Though spring doesn’t kick off until March 20, it’s not too early to start searching for harbingers, and some hardy folks have been outside already, helping to nurse along nature’s rebirth.
In fact, on Feb. 25, members of the Sierrans Outdoors, a Chicago-based group affiliated with the Sierra Club, with members from all over the metropolitan area, met at Palos Park’s Swallow Cliff Forest Preserve for their first picnic of the year. A picnic in February?
These hardy folks have been holding the event, called the annual spaghetti hike, for four years now. After a 4-mile walk in the woods, participants gathered around a campfire for an all-you-can-eat pasta dinner, and this year, the hikers also got the inside scoop on the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s efforts to return Swallow Cliff’s landscape to its natural, pre-settlement state.
“Over 50 people came out and had a great time,” said Barb Reed of Chicago, co-leader of the group. “They seemed glad to be outside. All day the mood was very light-hearted.”
Rich Balis of Chicago, co-leader of the event, added that nature lovers are more likely to spot animals and their tracks if they travel in smaller numbers and stay very quiet. It’s possible to spot an abundance of deer, squirrels and rabbits or at least the signs of their browsing and munching as they prepare for the birth of their young, he noted.
There’s an opportunity for twice the hiking fun this afternoon, with an 8-mile trek that laps around the Waterfall Glen preserve north of Lemont. Ecological restoration is also a major focus of this outing, and volunteers will spend the morning cutting brush so that native plants can again grow in the 120-acre Poverty Prairie (so-called because of the poverty oat grass that thrives in the area), near Bluff and Lemont Roads. The hike follows lunch. (For details on this and other outings mentioned in this story, see accompanying article.)
There are several prairies in the area in need of volunteers for their work days. A group called the Prairie People helps maintain several plots, in coordination with the Forest Preserve District of Will County. Volunteers can learn about native plant species and clear the way for them while cutting non-native brush at Romeoville Prairie on Saturday.
A similar type of volunteering, on prairie restoration in the Palos preserves, got Justice resident Karen Stasky interested in her local flora and fauna. Stasky was trained and assigned as steward of the Santa Fe Prairie in Hodgkins by the Nature Conservancy, a national environmental group with a Chicago office. In that role, she rounds up and directs volunteers in care of the prairie, and she also works part time and volunteers at two area nature centers. Her work with captive birds at the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in Willow Springs has her regularly walking the forest preserve trails.
“Right now, I’m watching for spring plants . . . pussy willows are just starting to bud up,” Stasky said. She also keeps her ears tuned in for the calls of birds, another harbinger of spring. “You can often hear the birds coming into an area before you see them,” she explained. “It gives you something to hope for.”
Maybe you’re not yet in tune with nature and feel you wouldn’t know what to look for going solo in the woods this time of year. If so, you may let someone show you the way by enjoying the sights and sounds of nature on a guided earth walk. The Forest Preserve District of Will County sponsors earth walks on various nature topics throughout the year.
Jean Knight of Crete, public programs and recreation supervisor for the Will County district, led 21 adventurers on a walk through Raccoon Grove Nature Preserve in Monee on Feb. 18, a good turnout for the second month of the year. “I think it’s a sign that people are eager to get out and enjoy the outdoors again,” Knight said.
Knight’s earth walk on animal life was preceded by a light dusting of snow, which highlighted fresh animal tracks. With the help of their guide, group members were able to identify raccoon, skunk and red fox footprints. An even closer look revealed gnawed acorns, a sure sign of squirrels in the area.
Knight was surprised the walk didn’t produce any actual sightings of squirrels, as the rodents are quite active now, mating and preparing for spring litters. It seems the squirrels know that the seasons will eventually change and their offspring will survive, in spite of the cold that’s been prevalent. “Squirrel births are timed quite well,” Knight said, “usually when the tree sap starts running. Squirrels eat buds and the upper, tender tree bark with sweet sap in it.”
Knight said her earliest sign that spring is coming is the sighting of a tiny insect that often emerges with snow on the ground. “Crouch down near the base of a tree,” she advised. “They’re easiest to see against the snow. Here, you may see something that looks like tiny flecks of pepper. Look closer, and you’ll notice the specks are, indeed, moving.”
These tiny insects are spring tails, whose jumping movement is caused by the flicking of the tail. “The insects are commonly called snow fleas, but the name spring tail is better; when you see ’em, you know spring is coming,” Knight said.
On Saturday, earth walkers will turn their attention from the ground to the sky as the Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve hosts a bird migration program.
Perhaps your favorite sign of spring is the lovable bluebird. Male bluebirds return from the South between February and mid-March to scout out nesting sites for their upcoming mating season.
