For almost a week now-since 10:54 a.m. on Friday June 21– it’s officially been summer. Unofficially, it’s also firefly mating season, a last hurrah for these insects that have spent most of the last year or two under rocks and logs, living as predacious larvae that feed on earthworms, slugs and other invertebrates. […]
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I can still remember my first dobsonfly. The date was July of 2002. The place, Red Oak Nature Center in North Aurora. The insect was contained within a two-quart Tupperware bowl–with holes poked in the lid for ventilation. The woman carrying it clearly was unsettled, […]
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This week, in honor of fathers everywhere, let’s take a look at some of the most devoted papas our area has to offer. A word of warning though, these guys don’t make many people’s lists of warm, huggable favorites. In fact, they’re kinda slimy. But that’s okay, because they’re fish. […]
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“Aw, crud.” Those were the words I uttered a few days ago when I stepped outside my office to take the picture for this week’s column. High above our service entrance, at the back of Hickory Knolls, a robin’s nest still sat among the supports of our solar energy, panels. […]
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“Mew.” The sound was soft and, at first, easy to overlook. But the longer I spent along the tree line, listening as I walked, the more insistent the caller became. “Mew…Meew…Meeeww!” I was supposed to be collecting a supply of creek water for our resident turtle leech Loren […]
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Do you remember the first time you saw a Baltimore oriole? For me the memory is clear as day. I was in the backyard of my grandparent’s house in downstate Atterberry (which, not so coincidentally, is my mother’s maiden name) and noticed what looked like baseball missing its cover, hanging in her tree. […]
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Typically, when one encounters a spider outside in springtime, the creature is teensy. Or, to use the technical term, itsy bitsy. Small spiders weaving small webs and catching small insects-it’s one of the many hallmarks of spring in northern Illinois. […]
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Growing up in a family that loved to fish, I’ve seen my share of bird’s nests. And not the good kind. In fishing parlance, a bird’s nest is an irreversible tangle of fishing line. It happens when you reel in line that is slack, when you’re stripping out old line, or when you’re just not paying attention. […]
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Throughout these many months of cold we have endured, I’ve tried to help my winter-weary friends stay positive. After every new dump of snow I’d point out, in what I hoped was a sunshiny voice, “Hey, at least there are no mosquitoes.” […]
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