Fall News 2009

Contract Restoration

Be prepared for some great changes in 2010. After three decades of volunteers and interns eating away at brush little by little, the Somme volunteers, interns and staff got a huge boost this fall from Tallgrass Restoration LLC. To help out the stewards this year, Forest Preserve District general superintendent Steve Bylina put $3.5 million in his budget for contract restoration. This funding has to be spread around thousands of acres of forest preserve, but Somme Prairie Grove is proud to have been selected as one of the sites in the first year of this project. We volunteers are great at cutting buckthorn and gathering seed. But we are challenged by some areas with thousands of little brush stems. Fortunately, Tallgrass Restoration LLC (a company actually started by an FPD volunteer steward) has mowing machines and trained professionals that can follow up by finding all those tiny cut stems and herbiciding them. They're using an especially benign herbicide that should not harm nearby dormant vegetation.

Solstice Bonfire

More than 200 people celebrated life and light at Somme Woods at the annual soltice bonfire on December 20, 2009. Please read a full description with more photographs of this celebration that marks the end of other year of diligent restoration work by wonderful volunteers.

The event was sponsored by the Friends of the Forest Preserves, North Branch Restoration Project, and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

Fall Burn

There was a great controlled burn in the southeast corner of the preserve. This area was especially important as it can only be burned with a southeast wind, so as not to blow smoke on Waukegan or Dundee Roads -- making this the most difficult part of the preserve to burn. This year we had just the right wind on just the right kind of day. Thanks to John McCabe, John Yapelli, Lisa Culp, Linda Masters, John McMartin, Stephen Packard and all who helped out.

SUMMER NEWS 2009

What Are All These Cages About?

Many people ask about the green, silver or black cages of metal or plastic that are visible here and there along the trail. First comment: please don't approach them. They're there to protect some rare plant, and it would damage that plant's ability to reproduce to have the ground around it trampled. Second comment: The cages are to protect certain plants from deer and voles. Cages look unnatural, but in the long run it should help the ecosystem to restore thriving populations of some of these badly depleted species. Then again, some animals quickly find their own uses for the cage material. The long-horned grasshopper (above) may believe that this plastic mesh fits in well with it camouflage pattern.

And this cross-eyed character (on the right) seems to find the metal cage a perfect spot to clean his antenna.

New Rare Plant Appears

We've kept our eyes open for Bicknell's geranium for years. Somme has the somewhat-less-rare Carolina geranium, which pops up from time to time. But the very rare Bicknell's—which is said to grow with it—hadn't showed. Both emerge "phoenix-like" from the ashes of a fire. Our frequent brush-pile burns give them ample opportunity; the invasive brush we cut in fall and winter needs to go somewhere, so we burn it to get it out of the way, and the circular burn scars can be seen here and there along the trails. Quite a few plants seem specially adapted to them (and to the areas where a large fallen tree or branch is consumed during a controlled burn).

Finally this year, from one of those brush pile burn scars emerged two plants of Bicknell's geranium. Judging from the look of that area, probably no fires had burned there for many decades, so these seeds had been waiting in the "seed bank" for a long time. We collected many of these seeds to spread to various parts of the oak woodlands, so this now-rare plant has a chance to become a regular there. The photo on the left by Lisa Culp shows this geranium's impressive seed throwing apparatus. When the seed is ripe the four dark catapults that look so dramatic here gradually dry out in a way that creates a spring-like power that shoots the seed many feet when the spring/catapult finally pops. Given the irregularity of blooming and seeding opportunities for this plant, it would probably take hundreds of years for its natural abilities to restore it throughout the grove. Our seed-gathering and re-distribution may speed that up.

Pale Spike Lobelia

Brenda Molano-Florez of the Illinois Natural History Survey is studying the pale spike lobelia (see photo by Lisa Culp) at Somme. This unusual plant comes in two forms. One form has only female flowers. The other has both male and female. The pure female plants seem to make most of the seed in most populations. But it provides no reward for pollinators (i.e. no nectar and no pollen). So without the "bi-sexual flowers" pollinators would quickly lose interest.

SPRING NEWS 2009

Passing Another Milestone

Cream false indigo is one of the classic species of the prairie and open savanna, along with prairie gentian, white prairie clover and prairie lily. We've had a few scattered individuals of each of these species for years, but never great numbers of them…or at least never until now.

In Spring 2009 there was at least an acre with cream false indigo every few feet in all directions. In this handsome photo by Glenn Hanson, one stem of shooting star is blooming in the crown of one bushy indigo plant. They look very happy together.

