Join us for a day trip to the Wisconsin lakefront and nearby city and state parks, where species like Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, Common and Red-throated Loons can sometimes be seen alongside more common winter waterfowl as well as landbirds like Snow Buntings, Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin and Purple Finch. One local park also is known for Great Tit, a European bird that may eventually be countable on the American Bird Association checklist.

We’ll gather at 9 am at Daily Baking Company (211 N Franklin Street, Port Washington), roughly 60 miles north of the Illinois border – then begin our birding at nearby Coal Dock Park. Next we’ll head north making multiple stops including several in Sheboygan and possibly Manitowoc, depending on weather and bird reports.

Dress warmly and bring spotting scopes if you have them.

 NOTE: This trip is weather-dependent; we will advise if it is too cold and windy for good birding.

Email swift.kerry@gmail.com to register with your name, email and phone number. We will arrange carpools if possible.

If you’re just getting into birding and trying to figure out where to go, when to go, what to bring, and how to identify the birds you see, this program will provide both direction and inspiration.  Matt Igleski, Executive Director, Chicago Bird Alliance, will discuss field guides, phone apps, weather patterns, bird identification, birding terminology, and other topics to equip you with a quick start guide to all things birding.

Sponsored annually by the Illinois Ornithological Society, the Gull Frolic is a unique winter event at North Point Marina. Bring your binoculars, scope and cold weather gear, and join birders outside of the yacht club to enjoy close study of some of our harder-to-find winter species such as Iceland (Thayer’s and Kumlien’s), Glaucous, Great Black-backed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A variety of waterfowl typically make an appearance – including scoters and other diving ducks – along with the occasional raptor, owl or winter finch.

Birders wearing bright orange hats will help answer questions along the “boardwalk” – helping you sharpen your gull ID skills – and you can warm up inside whenever you need a break from the cold.

Registration is required and the event sold out quickly but you can register to be on the wait list  at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/23rd-ios-gull-frolic-2025-tickets-1018522276547. The event costs $30 for IOS members and $40 for non-members, including food and a presentation by Amar Ayyash, local birder and author of the brand new The Gull Guide: North America.

 Lake/Cook Audubon provides support for this event.

Three years ago, headlines delivered shocking news: nearly three billion birds in North America have vanished over the past fifty years. No species has been spared, from the most delicate jeweled hummingbirds to scrappy black crows, from a rainbow of warblers to common birds such as owls and sparrows. Veteran journalists Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal traveled more than 25,000 miles across the Americas to chronicle costly experiments, contentious politics, and new technologies being implemented to save birds at risk of extinction. Their new book, A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds, offers insight into encouraging breakthroughs that indicate there is still time to change course if we act quickly.