Sulphur Butterflies Along the sandy roads in Mason County grows the Partridge Pea. A member of the bean family, its feather-like leaves are familiar to many. The leaves of Partridge Pea have the interesting habit of folding up in the…
A Dandy Bird Aug. 20 was a great summer day. Thirty people piled into three vans after an early morning thunderstorm. Binoculars and field guides in hand, we set off to experience the beginning of fall migration. Travelling south, we…
The story goes that Alice Algae was a wonderful cook who had the special ability to take sunlight and whip up a wonderful meal. Alice had a hard time of it though, while she could feed an army, she wasn’t…
Summer Odds and Ends With summer in full swing, there are so many things going on that I have a hard time concentrating on one topic. So here’s an opportunity to catch up on some of the area’s latest nature…
Sky-dancers The eyes sparkle as tiny hands reach for the earth. Small fingers grasp the succulent stem and pluck from the ground something that was made for picking — a fleshy stalk topped with a ball of white, feathery tufts.…
May has finally arrived! The overwintering patience of the many a “cabin fever” shut-in has paid off with an April full of bluebells, birdfoot-violets and hoary puccoon flowers. Now May is upon us and new flowers will soon greet those…
Snow Trillium Spring has officially blossomed! On St. Patrick’s Day, I managed to get out to a special place in the woods where some of the first flowers of spring peek through the leaf litter. It has been a mild…
Spring Cleaning It’s that time of year when we start looking forward to the end of a long winter. A season of renewal is looming. However we often enter this time of year feeling that we are still weighed down…
Refuge under siege As I write this, a group of armed, anti-government, militants is thinking about leaving a National Wildlife Refuge they have occupied since Jan. 2. Not to give it back to the public, but rather, to go into…
Seven weeks and counting. Who would have thought that the Illinois River would be above flood stage for so long in June and July? Normally, I make a weekly stop at a few of the birding hotspots to keep track…
