Improve your bird ID skills using your smartphone! Birding apps can boost your learning curve from beginner to expert quickly and save you the expense and weight of heavy field guide books not tailored to your specific location. Please set up your smartphone with the FREE Merlin Bird ID app and eBird app before our walk. Bring your phone and your binoculars, and we’ll learn and practice using the app to help you identify birds by sight and by sound. Beginners (and oldies) are welcome; no prior experience with birding or with Merlin or eBird are necessary. Even if you have used Merlin and eBird before, it’s a good opportunity to learn and practice their latest features.

Apps are especially helpful if you are traveling to new regions of the U.S. or the world as they focus on that location at that specific time of year. Your trip leaders will also discuss five or six other birding and nature apps that are great companions for your outdoor adventures that you may want to try.

The migrants will just be starting to arrive at Daniel Wright and you will be prepared for the big push in May. Early warblers, thrushes and flycatchers plus year-round residents will be present. Let’s go Birding!

Register for Daniel Wright

Trip leaders: Doug Reitz & Charlotte Pavelka (847) 347-8416

Before this area became a forest preserve, it was farmed and mined for sand and gravel. Later it became a wetlands research project with the intent of providing flood control, improving water quality in the Des Plaines River, and improving wildlife habitat. The walk will begin and end at the parking area. It will be about a 3-mile walk. We will walk south on a gravel trail passing by four ponds, along the Des Plaines River, through wetlands, prairies and through an oak-hickory savanna. At Mill Creek will head east on the gravel trail along Mill Creek and cross the Des Plaines River where Mill Creek joins the river. Then we walk north through a wooded area that is often a warbler hotspot and then loop back to our vehicles.

Because of the diversity of the habitat, we may see migrating songbirds, ducks, shorebirds, and wading birds. In addition, we may see other animals such as turtles, muskrats, and beavers.

Planning on visiting on your own? Here’s the link to an area description and map.

Registration Link

CALLING ALL NEW BIRDERS! Have you been thinking that bird-watching might be a fun activity to try? This is your chance! Join us for a beginner bird walk at Independence Grove. This is a great opportunity to learn about the birds that live in our area and meet other birders who enjoy this wonderful hobby. No experience is necessary and binoculars will be available for loan to those who need them. All birders and bird lovers are welcome. Independence Grove is a picturesque preserve with a large lake, areas of reclaimed prairie and mature woodlands. It attracts a variety of waterfowl and songbirds during migration, which is just getting started.

Registration link

Date: Saturday, April 6

Time: 7:00 am - 9:30

Trip Leader: Beau Schaefer (847) 337-3602

Join Beau as we look for likely plentiful waterfowl combined with some early sparrows, blackbirds, and lingering winter birds. Beau is the top birder in Lake County and can help you with some tricky ID tips, whether you are a newbie or an experienced birder.

Register for Rollins here

The cicadas are coming! Learn about the different types of cicadas in Lake County and the unique, 17-year lifecycle of periodic cicadas. Explore the wild adaptations that have helped this cool critter survive throughout the decades during this indoor presentation.

Presenter Mark Hurly has been with the Lake County Forest Preserve District for over 34 years working as an Educator and Volunteer Coordinator. Originally from Wisconsin, he “grew up” on the Mississippi and earned his BS in Environmental Education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

If you are unable to attend in person, use this ZOOM LINK to attend virtually.

Leaders: Doug Reitz and Charlotte Pavelka, (847) 347-8416.

Winter thaw is on (we hope!) and the waterfowl and eagles will be the first to return! Before the boats are in the water, this is a great location for birders and birders. Ducks, American pelicans and (possible) loon are likely and as a bonus, sometimes the birds are quite close and can be seen fairly easily just with binoculars. (We will have scopes available as needed.) Beginners are always welcome at our events ... an additional LCAS representative will be on hand to help especially for those new to birding.

