The Forest Preserve District of Will County is throwing a Pelican Party on Saturday, September 28, to celebrate these enormous birds and their annual fall migration stopover in Will County. The free event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Four Rivers Environmental Education Center in Channahon. Live pelican presentations are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. inside the visitor center, in addition to naturalists stationed at pelican hotspots in the surrounding McKinley Woods preserve to help people observe these big birds in the wild.
“The area where they hang out is easily visible from our trails and, because they’re so large, you don’t even need binoculars to tell what they are,” said Jess McQuown, a program manager at Four Rivers.
Pelican Party visitors can have their faces painted, grab lunch from the Tacos Maui food truck, and enjoy free s’mores at the trailside campfire. On the trail leading from Four Rivers to the Pelican Viewing Station, attendees can participate in Wetland Hopscotch.
“Wetlands are the primary habitat of the American White Pelican, so they’re crucial habitats for their survival,” McQuown said. “Through the hopscotch game, you can see all the ways humans impact these habitats and how forest preserves help protect these places.”
Visitors also can take part in jousting, to see what it’s like to be a young pelican vying for space in a nest. Families also can make their own party hats inside the visitor center to celebrate the pelicans return to the area.
Pelican Party will present different ways to see the birds.
“Outside, you can watch them engaging in natural behaviors, such as hunting in the water and soaring in the skies,” McQuown noted. “In the building, you can see just how enormous these birds are and get an up-close view of the way they walk and move.”
The event is designed to educate visitors about the different species of pelicans and where they can be seen.
“People may have seen them on vacation along the coast and assume the ocean is the only place you’ll find them,” McQuown continued. “That’s definitely true for the brown pelican, but American white pelicans come through here twice a year on their way to and from their nesting grounds.”
Pelican Party is supported by Alliance Pipeline, a joint venture of Enbridge and Pembina, through the assistance of The Nature Foundation of Will County.
For more information on the Forest Preserve District of Will County, visit ReconnectWithNature.org.