Chicago Birding Adventures

Want to learn how to capture those magical moments of birds in nature? Then join Fernando Romo, a world-renowned birding master and photographer from Puerto Vallarta and Anne Ewasko, an avid bird photographer as they take you on some unique experiences around Chicago’s best birding hotspots. You have five options to choose from and groups are limited to 6 persons except for the “Magic Hedge”at Montrose Point Sanctuary where it is 12. Whether you’re new or experienced to birding or birding photography, you will learn about birds, their behavior and how to improve your photography skills at whatever level you’re at. This is a rare opportunity while we have Fernando in Chicago, don’t miss it!!!  Also, if you’re interested in butterflies and the “Monarch Migration in Mexico” then don’t miss out on his presentation for the January 2025 trip

BIRD ADVENTURE ONE: Big Marsh & Park 566 – $225

Date: Wednesday, June 26th

Time: 4:15am

Duration: 6-7 hours*

Maximum Participants: 6

Location: Meet at CPC parking lot

What’s Included: Transportation, breakfast, boxed lunch, snacks & drinks

Description: Big Marsh & Park 566 just might be the best “hidden gems” on the southeast side of Chicago when it comes to discovering birds. Big Marsh is the largest wetland complex in the Calumet Region and its open wetland attracts a wide variety of waterfowl. The marshy portions have provided nesting habitat for Pied-billed Grebe, Least Bittern and Common Moorhen. Sandpipers and herons of numerous species can be found foraging on mudflats exposed by low water levels. Park 566 was once a steel site and is now a prairie and savanna habitat along Lake Michigan that is attracting wildlife in abundance and is quickly becoming one of the top hotspots for birding in the region.

BIRD ADVENTURE TWO: Bemis Woods Forest Preserve – $225

Date: Thursday, June 27th

Time: 4:15am

Duration: 6-7 hours*

Maximum Participants: 6

Location: Meet at CPC parking lot

What’s Included: Transportation, breakfast, boxed lunch, snacks & drinks

Description: We will be birding along the Salt Creek Trail system on paved and unpaved trails that run along the Des Plaines River in Bemis Woods Forest Preserve (near the Brookfield Zoo) in the Western suburbs. The terrain offers a glacial valley, a gravelly moraine and the river’s unique pool-riffle environment that is ideal for a wide variety of year-round resident birds including woodpeckers, yellow warblers, cardinals, indigo buntings, vireos and catbirds to name a few. Learn techniques on how to spot these birds and to capture them in their natural habitat

BIRD ADVENTURE THREE: Chicago Botanic Garden – $250

Date: Friday, June 28th

Time: 6:15am

Duration: 6-7 hours*

Maximum Participants: 6

Location: Meet at CPC parking lot

What’s Included: Transportation, breakfast, boxed lunch, snacks & drinks

Description: Enjoy the exclusive early entry into the gardens before it opens to the public and gets crowded. Few places in Chicago offer such beautiful and diverse surroundings with over 255 recorded species. We will be exploring the Waterfall & Sensory Gardens, Spider Island and McDonald Woods for late migraters and resident birds. With the open ponds, we will encounter a great variety of waterfowl such as Egrets, herons, a variety of ducks, gulls and Caspian Terns. This is also a great spot for shooting hummingbirds against the bright flowers as they sip nectar. Photographing these birds amongst this beautiful backdrop of scenery is a great opportunity to come away with some of your best birding photos ever.

BIRD ADVENTURE FOUR: Illinois Beach State Park – $225

Date: Saturday, June 29th

Time: 4:15am

Duration: 6-7 hours*

Maximum Participants: 6

Location: Meet at CPC parking lot

Description: This park is referred to as Chicago’s original skyway due to the large number of migratory birds that pass through here each year. It features marsh, dune, swale, oak woods, beach and Lake Michigan where you can find the most diverse habitat of birds that can be hard to find elsewhere all in one location. If luck is on our side, we may come across breeding yellow-breasted chats, American redstarts and/or blue grosbeaks. Large numbers of gulls and shorebirds can be seen and the dunes are known for their sparrows. This is also a hotspot for raptors and it’s sure to be a great birding adventure.

