Palos Restoration Project - Blog

McMahon Woods June 28, 2025

7/3/2025

McMahon Woods & Fen Saturday June 28
This was Day One of the white sweet clover season in Palos, a local tradition that goes back more than a decade. This plant is tough and prolific, requiring tenacity on the part of everyone involved in managing it. Once well-established it responds only to repeated, vigorous efforts, and when we first started working on it at McMahon it already was spread over a large area. Over the years we've pushed it back but much remains to be done.

On occasion we've spotted a handful of plants at Hidden Pond, usually right along the edge of the prairie. We pull them right immediately, and so far it's only been isolated plants. I hope it stays that way.

Cap Sauers June 21, Black Partridge June 22, 2025

6/26/2025

Cap Sauers Holding Saturday June 21
On one of the hottest days of the season, Margaret and volunteers ventured into Cap Sauers to snip some reed canary seed heads. They knocked off early, a concession to the heat, choosing to live to fight another day. Well done!

Nature Walk at Spears Woods, Saturday June 21
I expected a small turnout for the third of our spring walks with Jessica Rock and Palos Park Library and was tremendously gratified to see a group of 12 show up. Better still, six of them were either descended from or married to descendants of John Spear, the 19th Century farmer who gave Spears Woods its name.

We had some great conversations, shared information, and will try to assist them in their search for more information on their ancestor. Very cool to meet these fine folks!

We also managed a shade over two miles of walking at a very pedestrian pace, with frequent stops and the cooling effect of a stiff breeze.

Black Partridge Woods Sunday June 22
This was a small turnout - John, myself, and volunteer Jose. We went in search of weeds, whacking a few teasel on the south side of Bluff Road before escaping to the more shaded parts of the nature preserve. Lots of water and several breaks kept us from over-exerting ourselves and the absence of any concentration of weeds made our morning an easy one..

Paddock Woods June 14, 2025

6/19/2025

Paddock Woods Saturday June 14
Busy elsewhere so I thank Doug Bosco once again for his FB post. It was another garlic mustard day at Paddock, maybe the last one of the year? I haven't picked for a couple weeks now and imagine the seed must be ripe and easily scattered.

On days like this you position your bag beneath the target plant before rustling it, to keep seed from dropping to the ground. Walking along a wetland at Hidden Pond I inadvertently brushed against a line of reed canary grasses growing at trail's edge, triggering a mini-deluge of seed dropping to the ground. Ouch!

McMahon Woods June 7 2025

6/12/2025

McMahon Woods & Fen Saturday June 7
This is another date your correspondent was elsewhere - this summer is shaping up to be a trace chaotic. As always I am grateful to Doug Bosco for his FB post and photos. This was another reed canary clipping day, with several herbiciders toting backpack sprayers.

In his post Doug mentioned the "endless reed canary grass tussle". This week we're going to a different site - does that mean they eliminated it from McMahon? One can hope...

McMahon Woods May 31, 2025

6/5/2025

McMahon Woods & Fen Saturday May 31
Missed this one due to another commitment and will rely on Doug Bosco's FB account. Reed canary grass (RCG) was the target of our volunteers, who clipped the flowers before Joe hit the leaves with herbicide. Reed canary is insidious and often requires multiple assaults to remove it.

Walking Hidden Pond
Tomorrow, June 6, would be Roger Keller's 89th birthday, and November brings the tenth anniversary of his death. Tuesday I stopped at Hidden Pond and walked the trail for a spell, then waded into the prairie near Christina Drive and Kean, our meeting place for so many workdays. Visiting this place always brings back memories.

For newcomers to this space, Roger was an integral part of Palos Restoration Project from its inception. Volunteer for 25 years, steward at Hidden Pond since 1992, regional steward for our group until 2013, writer, speaker, advocate and organizer.

His role as mentor, to aspiring stewards, to new volunteers, to young people with a passion for nature and a thirst for knowledge, may be the greatest of his legacies.

Many of the pictures seen below are from that afternoon at Hidden Pond.

Cap Sauers May 24, Swallow Cliff May 25, 2025

5/29/2025

Cap Sauers Holding, Saturday May 24
Our small group of volunteers, including Oliver and Josh from Tinley Resource Management, pulled garlic mustard (GM) from an area Margaret's been working, not far from Ford Road near an old CCC bridge. The population was not huge, a good sign, no doubt helped by a school group that worked there a couple weeks earlier with her.

It's a pretty spot with lots of natives, including a decent patch of wild hyacinth, many still hanging onto their blooms. Very nice!

