Backyard Birding: The birds are back in town!

Sitting on my back porch this weekend enjoying a cup of coffee I noticed a veritable cacophony of bird-related noise. Chirps, whistles, screeches and songs were all coming from the trees and with my naked eye, I spotted at least three different birds only recognizing grackles and cardinals. My binoculars and bird guide have been missing since last spring and I've got to dig them out so I can get back to backyard birding, one of my favorite spring activities in Evanston.

So that I know what to look for, I asked the experts at the Evanston North Shore Bird Club what birds are in town this time of year and am sharing the list so you too can get birding. Thank you Jennifer Schmidt for the list.

These days I'm seeing Dark-eyed Juncos, Northern Cardinals, American Goldfinches, American Robins, House Finches, Downy Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, the occasional Cooper's Hawk and of course House Sparrows. The Red-breasted Nuthatches that were here the past few months seem to have moved on. Expecting more sparrows soon - Fox, Swamp, Song, White-throated - early warblers coming in April. - Jennifer Schmidt

If you happen to see any of theses birds, can you send an image to thelisadshow@gmail.com so that I can create a slide show and share the images with readers, I will totally give you credit. Thanks and visit Evanston North Shore Bird Club at www.ensbc.org for fun birding field trips and facts.

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Thank you for reading my blog Evanston Newbie, a blog devoted to covering my family's move from El Paso, TX, to Evanston, IL, in 2011. We arrived in June 2011 and several people have pointed out that I am no longer a "newbie" and should start some other blog. But I disagree and want to keep the "newbie" status for a while longer, maybe five years and for several reasons. #1 - there are many Evanston families who have lived here for generations since the town incorporated in the late 1800s, so in comparison to them, I am very much a "newbie". #2 - I firmly believe this blog is a good branding tool for the city of Evanston and it's the least I can do to thank our new town for being so AWESOME! If you have any questions or need to get in touch with my about this blog, Evanston, or anything else you can email me at thelisadshow@gmail.com.