Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Birkner, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Birkner and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Birkner

• 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 Birkner:
  • 38.562272, -90.029273
  • 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.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Birkner

• 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 Saint Clair County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
  • Since Birkner is near Madison County and also Saint Louis County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Louis 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Birkner

Curious and Interesting Names Near Birkner ...

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.

• Bunkum
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Bunkum is located in Saint Clair County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunkum
• Crest Hill
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Crest Hill is located in Saint Clair County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crest Hill
• Crossroads
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Crossroads is located in Saint Clair County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
• Dutch Hollow
  (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Dutch Hollow is located in Saint Clair County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dutch Hollow
• French Village
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • French Village is located in Saint Clair County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Village
• Golden Gardens
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Golden Gardens is located in Saint Clair County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Gardens
• Hilltop
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Hilltop is located in Saint Clair County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
• Royal Heights
  (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Royal Heights is located in Saint Clair County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Heights
• Signal Hill
  (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Signal Hill is located in Saint Clair County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Signal Hill
• Union Hill
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Union Hill is located in Saint Clair County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Hill

How Far From Birkner to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Birkner to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Birkner and extending to:

• Belleville, which is the Seat of Saint Clair County, lies just to the Southeast.
• Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Birkner to Springfield, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 699 miles [1,124.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,434 miles [10,354.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,168 miles [11,535.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,048 miles [8,124 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'