Illinois & MIdwest Weekends

These trips are designed as two- or (more often) three-night weekend birding getaways to some of the best birding destinations in Illinois and around the Midwest. These trips usually start with late afternoon birding on a Thursday or Friday and conclude after a morning of birding on Sunday or Monday; the price includes the cost of dinners and an expert guide, and, one certain trips, hotel and/or transportation. Unless otherwise specified, trips are limited to 8 participants.

cental Wisconsin: Kirtland’s Warbler & Whooping crane & PEAK spring migration

May 23-26, 2025 (Fri-Mon of Memorial Day Weekend)
Tour Leader: Steve Huggins Price: $750 per person Price includes dinners (excluding alcoholic beverages) on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday nights and an expert guide. We will recommend a hotel and you can make reservations there or at a nearby hotel of your choice. This will be a self-driving tour (carpooling is encouraged), though we may be able to accommodate some people riding with the guide.

This time period marks the peak of migration and start of the breeding season, and few places offer a diversity of unique breeding birds and habitats as north central Wisconsin.  Staying at the centrally located town of Wisconsin Rapids, we will search out three iconic habitats and locations.  Starting with the open country and grasslands of Buena Vista, we will listen for the haunting calls of displaying Upland Sandpipers while seeking out Greater Prairie Chicken, Northern Harrier, Henslow’s Sparrow, and other grassland breeders. 

We will visit the famous Necedah National Wildlife Refuge where we hope to see the Whooping Cranes that now call this region home after a century-long absence, as well as breeding Trumpeter Swans, Alder Flycatcher, Golden-winged Warbler, and migrant shorebirds and other waterbirds. The federally endangered Karner Blue butterfly can also be seen here on their abundant lupine host plants.

Finally, we will visit some pine forests that are managed for one of the only populations of Kirtland’s Warbler that breeds outside of Michigan. Another conservation success story. Easily accessible from the Chicagoland area, we will enjoy a leisurely pace while searching out migrants and soaking in the many unique breeding birds that call this region home.

DETROIT: Hawks & shorebirds & peak fall migration

Sep 18-21, 2025 (Thursday-Sunday)
Tour Leader: Adam Sell Price: $750 per person Price includes dinners (excluding alcoholic beverages) on Thursday, Friday, & Saturday nights and an expert guide. We will recommend a hotel and you can make reservations there or at a nearby hotel of your choice. This will be a self-driving tour (carpooling is encouraged), though we may be able to accommodate some people riding with the guide.

Detroit is not exactly synonymous with great birding, but fall birding there is hard to beat where the Great Lakes geography funnels migrants between the west end of Lake Erie and south end of Lake Huron. The Detroit River Hawkwatch routinely records five digits worth of Broad-winged Hawks in mid-September, along with many other raptors; Lake Erie Metropark (where the hawkwatch is located) is a migrant trap that is great for warblers in migration; and Point Mouillee State Game Area offers fantastic habitat for shorebirds, waterfowl, and other waterbirds. If we are lucky and get a good wind day, we could be treated to one of the best avian spectacles, massive kettles of Broad-winged Hawks heading south.