Breeding Birds 2009

This year's highlight was probably the orchard oriole bonanza. This species was never recorded at Somme in the decades prior to 2007. But a pair bred here in both that year and in 2008. Then this year at least three pair of these rare savanna orioles were active throughout June. They were a showy presence in all areas of the Inner Loop trail. Other breeding highlights included many baby woodcocks and bluebirds, good numbers of both species of cuckoos, a kingbird nest in a hawthorn by the Swale Pond, eastern towhees and a family of Virginia rails.

WINTER NEWS 2008

Watching And Waiting…

Lisa Culp was out for a walk. It was quiet, beautiful, peaceful. She paused to look at something else—and heard a noise in the thicket…

“Suddenly, there he was. Obviously eating something. With gusto! I froze, and he just kept eating. After a minute or two I (verrrrrrry slooooooowly) pulled my camera out from under my jacket, turned it on and even was able to set it for manual focus, because I can’t shoot through something like a thicket with autofocus. The whole time I assumed he would bolt when he saw or heard me. But lunch must have been awfully yummy, because he kept eating. Finally he moved away, and I followed him for a bit, but he disappeared in the same area where we saw the coyotes playing last week. This picture was taken in the inner loop, north and east of the Cottonwood pond.”

At Somme Prairie Grove (as at most preserves) the coyotes eat mostly meadow voles along with some rabbits and some venison from deer that are hit by automobiles. These beautiful animals are not a threat to people. They deserve protection.

Solstice Bonfire

Despite record cold and wind-chill, 55 people turned out for the annual solstice bonfire.

As the fire started, they all stood in an arcing line of comfort that balanced the 20-below wind chill with the roasting heat of the fire. Good riddance to last year's Brush.

FALL NEWS 2008

Thank You" Picnic For Volunteers

On Septhember 6^th we welcomed the fall season with a special Somme workday followed by a free "thank you" epicurean picnic prepared by chef Sarah Stegner of Northbrook's highly regarded Prairie Grass Cafe.

Thanks again to the people who've worked at Somme over the years as well as those new people who are now helping out.

The Gentians — autumn's climax

Each fall, the growing season wants to end up with a flourish of gentians. But, sadly, the finish is often more of a whimper — as the gentians are gradually eaten down to nothing by deer and voles. The quintessence of fall — gentians at Somme include five species: cream, stiff, bottle, fringed and prairie gentian. Of these, the rarest here are the fringed and prairie (or "downy") gentian.

Lisa Culp this year conducted our first major effort to protect the fringed beauties. She originally found and counted 67 plants this September, but quickly realized those numbers were dwindling because of the deer. So she built protective cages for 33 of the biggest plants — so at least some seed would survive. (This biennial species could increase dramatically if grazing pressure were reduced. But the plants die after flowering. If they're eaten before then, they die without reproducing — leading to local extinction if it happened too often.) During this wet year, 53 plants thrived gloriously, some having more than 40 blooms.

Then came the voles. When the seeds ripen, meadow voles will sometimes mow down a whole population. Inside cage after cage, Lisa started to find only vole leavings — piles of four to six-inch sections of stem, as the voles cut them to pull the flowers and seeds gradually down within reach.

So Lisa made 23 smaller vole-proof cages, that nested inside the larger mesh deer-proof cages. It's an odd sight, these gorgeous plants protected by two levels of security, but it could lead to enough seed to spread this species far and wide. Perhaps in future years may of them will end up in chance areas where the voracious deer and devilish voles leave them alone.

Breeding Bird Report

Summer 2008 added three species to our list of breeding birds of quality habitats. Two were savanna/shrubland species and one a species of open woods.

A pair of Orchard Orioles nested in the thickets south of the Swale Pond. This species feeds both in the woody vegetation and also in the nearby grassland. A pair of Baltimore Orioles also nested nearby making that area spectacularly orioly this summer.

Warbling Vireos nested in that same savanna/thickety area. In fact it also had kingbirds, thrashers, and humingbirds. Intense.

The open woodland breeder was the Yellow-throated Vireo. They spent most of their time in "Circle Grove" — the part of Vestal Grove along Waukegan Road. For a full list of breeding birds, check out Breeding Birds.

Summer News 2008

There's Always Something New

Photographer Carol Freeman has been coming to Somme for many years. Here's her recent photo of the first "buckeye" she's seen here after all this time. The buckeye migrates and wanders, so it might turn up most anywhere. We're happy to welcome it to Somme Prairie Grove.

Enjoy more photographs of the preserve at Carol's gallery.

Birds And Bugs

Here are some recent photos from amateur photographer Lisa Culp.

