LF_071819

LakeForestLeader.com life & arts
the lake forest leader | July 18, 2019 | 19
Lake Forest Open Lands pairs birds and beer
Katie Copenhaver
Freelance Reporter
“Birds and Brews”, the
July installment of Lake
Forest Open Lands’ Friday
evening adult education
series, had a sellout
attendance on July 12.
Led by the Lake Forest
College Professor of Economics
and Environmental
Science Jeff Sundberg,
the event consisted of a
social gathering featuring
beers from local breweries
followed by a bird walk
at Mellody Farm Nature
Preserve. This was the
first time one of the Friday
evening installments has
sold out, with 40 people
registered, showing the
growing popularity of the
series.
Sundberg explained that
in July some bird species
are on their second brood
of babies for the year and
some are nurturing their
fledglings, or “teenagers”,
as he referred to the still
dependent young birds
born earlier this spring.
Adult birds do not reuse
the same nest for a new set
of eggs and babies because
the used nest is too messy
with bird droppings. They
might tear up the old nest
and rebuild one in its
place, build a new one on
top of the old one or start
over in a new location to
avoid predators.
The most unusual sighting
of the evening was
an owl already out and
perched on a tree branch
while there was still sunlight.
Sundberg noted it
must be a juvenile because
adult owls do not come
out until nightfall and also
since he/she was not fully
feathered. A red-winged
blackbird was chewing
on the owl, which the owl
seemingly ignored. Blue
jays were calling out warnings
to one another about
the owl as well.
“Owls eat rabbits, squirrels,
skunks and other rodents,
not usually other
birds,” Sundberg said.
“But blue jays and blackbirds
will still get nervous
about them.”
Other birds of note that
Sundberg and the group
spotted were an eastern
wood pewee, known as
a flycatcher that will collect
a mouthful of insects
to feed its young. Chimney
shifts, another bird
that collects insects, lives
in the Midwest during
warm months and will migrate
to Brazil in October,
Sundberg explained.
Some sighted a doublecrested
cormorant fly
overhead.
“By the 1950s, cormorants
were wiped out by
DDT,” Sundberg said.
“By the late ‘80s and early
‘90s they started showing
up again in the upper
Midwest.”
He explained that the
use of DDT as a pesticide
affected fish and birds who
ate insects that had been
poisoned by it. DDT was
widely used in the United
States in the middle of the
20th century and led to the
near extinction of bald eagles
and peregrine falcons.
It was banned in 1972, and
since then, the various species
previously affected by
it have made a comeback.
In contrast, red-winged
blackbirds and robins
are highly populous and
common in this area.
“They are generalists,
and they are tough,” said
Sundberg, noting they
have adapted well to land
development and climate
change.
Among those attending
the bird walk were Kristy
and Ben Arditti, who are
LFOLA members and
whose daughter Madison
is attending the organization’s
Eco-Trekker Camp
for the third year this summer.
Kristy grew up in
Wisconsin, where she had
a lot of access to the outdoors
and nature, while
Ben grew up in London,
which acclimated him to
urban life and business.
They settled in Lake Forest,
a community that provides
both of those things,
Jeffrey Sundberg, a professor of economics and environmental
science at Lake Forest College, gives a tour
during the Birds & Brews event Friday, July 12. ALEX
NEWMAN/22ND CENTURY MEDIA
with organizations like
LFOLA and its proximity
to Chicago.
“I love that [Lake Forest]
Open Lands creates a
sense of curiosity in kids,”
Kristy Arditti said. “We
want her to care about the
environment. We are modeling
our interests for her.”
The Ardittis noted that
thanks to three years of
nature camp, Madison
loves all types of critters
and does not get scared by
insects, as some kids do.
LIVING IS EASY
VINYL PLANK FLOORS
100% KID PROOF – 100% PET PROOF – 100% WATERPROOF
1840 Skokie Boulevard
Northbrook, IL 60062
847.835.2400
www.lewisfloorandhome.com
“The Secret Life of
Cranes” on Aug. 9, 6 - 8
p.m., will be the next installment
of the Friday
evening series.
Registration in advance
is recommended through
the LFOLA website.
FLOORING • TILE • RUGS • CABINETRY
COUNTERTOPS • WINDOW TREATMENTS