Tag Archives: wildlife

Night shift: Lake County’s nocturnal neighbors

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Post by Brett Peto

This article appears in the fall 2025 issue of Horizons, the award-winning quarterly magazine of the Lake County Forest Preserves in northern Illinois.

A southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) glides gracefully across the nighttime sky. Weighing only 1–3 ounces, this small, nocturnal mammal uses loose skin like a wing-suit to stay aloft. The species is native to North America—including Lake County—and Central America.
A southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) glides gracefully across the nighttime sky. Weighing only 1–3 ounces, this small, nocturnal mammal uses loose skin like a wing-suit to stay aloft. The species is native to North America—including Lake County—and Central America.

When you settle into bed for the evening, another world awakens. Flying squirrels launch between trees, bats emerge from roosts and owls begin their silent hunts.

Your forest preserves provide the food, water, shelter and darkness these animals need during their night shifts. Despite their abundance and proximity, our nocturnal neighbors can seem mysterious. The dark obscures their unique activities.

Let’s peek behind the curtain.

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Every acre strong: The Community Campaign for Lake County Forest Preserves

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Post by Brett Peto

This article appears in the spring 2025 issue of Horizons, the award-winning quarterly magazine of the Lake County Forest Preserves in northern Illinois.

every acre is ESSENTIAL

Since 1958, the Lake County Forest Preserves has stewarded public funds to protect, manage and restore more than 31,200 acres across 65 sites to provide a healthy, resilient home for 28,850 native plant, animal and insect species as well as miles of trails and countless experiences for all to enjoy.

The Forest Preserves is an essential part of our community. Every acre of restored forest preserve land provides cleaner air, improved water quality, enhanced recreational and health benefits, habitat for pollinators, increased carbon storage and greater flood reduction.

But our restored lands face ongoing threats from invasive species, exotic pests and unpredictable weather. Today’s changing climate requires forward-thinking solutions and innovative, high-quality stewardship of the forest preserves to ensure they remain resilient in an uncertain future.

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Unraveling the science of habitat restoration

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Guest post by Kim Mikus

This article appears in the summer 2024 issue of Horizons, the award-winning quarterly magazine of the Lake County Forest Preserves in northern Illinois.

From a young age, we’re often taught that planting trees is good for the environment. So, why do we see large areas of trees sometimes removed from your forest preserves, leaving the land temporarily ragged and brown?

The answer is habitat restoration, a sequence of land management activities that improve the health, ecological function and diversity of species at a particular site, according to ecologists at the Lake County Forest Preserves. Sometimes that process involves removing non-native, invasive trees and other species.

During restoration efforts, you may see dramatic visual differences.

Two images showing a 40-acre area at Greenbelt Forest Preserve (North Chicago) during and after restoration.
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17 years, 64 degrees, 100 decibels

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Post by Brett Peto

The alarm clock is ready to ring for the periodical cicadas of Lake County. The previous mass emergence of these impressive bugs in 2007 set the alarm for 2024. During spring and summer 17 years ago, millions of cicadas tunneled out of the soil, crawled up trees, sang, mated and completed their life cycle. This will be a magical year for their offspring.

A True Bug

Adult periodical cicadas have dark bodies, red eyes and orange-veined wings. Illustration ©️ Samantha Gallagher.
Adult periodical cicadas have dark bodies, red eyes and orange-veined wings. Illustration ©️ Samantha Gallagher.
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Motus captures migration in motion

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Post by Jen Berlinghof

The back-to-school season in early fall brings restlessness and routine to my house. I’m struck by how it parallels the flurry of fall migration across the natural world: a return to the patterns of movement ingrained over generations.

At Ryerson Conservation Area in Riverwoods—part of the Lake County Forest Preserves in northern Illinois—I observe ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) tucking their heads quickly in and out of crimson cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) blooms, fueling up for long flights across the Gulf of Mexico.

Green darner (Anax junius) dragonflies skim the skies by the dozens along the lakefront at Fort Sheridan in Lake Forest, their wings glittering. Fields of bee balm (Monarda didyma) along the 31.4-mile Des Plaines River Trail quiver with monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) nectaring to gear up for their epic journey. And, sporting less vibrant feathers than in the spring, migratory birds take flight in muted autumnal tones, heading south. As the sun sets in September and the harvest moon rises, this silent surge of fall migration commences.

