This time of year, Chicago is typically awash in migratory waterfowl, as visiting birds spend the winter hanging out on Lake Michigan and area rivers before heading back north in the spring.
These mergansers, coots, scaups, buffleheads and goldeneyes — just to name a few — aren’t necessarily rare or endangered, but their appearance does make for an exciting change of pace among local birders.
So when word began to spread that one of these guests, a white-winged scoter, had been spotted on the North Branch of the Chicago River, folks grabbed their binoculars, scopes and cameras and headed to Chicago’s River Park for a look…