Spring 2008

Good Spring Burn

Not outstanding, as the wet areas didn't burn at all and the wooded areas burned only marginally. But all the grassy areas of the north half of the preserve had a fine burn and will be especially rich with savanna wildflowers, grasses, butterflies and other rich life this growing season. Tens of thousands of baby buckthorns and other invasives died a natural death.

View some photos from this workday taken by Marianne Kozlowski.

Thanks to all who helped: Bill Koenig and Joni Marin from the Forest Preserve District and volunteers Marianne Kozlowski, Miguel Vallejo, Rett Donnelley, Jeff Weisz, John McMartin, Stephen Packard, and Linda Masters.

Wild Sounds of Spring

Poetically enough, on the first day of spring—March 20^th this year—two sets of male performers started calling for mates in Somme Prairie Grove.

The woodcock males strut around in an open parade ground making a nasal buzzing sound. Then they spiral up into the heavens with a whir and come down to one of the most complex and passionate sounds in nature. It’s a crescendo composed of both voice and vibrating feathers, as they dive back to the earth in impressive swoops. And those swoops are all the more impressive since the woodcock is a fat relative of the sandpipers with a slender bill half as long as its body.

The other serenade comes from the chorus frogs. Just a couple of bold males were performing on the day of the equinox. But soon there will be so many they’ll be the loudest sound around.

Of course there was a “sign of spring” more than a month before. The earliest nesting bird in Chicago Wilderness is the great horned owl. At Somme the owl hen was first seen sitting on her eggs on February 10^th. Through snow and cold, day and night, she’s sat there incubating ever since. (The eggs wouldn’t survive very long if she left them.) The male feeds her all that time.

Winter 2007

Feathered Friends

FALL 2007

Coyote News

On December 8^th, the first snow-covered workday of the season, the coyotes left us quite an impressive history in the white. Lots of tracks. Repeatedly along the walk in we (along the Main Loop Trail) the coyotes had marked prominences at frequent intervals with yellow calling cards of pee. At one point the two short lines of pee made a neat “X”—as if the coyote wanted to sign his name but didn’t know how to spell it.

In many places there were large scuff marks, as if animals had tumbled in the snow with each other, or had snuffed through it looking for voles.

Further along—right in the middle of the trail – was the remains of a rabbit. Well, “remains” is a bit generous. There was a lot of hair, and, right in the middle of the trail, something that looked like a liver. Perfectly preserved on top of the snow. Maybe it was a liver and a gall bladder – I’m no judge of rabbit body parts. But it was striking that the coyote seemed to have been able to almost snip it out surgically. Perhaps it doesn’t have the best taste. ("Gall bladder—yeccccchhhhhh!") It being in the middle of the trail seemed like a message. Coyotes leave their scat at trail crossings often—said to be a statement of possessing that part of the kingdom.

Then where we cut our brush and build our bonfire—by the Swale Pond—another scuffle area with a lot of fresh, soft rabbit hair. I wonder if the coyotes have an especially easy time catching rabbits in the year’s first snow. We felt intimate with the coyotes – with so much of their drama on display. Bless them.

Fall Burn

In November, the Forest Preserve District staff burned parts of Vestal Grove (the open stand of bur and scarlet oak along Dundee Road). Notice that oak leaves continued to fall and blow around after the burn, so even the burned area has scattered brown leaves. You can recognize the burned areas because the dead leaves are fewer, and a certain amount of black char is visible on the ground. Occasional burning is essential to maintain a healthy and reproducing oak woodland.

2007 Breeding Birds

Most of these species are considered “likely breeders” because they were seen repeatedly during the breeding season in appropriate breeding habitat. Species with asterisks (*) are considered “confirmed breeders” because they were seen building nests or feeding young. Important note: no one searched for nests nor approached nests accidentally found. Doing so is likely to alert predators to nests. Bird conservationists recommend against approaching nests, especially of rare birds, unless absolutely necessary for an important and carefully designed study.

Mallard	Wood Pewee	Cedar Waxwing
Red-tailed Hawk*	Great Crested Flycatcher	Yellowthroat
Woodcock*	Kingbird	Scarlet Tanager
Mourning Dove	Blue Jay	Song Sparrow
Black-billed Cuckoo*	Tree Swallow*	Cardinal
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	House Wren*	Indigo Bunting
Great Horned Owl	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	Grackle
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	Robin	Cowbird
Flicker*	Eastern Bluebird*	Baltimore Oriole
Red-bellied Woodpecker	Brown Thrasher*	Goldfinch
Downy Woodpecker	Catbird

July – August 2007

Comment of the Month

"I was just stunned by the big prairie, all the button blazing star and rattlesnake master. And the waving cream, lime and mauve of the big bluestem. The delicacy of it. I cannot seem to find a way to draw this. I think that if I ever figure this out, then I will know that I am finally an artist. It is beyond me now."

