eBird Hotspot: Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Cook County, IL, US
The Chicago Botanic Garden at 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, offers nearly every habitat a birder could want! 300 acres of lagoons, remnant wooded areas, a recreated prairie, a wildflower-filled woodland walk, and native plantings, plus a total of 27 display gardens, such as an English walled garden, Japanese Islands, an extensive rose garden and areas featuring bulbs, fruit, vegetables. In McDonald Woods, at the waterfall and along a walk lined with crab apple trees, you’ll see warblers and other passerines in migration. The lagoons attract ducks, grebes, mergansers, herons and egrets. An Osprey is often seen flying overhead and fishing. The garden, especially the feeders by the Visitor's Center, is popular with birders looking for the winter finches – crossbills, redpolls and siskins.
There are paved roads and paths as well as unpaved trails. Admission and parking is free for members; admission and parking fee is charged for nonmembers. The garden is popular with people of all stripes and it can get crowded. Birders will do well to come early in the day and avoid weekends.