Once again, we decided to search for the short-eared owl at Glacial Park. But our first stop today was the Chicago Botanic Garden in north-suburban Glencoe. We don’t come here much anymore, but we did a lot of our early birding here. Today we just stopped by so I could renew my membership. But in the pond next to the parking lot we did see a pair of TRUMPETER SWANS. They were only about ten feet away, so it was no problem distinguishing them from the similar tundra swan. We then continued north and made a brief stop at the Wadsworth Wetlands Demonstration Project, which is in north-suburban — you guessed it — Wadsworth. We didn’t see any birds, but we did identify what we think was a Nazi.

We saw him across a pond, taking a path out of the woods. He was dressed oddly. “Look,” I said, “a cossack!” As usual, we had binoculars around our necks, so we gave him a closer look. He was wearing a trench coat with insignia, fatigues, and a belt full of junk, including an old-style canteen. Oddest of all, he had a black kepi on his head. It was kind of freaky. Pole was a spooked and said, “I want to get out of here before he throws me into a labor camp.” To be fair, he might not have been a Nazi. But since I left my Field Guide to Fascists in the other car, we’ll never know. What was he doing dressed like that? And why, of all places, would he choose to march through a wetland? Who knows, but we were making Nazi jokes all day.

As long as we were close, we decided to check out Illinois Beach State Park, which is in another goddam northern suburb. It’s a great place to bird, though, and as you can infer from its name, it’s right on Lake Michigan. As we entered, we drove by the conference center, which is usually empty. In this case, though, the lot was full of cars. We noticed that many of them had “taxidermist” written on the side, so after checking the beach — birdless — we decided to find out what the story was. I coaxed Pole inside by promising her a stuffed bird if they were selling. We found out by the sign in the lobby that it was the Illinois Taxidermist Association Convention. (Busy day for the conference center since they were also hosting a wedding and a quinceanera.) Nothing was for sale, unfortunately, but after paying our $3 entry fee, we did get to view the carcass competition and vote on the People’s Choice Award (or whatever it was called). Lot of weird stuff, but we both cast our ballot for a traditional mount: the jackdaw. (It was quite beautiful, actually.) We did a little more birding in the park, but had to leave early to get to Glacial Park by dusk, when the owls would be most active.

When we got to Glacial, we headed right for the location we were at yesterday. And it wasn’t long before we finally saw a SHORT-EARED OWL flying over the fields. There were at least two of them, along with a harrier. The owls were distinctive, and by viewing them with a scope, their faces — with “too much mascara” — were clearly owl faces. Any grade-school kid could have identified them. We watched and enjoyed them for a long time. Eventually, a van pulled up with a parcel of birders who had come for a sandhill tour. The owls were a lucky bonus for them.

So after four trips to Glacial Park, I finally saw the short-eared owl. But that’s not all. We also saw a Nazi and got to vote in a taxidermy competition. That’s about as good as it gets, folks.

Taxidermy Update:

Turns out the award is called the “Competitor’s Choice Award.” And the magpie didn’t win it, a dead black bear’s head did. The bear shared the award with its decapitators and stuffers, Rodney Schreurs and Jim Dykstra. But good news! The magpie did win three awards (count ’em), each more prestigious than that crappy Competitors Choice Award. Magnanimously sharing the the glory with Mr. Gregory Norberte, the man who stuffed — nay, immortalized — him, our favorite magpie won (1) the Wasco Award — Most Artistic Entry, (2) Best Professional Entry, and, icing on the amazingly lifelike cake, (3) the Professional BOC Birds — Other. So kudos to Mssrs. Magpie and Norberte. Full results of the competition may be found at the Illinois Taxidermist Association official web site. (No rebroadcast of this competition is permitted without the express written permission of the Illinois Taxidermist Association.)