— Cynthia Gehrie

Dragonfly Report

I saw many more odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) today (Aug. 11) than last time. So the poorer numbers last time must have been a combination of the heat and the dryness. With the rain just recently and more manageable temps today (in the low 80's), more were flying about...

In the first clearing: my very first wandering glider!!! It's hanging out right in that first patch of tall bluestem that you walk through—it's fairly large, a beautiful golden color, clear wings, with a little reddish orangish line down the top of the abdomen (I had to look this one up, when I got home because I'd never seen it before! I also saw (in the larger prairie section): 6 green darners, and 2 eastern amberwings. At the first pond: 2 ruby meadowhawks, 2 lyre tip spreadwing. At the second pond…nothing except a probable lance tipped darner—I saw it out of the corner of my eye as it flew up and into a tree which is typical of this type. I waited and waited and tried to spot it to positively ID it but couldn't. At the third pond: 9 ruby meadowhawks, a widow skimmer (and a healthy pile of coyote scat right in the middle of one of the deer beds!)

Another fun day in odonate land !

— Krista

Bird Nesting Highlights

This year Somme Prairie Grove had both yellow-billed and black-billed cuckoos nesting for the first time on record. That was clearly a response to one of their favorite foods, the 17-year cicadas. Hummingbirds were present all summer, although no nesting was apparent.

Actual nests noticed this year: yellow-shafted flicker, tree swallow, American woodcock, red-tailed hawk, house wren, brown thrasher, and red-winged blackbird.

The hawks seemed to have done a remarkable thing. A deer’s leg appeared wedged in the top of a dead tree near the hawks’ nest, and the young hawks sometimes sat near and picked at it.

Gypsy Moths

Their numbers continue to build. Lots of furry yellow egg masses visible, especially around the entrance sign at Dundee and Waukegan. But also many sick caterpillars visible. Normally this species builds its numbers until there are so many that they strip essentially all the tree leaves. Then disease crashes the population and the disease-ridden ecosystem becomes uninhabitable for them for years until they start to build up for another boom and bust. It will be interesting (and somewhat scary) to watch how that process develops as this European species spreads into this region for the first time.

June 2007

As they do every 17 years, the adult cicadas are having a huge short-term impact. The roar of all their combined “voices” drowns out even traffic noise at mid-day. Their egg laying “prunes” smaller branches, and some of the trees are nearly covered with brown leaves on hanging dead branches. These trees will be just fine next year. Much other wildlife is feasting on this abundant food, for example the cuckoos.

The clear highlights of this year’s breeding season are the cuckoos, drawn here by the 17-year cicadas. Both yellow-billed and black-billed cuckoos are often seen. Both species are uncommon breeders in this region on the 16 years between emergences. They are said to descend on whatever areas of the Midwest are thick with cicadas in any given year. Other notable species breeding here in 2007 include woodcock, brown thrasher, ruby-throated hummingbird, and eastern kingbird. For a complete list see Breeding Birds.

Spring 2007 Controlled Burn

A phoebe, two hermit thrushes, and six bluebirds spend hours near a bonfire and controlled “patch burns” after the April 7^th Saturday workday. The bluebirds just didn’t leave the immediate area of the fires for about three hours. Wherever it flamed up, they went right into the smoke, perched, and watched intently for insect life. They probably were more interested in the insects stirred up by the heat than in the heat itself. They were constantly pouncing on bugs near the flames, even though people were very close. Also in the fire area were many robins, a golden-crowned kinglet, a brown creeper, one downy and one red-bellied woodpecker. (And to think that so many people, who learned their ecology from Walt Disney, think of animals as being desperately afraid of fire.)

April 10^th was an excellent burn day. As is often true during the burns, we saw a lot of wildlife. This time: two woodcock nests (one with four eggs and one with two) and a red-bellied snake. Neither the nests nor the snake were hurt in any way. All their habitats were much improved.

Thanks to a great burn team: Bill Koenig and Jim Wagner from the Forest Preserve District and volunteers Don Parker, Michelle Uting, Miguel Vallejo, Justin Pepper, and Linda Masters.

The central and southeastern portions of the preserve were burned (and should therefore be especially rich in flowers and seeds this year). We look forward to another great year at Somme Prairie Grove

Christmas Bird Count 2006

This nationwide census of birds has been conducted annually for 107 years! Somme Prairie Grove is part of the Evanston-North Shore count circle, which did its count this year on December 30^th.

