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. These are some of the species we have the chance to see in the fall at this site. A mix of savanna, woodland and wetland on the shore of Lake Michigan supports a wide variety of migrants.

Stop by the hawk watch site after the walk and watch the experts ID the species when they are still tiny specks – maybe even a merlin or peregrine or red-shouldered.

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