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Bob Dolgan

@twibchicago.com
436 followers 572 following 748 posts

Midwesterner, fan of the Great Lakes and the prairie. Usually posting here about birds and nature.

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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 7h
A genre founded at Chicago’s Green Mill!
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 29/09/2026
Yard birding.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 22/09/2026
It's that time of year again... @xercessociety.bsky.social #leavetheleaves
Neighbors may think you're crazy, or just plain lazy, but the little guys know you're a real hero when you #leavetheleaves
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 14/09/2026
Today I wrote about our rarest turtle, the Blanding's Turtle. Only 500 or so remain in Illinois, in a few isolated populations. All photos taken with permission. 🐢 www.twibchicago.com/p/blandings-...
twibchicago.com
Blanding’s Turtle: a conservation success story
Lake County program is expanding and maintaining their numbers.
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Joe Mason @moreorloess.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Bill Murray should have gotten away to one of those beautiful blobs instead of reliving that day over and over around the square in Woodstock aka Punxsutawny.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 11/09/2026
This 1731 description of a paw paw says “light, yellow, smooth, resembling a ram’s scr*tum.” 😳
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 11/09/2026
“The Tumble Turds” is not a phrase I thought I’d encounter today. Apparently a type of beetle? From Mark Catesby’s 1731 Natural History.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 11/09/2026
Hand-drawn map from 1905 by the early botanist Herman Pepoon. The green blobs are labeled “Beauty Spots of Illinois.”
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 11/09/2026
A visit to Lenhardt Library today at Chicago Botanic Garden. Vaughan’s Seed Store opened in the Loop in 1876. Mr. Vaughan helped with the massive floral displays at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 08/09/2026
This promises to be a fun event, and it is FREE 👇
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Vince Guerrieri @vinceguerrieri.com · 01/09/2026
I remember watching a two-part episode of the old Untouchables TV show with Robert Stack. The Outfit wanted to kill Cermak while he was in Miami. They foiled that assassination attempt, but the episode ended with Cermak being shot by Giuseppe Zangara.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 01/09/2026
This engraving shows a scenic park in 1872 Chicago labeled as “Jefferson Park.” All I can think is that it was a misprint - maybe Garfield, Humboldt, or Jackson?
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 31/08/2026
Visiting the tomb of Anton Cermak, Chicago’s only immigrant mayor. Also a monument to the Czech soldiers who fought with the Union in the Civil War. At Bohemian National Cemetery.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 29/08/2026
This fall, starting Oct. 19, I'm teaching a class at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Hope you can join us! Learn more --> www.chicagobotanic.org/learning/adu...
chicagobotanic.org
The Wonderful World of Bird Behavior
New! Unravel the mysteries of the secret lives of birds through a historic lens. Explore a variety of birds as they sleep, eat, sing, and dance, with an emphasis on midwestern species. Using historica...
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Dale Bowman @bowmanoutside.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Joel Greenberg talks at 6 tonight on his, "To Life: Jews Exploring Nature," at Chicago Southland Green Drinks at Thornton Distillery. Greenberg, smartest guy I've ever hung with, did "A Natural History of the Chicago Region," Bible of Chicago outdoors. Photo was at Gensburg-Markham Prairie.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 20/08/2026
While the Bears were having a nonsensical press conference about a stadium in Indiana, here’s the reality of what residents there are dealing with. abc7chicago.com/amp/post/par...