“The male bluebird builds the nest,” said Vicki Schroeder of New Lenox, who volunteers to maintain and monitor the bluebird boxes that have been set up on a trail at the Hickory Creek Forest Preserve in Mokena.
This time of year, Schroeder hikes the trail each week, visiting the birdhouses to clean out the remnants of squatters such as wrens, make any necessary repairs and monitor early bluebird activity. The returning males have 20 boxes to choose from on this trail. “The male often builds more than one nest,” Schroeder pointed out. “The female chooses which nest she will accept and lay her eggs in.”
Last season, the bluebird trail volunteer noted that the males had completed their first nests in April and the babies hatched in May. Schroeder is encouraged by the success of the Mokena bluebird project. “Last year, we had 18 bluebirds that fledged, up from only eight or nine the year before,” she said. “I’m hoping we’ll see even more bluebirds successfully leave the nest this year.”
You can help your blue-feathered friends by building a bluebird house of your own. “Bluebirds like open, grassy areas. To attract them, you’d need a back yard that’s large, with trees kept more to the edge,” Schroeder said. The New Lenox resident doesn’t want to discourage anyone from trying a back yard birdhouse, however. “I’ve seen bluebirds in my neighborhood. . . . I think they’re nesting in the area,” she said.
Schroeder suggested checking out your local library to obtain plans for building a bluebird box. Kits for houses are also on sale at area wild bird stores and nurseries. “Just keep the entry hole to 1 1/2 inches and make sure it’s the deeper box design to keep out predators like raccoons,” which can scoop out the contents of shallower boxes with their paws, she advised.
Area nature centers also provide education about housing birds. The Lake Katherine Environmental Learning Center in Palos Heights will show you how to build a bluebird box at a Saturday workshop, while housing for birds and bats will be constructed during a March 30 program at Thorn Creek Nature Center in Park Forest.
You may be used to early spring sights such as an anxious robin against the backdrop of a late snow and may even have experience providing nesting for early bluebird arrivals. But did you know there’s one bird that stuck it out here all winter, has already finished mating and is now preparing to raise its young? It’s the great horned owl.
Judy Bormet, Peotone resident and naturalist for the Thorn Creek Nature Center, said the great horned owl knows what it’s doing when it gets a jump on spring by finishing up its courtship in February and laying its eggs early. “Small rodents are starting to emerge and they become even more active with their own reproduction, just when the owlets are born,” Bormet said. “These owls time it so that when there’s this explosion of reproductive activity with the rodents, they have a great supply of food for their owlets.”
Although nocturnal, the great horned owl may be detected during the day because of all this nesting activity. Or try an evening hike on the Thorn Creek trails; they’re open until 8 p.m. year-round. To find the birds, check around trees.
“If you see the telltale whitewash coming down the trunk and droppings underneath on the ground, you may have found an owl nesting spot,” Bormet said. Crows also may lead you to great horned owls, as they often are found harassing the nocturnal birds with loud cawing.
For those in search of other hopeful signs, Bormet advised: “Start looking for migrating waterfowl. In the next couple of months you’ll see more, but they’ve started already: wigeons (a wild freshwater duck), shovelers (a freshwater duck with a broad, flattened bill), common mergansers (a diving duck with a crested head and narrow bill) and buffleheads (a small duck that’s black on top and white underneath).”
Those searching for the earliest harbingers might note “greening activities,” Bormet said. “Look for early woodland wildflowers like spring beauties, toothwort, bloodroot and hepatica.”
The naturalist encourages all kinds of nature exploration this time of year. “It’s really rather fun to go out now and see the whole process of spring unfolding,” she said.
NATURE’S AWAITING
Here are some activities planned to guide you outdoors and help you get a jump on spring. Call for locations, times and other instructions.
Sierrans Outdoors: Hike today at Waterfall Glen near Lemont. Turn east off Lemont Road onto Bluff and pass one gate and parking lot for Waterfall Gate. At the second gate, park on Bluff, go around the gate and follow the signs to the prairie restoration area. Park on the street and then go to the second gate. That gate may be closed, but park on Bluff, walk around the gate and follow signs to the site. Call Carol Shaffer, 708-357-4709.
Prairie People: Brush cutting Saturday at Romeoville Prairie. Call Jess Smith, 815-727-8700.
Earth walk: Bird migration walk Saturday at Lockport Prairie. Call the Forest Preserve District of Will County, 815-727-8700.
Lake Katherine Environmental Learning Center: Bluebird house workshop Saturday at Palos Heights center. Call 708-361-1873.
Thorn Creek Nature Center: Bird and bat house workshop March 30. Call 708-747-6320.
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The Chicago Audubon Society monitors bird sightings at 708-671-1522. Bird watchers can call that number to report an early bird or to check on what others have seen.
