Folks who live in the King-Bruwaert retirement community in Burr Ridge have seen 60, the minimum age for residence, but that doesn’t mean their thirst for knowledge has diminished. Quite the contrary.
Residents have discovered that with birds right in their own back yard, all they need is some basic instruction about how to bird-watch and they’re on their way to a fascinating hobby.
Several residents gathered in K-B’s Woods Inn clubhouse on a late spring morning for a bracing cup of coffee before setting out on a 20-minute bird-watching jaunt, one of three conducted during migratory season by Karen Carlisle of Naperville, director of social work services for the retirement community and a staff member since 1989.
“I’ve been birding with Karen several times over the past two or three years,” said Donna Boryn of Hinsdale, who moved to K-B with her husband, Bob, in the mid-’90s. “She’s wonderfully knowledgeable and obviously loves her subject.”
“We’ll just go over a few things we talked about last week,” Carlisle said, handing out binoculars as the informal session began. “Over 5 billion birds migrate each year, if you can picture that incredible number, and we’re at the height of the season right now. In this area, 340 different species fly by at night. While you are sleeping, they’re doing their job, getting back to where they belong for the mating season.”
She explained that the previous week’s heavy rains had brought birds not ordinarily seen at K-B’s 35-acre site, including the orchard oriole, meadowlark and black-and-white warbler.
“The nice thing is that you have birds right here in your woods; you stay in one place, and they come to you. Another fun thing about birding is that it’s always full of surprises,” Carlisle said. “Last year we set oranges on our feeders and attracted Baltimore orioles; this year we got nothing but ants.”
She offers the group bird-watching tips, including, “Keep your eye on the bird if you spot one; don’t look down to find your binoculars, just reach for them and bring them up to your eyes.”
She also emphasized the importance of listening.
“I do most of my birding this way because (I’m nearsighted),” she said. “Before we set out, let’s try to identify a couple of calls I’ve taped.”
The male chickadee’s tiny territorial call drew a blank, but everyone in the group chimed in with the right answer when they heard the cardinal’s cheery message.
“That’s how you learn,” Carlisle said as they embarked on the morning stroll. “You put together in your mind what you know about these birds, their sounds, their colors and their habits. Let’s go this way; there’s a very cooperative red-winged blackbird who lives over here.”
Avis Kurth, K-B’s switchboard operator for the past 10 years, took a break from her duties to hike along the gently sloping, asphalt-paved path with others in search of birds.
Kurth has bird feeders at the Downers Grove home she shares with her son, which is a good way to begin, according to Carlisle.
“Getting to know birds that flock around your feeder makes the idea of bird-watching less overwhelming,” she said.
The birders crossed a meadow ringed with trees, pausing from time to time to raise their binoculars. “It’s always cool here in the summer,” Kurth said. “You’re likely to see geese and their goslings waddling along, and, of course, there are always crows.”
Once upon a time, a Cooper’s hawk nested in the woods that covered the southern portion of K-B’s property. Management’s 1993 decision to add 59 cottages there signaled the removal of many trees, one of which had been home to the hawk.
K-B complied with a government agency’s insistence that a $2,500 nest-holding platform be erected in another tree, but, alas, the hawk flew the coop.
“We now have a resident great horned owl instead,” Carlisle said. “It, too, is a predator, but we like him better. What’s more, he has a taste for mice, and we don’t mind.”
First-time birder William O’Connell eschewed binoculars but thought he might borrow them on the next walk, saying, “This is so interesting; I had no idea how much can be learned right here at home.”
Raymond Sanders has been a bird-watcher for most of his 80-plus years. “I lived in the wooded Palos area and later in Western Springs near Flagg Creek,” he said. “Woods and water are great places for this activity because they attract birds.”
For years a wildlife nature preserve, The Woods at King-Bruwaert fills the woods/water bill. In addition to mature trees, never-dry Flagg Creek meanders through the property. Then there’s the attraction of numerous birdhouses and feeders stocked year-round with seeds and other treats.
As the bird-watching walk wound down, group members compared notes, agreeing it was a great way to begin the day.
“Seniors are fun to take birding,” said Carlisle, who studied birds with now-retired College of DuPage biology professor Hal Cohen, an expert in the field. “They’re eager and alert, and they have the time to pursue this interest.
“The amount of information to be gained might seem overwhelming at first, but I try to reassure them by saying, `When you spot a bird you want to identify, you should immediately eliminate all the things you know it’s not. For example, a bird you see marching along in the grass can’t possibly be a downy woodpecker because it’s not a walker; it’s a bird that lives its life in trees.’
“Of course we always take mobility, eyesight, hearing and energy levels into account when we’re birding,” she said. “After all, our seniors aren’t cramming for credit. They’re out to enjoy themselves.”