I was at Somme from about 11:00 to about 12:30 and saw:

• 1 great horned owl
• 5 slate-colored juncos
• 1 yellow-rumped warbler
• 1 Cooper’s hawk
• 4 mallards
• 9 American tree sparrows
• 12 mourning doves
• 1 red-bellied woodpecker

I was hoping to see the 6 eastern bluebirds that had been seen in the preserve many times in recent weeks. But they were nowhere to be found.

On January 2^nd I happened to be in the preserve around 8:30 in the morning. Two red-tailed hawks were circling and crying impressively. Where were they for the Christmas Bird Count? But most impressive was one large cottonwood (that grows out of the water in Cottonwood Pond). It was alive with noisy birds, enjoying the morning sun. I didn’t have binoculars this time, but it was easy to see:

• 2 white-breasted nuthatches
• 5 slate-colored juncos
• 5 eastern bluebirds
• 1 red-bellied woodpecker
• 2 downy woodpeckers
• 1 yellow-rumped warbler

And where were the red-tailed hawks, bluebirds, nuthatches, and downy woodpeckers on the day of the Official Count?! A single survey may miss many species, even though the whole preserve was carefully checked out. Birds move around. They also spend parts of the day resting and then aren’t easy to see.

And that’s why it’s different every time. Always fun. Always an adventure.

Happy New Year.

— Stephen Packard

Winter Solstice Bonfire 2006

On December 17^th, we celebrated the winter solstice with music, a bonfire, and friends at Somme Woods. (Please note, the pictures are from 2005.) This peaceful and sweet afternoon gave as chance to celebrate the darkest day of year (on the weekend before) and reflect on things past and yet to be. We had spiced cider, hot chocolate, and some other treats. This annual event was jointly sponsored by the Forest Preserve District, the Friends of the Forest Preserves, and the North Branch Restoration Project.

November 2006

On November 12^th, 84 football loving students from Ohio State University joined 18 regulars for a brush cutting bash in the southeast corner. Large parts of this beautiful area had filled up with brush during the burn “moratorium” of the 1990s. Recovery here has been slow, in part because the southeast winds that are preferred for burning here are the least common.

The 84 were part of a “Day to Make a Difference” organized by Ohio State and Northwestern before the game.

It was a lot of work to coordinate that much training and coaching. Many thanks to the day’s leaders Linda Masters, John and Jane Balaban, Kent and Jerry Fuller, Beth Sturgeon, Byron Tsang, Rett Donnelley, John McMartin, Bill Dooley and Marianne Koslowski.

October 2006

Stephen Packard writes: I keep meaning to find time to see if I can do something about the troubling construction on the north border. Northbrook officials had told me that the proposed developer wasn’t likely to get the necessary permits, so I’d thought I had some time. But suddenly the foundations are in. A lot of fill has also been brought in, and it seems to have covered some of the preserve—if I can read the boundary right. Silt is also flowing down onto the preserve. This is the sort of thing that we’d imagined our “Border Defense” advocate could help with (See “Who’s Who and Opportunities” under “Volunteer Roles” under “Volunteering”). But we haven’t found any people to work on that part yet.

We also need to be in touch with the owner/developer to see if there are any opportunities for us to make common cause. For example, it would be in both our interests for a light to be put in that would allow both the exit from the expressway and the cars from the businesses to turn north on Waukegan. Then the access road along the northeast side of the preserve could be closed—saving us from a lot of problems and possibly adding to the preserve.

August 2006 Feast for Volunteers

July 2006 Summer Interns

Summer interns made a big dent in the invasive trees near the beginning of the trail (at Dundee and Waukegan). They chain-sawed some large silver poplar and locust—both serious pests in a savanna or oak woodland. A burn scar to the south of the path shows where all the wood went. The smaller invasive trees (mostly buckthorn) will be cut by volunteer crews this fall and winter. Three small bur oaks were uncovered by the clearing; the dense brush would have killed them, as it has already killed some other bur oaks near by; these three will now flourish. Next spring, the ecosystem in this area starts a major recovery—in view of all who walk this path.

June 2006 Lightning Blast

Two twisted eight-foot-long chunks of raw, splintered wood near the Vestal Grove trail (south part of outer loop) are the result of a lightning strike on a scarlet oak about thirty feet to the north. The whole side of the large oak is split open. The power of nature!

Spring 2006 Controlled Burn

On April 6^th, Forest Preserve District staff and trained volunteers burned the north half of the preserve. Expect the prairie, savanna, and woodland wildflowers and grasses to look especially vibrant in the burned area this year.