Seeing Red-throated Loons for the first time (and why I don’t have targets)

I was standing at my desk on Wednesday afternoon prepping for a meeting when I get a text from my friend Dan. The first thing I see is a back of the camera photo showing a close up of a Red-throated Loon.  Next comes his message that reads, “Shoot, where are you!?”

Dan and I bird together regularly, meeting up at least once a week at Park 566 to see what birds we can find. He’s a 566 regular, having birded there several days a week for the past several years, and knows just about every inch of the park. He also claims the number #1 spot on eBird for this site, with 241 of the 256 species reported there.  Now that I’ve been birding 566 at least weekly for over a year, I can claim the number #2 spot with 172 species. We’ve both been keeping eyes out for Red-throated Loons this season, me for my life list and him for his year list, and here they were popping up in the middle of my work week.

Well, missing out on bird sightings is a pretty regular experience for any birder. Whether it’s work, family commitments, or trips out of town during migration season, life is bound to get in the way of birding. I congratulated Dan on his find, crossed my fingers that the loons would stick around through the weekend, and got back to work.

WEWA that landed in front of me at LaBagh in 2019

Once the weekend came around and we were planning our meetup time, I texted Dan “NO targets, or only very ridiculous ones .” His reply: “Thinking 🐧 tomorrow” (this is why Dan is one of my favorite birding buddies). While I really wanted to see these birds, having a specific target tends to ruin birding for me.  If I have a target and find it, that can be exciting, but missing targets usually results in disappointment or frustration…emotions I really don’t want to bring into my birding.  Rather, if I go out without any targets in mind, I’m more likely to find joy in whatever birds happen to be there, even the regulars this time of year like American Tree Sparrows or Red-breasted Mergansers. Ultimately, the best birding experiences I’ve had over the past 6 years of Birding have been getting surprised by something unexpected, like the Spotted Towhee on the Christmas Bird Count, the Worm-eating Warbler I found as a newish birder in 2019, and the surprise Black-legged Kittiwake I saw at 566 last year.

Rather than targeting Red-throated Loons on Saturday, I headed to 566 with no goals at all, my only expectation that I’d take a walk in the cold with a good friend who appreciates nature and this small patch of recovering lakefront as much as I do. Possibly we’d get to see some birds along the way.

Greater Scaup flying over the breakwater between Park 566 and Steelworkers Park

Despite the chilly Chicago winter weather Saturday moring, there were plenty of birds to be found. This included an unlikely Double Crested Cormorant flyover, several Buffleheads, Common Golden Eyes, Greater Scaup, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers, American Tree Sparrows, and our beloved park resident Northern Harrier.  Half-way into the walk, I also got to see not one but THREE Red-throated Loons. And I spent plenty of time enthralled along the lakeshore as I watched them them wade and then casually slip out of sight under the waves. In the end it was a great experience, but it was really only the cherry on the top of an already delightful walk.

A Red-throated Loon swimming in Lake Michigan in their non-breeding plumage

I know many birders enjoy chasing targets, but that’s just not me. At heart I’m a patch birder, and I want to find and see whomever is in the my local patches when I have the opportunity to bird.

But what about you? Do you enjoy chasing targets, or do you focus just on seeing what you can find in your patch, or are you a mix of both? Please let me know in the comment section below. I’d love to hear your perspective!