Sheryl DeVore

Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer for the Lake County News-Sun.

Great Lakes piping plover Imani stretches his wings after helping to incubate an egg at Montrose Beach in Chicago on May 31, 2024. The Chicago Park District announced the presence of a new egg on the protected area at the Montrose Beach Dunes. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Captive-reared piping plovers making history with 2 separate nests with eggs in Waukegan and Chicago

June 3, 2024 at 3:20 p.m.

3 of 4 parents-to-be hatched in a facility in Michigan, while Imani was born in the wild at Montrose Beach to popular plover pair Monty and Rose.

Close-up of wild hyacinth blooming in woodlands. (Sheryl DeVore/News-Sun)

Outdoors column: Wild hyacinth proliferates in this wet, warm spring

May 21, 2024 at 2:20 p.m.

Wild hyacinths were already blooming in the middle of May at both Wright Woods and Reed Turner Woodland. As a group, they created lilting, white patterns that seemed to connect...

A Lake County lawn is covered in dandelions (Sheryl DeVore/Lake County News-Sun)

Outdoors column: Dandelions are more than just lawn invaders, and deserve a little respect

April 23, 2024 at 7:31 a.m.

The better question might be to ask what is good about those unwanted lawn ornaments that torment some of us each spring.

Jim Wiederin, left, and David Johnson look for loons at Bluff Lake on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Antioch. Loons are most often seen in the Chain O’ Lakes in late March and early April as they migrate north. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Fewer loon chicks surviving because of climate change, researchers say

April 11, 2024 at 5:04 p.m.

Increased rainfall due to climate change is reducing water clarity in Wisconsin lakes making it harder for loons to find food for their chicks, researcher says.

Eastern phoebe at Wright Woods in Vernon Hills. (Steven D. Bailey/Lake County News-Sun)

Outdoors column: Return of the eastern phoebe a sight for sore eyes

April 10, 2024 at 3:47 p.m.

Flycatchers are a family of birds that eat insects and cannot live in northern Illinois in winter when their food choices are scarce. But phoebes seem to come back even...

Bloodroot blooms on April 7, 2020 in northern Illinois. Sheryl DeVore/Photo

Outdoors column: Earlier wildflower bloom times point to climate change

March 28, 2024 at 9:53 a.m.

Peeking from the soil in my yard on March 26 were green leaves about an inch tall that I hadn’t seen yesterday. They were the leaves of bloodroot, which produces...

A flock of gulls flies above Lake Michigan in Winthrop Harbor.

Outdoors column: For a new winter activity, try watching gulls

February 1, 2024 at 10:12 a.m.

The gulls you see while you’re walking along a lakeshore, a huge river bank or even driving by a landfill, are not always the same species.

This limpkin was seen in Lake Forest into January even as the snow and cold began to take over the region.

Outdoors column: Late arrival of winter weather affects native and wayward birds

January 16, 2024 at 9:38 p.m.

Winter has finally gripped us with its snow, ice and below-freezing temperatures. It hit us over the head after we experienced one of the balmiest Decembers on record. On the...

The Townsend's solitaire was found on several Christmas Bird Counts in northern Illinois this season.
- Original Credit: News-Sun

Outdoors column: Bird counts create memories, contribute to science

January 3, 2024 at 10:14 p.m.

Red and orange hues streamed across the sky above thousands of cedar trees at dawn as a barred owl called its familiar "who-cooks-for-you-who-cooks-for-you-all" from a distance at the Lost Mound...

The December full moon is known as the cold or long night moon.
- Original Credit: News-Sun

Outdoors column: Cold moon shines at December’s end signaling brighter days ahead

December 20, 2023 at 1:21 p.m.

I admire a full moon when it's warm outside, but even more so on a cold winter night. The bright orbital shape casts a welcoming light to the Earth as I...

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