In 1964, Lake-Cook Audubon became the first Illinois Audubon Society chapter in the organization’s then-67-year history. Today, Lake-Cook Audubon is one of IAS’ largest and most active chapters with nearly 300 family memberships and a busy roster of field trips, programs, and conservation activities. Learn more about this BCN organization affiliate in a feature by Lake-Cook President Rena Cohen.
Walks, talks, and inspiration
From Lake and Cook county forest preserves to a variety of locations along the lakefront, Lake-Cook sponsors two or three weekly field trips during migration, periodic walks in less-active birding seasons, and special events like an “Ice Cream and Chimney Swifts” evening in Highland Park. Each year, the chapter also organizes several out-of-town trips in Illinois, neighboring states, or bird-rich destinations such as Arizona, North Dakota, Utah, and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. These outings are complemented by nine monthly meetings covering topics ranging from the regional increase in Pileated Woodpeckers to the Chicago region’s Oak Ecosystem Recovery Plan—all supporting the chapter’s mission of raising environmental awareness through birding.
‘Indoor field trips’ in winter
Every winter, Lake-Cook also schedules “indoor field trips” to local museums, zoos, raptor rehabilitation centers, and other sites to help keep members engaged during slow birding times. These excursions have focused on subjects including the endangered Puerto Rican Parrot, rusty-patched bumble bee, and Fort Sheridan’s pre-forest preserve history, as well as behind-the-scenes tours of zoo aviaries and museum bird repositories. In one remarkable turn of events, chapter members RJ Pole and Amanda Marquart were so inspired by a 2023 visit to the Field Museum Bird Collection that they invited museum bird curators John Bates and Shannon Hackett to share their knowledge on a podcast. Birds of a Feather Talk Together debuted a few months later, proving that even specimens lying in museum drawers can turn into spark birds.
Local conservation partnerships
On the conservation side, Lake-Cook became the first Illinois Audubon chapter to partner with a local nonprofit when it established a relationship with Lake Forest Open Lands Association (LFOLA) in 2020. The collaboration initially focused on a degraded 17-acre former farm property that had sat untouched since LFOLA acquired it in 2007. Chapter members participated in restoration workdays, installed Eastern Bluebird nestboxes, funded a Purple Martin system, assigned monitors to both, and began conducting a BCN breeding bird survey at the site as well as butterfly, dragonfly, and plant inventories. The chapter also raised $7,000 in just seven weeks for a matching grant that ultimately generated $25,000 for restoration. These monitoring and restoration efforts continue, and Lake-Cook recently extended the partnership to a second LFOLA property.
The chapter also funds an annual research grant through the Illinois Ornithological Society and participates in local events like a Gardens for Wildlife Resource Fair. Finally, Lake-Cook member Sonny Cohen served as BCN President from 2020 to 2023, playing a pivotal role in steering the Trends Analysis project that led to the Breeding Bird Trends in the Chicago Region 1999-2020 report.
Learn more about Lake-Cook Audubon at https://lakecookaudubon.org