A female ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) rests on a twig. This species migrates south to wintering grounds in Mexico, Central America and along the Gulf Coast. Photo © Phil Hauck.
A female ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) rests on a twig. This species migrates south to wintering grounds in Mexico, Central America and along the Gulf Coast. Photo © Phil Hauck.
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The bird that wears a tuxedo backwards

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Guest post by Jenny Sazama

One May many years ago, I was biking the Millennium Trail and Greenway from Lakewood in Wauconda to Singing Hills in Round Lake—two sites of the Lake County Forest Preserves in northern Illinois—to time out an activity for summer camp. That’s when I first noticed a distinctive blackbird magically appear from within the tall grasses.

This happened at least 30 times as I cycled the winding 1.62-mile trail section from Gilmer Road to the Singing Hills parking lot. As I coasted by these birds, I detected a “chunk” call and noticed their color pattern, which has been described as a classic black tuxedo worn backwards.

I wondered who this dapper fellow was and why there were so many along this route, emerging from this habitat. I would soon learn this pop-up-from-the-grasses blackbird was none other than the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). It’s eastern North America’s only songbird whose feathers are black below and mostly white above, with a buttery, cream-yellow nape. Keep watch for a white rump, too, as he takes flight.

A male bobolink calls at Rollins Savanna in Grayslake. Now is a good time of year to try to spot bobolinks in preserves with meadows and prairies. Photo © Phil Hauck.
A male bobolink calls at Rollins Savanna in Grayslake. Now is a good time of year to try to spot bobolinks in preserves with meadows and prairies. Photo © Phil Hauck.
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Enjoy the hooting season

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Post by Jen Berlinghof

In February, sensational sunrises and sunsets break up the stark days and cold, dark nights of a waning winter. Dawn and dusk not only bring the thrill of color to a monochrome landscape, but also the best chance of hearing and seeing nocturnal raptors. As the mercury drops, owl courtship heats up. While many other birds head south for winter, owls pair up and hunker down. At night, the soundtrack of our resident species’ hoots and hollers fills the Lake County Forest Preserves in northern Illinois, offering us a glimpse into an otherwise hidden world.

Winter is a time of snow, beautiful sunsets—and mating season for local owls. Photo © John D. Kavc.
Winter is a time of snow, beautiful sunrises and sunsets—and mating season for local owls. Photo © John D. Kavc.
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Winter reveals hidden homes

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Post by Jen Berlinghof

The winter landscape, stripped of its lush layers of leaves and fields of flowers, reveals hidden homes. This season of stillness offers a glimpse into animal lives that were carried on clandestinely throughout spring, summer and fall around the Lake County Forest Preserves in northern Illinois. It’s surprising to see how many critters have been busy raising families right under our noses, or sometimes, right above our heads, without us always noticing.

A soothing winter scene at Lyons Woods in Waukegan. Photo © John D. Kavc.
A soothing winter scene at Lyons Woods in Waukegan. Photo © John D. Kavc.
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Bringing back the buzz

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Post by Jen Berlinghof

All summer long, swaths of wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) quake in the presence of thousands of native bumble bee wings beating away. These pollination dynamos use a technique called buzz pollination, vibrating their bodies to trigger nearby flowers to release pollen. At the Lake County Forest Preserves in northern Illinois, a similar buzz of excitement arrived in summer 2020 when staff spotted the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) at Greenbelt in North Chicago.

Fast forward to summer 2021. The hum continues to reverberate after multiple sightings of this keystone species were documented across the county from Flint Creek to Wadsworth Savanna in Wadsworth. While summer’s the height of hive activity, the shoulder seasons—usually defined as May, June, September and October—might be key to the success of the rusty patched bumble bee. This is partly due to the timing, or phenology, of the species’ lifecycle. It’s one of the first bees to emerge in spring and the last to enter hibernation in fall.

A worker, or male, rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) sits atop mountain mint. Photo © Dan Mullen.
A rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) sits atop mountain mint. Photo © Dan Mullen.
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A thousand-mile journey on two-inch wings

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Post by Jen Berlinghof

I’ve spent many days this summer living the “lake life,” from the sandy dunes of the Great Lakes to the cattail-studded coves of inland waters. The waterways found within the Lake County Forest Preserves in northern Illinois have been especially rewarding. Each shoreline has provided unique glimpses of wildlife, including an osprey (Pandion haliaetus) diving full throttle to catch a fish at dawn, and a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) pouncing on prey hidden among the beach grass at dusk.

Also present at every waterway this summer has been the jewel-hued, common green darner dragonfly (Anax junius). These ubiquitous insects effortlessly nab multitudes of mosquitoes on the wing. While the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) reigns in our minds when it comes to insect migrations, recent research reveals the green darner takes a multi-generational, miles-long journey of its own each year.

Common green darner dragonflies (Anax junius) are found in the forest preserves. Stock photo.
Common green darner dragonflies (Anax junius) are found in the forest preserves. Stock photo.
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