Good Natured | Hickory Knolls Discovery Center

Crayfish ‘Berry’ Season

Who doesn’t love a good berry? Strawberries! Raspberries! Blueberries! Crayfish-berries? Yes folks, it’s that time of year again. Crayfish are breeding, and many females are in family way. But rather than displaying a bulging tummy, as so many other animals do, female crayfish carry their fertilized eggs externally. […]

Pawpaws

So last week visited a place I’ve heard about my entire life, but had never actually seen-at least not in Illinois. It wasn’t the Mountain that she’ll be coming ’round, nor was it the Dell the farmer is in. It wasn’t even the treacherous Hill made famous by Jack and Jill. […]

Spittlebugs

We’ve all heard the saying, “Snug as a bug in a rug.” But this time of year I often find myself adding, “Some bugs are little and living in spittle.” Not only is that little ditty proof that naturalists shouldn’t try to improve on age-old rhymes, it’s also confirmation that it’s spittlebug season once again. […]

Barred Owls

The other day I headed out to meet some friends for a walk at Tekakwitha Woods Forest Preserve, with a plan to proceed over to Jon Duerr FP on the other side of the Fox River. All in all, a pretty ordinary plan for our little group of nature nerds, […]

A Bird Eat Bird World

Ah, spring. What could be more glorious? Flowers are blooming, insects are buzzing, frogs are calling. And the birds? Well they’re doing what birds do best. They’re looking good in their breeding-season plumage; singing, of course, to declare their territories; and building their nests. […]

Tiger Beetles

I’ve never, by any stretch of the imagination, been considered quick. I can’t dash, I don’t dart. In fact, the only time I recall moving with any speed at all was once when I was being chased by a horde of angry yellowjackets. A flat-out sprint, and they still got me. […]

Red-Headed Woodpeckers

What’s black and white and red all over? Here in the TriCities’ corner of the natural world, not a lot. But the red-headed woodpecker is one notable exception. Most of the Picidae family members in our area (downy, hairy, red-bellied, northern flicker and, lately, pileated) feature a splish or splash of red- […]

Butternut Trees

Well, it happened again. After a prolonged absence-nearly eight years– Build Me Up Buttercup, that great song by The Foundations, once again is reverberating through my skull. Day and night I’m humming the catchy tune, whether I want to or not. All because I took a walk. […]

Monk Parakeets

A little over a year ago, in February 2020, I signed up for what promised to be the adventure of a lifetime. “Travel to Costa Rica,” the brochure said, “where it’s easier to be at one with nature than anywhere else in the world.” They had me at “nature,” but I kept reading anyway. […]

Overwintering Butterflies

Butterflies are easy. It’s a statement that naturalists make from time to time, and it refers to the fact that we don’t have to work very hard at all to get people interested in butterflies. Snakes and spiders, on the other hand, are tough, and slime molds are darn near impossible. But butterflies are easy. […]

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