Winter 2004

People Who Are Taking Nature's Pulse
By Katherine Millett | Photography by Rob Warner
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Wes Serafin: Eyes Too Keen to Measure

"I wear my binoculars to work, and I wear them to weddings," says Wes Serafin in a carefully enunciated Chicago accent. "I don't go anywhere without them."

He doesn't miss much when it comes to birds. He and a friend recently found the first breeding pair of osprey seen in Illinois in 50 years, and last May, he raced around the Chicago area to win a contest with a one-month tally of 200 birds. Even without binoculars, Serafin's eyesight is so keen his doctor can't measure it — the test equipment stops at 20/10.

Equally keen is Serafin's enthusiasm for preserving bird habitat. A pharmacist and former president of the Chicago Ornithological Society, he helps other volunteers monitor and restore Orland Grassland, the largest prairie restoration effort in Cook County. He took the position, unpopular at first, that dense stands of trees should be cleared from the property. The trees, he argued, divided the 1,000-acre parcel into fragments too small for many birds to use. His view ultimately prevailed, and last winter the trees were cut.

The results have been dramatic. Clearing tripled the size of the grassland, and numerous species, many on the Illinois endangered list, have returned. Serafin noticed the changes last June when he monitored nesting birds at the site.

"It was a big deal to see one or two Henslow's sparrows here 15 years ago," he says, "but last June, I saw 15 singing males. They are definitely breeding here now. In 2003, compared to the five previous summers, there were 50 percent more of them." He has also seen endangered northern harriers and short-eared owls at Orland, as well as sedge wrens and threatened pied-billed grebes. All but the grebes require large, open spaces to establish populations.

Every June day during the breeding census, Serafin hits the trail at dawn, his pant legs tucked into his socks to ward off chiggers, and searches the prairie for signs of avian breeding. He seldom finds nests — "grassland birds are too smart to let us see where they build" — so he looks for birds carrying food or nesting materials.

"This area is just great," he says, "and it's only going to get better. I love being out here first thing in the morning, especially when it's drizzling. A light rain will ground the birds, stop their movement, and you never know what you're going to see next."

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