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Seeing a Chicago Beach in a New Way
Urban ecosystems serve more than just one function.
© Phil Hauck
Mikko Jimenez is a PhD student doing research on bird migration. Growing up in Chicago, he played beach volleyball at Montrose Beach, a popular spot on the lake shore. At the time, he wasn’t so aware of birds, but as he developed an interest in birding in college, he realized that his old beach volleyball spot was also one of the best places to see birds in the Chicago area.
BirdNote®
Seeing a Chicago Beach in a New Way
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
Mikko Jimenez is a PhD student doing research on bird migration. But he wasn’t always so aware of birds.
Mikko Jimenez: I didn't grow up birding, but it's also really cool for me as someone who didn't grow up birding to go to some of those old spots and kind of rediscover them as a birder. I grew up going to Montrose Beach a lot, which is a beach in Chicago. I played beach volleyball there.
[Beach volleyball sounds]
Mikko Jimenez: I don't think they have these anymore, but every Thursday night they used to have reggae nights.
[Reggae beat from Montrose beach reggae night]
Mikko Jimenez: So, like, in highschool that was a beach that I would go to all the time with my friends
When Mikko went to college, he began developing an interest in birds, which gave him a new perspective on familiar places in Chicago.
[Montrose Beach soundscape with birds]
Mikko Jimenez: And so I'd come home from break and slowly started realizing that Montrose Beach is one of the best migration or just birding hotspots across the city.
[Chestnut-sided Warbler song]
Mikko Jimenez: And just a few years ago, Piping Plovers started breeding there, which are an endangered species. And so for me, as someone who grew up, you know, in that city, how cool it is that urban ecosystems are these kind of multi-use spaces often. That's been a really special place for me and I think it's a special place for a lot of Chicago birders.
[Fade back in volleyball and reggae sounds]
Mikko Jimenez: But it's cool for me that it has that dual kind of memory.
[beach volleyball sounds]
[Chestnut-sided Warbler song]
For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
###
Senior Producer: John Kessler
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Baltimore Oriole ML560381621 recorded by Nathan Pieplow, and Chestnut-sided Warbler ML73989 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2023 BirdNote August 2023
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# jimenezm-01-2023-08-01 jimenezm-01
Sights & Sounds
