Palos Restoration Project
  • Home
  • About
  • Schedule
  • Maps
  • Volunteer
  • Blog
  • Contact

Cranberry Slough June 24, Swallow Cliff June 25, Paddock June 28

6/28/2017

0 Comments

 
Cranberry Slough Saturday June 24

Half a mile out, cutting thistle heads and reed canary, basking in a lovely, cool summer morning. Gorgeous! Thanks to new volunteers Audrey, Ashleigh, and Katie, and to Omar and his three lovely children.

Swallow Cliff Sunday June 25

Before morning's end, we'd broken through the brush wall on the east edge of the spot we've worked this past few months. Looking good!

New volunteers Chris, Juan and Marissa, Jackie's return to lead the day, Xochi's able assistance, and a reliable group of Palos regulars all helped make this day. Thanks also to Sandy from Trail Watch who stopped by at the end of the day and took the picture, seen below, of remaining volunteers.

Paddock Wednesday June 28

We cut and dropped honeysuckle in the inner loop, finding enough in one location that we will return to burn it on a cooler day. After multiple weeks of garlic mustard it felt great to get bow saw in hand and start hacking again!

Thanks to Pat, on his first visit, to Brenda, Ty, and their FOTFP crew, and to our Wednesday regulars.

Citizen Science
Last Tuesday I observed Dave and Kathy Branigan doing macroinvertebrate sampling at Crooked Creek Woods. This is part of Riverwatch, monitoring stream water quality in our area.


Picture
Breaking through to the parking lot at Swallow Cliff South
Picture
Photo taken by Sandy from Trail Watch
Picture
Dave and Kathy mucking their way to the next collection point.
Picture
Some of the Paddcok crew, photo compliments of Rob Cushing
0 Comments

McMahon June 17, Black Partridge June 18, Paddock June 21

6/22/2017

0 Comments

 
In addition to three restoration workdays, we had the third of our nature walks with Palos Park Library, this one at Swallow Cliff Woods. Our thanks to Public Services Librarian Jessica Rock for putting these together; there will be a fall colors walk in our future, date TBD, hopefully others as well.

Saturday June 17, McMahon
Good news! White sweet clover, while still there, is not showing in the numbers of last year's marathon struggle.

Sunday June 18, Black Partridge Woods
More good news - in the hour I could stay, I did not encounter a single garlic mustard plant. Scarce is good.

Wednesday June 21, Paddock Woods
Still some lingering GM here; we also collected a bit of seed in the last hour.



0 Comments

Cap Sauers June 10, Hidden Pond June 11, Paddock June 17, 2017

6/15/2017

0 Comments

 
Summer weather arrived in earnest last week. That didn't stop our volunteers. Nothing seems to stop our volunteers, for which we are extremely grateful.

Walking the woods at Cap Sauers and Paddock, and the prairie at Hidden Pond, we saw a variety of flowers, the occasional insect, and numerous towering, striking white oaks. One thing in short supply, given the dry spell, was fungi.

0 Comments

McClaughrey Springs June 3, Cap Sauers Holding June 4, Paddock Woods June 7, 2017

6/6/2017

0 Comments

 
We've been blessed with some truly lovely days recently, lots of sun, mild temps, ideal time to be outdoors.

McClaughrey Springs June 3
Cap Sauers Holding June 4

Paddock Woods June 7

Diana had a large group from Shedd Aquarium help attack her abundance of garlic mustard at McClaughrey. For stewards on the North Branch and elsewhere who haven't seen much of it this year, a little secret: Diana got it all. Volunteers have relentlessly chased it for five or six weeks now.

It was a smaller group at Cap Sauers on Sunday, including first-time volunteers Danny and Jade. Three days later they were back for more picking, this time at Paddock, with 13 others. A terrific turnout, and despite the GM season winding down we found plenty of targets, carrying numerous bags out at the end of the day.

0 Comments

Spears Woods May 27, Swallow Cliff May 28, Paddock May 31, 2017

6/1/2017

0 Comments

 
Saturday May 27, Spears Woods
Sunday May 28, Swallow Cliff Woods
Wednesday May 31, Paddock Woods


All of the above were garlic mustard hunts, with the most abundant targets  found in a short stretch at Swallow Cliff. Not as much as McClaughrey, but we filled several bags in short order. Spears was great; just the infrequent cluster of GM, the bad guys few and far between.

Most of the spring ephemerals have lost their blooms so the early spring colors are somewhat muted. Green predominates now in the woodlands. The differing shades and textures, however, are remarkable.

Soon we'll run out of garlic mustard and start visiting the prairies. The prairie flowers will start a color fest lasting well into autumn. Joe is scheduling a couple days at McMahon which makes it likely we get reacquainted with last summer's nemesis, white sweet clover.

0 Comments

    Author

    I'm Jan Pietrzak with the Palos Restoration Project. This blog and website were created for your information and enjoyment.

    I hope you'll be encouraged and inspired to volunteer at any of the numerous forest preserves in our area.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly