Goldenrod galls

Posted on September 20, 2013 by lakecountynature

September in Lake County, Illinois is a month of big sky punctuated by tips of tall prairie plants in an array of autumnal colors. Before the trees really get going with their own colorful show, sparks of bright yellow from the many varieties of goldenrod (Solidago spp.) dominate the open spaces. Most of the summer these plants go unnoticed, adding merely another green hue to the lush surroundings, but September is their time to shine. What may also go unnoticed, even now as goldenrod demands our attention, is the hidden world inside each plant in the form of a gall.

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Red admirals at attention

Posted on May 9, 2012 by lakecountynature

Last week while visiting Lyons Woods, I noticed that a large patch of garlic mustard was quivering. When I got closer, I found that it was not the breeze making the plants sway, but rather a huge group of red admiral butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) flitting from flower to flower. In many areas, all you have to do is walk out your front door to witness the population explosion of these ubiquitous butterflies that is sweeping the northeastern United States this spring.

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Ground’s abuzz

Posted on April 17, 2012 by lakecountynature

During a training hike for volunteer nature guides last week, a fellow naturalist pointed out a series of pea-sized holes in the ground. I walk along this same trail regularly and had never noticed them. As our group stooped around these holes, shivering on this cold but sunny spring morning, a tiny head crept slowly out of the one of the holes. It was the head of a mining bee! Continue reading →

Spring stinks

Posted on March 23, 2012 by lakecountynature

Don’t get me wrong, I love spring, but the first signs of green to shoot out of the leaf litter stink! While this spring seems to be on fast-forward, with many woodland wildflowers appearing almost to six weeks early, the first plants to sprout in Lake County were still the stinky duo of skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), and Chicago‘s supposed namesake, wild leek (Allium tricoccum). The Native American tribes of this region called the plant in question “shikaakwa” or “chicagoua”.