In the harbor, we may see ducks such as Common Goldeneye, all three of the mergansers, buffleheads and scaup. Rarities such as long-tailed Duck, harlequin duck, snow goose and red-throated loons have all been seen this winter...perhaps we will see an uncommon species as well. We will begin at the Winthrop Harbor Yacht Club parking lot and then drive to Stateline Beach and the south end parking. We will also walk to see some land birds such as woodpeckers, blue birds and sparrows.

Join us after the walk (Optional) for coffee at Honey Hill Coffee in Wauconda. All can share news about birds coming to your feeders and other locations and ask your birding questions. We will share more about upcoming Lake County Audubon events.

Register here

Come join us for a walk along the Goldfinch Trail on the Fox River as the snow moves out of the county. We hope to see Bald Eagles, American White Pelicans and Trumpeter Swans as they move through Lake County from their wintering grounds. Teals, shovelers, wigeons, scaups and ring-necked ducks and coots should also be in abundance. Red-wing blackbirds and perhaps even a rusty will also be possibilities.

Derek and Ryan Sallman from Badgerland Birding will highlight what the Wisconsin birding scene is like, which spots you should go to if you come visit, and the top species to find in the state. Additionally, they will talk a little bit about how they got into birding, why they started their company "Badgerland Birding", and what trends we might see in birds/birding in the future. You can check out their YouTube channel to see more about what they do:

Badgerland Birding on YouTube

Derek (28) and Ryan (32) Sallmann started birding after watching the movie "The Big Year", but were always interested in nature growing up. Their parents and grandparents helped foster this interest, and after learning more about the hobby of birding, they decided that they wanted to showcase birding for what it really is: A great adventure. They started their YouTube Channel "Badgerland Birding" in 2016 and it has grown over time, currently with around 30,000 subscribers, with videos from all over the United States and in other countries. In addition to making content on YouTube, they also do birding tours, talks, and presentations, including a yearly series of presentations and walks at the Conservancy For Healing and Heritage in Franklin, Wisconsin. Derek and Ryan want to keep expanding "Badgerland Birding" in order to reach more people and teach them about birds, birding, and conservation.

If you are unable to attend in person, join by Zoom using the link below:

Zoom for Badgerland Birding

United Nations World Wildlife Day (WWD) is celebrated every year on 3 March to celebrate wild animals and plants. Every year, we recognize the unique roles and contributions of wildlife to people and the planet.

The WWD2024 Theme is Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation. Poster art by CHENG Hui Xin.

Learn more about WWD

Leader: Matt Tobin, (847) 951-1483

Continue the inaugural Bird Lake County year with a trip to another popular winter destination for waterfowl! Waukegan Harbor is an attractive location for waterfowl to seek refuge and find food during the cold weather, and its proximity along Lake Michigan brings in many migrating waterfowl for a stopover. Numerous gulls often pack together on the harbor structures, while raptors such as Bald Eagles and American Kestrels may be observed hunting along the lakefront. The walk around the site generally allows for very good views of waterfowl within the harbor, but some birds can be observed farther out on Lake Michigan. Binoculars are fine for most of the close birds, but a scope is useful for more distant birds.

Birders of any experience are always welcome at our walks. Loaner pairs of binoculars will be available, and there will likely be a scope or two on hand. Please dress accordingly for the weather. Depending on how the walk at Waukegan Harbor goes, there may be an add-on trip to Bowen Park or Lyons Woods Forest Preserve, about a 5-minute drive north, to look for some woodland species. After the walk, feel free to join Audubon members at Bob and Anne's Restaurant in Waukegan for coffee and conversation.

Directions and parking instructions for the walk are included in the registration link below.

If you are unable to attend the walk and would like to visit Waukegan Harbor on your own during February, a location spotlight page and bird checklist are available to provide information for your trip.

