Middlefork Audubon Society

04/19/2026

Reminder!
Next week our bird outing is on SUNDAY, April 26, at Kennekuk Education Center, 8AM. Matt Hayes from Illinois Audubon Society will guide us in a Spring Bird Identification workshop, including a presentation and then a hike! Hope you can join us!

Send a message to learn more

04/19/2026

It was a chilly boardwalk outing on Saturday, the 18th; but we had a great time and here is what we saw!

American Robin
Eastern Bluebird
Red-winged Blackbird
Grackle
Tree Swallow
Pectoral Sandpiper
Sora Rail
Marsh Wren
House Finch
Song Sparrow
Canada Goose
Blue-winged Teal
Wood Duck
Sandhill Crane
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Yellow Warbler
American Goldfinch
Northern Cardinal
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Turkey Vulture
Carolina Wren
Mourning Dove
Brown Thrasher
Mute Swan
Red-shouldered Hawk
Lesser Yellowlegs
Gulls

*Photo of Blue-winged Teal by Tom Marriage*

04/12/2026

Our first boardwalk outing at Heron Park Boardwalk on Saturday, April 11, was a lovely day with quite the display from the birds! The Turkey Vultures and White Pelicans performed a beautiful dance in the sky while we were out and we also saw:
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Wigeon
Bald Eagle
Blue Jay
Blue-winged Teal
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brown Thrasher
Canada Goose
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Double-breasted Cormorant (over 70!)
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Towhee
European Starling
Field Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
House Finch
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mourning Dove
Mute Swan
Myrtle Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Osprey
Pied-billed Grebe
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-necked Pheasant
Sandhill Crane
Shoveler
Song Sparrow
Sora Rail
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Tufted Titmouse
Turkey Vulture
White Pelican (over 50!)
Wood Duck

04/10/2026

This Saturday!

April 11, 18 and May 2, 8:00 AM

Heron County Park:

Join the Middlefork Chapter of the Illinois Audubon society for free, family-friendly birdwatching.
No experience necessary.

Bring your binocs if you have them. We’ll meet at Heron County park at 8:00 but may relocate elsewhere, depending on bird movements.

03/08/2026

April 11, 18 and May 2, 8:00 AM

Heron County Park:

Join the Middlefork Chapter of the Illinois Audubon society for free, family-friendly birdwatching.
No experience necessary.

Bring your binocs if you have them. We’ll meet at Heron County park at 8:00 but may relocate elsewhere, depending on bird movements.

03/03/2026

Join local members of the Middlefork Audubon Society on Saturday, March 14, 10am, as hummingbird expert Vicki May shares her tips and tricks to invite these beautiful birds to your backyard.

This program is free, no registration needed, and open for everyone to attend. Program will be held at Kennekuk County Park's Education Center.

02/23/2026

Grackles with Mike Ward
and Middlefork Audubon

Grackles Tuesday, February 24
6:30pm

Mad Goat South

Danville Come join Middlefork Audubon for an evening of learning about the Common Grackle! Mike Ward, from the University of Illinois, will be joining us. He focuses on species conservation and uses telemetry to radio monitor the behavior and migration
of birds.
He will discuss the decline of grackles and some preliminary work on why
they think this is occurring. He will also be presenting information about one of their new projects that will
be starting soon.
We hope to see you there!