This Cook County forest preserve provides excellent birding opportunities in the early spring before the trees leaf out, often yielding an abundance of warblers and other passerines. Most of the trails offer easy walking, but trails along the north branch of the Chicago River where many birds tend to hang out can be muddy and require a short walk down to the river, so be sure to wear good trail shoes.

This is a limited-capacity trip because of the narrow river trail and extensive restoration work elsewhere in the preserve that requires careful walking. Priority to Lake/Cook members.

Directions: From the Kennedy Expressway, take exit 41C to Cicero Avenue and drive south to the light at Foster Ave. Turn left (east) and then left into the Irene Hernandez Picnic Grove lot on Foster.

Leader: Ethan Ellis 773-218-9288

Please register for the LaBagh 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.

One of the top migrant hotspots in the northern suburbs, this Cook County forest preserve boasts the extensive woodland trails and a shoreline by the restored lagoons that attract virtually every species of warbler seen in the Chicago region as well as migrating thrushes, flycatchers, vireos and more. Ospreys nesting on the west side of the preserve should also be present, along with multiple waterbird species and flyover raptors.

Waterproof shoes are advisable in case the woods along the lagoons shoreline are wet.

 Directions: Meet at the Willow Rd. entrance just east of the Edens Expressway (the sign says Erickson Woods). From the north, take the Edens southbound and exit at Tower Road. Turn left (south) on the Frontage road to Willow Road. Turn left (east) on Willow and cross over the Edens to the Erickson Woods entrance. Park at the north end of the parking lot.

Leader: Jeff Bilsky 801-842-4013

Please register for the Skokie Lagoons 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.

The trails in this Lake County Forest Preserve move from pine grove to prairie to oak woodland, providing varied habitat that makes it an ideal location to look for spring migrants as well as birds that will stay to nest like Blue-winged Warblers. One eBird checklist from the same time last year counted 59 species including 17 types of warblers.

Directions: The entrance to Lyons Woods is located at the corner of Blanchard and Sheridan Roads, north of Bowen Park and south of York House Road.

Leader: Donna Kenski 847-347-3474

Please register for the Lyons 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.

Pack a picnic dinner and join us for a 5 pm bird walk at the height of spring migration in one of the birdiest forest preserves in Lake County. 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. We’ll bird first, then gather at the picnic tables near the Wright Woods parking lot to eat and socialize.

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.

Leader: Todd Katz 847-409-7355

Please register for the Daniel Wright Woods bird walk and picnic here so that we can get a head count and contact you in the event of a date change due to weather conditions.

Start your Mother’s Day with a (bird)song! With its Lake Michigan beach and “Magic Hedge” bushes serving as a welcome stopover for birds migrating along the Mississippi Flyway, Montrose is a world-famous birding hotspot that has attracted more than 300 species – including some of the rarest birds ever recorded in the state. Mid-May should be hopping with warblers, vireos, flycatchers, thrushes, wrens, sparrows, shorebirds and other bird “magic” – hopefully including the latest generation of Piping Plovers descended from Monty and Rose.

 Directions: From Lake Shore Dr. take the Montrose Ave. exit east, turn right at the Bait Shop at Montrose Harbor Dr., park near the sanctuary entrance and feed parking meters OR park on Montrose before or after Bait Shop for free.

 Leader: Geoff Williamson 773-485-5217

Please register for the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary 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.

Part of the original grove of oak and hickory trees for which Long Grove was named, this small preserve is an oasis of calm that can yield a nice series of migrants on a good day. It offers easy walking through woodland trails and borders an inland lake that houses resident populations of waterfowl and herons.

Directions: Reed-Turner is located at 3849 Old McHenry Road, ½ mile south of Rte. 22 / Half Day Rd in Long Grove.

Leader: Jerry Hampton 630-400-0755

Please register for the Reed-Turner Woodland Preserve 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.