Spotlight Page

Illustrated Bird Checklist

Register for Waukegan Harbor

Cupid isn’t the only winged object that people need to watch out for this month. In 1994, the United States Congress proclaimed February to be National Bird Feeding Month. Backyard bird feeding is enjoyed by over 41 million North Americans. And while February is National Wild Bird Feeding Month, with the right provisions, people can enjoy a wide variety of backyard birds all year long.

Get involved this month by doing the following:

Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count

Add another feeder to your yard

Add water to your yard

Get a friend into birding

Enjoy the birds!

Kick off your year at this popular winter birding location! As inland water bodies (and sometimes even Lake Michigan) freeze up, this harbor generally continues to be a place of quiet refuge for waterfowl and gulls. And as a bonus, sometimes the birds are quite close and can be seen fairly easily just with binoculars.

Waukegan Harbor draws a surprising number of ducks and other waterfowl throughout the winter, due to its protective breakwaters and sheltering docks.  Interesting sparrows often lurk in the trees and shrubs bordering the harbor parking lots.

Holly Garvey is a naturalist, outdoor enthusiast, and volunteer environmental educator with the Lake County Forest Preserves. In pursuit of her MS in Wildlife Conservation and Management, she focused on predator-prey dynamics, ethical conservation, and human-wildlife conflict.

Australia has a unique variety of wildlife that lives in its wide ranging habitats from tall humid rainforest canopies to the low dry woodlands of the mallee. Cockatoos, fairywrens, lyrebirds, honeyeaters, koalas and wallabies are some of 262 birds and 18 mammals observed by Doug Reitz & Charlotte Pavelka in Australia and Tasmania in early 2023. We will share highlights from the 74 Australian bird families observed including the primitive Magpie Goose that is in a family of its own (monotypic).

Pine Dunes is one of the newest forest preserves in the north central part of Lake County. Nestled in the rolling hills and savannas are several small ponds/wetland areas.

Travel to southwestern Lake County to visit this sprawling preserve with extensive wetlands and savanna to take in the fall colors. Green-winged teal, pintails, and shovelers are some of the ducks that may be found at this location in fall.

Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve, on the shore of Lake Michigan, is a great location for migrating warblers in wooded areas, sparrows in the extensive grasslands and migrating hawks soaring overhead. Sparrows are the real highlight with twenty species, including specialties like Nelson’s, Vesper and Harris being seen most years in October.

Join birdwatchers throughout the day at a scenic spot in Middlefork Savanna to count birds and enjoy some birding camaraderie. LCAS and Lake Forest Open Lands invite you to drop in and spend some time with us as we participate in the annual Big Sit sponsored by the New Haven Birding Club.

Presenter: Geoff Williamson. The status and distribution of birdlife in Illinois is always shifting, though generally quite slowly. In the last several decades, however, birders have seen instances of very rapid changes.

Join us on October 1 at 4:00 pm at the Orin Trapp Auditorium in Waukegan for an innovative program featuring the talents of the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and the premiere of Sharing Our Shore – Waukegan’s short film “Four Little Birds, One Extraordinary Journey.”

Why do we love Illinois Beach in the fall? Noisy Yellow-bellied sapsuckers and Red-headed woodpeckers, soaring northern harriers and broad-winged hawks, twittering brown creepers and red-breasted nuthatches, four thrush species, kinglets, white-crowned, white-throated, fox and Lincoln’s sparrows and late fall warblers like Tennessee and Blackpolls.

Migration should be in full swing for this walk. Daniel Wright Woods is an easy gravel trail along the Des Plaines River and through oak-hickory forest, attracting plenty of migrants passing through.

Travel to McHenry County for a great mix of both early migratory and resident birds in woodland, prairie and wetland habitats with over 100 species on eBird for September.  

Shorebird migration should be at its peak in mid-August! It is fun as you never quite know what will turn up on any given day.

This is a special event designed especially for individuals with low mobility and/or other disabilities to enjoy birds and nature with others.  

Learn tips from Beau Schaefer about both biking and birding in Lake County and find out why he is a champion for birding by bike.