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Willow Springs August 26, Swallow Cliff August 27, 2023

8/31/2023

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Willow Springs Woods Saturday August 26
By Saturday the heat wave had moved on, making both our weekend outings much more enjoyable. This was another weed day, with some volunteers carrying backpack sprayers and others hand-pulling sweet clover or clipping flowers from invasives like thistle and teasel.


Shout-out to new volunteer Thomas, who first joined us a week ago at Cap Sauers and came back last week at Willow Springs. Much appreciated.

Swallow Cliff Woods South, Sunday August 27
Our first seed collecting day of the season, Sunday was delightfully cool. We were mostly confined to woodland grasses, bottlebrush, brome, and a bit of rye being the prime species that were ready. Numerous others, not ripe yet, will be targeted on another day.

We were joined by first time Palos volunteer Holli, as well as FPCC's Kris DaPra, who graciously consented to add her expertise (and knowledge of Swallow Cliff) to our endeavor. One piece of good news: Kris, who worked on a Forest Preserves restoration crew at Swallow Cliff some 25 years ago, views the current diversity of plants in the managed area as outstanding.

Another piece of good news: in our recent brush-clearing area, started last September, we found an abundance of native plants moving in where honeysuckle once dominated. This included some interesting wetland plants as well as more common succession plants, which should limit invasive growth before yielding to other native species.
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Cap Sauers August 19, Black Partridge August 20, 2023

8/24/2023

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Cap Sauers Holding Saturday August 19
Saturday was a weed day, with white sweet clover and thistles the primary targets. We're getting near the end of weed season, perhaps one or two more weekends before we switch to brush-cutting. We'll also have seed collecting days coming up, including this Sunday August 27 at Swallow Cliff and Sunday September 9 at Hidden Pond.

The account and photo below came from Doug Bosco's FB post; your correspondent was sweltering in the Arkansas heat last weekend, and made it back home in time for more sweltering, Illinois style.
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​Black Partridge Woods Sunday August 20
John Marlin hosted a weed assault on Sunday, clipping two bags of teasel heads from the south (dairy farm) side  of Bluff Road at Black Partridge Woods. It was a hot day, by his account, and John seemed pleased with the work that was accomplished. 
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McMahon August 12, McClaughrey Springs August 13, 2023

8/17/2023

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McMahon Woods & Fen Saturday August 12
Missed both these dates and will rely on others accounts, including Doug Bosco's FB post, for this report. Some volunteers carried herbicide sprayers, while others pulled white sweet clover (is there still some left out there?) on the prairie at McMahon. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and may mark our last foray to the prairie for sweet clover removal.

My personal McMahon visit came one day earlier, about 10:00 pm, with two other volunteers from the Dark Sky Monitor project. After we took readings with our sky quality meters, we laid on our backs on the concrete runway and spent a short while admiring the stars overhead and clouds swirling beneath them. Quite a satisfying way to wrap up an evening.

McClaughrey Springs Woods Sunday August 13
Our small group of volunteers was disrupted by a yellow jacket assault on Doug Bosco - hope you're over the swelling by now, Doug. It is their time and they are exceedingly aggressive if you get near the nest. After the incident, which was planned for cutting and stacking woody invasives for burning in autumn, Diana called the day short.

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Ashburn Prairie August 5, 2023

8/10/2023

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Ashburn Prairie Saturday August 5
Ashburn Prairie is a small restored remnant prairie in Marquette Park, part of Chicago Park District. From nearby Ashburn, it was threatened with destruction, and rescued through the efforts of Joe Neumann working with Chicago Park District. In winter 1993 large chunks of earth were dug up and relocated here at Marquette Park, between the lagoon and Kedzie Avenue.

This was my first visit to Ashburn Prairie, and it's a lovely place. The Park District installed a rope walkway which leads to the prairie, which presumably discourages cyclists and trampling of the native plants within.

​Joe typically holds a workday here once a year, and Saturday's work included removing random buckthorn as well as willows growing along the bank of the lagoon. Though the prairie has a golf course close to it, and soccer fields as well, it feels more like its own, secluded place. Very nice!
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McMahon Woods July 29, Sagawau July 30, 2023

8/3/2023

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McMahon Woods & Fen Saturday July 29
We returned once again to McMahon prairie and its infestation of white sweet clover. Rain the previous day was our good friend, softening the ground enough that we could uproot many of the plants. Clippers were only occasionally necessary for the bigger stems. We were joined by first-time Palos volunteer Billy and appreciate his help.

The prairie was a delight, teeming with monarda, purple and gray-headed coneflowers, and an assortment of other native blooms. We even spotted an occasional Ohio spiderwort, still popping flowers two months after their first appearance.

Pollinators were feasting throughout the morning. At times one could see multiple species of bees alighting on a single cluster of monarda, with butterflies not far behind. Truly inspiring, all the reason we need to come out and remove invasive plants!

Chainsaw Bob from Salt Creek/Sundown cut a few trees near the parking lot, and at day's end one got hung up, leading to the creation of his new alter-ego, Polesaw Bob. See picture below.

Sagawau Environmental Learning Center Sunday July 30
With nothing scheduled at any of our PRP sites  I made my way to Sagawau, where I was able to - guess what - pull more white sweet clover. It was not as thick here as at McMahon, testament to repeated efforts by volunteers and staff in recent weeks. The Sagawau prairie has its own mix of natives flowering, including some decent-looking, though stunted, prairie blazing star.
 At least these had relatively full spikes of flowers. See them below.

In my weekly email I included this link to a story about early prairie restoration in the Forest Preserves of Cook County.
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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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