BIRD ADVENTURE FIVE: MONTROSE POINT BIRD SANCTUARY –  $75

Date: Sunday, June 30th

Time: 5:00am

Duration: 3-4 hours

Maximum Participants: 12

Location: Meet at entrance on Montrose Harbor Drive

Description: Due to the popularity and convenience of this 15-acre sanctuary being right in our backyard, we open this event to 12 participants. With its “Magic Hedge” and over 300 species recorded, it is the most heavily birded site in the region. This sanctuary is a combination of grassland, wildflowers, trees, shrubs and native Great Lakes dune/swale plants. It’s known for its rarities that include the Black Rail, Kirtland’s and Grace’s Warbler, the federally endangered Piping Plover, Bewick’s Wren, Say’s Phoebe and the Hudsonian Godwit. This is a great opportunity to have an expert birder help you spot the birds and give you tips on how to get your best photographs in the morning sunlight. 

ADDITIONAL DEETS:

What to expect: Must be physically fit to hike on ungroomed trails for at least 3-4 hours. Most trails are relatively level (and some might be paved) so no intense inclines, some involve sand. Birds are unpredictable and move around a lot so depending on activity, we may be moving quite a bit. 

*Duration: “The early bird gets the worm” and the best time to see birds is in the mornings ideally starting at sunrise which will be happening around 5:15am during these tours. Most excursions will be leaving from the CPC parking lot and we will go as a group in one van but if you live nearby one of the locations, it is possible to meet the group there. We cannot predict the end time but know that it will be a minimum of 4-5 hours from the start time and may go longer if the birding is good. If you need to be back at a specific time, it is possible to take your own car and follow the group to the location so you can depart earlier, if needed. 

Weather: These are “rain or shine” events as it’s impossible to predict the weather and sometimes bad weather makes for great photography so be prepared. 

Gear to bring: 

• Binoculars
• Camera
• A minimum 400mm lens is highly recommended (might be fun to rent one if you’ve never used one before and if you do, go with the longest focal length you can carry). 
• Smartphone, although not ideal for bird photography, but if that’s all you have, you will learn new techniques to get the best shots possible
• Lightweight tripod – optional
• Extra batteries & battery charging pack
• Memory Cards (with spares)
• Cleaning wipes/kit
• Rain protection/Drybag

Other Items:

• Trails can be muddy, so wear appropriate hiking footwear
• Raingear, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, insect repellant, layered clothing
• Reusable water bottle
• eBird App: Recommend to have this downloaded on your smartphone prior to so we can share the list of birds with you from the tour

Fernando Romo: 

Fernando Romo is a highly sought after birding guide based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and has an extreme talent for spotting the rarest birds and being able to photograph them. He has been introducing people to the wonders of nature on guided conservation travel for the past 20 years. His passion for nature conservation and photography has taken him all over Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Galapagos Islands, Argentina, Chile and Alaska, to name a few. He has led numerous expeditions to the annual Monarch Butterfly migration up the trans-volcanic belt in the mountains of Mexico. Fernando is extremely passionate about birds and it rubs off on all those who bird with him. Whether you are a beginner or novice, Fernando makes sure that you walk away with a great learning experience and a memory that will last forever.

Anne Ewasko:

Anne Ewasko first took her Photo I class with Richard Stromberg himself back in 2008. She is an artist and uses photography as one of her mediums. She has a passion for nature and adventure travel and loves to share that with others. When she was exploring the Macaw Sanctuary near Puerto Vallarta a couple of years ago with her daughter, she ran into Fernando by chance (while he was guiding another individual on a birding tour!) as he had spotted a rare Colima Pygmy Owl. He was so excited that he invited Anne and her daughter over to see it as well. His passion rubbed off on Anne and since that moment, Anne has been hooked on birding and honing her birding photography skills. As Fernando has been guiding tours to the Monarch butterfly migration for years, he convinced Anne to bring a group of her friends to witness it herself. It was such a magical experience that she just had to share it with others. She organized CPC’s first “Monarchs in Mexico” trip this past March and plans on continuing sharing this and other unique experiences in nature with the school’s community.