Chicago Nature Now! Alert
August 19, 2016
This Chicago nature info helps you discover the region’s finest natural wonders. Here’s what’s happening in Chicago nature, right now!
Hummingbirds, Hummingbirds, Hummingbirds!:
Hummingbirds are migrating and you can find them buzzing in profusion at many nature centers including: Sagawau Canyon, Pilcher Park (at nature center and are south of the greenhouse), and Little Red Schoolhouse.
Ferns, Ferns, Ferns!:
Again, Cowles Bog Trail, Miller Woods, and Hoosier Prairie (all in northwestern Indiana) are jumping with gymnastic ferns—in celebration of the 2016 Summer Olympics. If you’d like to experience a beautiful fern-lined canyon, call Sagawau Canyon and sign up for their next canyon tour.
Visit a Tallgrass Prairie:
The colors of the prairie are in a lull but will soon be shining with gold. Still, this is the perfect time to see a tallgrass prairie, where you’ll find yourself immersed in a sea of tall grasses. Big bluestem with its purple tassels and Indian grass and its tawny feathery plume can rise eight feet into the air. Here are some local tallgrass prairies:
- Spears Woods‘ prairies feature a nice display of tall grasses including Indian grass with feathery heads and miniature yellow flowers. Click here for the location of the trailhead that goes west into the prairies.
- In addition to a soaring expanse of tall grasses, Fermilab Prairie currently offers towering forests prairie dock and compass plant. I measured one prairie dock plant at ten-and-a-half feet tall!
- The connecting prairie to the south of Shoe Factory Road Prairie offers a long walk through the tall grass.
- Theodore Stone Preserve‘s prairie to the west of the preserve (the main entrance) is tall with grasses.
- Bluff Spring Fen‘s prairie offers a great display of cylindrical and rough blazing star on the “switchback” kame in the north-central portion of the preserve. The cylindrical species is at the end of its bloom while the rough variety is just beginning its run. (Use the glossary to learn about what a “kame” is.) Along the prairie trails, you can find yourself engulfed under big bluestem and Indian grass. The oak savanna at the entrance of the preserve features the tall plants of sweet Joy-Pye weed and golden wingstem. Note: The trails are very narrow and overgrown, which makes it hard to always know which way to go. Just do your best. If you accidentally find yourself off trail, don’t blame yourself. Blame the land managers who aren’t doing their jobs.
- At Wolf Road Prairie in Westchester, Illinois, look for towering forests of compass plants.
Visit a Woodland:
Somme Prairie Grove‘s woodland is looking good, but reaching the end of its bloom of sunflower-like plants.
See a Summer Sunset:
Saganashkee Slough is sensational for sunsets as our celestial star—a bright, burning brass ball—slowly sinks in the sky to start a sultry summer eve.
Sample photos of the ferns in some northwest Indiana preserves (from previous years):
Royal ferns in the light fog of the savanna at Hoosier Prairie in Schererville, Indiana.*
In the Cowles Bog area, a forest of royal ferns thrives in a wetland that has formed at the base of a high dune.*
Lush ferns line the walls of Sagawau Canyon in Lemont, Illinois. But you can only see them if you sign up for their upcoming canyon tours.*
Example tallgrass prairie photos:
Big bluestem grass gives the true meaning to the term “tallgrass prairie.”*
This is an example of what you will find at Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook, Illinois:
At Somme Prairie Grove, pale-leaved sunflowers surround this majestic bur oak in the savanna.*
Check out the summer sunsets at Saganashkee Slough:
On this sweltering, sultry afternoon, a golden sun sets over Saganashkee Slough in Palos Hills, Illinois.*
* Photo is representational and was not recorded this year. Bloom times vary from year to year.
If you find this website of Chicago nature information useful, please consider donating or purchasing my nationally-acclaimed book that celebrates all of the preserves featured on this website.
—Mike
