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Paddock Woods November 23, Swallow Cliff Woods South November 24, 2019

11/27/2019

Paddock Woods Saturday November 23
We had an active group at Paddock to cut brush near the site of our last couple sessions there. A true treat to have our long-time friend Doug and daughter Kanohi again!

With a pair of brushcutters and a pair of chainsaws we got a lot of cutting and burning done. At some point Margaret stumbled across an old deer antler that I suspect was one we found, and left, a short distance away more than two years ago. Much nibbling and weathering was evident, see pictures below. Great job by all present!

Swallow Cliff Woods South Sunday November 24
We had another great group Sunday, with 16 volunteers and three chainsaws, as well as first-time Palos volunteers Cai, Iman, Nouha and Jajuan.

In the middle of our work site sat a terrible tangle of honeysuckle, multi-flora rose, buckthorn, and others. Numerous fallen trees added to the difficulty in navigating this area. Our volunteer team ably cleared a big chunk of ground through the center of this mess. Sunlight will now reach the ground in places where it's been more a rumor than a reality.

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Cap Sauers November 16, Black Partridge November 17, 2019

11/20/2019

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Cap Sauers Moraines Saturday November 16
This weekend we worked in two of the four Illinois Nature Preserves in our region (the others are Cranberry Slough and Paw Paw Woods).These are sites that have been classified as "high quality natural areas and habitats of endangered and threatened species" in need of protection. The Illinois Nature Preserves Commission then promotes the preservation of these significant lands and provides leadership in their stewardship, management and protection.

Cap Sauers is the largest of the preserves we manage in the Palos region, large enough to have two stewards. The site we worked Saturday is part of the area managed by Margaret Tobin - Bob Arentz is our other steward at Cap Sauers and works a bit to the east and north. Our main target was honeysuckle, and we found and cut an abundance of it, burning two brush piles as we worked. A terrific effort and a good time! We were joined by first-time Palos volunteers Laura and Madison (and Laura was back the next day at Black Partridge).

Black Partridge Woods Sunday November 17
In contrast to Cap Sauers, Black Partridge and Paw Paw Woods are two of our smallest sites. John Marlin, one of the original members of Palos Restoration Project, has been our steward at Black Partridge for 27 years.

During that time he's overseen the removal of all significant patches of invasive brush on the north side of Bluff Road, in the nature preserve sector. So Sunday we crossed to the south side and cut honeysuckle, including some sizable ones. Countless targets here so there's no concern about running out of work in the foreseeable future.

Nature Walk With a Librarian, Swallow Cliff Thursday November 21
Last night's forecast made today look like a washout but the worst of the rain tracked south and east so we were greeted with little more than a mist by 10:00 a.m. We walked from the Swallow Cliff stairs to the south woods, then around the loop trail and back.

The colors of autumn, the earthy reds and browns, were stunning. With most of the leaves having dropped you see the contours of the land much better than during the growing season. The squirrels, busy foraging for food, were readily apparent. This was our last walk of 2019 with Palos Park Public Library; we'll start up again next April.

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Pioneer Woods November 9, Hidden Pond November 10, 2019

11/14/2019

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Pioneer Woods Saturday November 9
Back to Tuma Lake with a huge group, actually multiple groups with multiple foci. Boy Scouts from Troop 216 of LaGrange Highlands did an Eagle project with steward Joe Neumann, installing erosion control barriers in a ravine that runs down to Tuma Lake. Congrats to Scout Brandon for his work on this important project which involved upwards of 50 Scouts and family members. Troop 216 is a large, very active, capably led group.

In addition to this activity we hosted a group of 18 from Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum's TEENS program, who cut and burned honeysuckle nearby. Many thanks to our FPCC stewardship aide, Cyndi Duda, for her leadership of this endeavor. Our usual corps of regular volunteers provided an able assist in both efforts.

Hidden Pond Woods Sunday November 10
Save a frog, hack a bucky: while the prairie is the focal point of much of our work at Hidden Pond, this time we were at the pond that gives the preserve its name. Cyndi Duda, scouting the site, found a number of buckthorns growing around the edge of the pond. Since buckthorn secretes a chemical that impairs amphibian development, she wanted to get rid of the invaders.

As we did! To avoid having multiple fires in a very public area, we dragged cut brush all the way around the pond, quite a long haul. Thanks to Dennis Kankowske for bringing his chainsaw south of I-55, to three of our Palos stewards (Bob, Diana, and Margaret), first-time Palos volunteer Kevin, second-timers Walter and Logan, to Jei, Ahmad, Mira, Gary, Kathy and the tireless Laura.

With any luck our efforts will result in more chirps, ribets, and trills come spring.

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Pioneer November 2, McClaughrey Springs & Cap Sauers November 3, 2019

11/4/2019

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Pioneer Woods Saturday November 2
Tuma Lake, re-opened recently, glistened below as we cleared brush along a ravine up above. Dragging brush up the ravine slope keeps us strong; watching the slope open up and the honeysuckle go to smoke makes us happy. We had a good group and cleared one side of the ravine almost end-to-end. This Saturday Joe plans to return and cut some more.

McClaughrey Springs Woods Sunday November 3
Sunday morning started out chilly, warming considerably as we hacked away at the honeysuckle just a stone's throw from Mill Creek. Some pretty substantial honeysuckle in there too; thanks to Dennis Kankowske for venturing south of I-55 with his chainsaw, a huge help in dealing with the larger miscreants.

We had a great mix of students and regular volunteers. We also had 50% humidity which meant fires that lit up readily, a far cry from one week earlier when wet fuel and high humidity made burning a true challenge.

Cap Sauers Holding Sunday November 3
We kept our momentum going into Sunday afternoon; maybe that's because we had several volunteers who did both sessions, thank you Ahmad, Mira, Kathy and Cyndi. We finished burning some brush left over from previous dates, cut some more, then walked down the trail to a buckthorn-y (is that even a word?) frog pond where Bob plans to cut and burn in December. Save a frog, kill a buckthorn?

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Paddock Woods November 23, Swallow Cliff Woods South November 24, 2019

Cap Sauers November 16, Black Partridge November 17, 2019

Pioneer Woods November 9, Hidden Pond November 10, 2019

Pioneer November 2, McClaughrey Springs & Cap Sauers November 3, 2019

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