Sometimes for that unforgettable wildlife sighting, you need a bird’s eye view.

Thanks to a $600,000 grant, birders and nature lovers will be able to get a little closer to the action at Muirhead Springs Forest Preserve in Hampshire.

The grant is helping an estimated $2 million project by the Forest Preserve District of Kane County get off the ground. The work involves constructing an elevated wildlife observation overlook surrounding pristine prairie and wetland habitat.

Designs for the project show the overlook connected to an ADA-accessible pathway, immersing visitors in the sights and sounds of the protected ecosystem.

The grant is part of the state’s 2026 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development program. One hundred communities statewide were awarded grants.

In addition to the overlook, the grant will help fund a classroom for education, a trail and small shelter, and educational signage at the 757-acre Muirhead Springs.

From rare birds to rare experiences, the forest preserve district said the project will open an exciting new chapter on the Muirhead Springs restoration project. Work on the conservation experiment began 25 years ago with the conversion of farmland back to its native habitat. Painstaking prairie and wetland restoration began three years ago.

“We’re in a race to restore as much land and save as many plant and animal species as possible before they go extinct,” Benjamin Haberthur, the district’s executive director, said in a news release. “We’re not just playing a long game, but the forever game. Muirhead Springs is the biggest and best wetland the district has restored to date, and we want to get the public more easily into their public lands.”

The project is among six approved by voters during the 2024 Land Acquisition and Preserve Improvement referendum, which also included returning bison to Burlington Prairie Forest Preserve.

Haberthur said grants help the district become “economically sustainable as well as ecologically.” He said it’s been remarkable how fast wildlife has returned to the land once the community invested in its future.

“Almost as soon as we began holding water on the project, rare and varied shorebirds and other wildlife began visiting the site, most remarkable of which was the federally endangered Whooping Crane,” Haberthur said. “Only 700 ‘Whoopers’ exist in the world, only 500 of those are migratory, and three visited our wetland as soon as we started creating it. Wherever the rare birds appear, the birders follow.”

The district is partnering with Kane County Audubon to help fund and develop “bird-centric” art and signs adorning the new observation platform. The educational signs will tell the story of the cranes, black terns, phalaropes and other wild species thriving in the park. Haberthur said he’s excited to see what new animals are attracted to the special area as staffers continue improving the ecosystem habitat.

Providing the most immersive and accessible experience is all about blending the project’s design in with the acres of restored prairie, wetlands and open water, said Jennifer Rooks-Lopez, the district’s director of planning and land protection.

She said visitors of all ages will love the outdoor classroom and gathering area beneath the highest point of the deck, tucked into the prairie. A small shelter will be constructed along the limestone screenings path. Native landscaping is being added to all the disturbed areas, with interpretive signs about native plants and wildlife, including an abundance of grassland bird species.

The state’s almost 30-year-old grant initiative is a cost-sharing program between the state and local governments to help communities fund land acquisition and development for parks, forest preserves and outdoor recreation projects. In 2026, the state awarded $55.2 million to local park projects to “build stronger, healthier communities across Illinois,” according to a statement by Gov. JB Pritzker.

Final engineering on the Muirhead Springs wildlife observation platform project is expected to begin later this year. Construction is projected to begin in early 2027.

You can learn more about the project by visiting, kaneforest.com.