April 26, 2026 - Maggie Hendricks, Guest Birder
Guest Birder of the Day: Maggie Hendricks, to whom I gave a link to this blog when I was still using the free trial version of the platform. Maggie has made surreptitious appearances on the blog as one of the Aunties in the famous Group Chat and Yahtzee Zoom. Everyone should have a friend that is the first person you reach out to when you see an owl.
Bird of the day: Yellow-rumped warbler
When: April 16
Where: Out my office window, in my apartment in Chicago
Last week, we had one of those gorgeous spring days where everything smelled sweet, and the windows had to be open. I live in a neighborhood that is a landing place for many different immigrant groups, so I love open windows days. Lots of people walk past my window, and I hear an array of languages as well as more than a few “Bitch, he said WHAT?”s.
But on this day, I heard a bird call that I knew was different. I pulled up Merlin and ran (ok it wasn’t running and it was only about six feet) to my window. It said yellow-rumped warbler and it happened to be the Merlin bird of the day. That’s never happened for me. I contorted myself in every way to see to the top of the tree outside my office, and there it was! A happy, little warbler hopping around, and it clearly had a yellow rump.
I prefer birding like Sara Kate does. Though I’m not a photographer, I like going on long walks with my husband listening and looking for birds. Some of our best talks – and quiet moments – have happened when we were out looking for birds at the various forest preserves and parks around Chicago. Lake Michigan is a bit of a migration highway, so this is a great time of year for birding along the lake.
However, I’ve been going through some health issues lately. It’s nothing major to worry about and I’m in the process of getting better, but I’m often fatigued and lightheaded. Even doing chores like vacuuming can wear me out. When I have good days, I try to go birding, and it makes me so happy.
But most of the time, the birding I’m doing is around my neighborhood. I often have to remind myself while walking my dog that looking for birds is birding. It doesn’t have to be a big trip to Big Marsh Park (sharing the link because it’s a former industrial waste site that’s now a big park with great birding. How cool is that?) It’s just about being aware of the incredible diversity of birds even found in my urban neighborhood.
And sometimes, it’s just keeping my ear open on days when I’m feeling tired and cranky and mad at the world. It’s cheesy as hell, but also insanely true that birdsong finds you when you need to hear it most.
