Whether it’s a group of Sanderlings scurrying along the beach, Wilson’s Snipe lurking in a wet area of the dunes, or flocks of fall warblers staging at the inland park on the same property, the Waukegan Beach area is a favorite birding destination just after Labor Day with great habitat for migrating shorebirds, waterfowl and songbirds. A surprise Whimbrel even showed up on one field trip.
Be prepared to walk on sand, and bring a spotting scope to scan the beach and lake if you have one.
Directions: Follow Route 120 EAST (Belvidere Rd.), drive to the lake, turn left on Market St/Pershing Rd. right on E Clayton, left on Sea Horse Drive, and bear right to beach parking lot.
Leader: Adam Sell (847) 910-7813
Please register for Waukegan Beach and Pines here so that we can get a head count and contact you in the event of a date change due to weather conditions.
We’ll bird the beach, dunes and trees to look for migrating shorebirds, waterfowl and songbirds, with a possible second stop at nearby Bowen Park.
Bring scopes if you have them.
Directions:
Follow Route 120 EAST (Belvidere Rd.), drive to the lake, turn left on Market St/Pershing Rd. right on E Clayton, left on Sea Horse Drive, and bear right to beach parking lot.
Leader: Adam Sell (847) 910-7813
Mark H.X. Glenshaw has spent nearly 20 years studying a family of Great Horned Owls in Forest Park, a large urban park in St. Louis, and shares his love of owls through lectures, owl prowls and more. In this program, co-sponsored by Lake/Cook Audubon and Evanston North Shore Bird Club, Glenshaw will explain how to find owls on your own – whether in a subdivision, city neighborhood, pocket park or large public park.
He will discuss the three species of owl you are most likely to see or hear, how to look for them in a safe and ethical manner, how to spot them in trees as well as from the evidence they leave on the ground, what to listen for including both owl calls and the warning calls of other birds and animals, and the importance of research and collaboration.
Recent studies show that North America has lost 3 billion birds since 1970. Similar research in Illinois suggests a decline of 28 million birds from 2005-2019. That decline, however, is not equally distributed among Illinois birds. Just three species (Common Grackle, House Sparrow and European Starling) comprise more than half of the total Illinois bird loss during that period, and bird species richness in the state is actually trending up.
Jim Herkert, former executive director of the Illinois Audubon Society, will discuss these trends, separate myth from reality in the bird decline data, and explore the disconnect between bird population declines and increasing avian biodiversity.
Lake County’s largest forest preserve – made famous spring (2022) for a sighting of the first-ever state record of Painted Redstart – is a great place to check out early fall songbird migration (including confusing fall warblers!).
Leader: Beau Schaefer (847) 337-3602
Directions:
From westbound Route 176, turn left (south) onto Fairfied 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)
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.
Leader: Rena Cohen (847) 971-1107
Our closest state park is a great migratory stopover for southbound migrants.
Leader: Beau Schaefer (847) 337-3602
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. Meet at the pull out/overlook on the right side of the entrance road.
Ornithologist and Illinois native Robert Ridgway – the first full-time curator of birds at the Smithsonian Institution, co-founder of the American Ornithologists’ Union and primary author of the multi-volume The Birds of North and Middle America – helped transform amateur birdwatching into a rigorous science.
Storyteller Brian “Fox” Ellis traces Ridgway’s evolution from his teenage travels across the western wilderness in 1868 to his legacy of encouraging the next generation of conservationists. Ridgway was a student of Spencer Baird, who travelled with John James Audubon. He took birding trips to Central America and explored Alaska with John Burroughs, Louis Agassiz Fuertes and John Muir after Alaska was acquired from Russia. Ridgway helped to refine systematics and evolutionary theory, redefining the relationships between species, subspecies and geography.
Lake County birder Beau Schaefer is generously offering a series of 7AM Thursday morning birding field trips through July 20, 2023. Calling this field trip series, “Birds and Baristas ’23,” Beau’s thought is that each field trip would conclude with a jaunt to a local coffee spot.
