This underbirded migrant hotspot was Lake County’s first forest preserve, created in 1961, and features five miles of trails along oak forest and wetlands. We’ll be looking for the first wave of landbird migrants – potentially earlier than usual due to climate change.

Directions: From US 41 North, turn east on Rte. 173. Drive 0.1 miles and turn left (north) into the preserve. Park in the first parking lot on your right.

Leaders: Wanda Supanich 224-433-1675 and Susan Lamberts

Please register for the Van Patten Woods field trip here so that we can get a head count and contact you in the event of a date change due to weather conditions.

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 head count and contact you in the event of a date change due to weather conditions.

Birders at Lake County’s largest forest preserve 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: Donna Kenski 847-347-3474

Please register for the Lakewood Forest Preserve field trip here so that we can get a head count and contact you in the event of a date change due to weather conditions.