Thoughts on Nature
Exploring Chicago, the suburbs and the world: Animals, plants -- indoors and out -- anything from fun and inspirational stories to controversies about the natural world -- please be respectful of others
Woodcocks peent, peent, peent sounding like road runners
Human ears wait for the whirring feathers, then eyes squint and gaze into the sky as the shorebird circles higher and higher
Chirpity chirpy chirpy
The woodcock returns to the spot where he started
This evening, however, woodcocks are not sure about boundaries
After a few peents,
Two woodcocks fly into the sky in tandem
Wings noisy, gutteral syrinx noises
It is a fight to the top of the sky
They return, still in fight mode.
Then, all is quiet.
Who won?
It is too dark to see.
—Sheryl DeVore, Author
We’ve been lucky to see long-eared owls in northern Illinois this winter—now they’re heading north for breeding in the boreal forests and other areas. Very rarely, a pair will remain here to nest.
Here’s a story I wrote for TribLocal about chorus frogs. Are there any frogs singing in your neck of the woods?
Read the story here
Let me know what you think. The photo below shows devastation at Illinois Beach State Park from last summer’s storm. Park is still not open to public.
fairy-wren: costa’s hummingbird (photo by angella parker)
Oh my gosh — how gorgeous!
(via ima-wildflower)
Find out more about this edible weed here. 
As the snow, what little we had this year, melts, sandhill cranes are returning to their nesting grounds. This photo was posted on triblocal.com.
In regards to a recent story on the Chicago Tribune about Cooper’s hawks terrorizing ducks at a zoo, here’s some extra information: Cooper’s hawk was once endangered in the State of Illinois. When DDT was banned, its numbers began to rise and now it can be seen in neighborhoods where there are bird feeders and songbirds at the feeders. The Cooper’s hawk is much more apt to take a small songbird than a full grown duck. It is a natural part of the avifauna of Illinois.