abc7chicago.com
Parts of NW Indiana to remain without power until next week after Chicago area storms cause outages, NIPSCO says | abc7chicago.com
As crews work to restore power across Northwest Indiana, officials said some communities won't have electricity for several more days.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 20/08/2026
Something to look forward to - fall migration is here, it seems. A lot of call notes this cool morning. Likely thrushes and warblers.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 13/08/2026
If you look closely in the photo, at lower left, Loeb is handfeeding a Kirtland’s warbler. His study of cowbird nest parasitism was groundbreaking.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 13/08/2026
At yesterday’s visit to Flyway City at Chi Architecture Center - there were these blue curtains throughout including this nicely stylized one. I thought they were dividers for the exhibition, but they’re actually scaffolding netting, a low-cost material used to cover windows and prevent collisions.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 12/08/2026
Major AI search fail! Frank Corr died in 1934 and Martin Kennelly preceded Richard J. Daley in the 1940s. Always good to ignore AI search summaries.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 31/07/2026
The Bobolink didn’t really have a charming nickname until William Cullen Bryant’s 1864 poem, “Robert of Lincoln.” The Bobolink was almost always just called Rice Bird. In today’s video, Bryant’s text is paired with Bobolink footage so you can learn their song. youtu.be/AkrSIcnwnEM?... 🪶
youtu.be
Robert of Lincoln, aka Bob-o-Link
YouTube video by TURNSTONE
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 31/07/2026
The Bobolink didn’t really have a charming nickname until William Cullen Bryant’s 1864 poem, “Robert of Lincoln.” The Bobolink was almost always just called Rice Bird. In today’s video, Bryant’s text is paired with Bobolink footage so you can learn their song. youtu.be/AkrSIcnwnEM?... 🪶
youtu.be
Robert of Lincoln, aka Bob-o-Link
YouTube video by TURNSTONE
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 26/07/2026
A few photos from yesterday’s Slam Poetry anniversary featuring founder Marc Smith, two poet laureates, and many others in on the founding of a Chicago phenomenon. @newberrylibrary.bsky.social
Emily Calvo, Marc Smith, Jean Howard. Collection materials on display. 
Sellout crowd at Ruggles Hall, Newberry Library.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 17/07/2026
😷
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 17/07/2026
Worth a read - two of Canada's three worst fire seasons have just occurred. It's not going to get better soon. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
theatlantic.com
Canada’s Forests Will Burn and Burn
Once a wildfire starts, it can spread to an area too massive to control.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 16/07/2026
I will also be there taking video so there’s that 🎥
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 13/07/2026
That sonorous pee-a-wee song, still being heard in eastern woods through September. 🪶 open.substack.com/pub/twib/p/t...
open.substack.com
The sweet, plaintive song of the “pe-weet”
“There is a bird that has built her nest every spring, in the tall tree over the grave.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 13/07/2026
That sonorous pee-a-wee song, still being heard in eastern woods through September. 🪶 open.substack.com/pub/twib/p/t...
open.substack.com
The sweet, plaintive song of the “pe-weet”
“There is a bird that has built her nest every spring, in the tall tree over the grave.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 12/07/2026
There are only 500 Blanding’s turtles left in Illinois. 🐢 www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/12/i...
chicagotribune.com
Scientists team up in ‘unparalleled’ effort to protect Illinois’ endangered turtles from increasing threats
Loss of wetlands, changes in habitat hydrology from dams and agricultural tile drainage, viruses, and poaching put turtle population at risk.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 12/07/2026
One of my better macro photos of late. 🐞 🌱 🪴
A house fly with a bead of nectar on a false sunflower.
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The Newberry @newberrylibrary.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Congratulations to Dominic Pacyga, the winner of The Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award, recognizing works that transform public understanding of Chicago. www.newberry.org/news/author-...
newberry.org
Author Dominic A. Pacyga Will Receive the 2026 Pattis Family…
Pacyga is the fifth winner of the $25,000 award, recognizing works that transform public understanding of Chicago
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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Young great blue herons watching a helicopter. Filmed June 20, 2026, at Oak Woods Cemetery.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 22/06/2026
I believe this damselfly is a Familiar Bluet. From Hackmatack NWR near Richmond, IL. 🐞 📷
A slim blue damsel fly clings to a blade of grass.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 22/06/2026
It’s hard to articulate how special an all-white hummingbird is. There have been perhaps only three or four seen in the Midwest in the past two decades. www.twibchicago.com/p/the-psalm-...
twibchicago.com
The psalm of the white hummingbird
An angel appears in Des Plaines.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 21/06/2026
Vandals have left my back yard fountain greenish and full of algae. 🤦‍♂️
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 19/06/2026
Wild Turkeys can be elusive in the Chicago area, but Hackmatack NWR near the Wisconsin border is a fairly reliable place to find them. 🪶
A male turkey in display is puffed up and its tail feathers are upright.Two female turkeys near the male.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 05/06/2026
“I’m going to have to lay down in front of a bulldozer if I have to.” www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/04/k...
chicagotribune.com
Inspired by piping plover enthusiasts, a Lockport couple protects killdeer eggs at construction site
After spotting four speckled killdeer eggs in an empty lot next door, a couple is working to delay a housing construction project until the birds hatch.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 01/06/2026
Maybe the only article you’ll see that attempts to weave together viral Chicago nature news with stuff that happened years ago two states over. open.substack.com/pub/twib/p/c...
open.substack.com
Chicago Buckeyes? Eagles may have Ohio roots
Chicago's first Bald Eagle nest in a century may trace back to a Buckeye State recovery program.
