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…
Each year, bird enthusiasts look forward to taking part in the longest running “Citizen Scientist” event in existence –– the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count. This last CBC marked the 119th year that birders have been involved in documenting…
BY CLARE HOWARD Mike Miller stood at the bottom of a ravine 25 feet deep off High Point Terrace and shook his head. The crevasse was growing with every rainfall and ripping out trees, vegetation and rocks in its path.…
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…
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…
Late in the day on Dec. 16, a 50-year-old conservation program survived to see another day (we hope). The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was passed and signed into law on Sept. 3, 1964. Since that date, over $3.6…
October 2015 was officially decreed Oak Awareness Month, or OAKtober, in Illinois. The initiative to recognize the plight of oak forests was spurred by The Chicago Region Trees Initiative and its partners throughout the state. It is part of a…
One of the first Peoria Park District conservation areas I visited outside of Forest Park Nature Center was a large woodland off of Singing Woods Road. Access was difficult and there wasn’t even a place to park. Since that first…
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…
