, on the latitude of Foster Avenue. There’s a small concrete pier there with a light tower. There I found more common goldeneyes—male and female—and a few lesser scaup. At least I think they were lesser scaup, but it’s always hard to identify them from greater scaup. There were at least two mature males, immature two males and two females. They were plunging under the water and surfacing with morsels of something (mollusks?).

I’ve seen goldeneyes do a few display maneuvers this winter, and indeed one male was doing something like a torpedo race along the surface of the water. It would stick its neck out, chin to the water, and paddle forward before plunging. Usually I see them throw their heads back, bill pointed to the sky. I continued the walk west and circled back south along Marine Drive.