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Biodiversity Pics @biodiversitypix.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
🐺 The animal kingdom, arranged according to its organization, serving as a foundation for the natural history of animals. v.1 plates. London: G. Henderson, 1834-1837. [Source]
Historical illustration titled "The animal kingdom," showing three mammals with detailed anatomical sketches. The top subject is a common badger, colored gray and white with a black face stripe. Below it is a wolverine, depicted in brown and black fur with a stocky body and rounded tail. The bottom animal is the Cape pole cat, shown with a slender body and distinct black and white facial markings and stripes on its back. Surrounding these animals are line drawings of skulls and dental structures, highlighting jaw shapes and teeth, emphasizing comparative anatomy. The style is scientific and naturalistic, typical of 19th-century zoological plates.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 30/05/2026
Excited to be part of this film fest! There will be a showing on 6/21 at 1:30p. The legend of the stump lives on. 🎞️
A promo graphic for a film shows laurels, location of Waukegan, IL, “official selection” and the name of the festival.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 29/05/2026
This was fun…in the 100th anniversary year of Route 66! 🖼️
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 27/05/2026
So glad to learn of this. “Tony had circles within circles of friends,” [Greg] Neise said. www.wbez.org/arts/2026/05...
wbez.org
Nearly 70 Tony Fitzpatrick works to be auctioned in sale of late artist’s ‘inherently Chicago’ originals
The May 28 sale will be overseen by Potter & Potter Auctions. “There are so many stories that you can mine from Tony’s work.”
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 25/05/2026
My kind of morning.
A wetland in the background and a camera with a long lens in the foreground.
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Lake Michigan! Live! @lake-michigan.live · 23/05/2026
Current* conditions near Milwaukee, WI:
View looking north from Discovery World of the Milwaukee Art Museum and the shoreline of Lake Michigan. // Image captured at: 2026-05-23 17:06:02 UTC (about 1 min. prior to this post) // Image sourced from: wisn.com // Current Temp in Milwaukee: 58 F | 14 C // Precip: broken clouds // Wind: ENE at 10 mph | 17 kph // Humidity: 78%
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 22/05/2026
Signs of the impact of Piping Plovers on this town are everywhere. Uptown Branch Library, the mural by Dorian Sylvain.
A large horizontal painting on a wall shows two Piping Plovers with sand and dune flowers and water with the words Monty and Rose Piping Plovers.
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The Newberry @newberrylibrary.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
We're pleased to share we've acquired the collection of Poetry Slam founder Marc Kelly Smith, who started the series in Chicago in 1984. The collection consists of over 30 linear feet of materials documenting the history of the Slam and its predecessors. www.newberry.org/news/the-new...
newberry.org
The Newberry Has Acquired the Marc Kelly Smith Poetry Slam Collection
Collection documents the longest running poetry series in the United States.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 19/05/2026
This is going great www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/19/c...
chicagotribune.com
Chicago Bears’ proposed stadium site in Hammond would be built on giant slag heap, near hazardous waste sites
The proposed Chicago Bears stadium site in Hammond would be on a giant slag heap, and near hazardous waste sites and an oil refinery.
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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
A family of mute swans in Indian Ridge Marsh on Chicago's Southeast Side, May 17, 2026
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 19/05/2026
Spring migration was in full swing in one of our nearby forest preserves this morning. It was warm and humid, and there was a flurry of activity in between rain showers. 🪶
A Magnolia Warbler in yellow, black, white, and gray plumage perches on a branch.A Bay-breasted Warbler in cream, rust, black, and white plumage perches on a limb.A Canada Warbler with a black necklace and yellow underparts and neck and grayish back appears to look at the camera.
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Bob Dolgan @twibchicago.com · 18/05/2026
Writing in 1904, Schuyler Mathews described the Brown Thrasher's song as Shuck it, shuck it, sow it, sow it; Plough it, plough it, hoe it, hoe it. Don't stop get it, get it, Watch me as I navigate, ha ha ha ha.
A painting of a brown bird with a speckled breast, perched on a shrub and appearing to be in song.
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