Went
birding with a friend on Sunday with the goal of adding a bird or two to his life list.
Binoculars in hand, we took a walk through one of my favorite stretches of the local Forest Preserve. Our target bird was the Ovenbird, but that one eluded us, though I had seen this warbler species several times this year in the same area. Of course, with all the heavy foliage, we expected this one to be a challenge to see in our binocular. The previous week, I had spotted this warbler, but it flew before my friend could see it. Ouch. Our next target bird was the Black-billed Cuckoo. We came closer on this one with Yellow-billed, though we only heard the call. Since my friend is still developing his repertoire of known bird calls, I was able to provide a useful lesson on bird calls. Still, no Black-billed, though. We knew, up front, that late afternoon is not the best time for birding, but all in all, a nice and pleasant afternoon out in the woods with our
birding binoculars. Will try, again, next Sunday.