While annual cicadas are commonly heard singing in Lake County every year, there is a population of periodical cicadas that only emerges here every 17 years. This massive emergence is expected in May and June of this year (the last periodical emergence occurred in 2007). Millions of cicadas will tunnel out of the soil, crawl up trees, sing, mate, lay eggs, hatch into nymphs, and complete their life cycle returning to the soil under trees where they live on tree sap until their next emergence in 17 years. The periodical cicada population in northern Illinois is known as Brood XIII.

There has been a decline of 3 billion birds in North America since 1970 – a 30% decrease. The front lines of conservation for birds are found where people live – our own backyards. There are several ways you can help birds thrive in Lake County, most importantly by providing habitat for bugs and birds at home. The greatest habitat benefits are provided by landscaping your yard with locally native plants that provide a variety of food for birds year-round covering breeding, nesting, migrating and winter seasons. Plant leaves, fruits, nuts, seeds, and nectar are food for birds - and for the bugs that are food for birds. Shrubs and trees are especially important sources for nests and shelter as well as food.

Winter in NE Illinois finds many of us lingering in a comfy chair, cup of hot coffee warming our hands as we bird watch through the recently cleaned glass of a sunny, or not so sunny window. We don’t want to think about the fine feather dust wing imprint that the Mourning Dove left as it crashed into the window and died on our patio. Odds are you cleaned many bits of feather and dander off your windows as winter approached just to realize the windows are ‘dirty’ again.

We wax on about the devastation that cats inflict on our beloved bird population, but the imprint of a bird wing on a window, evidence of a collision and the resulting bird death seems unavoidable. Birds fly into windows. People need windows. Sad….but avoidable.

LCAS member Wanda Supanich has researched options for window treatments to prevent bird collisions on residential buildings. Use the button below to read more about her experiences with various products. She will be at the March program meeting with samples from manufacturers and available for questions.

In 2024, Lake County Audubon Society is sponsoring a new program to get folks out to see their local birding hotspots. Bird Lake County will feature a Lake County location each month for you to either bird on your own or with us on a group walk.