Visible barriers, reducing reflection can help save some of billions of birds crashing into windows
Nature Rambles: Help fight bird mortality through the looking glass
by Mike Miller • • 0 Comments
Nature Rambles
Nature Rambles: ‘Fluddle Stompers’ flock to unique puddle ponds
by Mike Miller • • 0 Comments
If there is ample rain to create fluddles, many of the shorebirds {sandpipers, plovers, and their kin) will drop into these fleeting pools to feed during the day.
Nature Rambles: There’s more than meteors lighting up our night sky
by Mike Miller • • 0 Comments
As you wait for shooting stars, you notice other lights in the night sky. Planes fly overhead on their 30,000-foot flight path. Their blinking lights stand out against the pinpoints of starlight. Higher in the heavens, Starlink satellites reflect the sunlight from their orbit some 340 miles above the Earth surface
Nature Rambles: Savor our summer’s symphony; it’s ensemble is quite unique
by Mike Miller • • 0 Comments
As evening progresses, you really notice just how different the north woods is from central Illinois. A summer day in central Illinois ends with a progression of insect songs starting with numerous species of cicadas giving way to katydid songs and tree crickets that will sing through the night. In the north woods, the darkness is silent.
Nature Rambles: Irresistibly radiant fragrance of flowers from milkweeds sure sign of early summer season
by Mike Miller • • 1 Comment
The best place to experience July in Illinois is a pathway that winds through a prairie. The forest pathways have had their quick burst of spring, and now are slumbering through a shady respite. They will have their season of…
Nature Rambles: Quest for the golden moccasin
by Mike Miller • • 0 Comments
The fragile and mysterious Lady’s Slipper orchid is truly a treasure from heaven in every intrepid encounter
Nature Rambles: Red-headed Woodpeckers are dangerously temperate-amental
by Mike Miller • • 0 Comments
Central Illinois has long been a refuge for healthy populations of Red-headed Woodpeckers. Our plentiful oak woodlands and rich river valleys have long been home to this colorful species. With its bright red hood and black and white body, it…
Nature Rambles: Yes! Virginia Bluebells ring in serene sense of a paradise lost
by Mike Miller • • 2 Comments
April is the month when the forest floor comes alive with new growth. In Illinois forests, the ground layer comes alive while the tree tops still slumber. The amount of daylight steadily increases throughout the month as spring takes over…
Nature Rambles: Skunk cabbage a stinky sign we are warming up for spring
by Mike Miller • • 0 Comments
March is one of those months that can seem to last forever. It can be a month where a waning winter reawakens, followed by a summer-like day of promise. From a weather perspective, it’s all over the place. The record…
Nature Rambles: Bald Eagle Marathon means more nests in central Illinois
by Mike Miller • • 0 Comments
This year marks the 35th year that I have had the opportunity to be involved with annual winter Bald Eagle counts along the Illinois River. Surveys provide a snapshot of Bald Eagle numbers on a particular day across the state.…