With a gravel trail that winds around wetlands, woodlands and open prairies, this Lake County Forest Preserve offers ample opportunities to spot migrating passerines including late warblers and early sparrow arrivals as well as waterfowl and shorebirds depending on water levels. The entrance to the preserve features a Black Angus bull statue atop a stone tower, marking the property’s former use as a farm that bred and raised beef cattle.

Directions: Ray Lake Forest Preserve is located at 23275 W Erhart Rd in Grayslake. From Route 22/Half Day Road heading west, turn north on Route 83, drive 0.8 miles to Gilmer Road and turn left, then 8 miles to Erhart Rd. Bear right on Erhart. The preserve entrance and parking lot are located on Erhart Road between Gilmer and Fremont Center roads.

Leader: Donna Kenski (847) 347-3474

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

With 1,216 uninterrupted acres, Rollins Savanna is one of Lake County’s largest forest preserves. The habitat ranges from prairie and wetland to an oak grove that plays host to migrating passerines. Fall birding here can include Trumpeter Swans, migrating waterfowl and occasional shorebirds in the largest wetland to nearly every fall sparrow that passes through the Chicago area along with raptors and the occasional Rusty Blackbird or Short-eared Owl.

Bring a spotting scope to scan the large wetland if you have one.

Directions: Meet at the Drury Lane parking lot on the north side of the preserve. From I-94, exit Grand Ave. west to Rollins Rd., then turn left (west) on Rollins and south on Drury Lane Drive .3 mile to the parking lot on left.

Leader: Beau Schaefer (847) 337-3602

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

Take advantage of the Columbus Day holiday to bird one of the most important sites for biodiversity in Illinois, named for the waterway known as the Middle Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River that transects the property. Featuring a rare tallgrass savanna ecosystem as well as wetland, woodlands, prairies and open fields, this preserve is a prime spot for viewing late fall migrants like Fox, White-crowned and Lincoln’s Sparrows as well as Sandhill Cranes, Wilson’s Snipe, Northern Harrier and a variety of migrating waterfowl. Special mid-October sightings in recent years have included Harris’ Sparrow, Purple Finch and the spectacle of hundreds of undulating Pine Siskins swooping over the fields.

Directions: The preserve is located at 1401 Middlefork Dr in Lake Forest. From Route 60, take Route 43 north to Westmoreland Dr./Middlefork Dr. Turn left to the parking lot.

Leader: Jerry Hampton (630) 400-0755

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