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Paw Paw March 25, Swallow Cliff March 26, 2023

3/30/2023

Paw Paw Woods Saturday March 25
One of those days you're not sure what, if anything, is going to happen. We had a forecast of rain and some brisk winds on a late March morning. Snowflakes fell sporadically (big snow to the northwest) and humidity was around 90%, yet we soon had two good fires going. Darien started one, Jim D and Doug did the other. Much of the fuel was maples, which are notoriously slow to ignite, so our outcome was quite a pleasant one.

Our work area was near the tree thinning done earlier this year, and within a sector burned by FP crews the prior Tuesday. That made for an easier walk in, as well as good fire containment in the event of any embers escaping.

Swallow Cliff Woods Sunday March 26
Sunday was another weather issue, insufficient wind to burn. By our EPA permit we need a 5 mph minimum wind speed, and that wasn't forthcoming until almost 11:00 am. The first two hours we cut honeysuckle and made multiple feeder piles.

Once the wind reached the required minimum we loaded the fire as fast as we safely could, getting the bulk of the day's cuttings burned in little more than an hour. As is always the case, the group was terrific! It included first-time Palos volunteers Matt, Noah, Ashley, and Dan.

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Cap Sauers March 18, Black Partridge March 19, 2023

3/23/2023

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Cap Sauers Holding Saturday March 18
'Twas quite the bitter morning, with a brisk wind off Bergman prairie that cut through multiple layers of clothing. Once we reached the work site, the protected by trees and lying in a depression, we barely noticed that wind. In fact, could've used a bit more of it to stir our fires.

Three chainsaws and one brush-cutter made for a lot of brush clearing, with honeysuckle and buckthorn the usual culprits. We cut and dragged over a big stretch and the site looked so much better by the time volunteers departed.

Black Partridge Woods Sunday March 19
Back at the dairy farm site, we continued to cut honeysuckle - including some absurdly thick and twisted ones - along the edge of a grassy field bordering an old hedgerow. Our brush pile couldn't have had a better location; on an old burn scar with a NW wind blowing smoke away from the volunteers and into a degraded mess of brush. It burned big and hot throughout the morning, yet it was contained within an hour after we stopped loading it.

We cleared a nice piece of land moving toward Bluff Road. At one point two sandhill cranes flew overhead, very close to the ground which was a treat.

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Paddock Woods March 11, Hidden Pond March 12, 2023

3/15/2023

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Paddock Woods Saturday March 11
Back to the scene of our tree-thinning several weeks ago, we worked on brush, mostly, along the gully that cuts through the site. An abundance of honeysuckle taunted the first arrivals. One brush-cutter, one chainsaw, and some energetic hand tool use and hauling took care of that and kept the fire burning throughout the morning.

In another month we'll be talking about spring ephemerals, and Paddock is one of our star sites for spring viewing. Frequent rain will hopefully help make it a good spring.

Hidden Pond Woods Sunday March 12
We had another terrific group at Hidden Pond, including first-time Palos volunteers Ace and David. After a couple sessions clearing brush closer to the prairie, we focused on the western edge this time, near the multi-use trail. In our three hours we opened a big section to the trail job well done!

Kent Oliven found a reference mark originally placed by U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1874 and replaced in 1944. This mark, pictured below, was a short distance (~ 112 ft.) from a triangulation station, used by surveyors in conjunction with other stations throughout the country. There should be two more reference marks - one may have been paved over when La Grange Road was widened and the other should be fairly easy to locate.

Apparently, these markers (240,000 in the U.S. alone) are popular among orienteers, who will inform the agency and send a photo, as Kent did, when they locate one.

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Cranberry Slough March 4, McClaughrey Springs March 5, McMahon March 8, 2023

3/9/2023

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Cranberry Slough Saturday March 4
We were near 107th Street and Old Country Lane, at the southern ends of Cranberry, thinning trees in an area cleared of brush by contractors a couple years back.

Not just any trees, basswood, a wet, ornery, slow-to-ignite wood that compelled us to continually add dead wood to keep them going. Think of foie gras and force-feeding ducks - that's what it resembled. (Not spoken from personal experience, we must note.)

Eventually the fires took hold, though the slow start necessitated another visit from Joe and Margaret the following day. I believe the full volunteer group will return again too, hoping it's not right away so any downed trees can dry out a bit.

Sunday March 5, McClaughrey Springs Woods
Back to the side of Mill Creek, and back to one of our preferred fuels, honeysuckle, which is so much easier to ignite and burn off. One fire at creek level, another up above, as we cut and hauled throughout the morning, clearing a big swath by quitting time.

It's amazing what this area looks like today. I recall 10-15 years ago, when very little land on either side of Mill Creek was accessible due to thickness of the brush. When we first cleared on the west side it was a revelation, and it continues now that we've crossed to the east. Awesome!

Wednesday March 8, McMahon Woods & Fen
This marks, I believe, our last day of the season with Atrium Landscape. As in past years, the donation of their service has allowed an incredible amount of tree-thinning at multiple sites. Commercial sawyers have fewer constraints than volunteers, vastly expanding what we accomplish.

We had four burn piles by 1:00 pm, big ones that burned hot aided by a brisk wind. We'll be back in this area a lot - numerous downed trees blocked brushmower access to areas of brush which will be cleared the old-fashioned way, by chainsaw, bushcutter, and hand tools. Oh yeah!

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Pioneer Woods February 25, Swallow Cliff February 26, Paddock March 1, 2023

3/2/2023

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Pioneer Woods Saturday February 25
We had another excellent group for our tree thinning project at Pioneer Woods, including first-time Palos volunteer Mary from Flossmoor. We worked above Crooked Creek in a woodland where we've spent substantial time over the past decade or so.

I think eight or nines fires were going by 1:00 pm, might have been another started after that. Several were Joe's famous ditch fires, placed down in the bottom of the drainage/gully. A pair of advantages here - we're not burning directly over sensitive plant species, and we get to toss limbs down rather than drag them up.

In addition to our volunteers, we had a contingent of ~10 from Atrium Landscape. It's hard to exaggerate how much more gets done with the presence of these hard-working folks.

Swallow Cliff Woods Sunday February 26
Another great group on a morning that started out brisk, with the trail firm from an overnight freeze. It was a different story by 1:00 pm, when several generous hours of sun made our walk back to the parking lot a muddy slog. Upon arrival we were greeted by Canada geese on the slough to our immediate west, some of whom stuck around

We were joined by first-time Palos volunteer Cristian, as well as long-time friend of Palos Julie P (even a longer time friend to me, my significant other) and almost a dozen others. Two big honeysuckle fires (thanks, burn bosses Jim and Darien), one chainsaw, and lots of energetic bowsaw/lopper dragging happened throughout the morning.

Paddock Woods Wednesday March 1
We were a smaller group this time, with Woods to Wetlands sawyers Matt and Erin thinning trees in a quality area at Paddock. The rest of us hauled and burned, on another of these un-February-like days when the temperature can rise 20 degrees in the space of 2-3 hours. We'll have another Wednesday special next week, at McMahon Woods & Fen.

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Paw Paw March 25, Swallow Cliff March 26, 2023

Cap Sauers March 18, Black Partridge March 19, 2023

Paddock Woods March 11, Hidden Pond March 12, 2023

Cranberry Slough March 4, McClaughrey Springs March 5, McMahon March 8, 2023

Pioneer Woods February 25, Swallow Cliff February 26, Paddock March 1, 2023

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