Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Birds, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Birds and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Birds
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Birds:
- 41.475031, -88.197284
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Birds
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Will County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Will County
- Since Birds is near Grundy County and also Kendall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Grundy County
- eBird sighting report for Kendall County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Birds ...
We found five communities that share the name Birds.
There is one other community in Illinois which is also named Birds.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Illinois ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Birds ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Crystal Lawns
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Lawns have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lawns
- Crystal Lawns is located in Will County
- Erin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Fox Meadow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fox Meadow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Meadow
- Fox Meadow is located in Will County
- Hunt Club
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Oak Lane
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Pheasant Landing
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pheasant Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pheasant Landing
- Pheasant Landing is located in Will County
- Pleasant Knoll
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Knoll have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Knoll
- Pleasant Knoll is located in Will County
- Prairie Trail
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Prairie Trail have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie Trail
- Prairie Trail is located in Will County
- Riverwalk
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Rock Run Park
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Run Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Run Park
- Rock Run Park is located in Will County
- Rockdale
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
- Rockdale is located in Will County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,884 people
- Springwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springwood have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
- Springwood is located in Will County
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Squires Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Squires Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Squires Mill
- Squires Mill is located in Will County
- Sunset Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Hills
- Sunset Hills is located in Will County
- Sunset Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Ridge
- Sunset Ridge is located in Will County
- Vintage
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Squires Mill
How Far From Birds to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Birds to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Birds and extending to:
- Joliet, which is the Seat of Will County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 139 miles [223.7 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Birds to Springfield, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 614 miles [988.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,222 miles [10,013.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,961 miles [11,202.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,845 miles [7,797.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Birds. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Will County: www.willcountyillinois.com/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Birds) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Birds. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.4750, Longitude: -88.1973 In this case, the coordinates for Birds have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Birds could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Birds, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <6> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Birds to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.811 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.702 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.961 degrees. |