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Big Marsh Park
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One reason I went to Big Marsh Park today was to look for bald eagles. I was inspired by this @gardennotebook article for @ChicagoMag: https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/january-2021/winter-guide-2021/watch-bald-eagles-devour-lunch/
One reason I went to Big Marsh Park today was to look for bald eagles. I was inspired by this @gardennotebook article for @ChicagoMag: https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/january-2021/winter-guide-2021/watch-bald-eagles-devour-lunch/
As long as I was going to look for bald eagles, I thought it'd be extra cool to see one within the Chicago city limits. (Is that weird?) Here's where observations have been posted in the @inaturalist app.
The biggest concentration of bald eagle sightings in Chicago is in the natural areas on the Southeast Side.
As @gardennotebook mentioned in her story, bald eagles have been known to nest at Lake Calumet. But as @TedSlowik1 reported in this story, it isn't easy to see the actual lake:
Citizens want to open Lake Calumet to public access for recreation https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-slowik-lake-calumet-public-access-st-0501-story.html
Citizens want to open Lake Calumet to public access for recreation https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-slowik-lake-calumet-public-access-st-0501-story.html
Big Marsh is right across the street from the lake — on the east side of Stony Island Avenue — and a few people have spotted eagles there lately, so that's where I headed. First thing I saw was this bird… Eagle?!? Um, nope. A red-tailed hawk.
But a while later, I saw these two birds flying from the lake over the marsh.
They stayed pretty high up in the sky, then circled back toward the lake and vanished from sight. Here are a few close-ups (the best I could manage with a 300mm lens).
So, yeah… I *think* those are bald eagles.
Sidebar thread about beavers and/or muskrats!
I counted eight of these mounds in a cluster at Big Marsh Park. Is this a village of muskrats or maybe beavers?
I counted eight of these mounds in a cluster at Big Marsh Park. Is this a village of muskrats or maybe beavers?
As this story explains, "Beavers use a lot of mud to help hold layered logs and sticks in a dome shape, while muskrats pile plants, including cattails…" So, I thought: Probably muskrats. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/beaver-or-muskrat-heres-how-to-tell/2012/05/21/gIQA6ceOgU_story.html
But then I noticed this tree nearby. It looks like some beavers have been hard at work chewing on it.
And a short distance from there, look at this tree!
