For, I think, the 3rd year, Kate and I have led a field trip along the bike path at the south end of the DuPage Airport, in West Chicago (1).  This continues to be one of my favorite spots for a couple of reasons. 

First of all, you get to watch airplanes.  I like airplanes.  What can I say...I was a guy before I was a birder.  Secondly, the habitat is interesting.  You've got marsh, short grass, tall grass, burned meadows and a little bit of a savannah.  Thirdly, the walking is easy.  Since the trail is mostly intended for bikers, it's a nice, smooth, wide, crushed gravel trail.  You do have to watch out for the lycra set, however.  

Finally, and most importantly, the birding can be very easy, since most of the birds we're after, grassland species, will perch on the 2 fences on either side of the path.  One separates us from the airport; on the other side, from the neat links-style golf course.  It's worth noting that this course is the reason this spot was discovered.  A local birder was playing golf and called the hotline to report Western Meadowlarks.  I went out there to find them, and discovered this spiffy little area.

The weather was great.  In June, this treeless area can be dang hot.  But today, the temperature was in the high 60's or low 70's and it was darned close to perfect.  As scheduled, we had lots of Savannah Sparrows teed up on the fence along with Eastern Meadowlarks and Bobolinks.  We usually find a Grasshopper Sparrow as well, but we didn't even hear any this year.  In addition, we got to watch the Savannah Sparrows sing.  There is NOTHING like watching a bird sing when you've got a nice view of them in your binoculars.

We started hearing Western Meadowlarks in their usual location, the practice greens of the golf course.  As we got past the practice greens and were alongside the meadow on the south side of the path, we heard, and had fleeting looks at a Dickcissel.  There seemed to be a couple of them in the brush, but we couldn't see them from our vantage point.  Eventually, we were able to see both a Western Meadowlark singing from an airport light post and an easier view of the Dickcissel.

There were lots of Cowbirds hanging around, and they didn't seem to have many friends.  The Red-winged Blackbirds kept chasing them from their perches.  We did see a Song Sparrow feeding a Cowbird...at least it was almost the same size as the baby!

A couple of folks did see a Rough-winged Swallow, along with the Tree and Barn Swallows.  And a Pheasant was heard once or twice.  They seem to be getting a lot harder to find around here.

A few of us carried on with phase II of the field trip after first stopping at McDonald's for various methods of refreshment.  Then it was off to the Brewster Creek Restoration Area at Pratt's Wayne.  We were hoping for some interesting Vireos and a previously seen Yellow-headed Blackbird or Moorhen, but nothing interesting was found except for a Bank Swallow and a few more Bobolinks.
 
 

Notes

(1) We generally park at the intersection with the bike path on Kress Road, north of Route 38, and walk west and then return.  We generally consider the walk over and start back when we reach the 3rd 90 degree turn which is near a small white building near the end of a runway.  We've rarely found anything new going beyond this point.  However, if you're desperate, there is a portajohn a few hundred feet on that is for the golfers and is accessible from the path.

(2) Between the model airplane field and the dog training field in the special use area off of Powis Road, north of Army Trail.  Take the dog training path closest to the marsh.  However the best views of the marsh will require you to walk through the grass (watch for ticks) along the fence on the edge of the marsh.

Jim Frazer