My favorite Chicago Birding Hotspots
Montrose Point
This is an amazing birding hotspot. It has so many types of habitats and is located perfectly, sticking out into the lake, for migration. You have the beach, dunes, long grassland field, and hedge/forest. Being a short bike ride away from where I live, I try to get out here as much as I can.
Northerly Island
What used to be an airport right off of downtown is now a large nature preserve filled with a lake and rolling grassland. Offering beautiful views of downtown this is a beautiful place to walk around and bird. It offeres a great variety of waterfowl and grassland birds.
Labagh Woods
Tucked at the bending of the chicago river stands a beautiful and most importantly, the best warbler migration spot in Chicago. Stand near the bridge and paths that flank the river and your head will not stop turning mid May!
Park 566
An old industrial site on the Lake near the Indiana border, this once derelict lot has transformed into a great prairie spot with Dickcissel, Grasshopper Sparrows and Sedge Wrens breeding here in the summer along with many others!