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McMahon Woods & Fen July 25, 2020

7/30/2020

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Saturday July 25, McMahon Woods & Fen
Back to McMahon for another round of white sweet clover, this time sans the storm clouds that interrupted us two weeks ago. The sun shone bright on the prairie and the pollinators were abundant, as was the target plant.

We encountered a distressingly large number of smaller plants, which I doubt were detectable two weeks earlier. That's one curse of sweet clover; it  grows for an extended period (flowers from July-September), so one assault is seldom sufficient. Yes, the repeated efforts seem to give a reduction in the population, but it does take that methodical work to get there.

Good to see John Marlin and Jim Tebo for the first time since March, to have Audra back, to have nearly a dozen volunteers come together on a warm July morning. Much appreciated!

The payoff is being surrounded by all these lovely native plants. Joe Pye weed and the sunflowers are blooming, and the prairie blazing stars are also kicking in. This purple beauty is yet another of my favorites, the plant that, according to Illinois Wildflowers, "resembles a fairy wand." How can one go wrong with that?

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Cap Sauers July 18, 2020

7/22/2020

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Cap Sauers Saturday July 18,
Had another engagement, thanking Doug Bosco, again, for his photos of the day. White sweet clover is still abundant in many places, and a small crew of die-hards braved the heat on this Saturday morning to go after some of it.

We never get it all but we don't expect to; the goal is to reduce future populations by getting rid of most of the flowers before they go to seed. We're making progress in some places, but it's like whack-a-mole. Hit it here, it pops up over there. Dang!

Two of the pictures below are of a swan family at Lake Katherine in Palos Heights. I've been watching them since mid-May, watching the babies (cygnets) get bigger. Last year's brood didn't survive, this year they're hanging on so far. It'll be maybe three months before they fly and I'll be checking in from time to time hoping to see the flying lessons. Here's a link to information on baby swans and their maturation.


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McMahon Woods, July 11, 2020

7/15/2020

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McMahon Woods & Fen, Saturday July 11
If it's July, there's white sweet clover on the prairie. We gathered at McMahon to pull a bit, meeting at Morill Meadow parking lot. Another sunny warm day, plenty of targets (though blessedly not as many as previous years), lots of summer blooms to admire, including Monarda (wild bergamot), yellow and purple coneflowers, rosinweed, and more.

Pollinators were feasting, with bees all over the Monarda in particular. Jean also found a couple interesting larvae and caterpillars, pictured below. Anyone with bug ID skills, please take a look.

Our luck held 'til almost 11:30, when Doug spotted storm clouds to our west. They moved in pretty quickly, chasing us to the parking lot and almost catching us.  Good eye Doug!!


Hidden Pond
Tuesday I joined Mary Busch at Hidden Pond, where she planned on tackling the wild parsnip that grows along Kean Avenue. We only found a couple viable plants - thanks are in order to the Conservation Corps or another mystery herbicider, as we saw evidence of spraying in several locations.

Switching gears, we went after - what else? - white sweet clover, clearing the stretch from Christina south to Woodland Drive, though much of that was done by volunteers last time out June 28.

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Palos Play Dates July 4, 2020: Ashburn Prairie

7/9/2020

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Saturday July 4, Ashburn Prairie, Marquette Park
Joe went off the reservation on this day, going to Ashburn Prairie in Marquette Park, Chicago. This is a rescue/restoration Joe did many years ago, moving plugs of plants from a prairie in the Ashburn neighborhood that was being 'developed' (that's a word that sometimes can be a synonym for "destroyed") to a site in Marquette Park.

Volunteers cut gray dogwood and hawthorn that were encroaching on the prairie, on yet another in a succession of warm sunny days. Summer on the prairie is often a challenge due to the lack of shade, yet, much of the work that needs to be done in the summer is right there on those prairies.

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Cap Sauers June 27, Hidden Pond June 28, 2020

7/2/2020

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Cap Sauers Moraines Saturday June 27
First time out at Cap since the pandemic began and it's as lush and lovely as I remembered it. Our major target on this day was reed canary grass. We worked our way south and east along the green trail, snipping the seed heads along the way.

It's a shame we're not brush-cutting at this juncture. The multi-flora rose is in full bloom and screams its presence; you make a mental note to come and get it at a later date.

Hidden Pond Sunday June 28
More reed canary along Kean Avenue at Hidden Pond, but our major target was sweet clover, both white (Mellilotus alba) and yellow (M. officinale). They were mostly found near the sidewalk, while the reed canary was distributed more widely. Cyndi's collapsible yard waste containers were a boon, allowing us to easily deposit the 'bad guys' while limiting the dropping of seeds.

It was quite the warm and sunny morning and two hours was a good duration.  We pulled a lot of weeds out in that time and felt we accomplished some good.
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    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.

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