Swallow Cliff South, Sunday May 25
We had another small group of GM pullers, including first-time Palos volunteer Jaylen who came all the way from Monee, and Jose from Humboldt Park. Maddie Peacher, This on a day when raindrops were still falling at 8:00 am and more rain was predicted through 10 am or so. That didn't come, thank you weather deities!

This may be our last Sunday at Swallow Cliff until August, when we plan to do a morning of woodland seed collection, followed by another seed day on the prairie in September.

Paddock Woods May 17, Hidden Pond May 18 2025

5/22/2025

Paddock Woods Saturday May 17
We had small group of garlic mustard (GM) on our second consecutive Saturday at Paddock. I'm told the target population is still robust and imagine the compost pile continues to grow.

Nature Walk Black Partridge Woods Saturday May 17
Our walk with Palos Park Library director Jessica Rock was our second trip to Black Partridge since we began back in April 2018. We saw a variety of native plants, just a few GMs, and (distressingly) one Dame's rocket along the creek. The invasive plants were removed and location noted.

Hidden Pond Woods Sunday May 18
Another small group of GM hunters, including long-time volunteer Neal, who recently graduated from SIU, Jose who debuted in Palos a week ago, and two members of FPCC's Tinley RM crew, Tim and Zach. With that group we made pretty quick work of the one sizeable GM population, in the south woods, and found a sprinkling along the trail as well.

Paddock May 10, Black Partridge May 11, 2025

5/15/2025

Paddock Woods, Saturday May 10
Saturday was a Chicago River day, one of over 75 in our area sponsored by Friends of the Chicago River. Most of the days are focused on trash pickup, while volunteer efforts at Paddock were directed at the far-too-impressive garlic mustard population.
It was a full house, with all of the available slots filled. They certainly pulled a lot of garlic mustard that morning , while graciously leaving some behind for our upcoming restoration day this Saturday, May 17.

Black Partridge Woods Sunday May 11
Mothers Day at Black Partridge was another hunt for garlic mustard, though any spring walk there is first and foremost a native plant walk. We saw a variety of spring wildflowers in Bloom, and we're also cheered by all the plants filling in the area where we thinned trees two winters back. As Steward John Marlin put it, it's not just new native plants, but a great diversity of them.
We were joined by first time Palos volunteers Jose and Angel and greatly appreciate their help. I also offer congratulations to Angel on his graduation later this week.

McClaughrey Springs, Cap Sauers, & Hidden Pond May 3, 2025

5/8/2025

McClaughrey Springs
This was our public restoration day last Saturday. Diana did garlic mustard picking, then took her group on a plant hike (a common thought as you shall see). The volunteer group included several from SouthWest InterFaith Team, who periodically come and help at McClaughrey.

Cap Sauers
Margaret hosted about a dozen student from Solorio Academy on the SW Side, helped by Maddie Peacher, our Stewardship Program Coordinator from FPCC. The Solorio group is always good; I've worked with them and their teacher, Greta Kringle, on a couple past dates. They too did a mix of garlic mustard picking and hiking.

Hidden Pond
We had 14 students from Mansueto High School, also on the SW Side, at Hidden Pond for - you guessed it - garlic mustard and hiking. We scoured the woods north of the parking lot to the fringe of the prairie. The students were ably led by teacher Tanner Dier and FPCC workday leader Nick Conde, and were a delightful mix of young people, curious and eager to learn.

We benefit so much from organized groups that volunteer in the preserves, whether corporate adult groups or schools, scout troops, and others. We learn from them and in turn encourage advocacy for natural places in the community.

Spears Woods April 26, Swallow Cliff April 27, 2025

5/1/2025

Spears Woods Saturday April 26
This was an impressive struggle with multi-flora rose, which staked out a large space on the edge of the wetland. Two brushcutters and two chainsaws ran throughout the morning, and those hauling cut brush to the fire relished (not really) the chance to drag the notoriously prickly vines.

At break time, past 11:00, there still were large clumps of rose standing. With diligence and lots of energy the group managed to get it all cut and burned by quitting time, all the way to the water's edge. Well-done, and maybe the most multiflora rose I've seen burned in a single session.

Swallow Cliff Woods South Sunday April 27
We were quite the small group Sunday morning and kept our efforts on scale with our numbers, tackling a small scattering of honeysuckle in the south woods. Shades of Saturday, we also found a couple clusters of the invasive rose which found their way to the fire.

Thank you Carolyn and Kathy for your efforts, and thanks to first-time Palos volunteer Mustafa from Oak Lawn for the welcome assistance. We had a good day and, in the absence of power tools, were able to enjoy the serenade of the chorus frogs.