It’s September, and it’s back-to-school time for many students and families. My own kids are headed back to school, and as a mentor for our Student Conservation Internship team, I am going back to school, too! I am thrilled to be a part of the Student Conservation Internship (SCI) which connects…
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This spring and summer, I have been enjoying the call of the grasshopper sparrow—a dry, insect-like buzz that tells me they are near. A friend recently informed me that this pretty little prairie bird has a second song—a rapid series of squeaks, chirp and trills that rise and fall for several…
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Spring has sprung and that means our Kankakee Sands wetlands are teeming with activity. The Kankakee Sands Bird Viewing Area on the west side of US 41 is a particular fan favorite right now due to the wide-open wetland filled with glistening water and critters galore. One needn’t walk through a…
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Did you know that the first week of April is National Be Kind to Spiders Week? To be kind to spiders (that is, to resist all instincts to squish them), one must first appreciate spiders, which admittedly can be hard to do when you are a little nervous or even terrified of them – known as…
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It’s December, and I find myself singing along to all the holiday songs on the radio and playing in the stores. That song about walking in a winter wonderland sure is a fun one to sing… Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening A beautiful sight We're happy tonight…
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It’s the fall seed harvest time of the year. Most days, after spending time in the prairie harvesting native plant seeds that we will sow this winter, I emerge covered in a multitude of seeds of various shapes and sizes. And if I am covered in seeds, I’m thinking that perhaps the bison grazing the…
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I love smelling flowers. I’m sure there are oodles and oodles of articles and scientific journals describing in great detail the smell of this flower, the fragrance of that flower, and all the chemical compounds that go into making those aromas. But there is a limit to what words can do. Sometimes…
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When you plant a garden, sometimes you get surprises – like the tomatillos and dill that are unexpectedly growing in my garden from last year’s seed. And sometimes you get other surprises, too – a goldfinch that flies in or perhaps the caterpillar of a swallowtail butterfly. The same is true with…
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My ninety-year-old neighbor used to tell me that he was going out fishing… not catching, but fishing. It’s about the experience, he’d tell me. And that is how it is with me and birding… it’s about the experience. Attempting to see some birds—sometimes being able to watch and identify them, and…
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December and January are ‘a visiting time’ – a time to escape the chill of winter and explore new spaces in far-away places, or to travel to see friends and family in old familiar haunts and catch up on the year that was. It’s also a visiting time for sparrows, and my grandfather always told me that…
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