One of my earliest interactions with a bird happened when I was a child. However, it was not actually with a bird, but instead an interaction with the source of its food. Every year as a child my family and I would pack up the car and head up to the great north woods to our log cabin situated on a small lake. In front of our cabin there was a birch tree just feet from the edge of the lake.

You may have noticed that bird walks comprise the majority of community science opportunities at the Urban Ecology Center this time of year. And while our species counts may look closer to the temperature these days (if we’re lucky), there are still discoveries waiting to be made. Last week both our Menomonee Valley and Riverside Park bird walks found something we’ve never found before: a Nashville warbler in November!