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This Week in Birding is a newsletter that gives you everything you need to know about birding. It’s written by me, Bob Dolgan, writer, filmmaker, Director of “Monty and Rose,” a film about Piping Plovers, Chief Editor of Meadowlark, a journal of Illinois birds and an official Ambassador for the American Bird Conservancy. I received the 2022 Excellence in Environmental Reporting Award from Chicago Audubon Society.

By subscribing, you become part of a community that supports environmental reporting and where making films like “Monty and Rose” is possible. Since launching in November 2020, This Week in Birding has provided original posts and videos including frequent species accounts, travelog-style reflections, backyard birding experiences, and more. The short documentary “Dodger,” released in January 2021, is a production of Turnstone Strategies and This Week in Birding, as is the Monty and Rose sequel, released in September 2021 and “The Magic Stump,” a documentary short that released in Fall 2022. Our newest project is “Fluddles,” a film that made its debut in Peoria, Illinois, on November 8, 2023.

TWiB and related projects have been featured by a number of media outlets including ABC 7, Block Club Chicago, Chicago Reader, Fox 32, Great Lakes Now, WBEZ 91.5, WGN 720, WGN TV, WLS 890, and WTTW 11.

TWiB includes an original post that’s released each Monday and occasional bonus posts. Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. And be sure to follow TWiB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

TWiB acknowledges that we are on the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabeg, a confederation of Potawatomi, Ojibwe and Odawa people. Chicago was an established place that Native people including the Ho-Chunk, Miami, Menominee, Sauk and Meskwaki used for centuries before Europeans arrived. Even after the first land cession in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, the majority of the land we now call Chicago remained under Native control for several more decades, particularly by the Anishinaabeg. Few non-Native settlers lived in the area, and those who did depended on Anishinaabe people to survive.

TWiB adheres to the American Birding Association’s Code of Ethics while in the field and while compiling this newsletter.

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People

I make documentaries about birds and write a weekly Substack. I live in Chicago and love sports and history, too. I edit Illinois’ birding journal, Meadowlark.
I’m Bill Davison, an award-winning wildlife photographer, biologist, farmer, and agroforester, on a joyful journey to share my love of nature with others.
A decade ago, Kelly Ball had an epiphany and realized she didn’t have to wait until retirement to become a birder. Most recently, she worked at Bird Watcher’s Digest. Currently Kelly is searching for unique ways to support conservation projects.
Andy Morkes is the author of Nature in Chicagoland: More Than 120 Fantastic Nature Destinations That You Must Visit & the Nature in Chicagoland blog.Articles about his work have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and Daily Southtown.
Emily is a nature, sustainability, and climate change writer.
Brian “Fox” Ellis, is an author and storyteller who portrays John James Audubon. He and his wife run a B & B in Bishop Hill, The Twinflower Inn.
Isoo O'Brien is an Evanston native and student at Kenyon College. An avid birder since age 9, Isoo leads field trips for local organizations and currently holds Cook County's big year record at 288 species.
Greetings! I am from the Springfield Illinois area and was able to channel, a childhood interest in birds, into a present day family shared nature experience. We hope to birdwatch in every Illinois county.