Great Egret Photo: CAS member Tony Yee
November 2022
It’s been another busy year here at Chicago Audubon Society! Our board, members and supporters have made life better for birds and people throughout the city and county. Here’s a bit of what we all accomplished together:
We worked with communities and the Chicago Park District to establish two new bird habitats:
A hummingbird garden in Washington Park - led by board member Jackie Smith who is a steward there
A more robust shrub and understory layer in River Park, led by steward Raed Mansour, CAS board member Alan Anderson, and CAS volunteers Colleen McVeigh and Alix Gnoske.
Over $15,000 in small donations and from our treasury purchased the plants (thank you!)
At Techny Basin we deepened our partnership to save rare grassland birds from the mower, and in Winnetka we were the only organization to publicize the impending destruction of a sedge meadow which is now being saved. We led a one-day hunger strike to support groups working to stop the General Iron relocation. We are planning to work with MWRD on new locations - watch for details.
Bird Friendly Evanston used the materials we developed with Bird Friendly Chicago to pass a tough bird-friendly building ordinance. Another ordinance in Skokie is nearing completion. We continue to work with the Chicago Department of Planning on this project and they have assured us there will be good news next year!
We revitalized our field trip program thanks to new board member Lindsay Vacek. We added trips to birding hotspots with Woody Goss, accessible bird walks led by CJ Greco, Birds and Yoga at El Paseo Garden with Sunshine De Vries, Bird Conservation Walks led by me, and continued regular walks at Jackson Park led by Cheryl Muth and Jenny Strable, at North Park Village led by Mark Pohlad, and our partnership with Red Hill Birding for Birds and Coffee at Jarvis Bird Sanctuary and with the Jewish Neighborhood Development Council at Park 538, leaders Mark Ross, John Bates, and others. Our loaner binoculars were in constant use.
Our Birding and Brunch honored 11 dynamic individuals and organizations who had great local conservation successes. We also published a new area birding checklist, held a successful native plant sale, and so much more.
It’s also been a year of organizational progress. We completed our strategic plan and transitioned to new membership software. Thanks to several large bequests, we are looking for an executive director, an exciting first for us, to expand our reach. We have five great new board members and an awesome new office manager, Monica Sargeant. We were sorry to say goodbye to two wise board members, Forrest Cortes and Judy Cheske, plus others.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed some time with us this year, through our trips, programs, emails, social media, and store (it has holiday gifts!). We appreciate your support and your feedback as we grow a stronger birding community together. Please give generously. We value your support, and we’re glad you are part of the Chicago Audubon Society family. Your gift goes a long way to support local bird conservation in our small organization.
Warm regards and happy birding!
Judy Pollock
President
Chicago Audubon Society