The rolling topography of this preserve is filled with multiple wetlands, making it a magnet for migrating waterfowl. The large open space can also offer great views of migrating raptors, and surprise sightings last year at this time included Snow Bunting and Northern Saw-whet Owl.
Directions:
From US-41 N, exit west on IL-173, drive 1.5 miles to Hunt Club Rd., turn north. Preserve is on the east side. We will meet in the main lot.
Leader: Nancy Tikalsky 773-655-0269
Learn more about Pine Dunes Forest Preserve (Lake County Forest Preserve)
NEW! Fall migration is beginning! We’ll start with a quick stop on Greenwood Avenue just north of Waukegan Beach to look for European Goldfinch, resident raptors and more. Then we’ll drive five minutes to Bowen Park (1800 N. Sheridan Rd., Waukegan) in search of early songbird migrants.
(NOTE: This is a destination change and replaces our previous announcement.)
Leader: Beau Schaefer 847-337-3602
Directions
From northbound US-41, turn right (east) on Buckley Road, drive 1.5 miles, and turn left (north) on IL-137/Bobby E. Thompson Expressway. Drive 5.5 miles and take the exit toward E. Greenwood Avenue. Meet at the end of Greenwood by the power plant.
Meet at Drury Lane parking lot on the north side of the preserve. We will walk out to the observation deck
Directions:
From I-94, exit Grand Ave. west to Rollins Rd., then left (west) on Rollins and south on Drury Lane .3 mile to parking lot on left.
Leader: Beau Schaefer 847-337-3602 beauschaefer@yahoo.com
Our second Lake Michigan ducky trip of the season will begin at Openlands Lakeshore Preserve and head north with multiple stops looking for newly arriving waterfowl. Bring scopes if you have them.
Directions:
From downtown Highwood, turn east on Walker Ave and continue to small parking area JUST BEFORE the road curves south. Be alert to northbound traffic approaching the curve. (Map)
Leader: Josh Engel 224 213 2280
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. Bring scopes if you have them.
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: Jeff Sanders 847 675 7172 — Field Trip DAY contact Rena Cohen 847 971 1107
Join Lake/Cook and Red Hill Birding’s Adam Sell for a spring jaunt to southern Illinois. Migrants are at their peak in this area in late April, and most of the southern breeding specialties are already actively setting up territories. We’ll search for migrants that haven’t yet reached our area plus specialties like Chuck-wills-Widow, Prairie, Worm-eating, and Kentucky Warblers, Bell’s Vireo, Blue Grosbeak, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Fish Crow, and Loggerhead Shrike. Bonus: we will be staying at the Giant City State Park Lodge, where species like White-eyed Vireo, Worm-eating Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, and Red-shouldered Hawk can be right outside our door.
We’ll be traveling by one or two vans from the Chicago area, depending on participant numbers. Email renabird3@gmail.com for itinerary and cost. Maximum 15 participants. Member priority
Texas Hill Country and Big Bend Led by Red Hill Birding
Texas Hill Country and Big Bend National Park are must-visit U.S. destinations for avid birders. Highlights include Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo, two endangered migratory songbirds that breed exclusively in south central Texas; Colima Warbler, a montane species found nowhere else in the U.S.; and stunners like Painted Bunting, Painted Redstart, Lucifer Hummingbird, Greater Roadrunner and many more – plus the spectacle of millions of Mexican Free-tailed Bats leaving their roosting cave in a small town 90 minutes west of San Antonio in the evening.
Red Hill’s last trip here tallied 181 species, including the Elf Owl that was voted #1 bird of the trip. The lodge at Big Bend is scheduled to close for renovations at the end of the season, so this will be the last opportunity to make the trip for several years.
Email renabird3@gmail.com for a detailed itinerary and pricing. Space is limited; Lake/Cook members have priority.
Arizona, here we come! Led by a local birding tour company, this trip will cover Portal and the Chiricahua Mountains, Sulphur Springs Valley, the Huachucas, and the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Corridor, plus the Sonoran Desert on the optional Feb 10 extension.
Target birds include Mexican Chickadee, Rivoli’s Hummingbird, Blue-throated Mountain-gem, Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Elegant Trogon, Arizona Woodpecker, Whiskered Screech-Owl, Bendire’s and Crissal Thrashers, Black-chinned Sparrow, Painted Redstart, Vermilion Flycatcher and many others. The extension will add species such as Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Crissal Thrasher, Harris’s Hawk, Gilded Flicker and Rufous-winged Sparrow.
Email renabird3@gmail.com for itinerary and cost. Maximum 11 participants. Lake Cook Chapter Member priority.
Take advantage of the Indigenous Peoples’ 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.
Everyone’s favorite migration hotspot, from the beach to the Magic Hedge.
Leader: Geoff Williamson 773-485-5217
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.
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
Everyone’s favorite migration hotspot, from the beach to the Magic Hedge.
Leader: Geoff Williamson 773-485-5217
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.
The South Unit boasts marsh, dune, swale, oak woods, beach and Lake Michigan in one location, offering exceptional opportunities for spotting a range of species.
Directions
From US-41, turn east on Wadsworth Rd., then drive 2 miles into the park to the Nature Center parking lot.
Leader: Eric Johnson (773) 551-2367
With a combination of pine grove, prairie and oak woodland, the diverse habitats at this Lake County Forest Preserve make it both a spring and fall birding favorite.
Directions:
Lyons Woods is located at 10200 Blanchard Rd., the corner of Blanchard and Sheridan Rd., north of Bowen Park and south of Yorkhouse Road.
Leader: Kerry Swift 847-323-6878
Who’s migrating today? We’ll check out one of Lake County’s best migrant traps, from the extensive wooded trails to the Des Plaines River.
Leader: Charlotte Pavelka & Doug Reitz (847) 347-8416
Directions:
From Deerfield Rd., turn north on Riverwoods Rd., drive to Ryerson entrance. Enter preserve and follow the signs to Brushwood Visitors Center. Meet in the Brushwood parking lot. NOTE: The gates open at 6:30 am.
