Field Trips

COS offers an extensive field trip schedule that invites members to bird together throughout the year at local as well as national hotspots. Attendance is free and is open to members and nonmembers alike. Birders of all ability levels are welcome to participate in every trip. 2007 field trips included:

  • January: Lakefront Gulls and Ducks
  • February Starved Rock/LaSalle County
  • March: Palos Area
  • April: Montrose Harbor, Willow Slough/Kankakee Sands, Columbus & Garfield Parks (Chicago), Cliff Swallows by Canoe on the Fox River
  • May: Middlefork Savanna, Lake Calumet Wetlands Birds
  • June: Prothonotary Warblers on the Des Plaines River Canoe Trip, Southern Illinois
  • July: Nachusa Grasslands
  • August: Lake Calumet Sewage Treatment Plant for Shorebirds, Nighthawks and Swifts (along the Des Plaines River in Lyons)
  • September: Canoeing at Skokie Lagoons
  • October: Palos Waterfowl, Illinois Beach Hawk Watch
  • November: Paul Douglas/Grassy Ridge Meadow, Gillson Park/Lake County, Miller Beach (Indiana), Channahon Area
  • December: Bartel Grasslands

Most trips will end around noon, unless otherwise indicated. Weather will not cause a trip to be cancelled. If you have questions about a trip, contact the leader or send email to the COS Field Trip Chair. Suggestions for trips you'd like to see run and other comments and questions about COS's field trips are also welcome.

Where do you want to go on field trips in 2008? E-mail us!