Spring at Last

It's been a very long and difficult winter here in the Midwest.  Spring has finally started to put in an appearance.

Skunk Cabbage!

The Chicago area's first spring flower has come into bloom.

Sandhill Cranes!

The spring bird migration is well underway.

Crocus!

My front yard has burst into bloom.  Now I await the year's first butterfly

Sand Prairie Scrub Oak

Leon and I had planned to take Friday off for a long weekend camping trip in Brown County, Indiana. Unfortunately, Leon had been fighting a cold most of the week. When I got home Thursday evening, he informed me that his cold had settled into his chest as a bacterial infection and that he would need to see the doctor the next day. Thus ended the camping trip.

Saturday was gorgeous. We have been having unseasonably warm weather and spring is at leas a month ahead of schedule this year. Leon was feeling a bit better, so we decided to check out a nature preserve called Sand Prairie Scrub Oak down by Peoria.

Sandy Oak Woodlands

The rpeserve was further away than I realized, so we didn't arrive until late afternoon. It sandy oak woods interspersed with sand prairie. The latter contains lots of prickly pear cactus.

Sand phlox was abundant and in full bloom. Most of the flowers were white, with an occasional bright pink individual.

Sand Phlox - Typical Flowers

The Pink Form of Sand Phlox

The wild plums were blooming and putting on quite a show. We also saw lots of insects, including the year's first tiger beetle ( a green six-spotted tiger beetle).

Thicket of American Plum

Like everything else, the butterflies are very early this year. I saw seven species on Saturday, including a beautiful, fresh tiger swallowtail.

Tiger Swallowtail

The highlight of the day was getting to see a butterfy that in sand prairies. Previously, I had only ever seen Olympia Marbles on the shores of Lake Michigan. On this trip, I would see several in the a beautiful nature preserve in the sand country along the Illinois River.

Terrible photo of an Olympia Marble
I'm still glad I got to see it

White Pines Forest State Park

Update: This post vanished in this week's Great Blogger Crash. Depending how you are viewing my blog, it may appear twice or be dated incorrectly. It was originally posted on Tuesday, May 10.


On Sunday, Leon and I joined Michael, Kevin and Iva and headed out to White Pines State Park. It's in the north central part of the state, out by the town of Oregon. Neither Leon nor I had been to this park before, so we were looking forward to seeing it. Much of the park sits atop limestone bluffs that line Spring and Pine Creeks, tributaries of the Rock River.

After a picnic of cheese and crackers with sandwiches and a nice bottle of Riesling, we went for a hike through the woods. The spring flora was putting on a good show.

Jacob's Ladder(Polemonium reptans)

Large Flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

Bishop's Cap (Mitella diphylla)

We saw a bunch of butterflies and some other insects. The butterflies were reluctant to land, so the photography wasn't very good. I was disappointed to miss a shot of a Meadow Fritillary. I did manage a couple of bug photos.

Spotted Lady Beetle (Calvia quatuordecimguttata)

Leaf-footed bug (Acanthocephala sp.)

After hiking, we had an early supper at The Roadhouse in Oregon. It's a restaurant that time forgot. In this case, time seems to have forgotten sometime in the early 1970s.

The Roadhouse!

It was a gorgeous day in beautiful surroundings with good friends. What more can one ask for in life?

L-R: Kevin, Leon, Doug, Michael
Photo by Iva

Indian Summer Afternoon

We had a fairly hard freeze the night before last. The vegetable garden is now toast. Today was a beautiful warm and sunny day. There were late autumn flowers in my yard.

Autumn crocus

Witch Hazel

Leon and I went out to the Fen this afternoon. I was startled to see a very late butterfly. The buckeyes really did have quite a year this summer. This one looks remarkably fresh. I suspect that this will be my last Illinois butterfly photo of 2010.

Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

Farewell to Summer

Labor Day weekend. The end of summer, the end of white shoes and belts, and the beginning to the progression into winter. Leon and I took Friday off, and were joined by our friend Michael in celebrating the end of summer in Michigan. We went camping in the Saugatuck region. Unfortunately, the weather was not overly cooperative. Although the only truly terrible weather was a robust thunderstorm the evening that we arrived (fortunately, after the tents were pitched), much of the weekend was rather marginal. Friday was drippy and therefore a day to hang around camp and go into town for a bit of shopping.

Oval Beach

Dunes Behind the Beach

On Saturday we hiked on the shore and in the dunes at Oval Beach. It was cloudy and very windy- at least 25 mph off of Lake Michigan. It made for some impressive surf. There were lots of gulls and a few sandpipers hukered down right on the lake shore because of the wind, and I was able to get a couple of decent photos of the sandpipers.

Sandpipers!

Sunday was by far the best day of the weekend. It was sunny and pleasantly warm without being hot. We went for a great hike at the Allegan Game Area just west of where we were staying. I've been there before as part of the Imperiled Butterfly Workshop, and wanted to show the place to Leon.

Allegan State Game Area

This part of the world is very sandy with lots of black oak. As I have previously mentioned, there are lots of Allegheny mound-building ant here. I had Michael stand next to one of the mounds to show just how large they are.

Michael L. with Ant Mound

We say some pretty good butterflies and, not surprising for such a sandy area, lots of tiger beetles. We also saw a and wasp (Bembyx americana) digging in the soft sand. I got some video.

American Copper(Lycaena phlaeas)

Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus)

The Festive Tiger Beetle (Cicindela scutellaris lecontei) was the only species that we saw- but they were abundant. I have both collected and photographed this species before, but have not been happy with the photographic results. The abundance of the species and relatively cool temperatures allowed me to do better this time.

