Bird the preserve for passerine migrants, with the option to stay for the Fort Sheridan Hawk Watch looking for raptors flying south.
Directions:
Access the Preserve from Sheridan Road at the stoplight with Old Elm. Follow the access road to stop sign and turn left (east). Continue east to Gilgare Lane. Turn left and continue to parking lot. You MUST park in the lot and not along the roadway. (Map)
NEW!
Our first outing to Lake County’s largest forest preserve as fall migration continues.
Leader: Donna Kenski (847) 347-3474
If you’ve never seen Chimney Swifts funnel into a chimney at dusk to roost for the night, you’re in for a treat. Join us for a BYO picnic dinner and quick overview of Chimney Swift habits and conservation status at Sunset Woods Park in Highland Park at 6 pm – then drive five minutes to Highland Park City Hall to watch the spectacle in the City Hall chimney. Sunset is at 7:43 pm and we should be in place by about 7:30 to see the first birds dive-bomb the chimney, so you’ll have plenty of time to eat, socialize and even stop for a Dairy Queen or gelato on the way to City Hall.
We’ve booked the largest shelter so there’s plenty of room to spread out. And not to worry – there’s no Ravinia concert on August 22 so we won’t run into Ravinia traffic. Don’t forget your binoculars!
Video of Chimney Swifts entering chimney in Highland Park
RSVP to renabird3@gmail.com
Highland Park City Hall (Chimney Swift chimney location)
1707 St Johns Avenue (Map)
Park in city hall parking lot on Hazel (south of city hall)
Lakefront birding at Rainbow Beach Dunes with possible stops at Park 566, Steelworkers Park and more. We’ll be looking for winter ducks, scoters, loons, special gulls and other new arrivals.
Directions:
Follow DuSable Lake Shore Drive south. Continue past 78th Street turning left onto S. Farragut Drive. Follow Farragut Drive to the first parking lot. (Map)
Leader: Josh Engel (224) 213-2280
Catch the last fall migrants before they depart for their wintering grounds
Leader: Jerry Hampton (630) 400-0755
From Deerfield Rd., turn north on Riverwoods Rd., drive to Ryerson entrance. Enter preserve and drive to the Brushwood parking lot. Left at the stop sign. Do NOT go to the Welcome Center.
Multi-stop trip begins at Gillson Park in Wilmette and heads north with stops at Tower Road, Glencoe Beach overlook and more to look for migrating waterfowl.
Directions:
From Sheridan Road turn east at Lake Avenue toward lake. Turn right on Overlook Drive and then into the parking lot of the Beach House.
Leader: Dave Johnson (224) 567-9650 djohnsoda@comcast.net
Our annual mid-October trip to Middlefork Savanna can be a sparrow spectacle with special finds in previous years including Harris’ Sparrow, Purple Finch, Pine Siskins and more.
Directions:
From Rt. 60, take Rt. 43 north to Westmoreland Dr./Middlefork Dr. Turn left to the parking lot
Leader: Donna Kenski (847) 347-3474
Fall Magic! Everyone’s favorite migration hotspot, from the beach to the Magic Hedge.
Directions:
From Lake Shore Dr. take the Montrose Ave. exit east, turn right at the Bait Shop at Montrose Harbor Dr., park near sanctuary entrance and feed parking meters OR park on Montrose before or after Bait Shop for free.
Fall warblering and more at popular migrant stopover, with a possible post-trip stop at nearby Techny North to look for shorebirds.
Directions:
Meet at the Willow Rd. entrance just east of the Edens Expressway (the sign says Erickson Woods). From the north you should take Edens X-way south exiting at Tower Road. Turn left (south) on the Frontage road to Willow Road. Turn left (east) on Willow over the Edens to Erickson Woods entrance. Drive to north end of parking lot.
Beach, land and dunes birding for fall migration. From US-41, turn east on Wadsworth Rd., drive 2 miles into park to Nature Center parking lot.
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED; MEMBER PRIORITY; LIMIT 14. Email renabird3@gmail.com to register.
Directions
From US-41, turn east on Wadsworth Rd., drive 2 miles into the park, park in Nature Center lot.
Leaders: Bill and Annette McClellan (847) 987-3376
This will be a lake watch. Scopes are needed. If no action, we’ll check the trails.
Directions
From US-41, turn east on Wadsworth Rd., drive into the park continuing PAST the (now closed) resort hotel to the unmarked pull out on the right for the park office.
Leader: Beau Schaefer (847) 337-3602 beauschaefer@yahoo.com
This field trip to our closest state park is a great migratory stopover for southbound land bird and wetland migrants.
Directions:
From I-94 tollway, exit IL-173/Rosecrans Rd, turn left on Rosecrans, drive 13 mi, turn left on Wilmot Rd.. then left into park. Follow signs to Park Office/Goldfinch Trail lot.
Rosy-finches are high elevation and high latitude specialist birds that are found broadly across western North America. Research has demonstrated that human-induced climate change is more extreme in high latitude and high altitude environments. The rapid changes occurring across the ranges of the three North American rosy-finch species have led to their listing as species of conservation concern. Garth Spellman, Curator of Ornithology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, will discuss recent collaborative research efforts to understand the origin and life history of these enigmatic species, and work aimed at understanding how the birds are responding to climate change from the genetic level to the landscape level.
ONLINE PARTICIPATION INSTRUCTIONS
The presentations will be on Zoom. You must install the Zoom application (Zoom Client for Meetings) on your computer. We strongly recommend doing this BEFORE the events.
We will be emailing online participation instructions for each event. You must be on the email list to receive the link to the program.
Download the Zoom Client for Meetings here.
You may use eBird to record your bird sightings, but there’s much more you can do with the program. Want to know the species you can find on your next trip? The best time of year to look for an American Bittern? Whether you’re really seeing fewer warblers this May than last? Where to find a Spoon-billed Sandpiper? This presentation from local birder Beau Schaefer will turn you into a power eBird user. (Feel free to log on to your favorite device for a hands-on lesson!)
ONLINE PARTICIPATION INSTRUCTIONS
The presentations will be on Zoom. You must install the Zoom application (Zoom Client for Meetings) on your computer. We strongly recommend doing this BEFORE the events.
We will be emailing online participation instructions for each event. You must be on the email list to receive the link to the program.
Download the Zoom Client for Meetings here.
In the past 20 years we have come to understand the navigational and physiological feats enabling migratory birds to cross immense oceans, forgo sleep for days or weeks, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch. A 6” sandpiper weighing less than an ounce flies 3,300 miles nonstop for six days from the Canadian subarctic to northern South America — the equivalent of 126 consecutive marathons with no food, water or a moment’s rest, using the earth’s magnetic field for navigation. Yet migration is increasingly fragile on this ever-more-altered planet. Naturalist, field researcher, author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Scott Weidensaul joins us to discuss his latest book, A World on the Wing, a celebration of global bird migration, the science that underpins it, and efforts to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other looming challenges.
ONLINE PARTICIPATION INSTRUCTIONS
The presentations will be on Zoom. You must install the Zoom application (Zoom Client for Meetings) on your computer. We strongly recommend doing this BEFORE the events.
We will be emailing online participation instructions for each event. You must be on the email list to receive the link to the program.
Download the Zoom Client for Meetings here.