April Adventures 🚣♂️
It’s finally time to get outside!
River Ranger Kayaking Season is Open!
Sign up for an informational session now!
April marks the kick-off of our most popular River Ranger volunteer opportunity of the year: Kayak River Cleanup!
You can volunteer with us to kayak and remove trash from the Chicago River, cleaning our waterways and helping make it healthier ecosystem for all.
To prepare new volunteers, we’ll be pairing our US Coast Guard kayak safety trainings (mandatory for kayak cleanup participation) with general informational sessions about the River Rangers program.
Informational Sessions: 4/10/24 and 4/24/24, 6:00-7:00pm
Kayak Safety Trainings: 4/10/24 and 4/24/24, 7:00-7:45pm
RSVP at the links above to attend. We host many info sessions and trainings throughout the summer, so there are plenty of opportunities to join us for some fun in the sun this year!
If you want to help clean the river or you’re new to volunteering with us, sign up for an account below!
Bird is the Word
Migration season in Chicago
April marks the beginning of a rapid uptick in migratory birds passing through Chicago, which will last through early June. Over 250 species will migrate through the local area! However, the journey isn’t always easy - read about some of the threats faced by migratory species in urban environments in the Chicago Birder and BOMA Chicago.
If you’re looking for a place to check out some of these amazing feathered friends, swing by the Wild Mile! We’ve spotted 105 species of birds from the boardwalk and the list is only growing.
If you’d like to join our little community of bird nerds, consider volunteering to monitor birds through our River Ranger program or join Edward Warden of Chicago Ornithological Society for a bird walk on the Wild Mile, April 23rd.
Wild Mile Field Trips
Schedule today!
We’re entering the narrow two-month window in which the weather is consistently decent and school is still in session. That means it’s field trip season!
If you’re a parent or educator, email team@urbanriv.org to schedule a free field trip for your class, summer camp, or youth group. Our staff will run a kid-friendly tour of the Wild Mile, followed by some fun STEM-themed activities. They can learn about native plants, river ecology and more!
April Events Calendar
To kick off our spring season!
Here’s what’s happening in April! Event descriptions and RSVP links for our events can always be found on the events page of our website.
Urban Rivers Events:
Wild Mile Walking Tours: April 6th 1:30 - 2:00pm, 3:00 - 3:30pm
Volunteer Informational Sessions: April 10th and 24th, 6:00 - 7:00pm
River Ranger Social: April 11th 6:00 - 7:30pm
Wild Mile S’mores Night: April 18th 6:00 - 7:30pm
Wild Mile Bird Walk: April 23rd 6:00 - 7:00pm
Wild Mile Plant ID Walk: April 26th 6:00 - 7:00pm
Partner Events:
Wild Mile Paint N’ Sip: May 4th 11:00am - 2:00pm
Office Insights
Earth month plans!
Even though every month is Earth Month here at Urban Rivers, we still have some special things lined up! We asked the team about their plans to celebrate - here’s what they said:
Maya: “Finally learning to photosynthesize so I can stop buying groceries”
Nick: “In honor of Earth, I’ll be spending the whole month on Earth”
Sage: “I just need to see a leaf this month. Or I’m gonna f-ing lose it”
Phil: “Get ready for the world's first reverse petting zoo, where the animals see how much YOU like getting pet by THEIR loud screaming sticky hooved children”*
Bubba: “Eating rocks until I find find the tastiest local rock”
*Note: We’re not sure if Phil means to open this petting zoo himself, or just visit it. He failed to specify. Sure to be a blast either way, though.