Several Shots of the Festive Tiger Beetle
(Cicindela scutellaris lecontei)

At breakfast yesterday, we noticed migrating monarch butterflies filling the skies like autumn leaves. This weekend featured many signs of the change of seasons. I guess I'm ready to say goodbye to the summer of 2010. It's been a fine one.

Putting the Spring in Bluff Spring Fen

Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)

It's marsh marigold time at the Fen. In a good year, the watercourses are all lined with vivid yellow. This is proving to be a good year, and the effects are spectacular.

Saturday was a Fen workday. While most of the crew was pulling garlic mustard, Kevin and I continued an experiment that has been going on for a few years. We are trying to re-vegetate the bare peat soil of a badly degraded seep by transplanting native sedges that have grown up onto a gravel spit that was bulldozed out into one corner of the Fen. I blogged about it last year. Our results are being very successful. The transplants settle in for the first year, then begin to spread rapidly through vegetative growth. This success is motivating us to continue the experiment.

Carex trichocarpa
Two years ago, this seepage slope was mostly bare peat soil

Spring is in evidence all around the Fen. I am pleased that some of our trout lilies have become sufficiently established to begin blooming.

Trout Lily (Erythronium albidum)

Migrant birds are returning.

Red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

I mentioned recently that the 12-spotted tiger beetles are out now. I keep trying for a better photo. I'm making incremental progress, but I'm not yet where I want to be with that species.

Twelve-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela duodecimguttata)

While tiger hunting, I ran into the Fen's other common species. It was a bit earlier than I was expecting.

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

Overall, it's shaping up as a fine spring at the Fen.

Happy Easter

Sharp-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba)

Bloodroot (Sangunaria canadensis)

For the first time in about 3 years, we're actually having a nice spring here in Chicago. There has been ample warmth and sunshine. Today was gorgeous, and Leon and I took an Easter morning walk at Bluff Spring Fen. In addition to the very familiar spring wildflowers like Bloodroot and Hepatica, we saw some more unusual species, like Early Buttercup and Whitlow Cress.

Early Buttercup (Ranunculus fascicularis)


Whitlow Cress (Draba reptans)

I especially like the Whitlow cress, because it's so tiny. The entire plant in the photo could be covered with a dime- with room to spare.

There were other important signs of spring at the Fen today, as well.

Twelve-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela duodecimguttata)

After we returned from the Fen, we had our friend Michael over for a traditional Easter dinner of ham, squash, and rice pilaf. Michael brought over a special Easter bread that he made, and we had home-made raspberry ice cream for dessert. What made the meal especially fun is that it was in the 70's this afternoon, so we ate out on the screened porch.

Crocus!

A week and a half earlier than last year.

Random Bits from Thanksgiving Week

I've been getting caught up from all of my travels. Unfortunately, I did not quite succeed before we plunged headlong into the holiday season.



Nearly a year ago, I blogged about my first attempt to make blue cheese. What I never said later was that it was a complete bust. A couple of weeks after I started it, it had become nasty and slimy. A few months later, I tried again, with much better results. This time I used the good milk (raw milk from Guernsey cattle), and that made all the difference. I opened the first of two wheels for Thanksgiving and was pleased with the results. The cheese still needs a bit of work. The humidity in the cave was a bit too low while I aged it. I think that I can easily fix that. The flavor is surprisingly good, so I'm optimistic for future attempts at this cheese. I started another batch last weekend.


Last weekend we also had our annual seed mixing party. This year, we did not gather quite so many species, and a lot of the seeds were already cleaned, so we finished very quickly.

Thanksgiving was to have been a quiet affair for just Leon and I. At his request, we had ham instead of turkey. The day before Thanksgiving, Adam posted on his Facebook page that he and his partner Andy would be flying from Tucson to O'Hare the next morning and driving up to their farm in Wisconsin. This would take them a mere 2 minutes from our house. We had them over for pie (and some of the blue cheese). Although they were not able to stay nearly as long as we would have liked, it was great to get to see them both. Two minutes after they left, I realized that we should have gotten a photo.


The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the day we put up our outdoor holiday lights'


Both yesterday and today have been very beautiful. We went for a walk at the Fen this afternoon. We took a bag of seeds from the seed mixing party with us and scattered some prairie goodness around. Tomorrow, off to visit Gary and Gary Lee's farm to get some manure for the vegetable garden.

Misty Savanna

Black Oak Sand Savanna with Showy Goldenrod

Last week, Vincent and I had to go up to the conference center at Illinois Beach State Park to make a presentation to the board of the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. We were (successfully) seeking approval for a permit to release Silver-bordered Fritillaries onto the nature preserve at Gensburg-Markham Prairie (something that is now done). I have made presentations to this board before, and in common with my previous experiences I found something that sounds very bureaucratic is actually a reasonably pleasant process.

Ecotone between the Oak Savanna and a Swale

After our presentation at the meeting, Vincent and I went off for a walk into the park. Illinois Beach is a very large (4,160 acres) remnant of native Lake Michigan shoreline. Vincent had never been to this park before, and I enjoyed introducing him to this amazing spot. The day was cloudy and misty, and had a decidedly melancholic autumnal feel to it.

The Dead River

The park is a dune and swale complex. The Dead River occupies one of the swales. It gets its name because it is usually separated from Lake Michigan by a sand bar. Periodically, pressure in the river builds up, and the water overflows the sand bar and empties into the lake.

Sky Blue Aster

We were treated to an array of autumn wildflowers as we walked. Illinois Beach State Park is in my top five natural areas in Illinois that I recommend visiting.