Next Field Trips
Join us on our next bird watching field trip. Unless otherwise noted, there is no charge for participation. Some trips may require prior registration or are prioritized for Lake Cook Audubon members. This will be noted in the field trip description.
Mid-May at IBSP North is a great spot for migrating warblers, vireos, flycatchers and other passerines, including star skulkers like Mourning and Connecticut Warblers. We’ll be taking the North Unit South Trail beginning in Winthrop Harbor, winding through shrubland, marsh, grassland and other habitats as well as beachfront.
Directions: We will meet at the north end of IBSP in Winthrop Harbor (NOT at the 17th Street entrance in Zion). From Sheridan Road/Route 137, turn east on 7th Street. Follow 7th Street toward North Point Marina. At the stop sign, turn right and then, almost immediately, turn right into the fisherman’s parking lot.
Leader: Nancy Tikalsky 773-655-0269
Please register for the Illinois Beach State Park North Unit 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.
In addition to being one of Lake County’s birdiest forest preserves during migration, Daniel Wright has become a reliable spot for Pileated Woodpecker – a species that was largely absent from the county just a decade ago. 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.
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.
Leaders: Charlotte Pavelka and Doug Reitz 847-347-8416
Please register for the Daniel Wright 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.
Next Programs
Our programs are open to the public and free. Most are offered at Heller Nature Center in Highland Park. Some may be presented on Zoom. This will be noted in the program description. Many past-programs can now be viewed on YouTube here.
Our program year 2024-2025 is in development and programs are being published when set up.
The group of songbirds known as Darwin’s finches that Charles Darwin collected in the Galapagos on his 1830s HMS Beagle expedition are frequently (and mistakenly) associated with his formulation of the theory of evolution by natural selection, but recent genetic studies have established that these birds are actually tanagers in the family Thraupidae. John Bates, the Rowe Family Curator of Evolutionary Biology at the Field Museum, will join us to explain the research behind these new revelations and other insights provided by genetic research into the relationships in this amazing family of New World birds.
European Goldfinches are stunning birds that are obviously native to Europe, but they began showing up in Lake County as early as 2001, presumably because they were released cage birds. By 2024, they were so common in pockets around the U.S. including Illinois and Wisconsin that they were added to the countable Illinois and American Birding Association checklists. Louise Bodt, a PhD candidate in the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago and a scientific affiliate at the Field Museum, will explain how this happened and its relation to her research into how introduced species can serve as a model for understanding how species change in new environments.
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Who We Are
We are a gathering of people who enjoy bird watching and studying birds and wildlife. We welcome people of all ages and skills to join us on our field trips, programs and other events. Most of our monthly programs are bird-oriented, but we also address environmental and natural history topics.
The Illinois Audubon Society is the state’s oldest conservation organization that functions as a land trust to protect and enhance Illinois’ unique habitats and to educate the public about them. Organized in 1897, Illinois Audubon is not affiliated with the National Audubon Society.