Pack a picnic dinner and join us for a 5 pm bird walk at the height of spring migration in one of the birdiest forest preserves in Lake County. Daniel Wright Woods and Half Day Forest Preserve are linked by a footbridge over the Des Plaines River, providing crucial habitat for songbirds that utilize the river as a rest stop on their migratory journeys and often yielding over 20 species of warblers on a good day. We’ll bird first, then gather at the picnic tables near the Wright Woods parking lot to eat and socialize.
Directions: From Waukegan Rd., turn west on Everett Rd. in Lake Forest, drive to the end (St. Mary’s Rd), and turn left (south) into the parking lot. Meet in the parking lot at Everett and St. Mary’s Roads.
Leader: Todd Katz 847-409-7355
Please register for the Daniel Wright Woods bird walk and picnic HERE so that we can get a headcount and contact you in the event of a date change due to weather conditions.
In addition to being one of Lake County’s birdiest forest preserves during migration, Daniel Wright has become a reliable spot for Pileated Woodpecker – a species that was largely absent from the county just a decade ago. Daniel Wright Woods and Half Day Forest Preserve are linked by a footbridge over the Des Plaines River, providing crucial habitat for songbirds that utilize the river as a rest stop on their migratory journeys and often yielding over 20 species of warblers on a good day.
Directions: From Waukegan Rd., turn west on Everett Rd. in Lake Forest, drive to the end (St. Mary’s Rd), and turn left (south) into the parking lot. Meet in the parking lot at Everett and St. Mary’s Roads.
Leaders: Charlotte Pavelka and Doug Reitz 847-347-8416
Please register for the Daniel Wright Woods bird walk HERE so that we can get a headcount and contact you in the event of a date change due to weather conditions.
With woodland, savanna and wetland habitats, Sedge Meadow is a great place to look for warblers, flycatchers, vireos and other spring migrants (one previous chapter walk here yielded a Brewster’s Warbler, a hybrid Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warbler that is rarely reported in the Chicago area) as well as resident species.
Directions: The preserve is located on Wadsworth Rd., just east of US 41. Meet at the Sedge Meadow entrance, which is the first parking lot east of US 41 (NOT the canoe launch lot).
Leader: Donna Kenski 847-347-3474
Please register for the Sedge Meadow walk HERE so that we can get a headcount and contact you in the event of a date change due to weather conditions.
Come bird with us on Memorial Day morning at Lake County’s largest forest preserve! Birders have reported 229 species here, thanks to habitat that includes a mixture of oak woods, wetlands and fields. The first-ever state record of Painted Redstart was reported here in 2023, drawing scores of birders from around the state to see this stunning black and red warbler far from its home in the southwestern U.S.
Directions: From westbound Route 176, turn left (south) onto Fairfield Road. Within a 1/4 mile turn right (southwest) onto W. Ivanhoe Road. Do NOT turn left into the Lakewood Forest Preserve parking lot. Continue southwest on Ivanhoe Road about 1/4 mile to the first road on your left (past big white house on corner). This road is gravel and unnamed. Drive down this road to a small parking lot and public toilets. (Map)
Leader: Stephen Hurst 224-804-4030
Please register for the Lakewood Forest Preserve walk HERE so that we can get a headcount and contact you in the event of a date change due to weather conditions.
With spring migration winding down, the restored tallgrass prairie, open wetlands, creeks and large reservoir of this underbirded Lake County Forest Preserve offer easy sightlines that make it a good spot to look for grassland and wetland species that will stay to nest.
Directions: Drive to the intersection of Lake Cook Rd. and N. Arlington Heights Rd. Turn north on Arlington Heights Rd., then west on Checker Rd. Park in the parking lot at 18163 Checker Rd. (This is the preserve’s east parking lot and larger than the one on the west.)
Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve – Main Parking Lot
Leader: Jerry Hampton (630) 400-0755
Please register for the Buffalo Creek walk HERE so that we can get a headcount and contact you in the event of a date change due to weather conditions.