The field trips will be held in various lake county locations. The schedule may change. The linked “Google doc” is maintained by Beau and will be accurate.
Linked Google Doc here.
You are welcome and encouraged to reach out to Beau directly to secure specific information:
NEW!
Visit one of the premier wetlands in McHenry County, which hosts one of the largest remaining breeding populations of Yellow-headed Blackbirds in Illinois as well as a variety of wetland birds (sometimes a Common Gallinule!) along with grassland species such as Vesper Sparrow, Dickcissel and Bobolink nearby. Goose Lake is McHenry County’s #3 hotspot on eBird.
BE PREPARED TO HIKE approximately 2 miles on the Hebron Trail (flat, crushed gravel path) into the marsh from the parking lot.
Optional breakfast nearby afterward.
Directions:
Take 173 west and continue west of Richmond. Park on Seaman Rd off of Route 173. Parking lot is next to the cell tower. There are no facilities anywhere near the site. (Map)
Leader: Tom Scheidt 224-814-8131
NEW!
Our first trip to this Cook County Forest Preserve, where extensive habitat and wetland restoration have created a hospitable home for migrants as well as breeding grassland and woodland birds.
Directions:
Entrance is on Dundee Rd west of N. Hicks Road. Enter preserve and continue to Picnic Grove #1. Map
Leader: Scott McKinney 630-364-0603
Registration Required – Free Event
The “peent” of the American Woodcock begins shortly after sunset, followed by the amazing aerial display of males seeking female partners for the breeding season. Be prepared to walk out into the prairie to get to a good viewing spot. Dress for wet trails and ticks (high boots recommended). Don’t forget binoculars!
Directions:
Kent Fuller Air Station Prairie is on Compass Blvd at the corner of Lehigh. From Willow Road turn south on Patriot Boulevard. Continue south to Compass Rd. Turn left (east) and continue to the end of the road. Parking is on the street and in a lot on the south side of Compass Rd. (Map)
Registration Required: Email renabird3@gmail.com
Leader: John Leonard (847) 845-5563
The earliest wave of spring landbird migrants has begun! (Yellow-rumped Warblers, Brown Creepers and Eastern Bluebirds were already spotted at this preserve last week!) Join us to look for new arrivals as well as spring wildflowers on the paths of this small but beautiful preserve.
Over 116 species of birds have been observed in the preserve including resident populations of waterfowl and herons. The site contains an interesting wet meadow which is dominated by sedges, rushes and a few wetland forbs such as meadow rue, marsh aster, and curly dock.
Directions:
Preserve is located on west side of Old McHenry Road, ½ mile south of Rte. 22 / Half Day Rd, in Long Grove
Leader: Wanda Supanich 224-433-1765
NEW! (Pre-registration required)
This beautiful woodland and wetland preserve in DeKalb County is worth the drive for opportunities to spot species like Alder Flycatcher and Ring-necked Pheasant that rarely visit Lake and Cook counties as well as songbirds, rails and shorebirds.
Pre-registration required. Send email to renabird3@gmail.com
Leader: Karen Lund (847) 533-2627
Directions
Turn into the main entrance on the east side of Crego Road south of Perry Road, then drive all the way back to the large parking lot.
Afton Forest Preserve website
NEW!
This Lake Forest Open Lands property – once part of the 1,000-acre Armour estate – includes restored wetlands, prairies and a large oak savanna that offer safe harbor to migrants. The preserve sits adjacent to Middlefork Savanna, which can be accessed from Mellody Farm trails.
Leader: Maureen Marsh 352-317-5130
Directions
The entrance to Mellody Farm Nature Preserve is located at the southwest corner of Deerpath and Waukegan Roads (350 North Waukegan Road). Entrance is 200 yards south of the intersection at the Conservation Campus sign.
Mellody Farm Nature Preserve website
