Kane County Audubon

08/23/2026

Hi
Let me know if you are interested in KCAs 2027 trip to Southern California.
Regina McNulty

KCA Offers Tour of Southern California in April 2027

“California, here we come!”

Join Kane County Audubon, a chapter of Illinois Audubon, for an exciting trip to Southern California on April 17-25, 2027. We’ll bird our way through deserts, over mountains, along the coast and set sail twice.

Fair warning: One of the themes for this trip will be constant movement. We will stay two nights at only one location. Everywhere else will be a one-night stay. However, that will allow us to explore many different habitats without backtracking.

We’ll enjoy two boat trips. One will be a whale watching boat with our own private bird guide. Our targets include Cassin’s Auklet, Scripps’ Murrelet, Black Storm Petrel, Sooty Shearwater and Cocos B***y. Our other boat trip will be to Santa Cruz Island for the endemic Island Scrub Jay.

We’ll visit as many hotspots as possible in quest of everything from shorebirds such as Wandering Tattler, Black Turnstone and Black Oystercatcher to Elegant Tern, exotics like Swinhoe’s White-eye, Red-crowned Amazon and Red-masked Parakeet, to California natives like Bushtit, Wrentit, Mountain Quail, California Scrub Jay, Oak Titmouse, and, if we are very lucky, California Condor. We’ll spend some time at the beautiful Joshua Tree National Park.

The last time KCA visited Southern California, in April 2015, the club tallied 162 species, including Ridgway’s Rail and LeConte’s Thrasher. We’ll be visiting some of the same places and plenty of new ones, too.

Interested? Here's the itinerary: https://tinyurl.com/26wp6f8f

Here's the registration form: https://tinyurl.com/2bm8dql6

08/23/2026

KCA Offers Tour of Southern California in April 2027

“California, here we come!”

Join Kane County Audubon, a chapter of Illinois Audubon, for an exciting trip to Southern California on April 17-25, 2027. We’ll bird our way through deserts, over mountains, along the coast and set sail twice.

Fair warning: One of the themes for this trip will be constant movement. We will stay two nights at only one location. Everywhere else will be a one-night stay. However, that will allow us to explore many different habitats without backtracking.

We’ll enjoy two boat trips. One will be a whale watching boat with our own private bird guide. Our targets include Cassin’s Auklet, Scripps’ Murrelet, Black Storm Petrel, Sooty Shearwater and Cocos B***y. Our other boat trip will be to Santa Cruz Island for the endemic Island Scrub Jay.

We’ll visit as many hotspots as possible in quest of everything from shorebirds such as Wandering Tattler, Black Turnstone and Black Oystercatcher to Elegant Tern, exotics like Swinhoe’s White-eye, Red-crowned Amazon and Red-masked Parakeet, to California natives like Bushtit, Wrentit, Mountain Quail, California Scrub Jay, Oak Titmouse, and, if we are very lucky, California Condor. We’ll spend some time at the beautiful Joshua Tree National Park.

The last time KCA visited Southern California, in April 2015, the club tallied 162 species, including Ridgway’s Rail and LeConte’s Thrasher. We’ll be visiting some of the same places and plenty of new ones, too.

Interested? Here's the itinerary: https://tinyurl.com/26wp6f8f

Here's the registration form: https://tinyurl.com/2bm8dql6

08/18/2026

Join us for this week's activities!

Thursday August 20, 7:00 p.m.
Avian Ale Society at Penrose Brewing Co., 509 Stevens St, Geneva.
Come talk birds and socialize with fellow KCAers over a pint. Penrose was voted “best microbrewery” in Kane County Chronicle’s Best of the Fox Valley Awards. The tap room does not serve food, but you’re welcome to bring carry-out.

Saturday August 22, 7:00 a.m.
Bird Walk at Muirhead Springs Forest Preserve, Hampshire
Meet at the Rohrsen Road parking area.
Shorebirds, grassland birds – anything is possible at Muirhead! I

08/17/2026

Mark your calendars and participate in the 2026 BUTTERFLY BIG DAY, Saturday, Sept. 26. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17HqCkTc3w/

Save the Date: 12 Sept 2026!

Join us in celebrating the inaugural annual Butterfly Big Day by helping document butterflies around the world on 12 September 2026.

Butterfly Big Day is an international event designed for people of all ages to find as many wild butterflies as they can, spread awareness of the importance of butterflies & other pollinators, and learn how we can help their populations.

Participating is easy!

•Just download the free iNaturalist app and sign up for a free account. You can also use a web browser and access the iNaturalist web site (inaturalist.org).

•Take photos of free-living butterflies (not captive or from butterfly houses)

•Submit your photos to iNaturalist. Photos of butterflies submitted anywhere in the world on 12th September will count for Butterfly Big Day! You do not have to be able to identify the butterfly in order for your observations to be useful.

For more information, links to brief iNaturalist tutorial videos, and to find the Butterfly Big Day regional partner in your part of the world, visit www.urbanbutterflies.org/big-day

To see all the Butterfly Big Day submissions, visit the iNaturalist project page during or after the event: www.inaturalist.org/projects/butterfly-big-day-2026

08/14/2026

Alas, the weekend forecast is not good. As a result, we are cancelling the KCA road trip to Mississippi Palisades this weekend. But, we'll try to reschedule for September or October, look for confusing fall warblers or waterfowl.. Stay tuned to our FB page and website for new dates.

Send a message to learn more

08/13/2026

We had a great time at our summer celebration cookout on Wednesday night, Aug. 12. Cheeseburgers, Italian sausage, and lots of treats. Plus, "bird bingo"!

Come on out next time!

08/08/2026

KCA will be hosting a summer cook-out at Fabyan Forest Preserve in Batavia on Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 6 p.m. If you haven’t already, please RSVP, just to give us a sense of how much food to get. We’ll have burgers, dogs and Italian sausage from Josef’s in Geneva. Bring a side dish or desert to share. There will be a special activity…with prizes! You won’t want to miss it.

07/31/2026

Due to rain, our monthly bird walk at Nelson Lake will move from Saturday, Aug. 1, to Sunday, Aug. 2. The start time remains 7 a.m.

07/23/2026

A homeowner in Oswego just called me to report a parrot at her bird feeder. No doubt an escaped bird or deliberately set free. If you're missing a parrot, contact me.

07/17/2026

More proof that birds are just dinosaurs with feathers!

The newer, more complete specimen allowed the team to finally map the globally-distributed group's strange anatomy