March is one of those months that many would like to bypass. It’s not the depth of winter anymore, and spring seems like it will never arrive. From my perspective, March is the perfect month to revel in the last…
The Audubon Christmas Bird Count season is over and volunteer compilers are busy uploading data. This is the 120th year for the Christmas Bird Counts, and local count circles in our region include Peoria, Chillicothe and Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge.…
As 2019 draws to a close, folks who are birdwatchers tend to avoid cabin fever by getting out and conducting the annual Christmas Bird Counts. This year marks the 120th year of National Audubon’s CBC. As I was preparing information…
As the leaves fall and the forest takes on a slumbering personality, we often don’t think much about the trees until they start leafing out again in the spring. However, winter is a great time to take a new look…
As summer wanes, a September harvest moon rises over the eastern horizon on a beautiful Friday the 13th. The winds have turned, and come from the northwest, bringing in cool breezes. During this time of year, under these conditions, birders…
Herbariums are repositories for plant specimens that botanists have collected, dried, pressed and preserved on archival paper. They contain information on the location where the specimens were collected, the date, the habitat present and any other details the collector thinks…
The warm days of August harken the arrival of many prairie flowers and insects. The ever-majestic Monarch butterfly is a common visitor to the August prairie. An observant visitor will also see the striped caterpillars munching hungrily on several species…
July is the time of year when the tallgrass prairie becomes spectacular. Unfortunately, many of us will live our entire lives in the “Prairie State” without ever seeing a native tallgrass prairie. According to the Illinois Natural History Survey, in…
As May turns to June, bird migration in Illinois winds down and most resident species have taken up housekeeping. They have established nesting territories, and started raising young. During this time, they sing less often and even the most strident…
Sometimes trees will surprise you. Even those that are so common that they go virtually unnoticed. Take the Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) for example. It is a tree that grows from the east coast of the United States all the…
