Blog Posts - Palos Restoration Project

McMahon Woods July 1, 2023

7/6/2023

McMahon Woods & Fen Saturday July 1
We met at Morrill Meadow on a warm, damp morning, and walked through a rather tough landscape, with vines, fallen trees, and the occasional throny shrub, along Crooked Creek north of 107th Street. We were a small group, maybe six volunteers, along with four who stayed by the model airplane field to spray weeds.

Our targets were Canada thistle, which was beheaded, and later, when we ran out of thistle in that immediate area, a tall yellow mustard which we uprooted. I had to duck out 30 minutes early due to another commitment, but the traipse back to the lot made me feel I'd put in a full morning's work just the same. The work area has potential, but an abundance of opportunistic invasives stand in the way of realizing that potential.

June 29th, 2023

6/29/2023

McMahon Woods & Fen Saturday June 24
This was our sole restoration day of the weekend, and it took place under a warm, yet not intolerable sun. Or maybe the break we took under the mulberry tree helped - caution, if you wear tan khakis and sit beneath a mulberry, have the stain remover on hand at home.

Some volunteers clipped the flowers from Canada thistle near 107th Street, some sprrayed weeds in the main prairie farther south, and a couple (Margaret and Carolyn) did both. We collected an impressive haul of booty, several bags full, from a relatively small group.

Many of the Canada thistle plants looked stunted, at least in my opinion. However, they still produced flowers, and in a few instances had already gone to seed. So it was time well spent.

First Kayak Outing of the Season
Last Friday I hauled the little blue boat to Tampier Lake, my go-to spot for solo paddling. It was a trifle breezy, enough for the boat to turn quickly whenever I took the paddle out of the water. Lake level seemed low, and there were more aquatic plants reaching the surface, in the middle of the lake, than I recall in past years.

Cap Sauers June 17, Swallow Cliff June 17, Black Partridge June 18, 2023

6/22/2023

Cap Sauers Holding Saturday June 17
Saturday morning efforts centered on cutting the heads off reed canary grass, a very prolific invader in our preserves. We had a willing group, including first-time Palos volunteer Joe.

In addition to reed canary, thistle was on our watch list. I wasn't able to stay due to the Swallow Cliff walk (below), but was told by other volunteers that neither invasive was found in large numbers, allowing them to cover a large expanse in the three hour session. That's always good news!

Swallow Cliff Woods Nature Walk, Saturday June 17
Thank you Jessica Rock and patrons of Palos Park Library for another enjoyable time. Thanks also to the walkers for indulging me on a detour looking for fire pink that it seemed we weren't going to find. Until we finally did, (breathes sigh of relief).

The next day, at Black Partridge Woods, we stumbled across more fire pink in bloom than I'd ever seen before. Steward John Marlin deserves the credit; he's gone out and collected seed repeatedly, each time sprinkling it in a wider arc, to get a larger patch going. It's working, quite well in fact.

We'll resume nature walks with the library in September, after a short summer break. Looking forward to them already.

Black Partridge Woods Sunday June 18
In addition to the fire pink mentioned above, we saw a variety of other good plants, including purple milkweed, thimbleweed, and wafer ash, the latter one I don't see in other local preserves. Eventually, with the help of first-time Palos volunteer Rafal, we located a considerable number of fading garlic mustard plants to bag, making our morning a hybrid of plant tour and invasive removal.

Black Partridge is always a treat during the growing season, and this day was no exception.

Willow Springs Woods June 10, 2023

6/15/2023

Willow Springs Woods Saturday June 10
Our correspondent was unable to attend this one (on assignment elsewhere) so the account, and one picture below, are taken from volunteer Doug Bosco's FB post.

The main targets of the day were the insidious reed canary grass and equally insidious non-native thistles, and their fate was an appropriate, if somewhat medieval, one; beheading. Doug's caption on his post, "Off with their HEADS", only hints at the fervor which volunteers muster up on these hunts.

Unlike those medieval tyrants, we don't leave the severed heads on a pike as a caution to future miscreants. Instead they are either composted on-site or bagged for later disposal elsewhere.

Paddock Woods June 3, McClaughrey Springs June 4, 2023

6/8/2023

Paddock Woods Saturday June 3
Back at Paddock for the third time this spring, we continued our foray into the big open woodland lying inside the Yellow Trail loop. It SEEMS that each time we come we push our way farther north and west, though the process is an arduous one.

Along the trail we ran into Bruce and his Trailblazers walk participants, on a hike that took them from Forty Acres Woods, through three adjacent preserves before looping back to their starting point. Nice hiking, lords and ladies!

McClaughrey Springs Woods Sunday June 4
More a Dame's rocket (DM) party than garlic mustard (GM) this time around, with the GM fading fast while DR still held numerous flowers, making it easier to locate, even from a distance. First-time Palos volunteer Sean joined us, along with Marc, Jessica, Jesse, Joan and Jennifer, all Palos first-timers just a week ago.

We initially split into two groups, letting us tackle two infestations simultaneously. After adding substantial loads of weed to compost heaps, we took a break, then descended as a group on one final target area. Bottom line: lots of Dame's rocket out there, not as much as there was upon arrival. Another excellent volunteer effort!

Paddock Woods May 27, Swallow Cliff South May 28, 2023

5/31/2023

Paddock Woods Saturday May 27
On the first day of the holiday weekend, our smallish group returned to the same area where we picked garlic mustard three weeks prior. We found a considerable amount still growing, prompting several trips to the compost pile.

Most of the spring ephemerals have faded, and the next round of herbaceous woodland plants is taking hold. Carolyn found a nice population of white baneberry on a slope, always a fun plant to see.

Swallow Cliff Woods South, Sunday May 28
Another day of garlic mustard, this time starting near the parking lot at the south woods. I thought we'd make quick work of one section, then move farther north, toward the stairs, but I'd underestimated the number of targets populating this spot. We ended up spending the entire morning there.

We were joined by six!!! first time Palos volunteers, thank you Marc, Jessica, and Jesse, Joan and Jennifer, and Alex for joining us on this lovely morning. Garlic mustard season is winding down now; we may have a couple more shots at it before the remaining plants die back, drop seed, whatever.

Cap Sauers Holding May 20, Black Partridge Woods May 21, 2023

5/24/2023

Cap Sauers Holding Saturday May 20
I missed this one due to the nature walk below, but that didn't stop our volunteers, including first-time Palos volunteer Karen, from collecting an impressive haul of garlic mustard at Cap. Ten bags was the reported haul, and can be seen in the slideshow below.

Nature Walk at McClaughrey Springs Woods Saturday May 20
This was another fun walk on a cool beautiful spring morning. As is our norm, we took our time, with frequent stops to admire and discuss whatever plants we found along the trail We're in a transitional phase right now, with most of the spring ephemerals fading and the summer flowers getting ready to bloom.

We had the good fortune to find big patches of wild geranium and woodland phlox, in addition to a number of other treats, including two species of native waterleaf. One of them, great waterleaf, is having a banner year - I've seen more of it at McClaughrey and Swallow Cliff than I can recall in recent years..

Black Partridge Woods Sunday May 21
Twin targets of the morning were Dame's rocket, in full bloom, and garlic mustard, which had dropped most of its flowers and attempted to hide from us. As George aptly pointed out, the Dame's rocket, with it's greater stature and bulk, fills a bag much faster than does garlic mustard.

We were joined on this hunt by first-time Palos volunteer Billy, and worked beneath and along the side of a slope that overlooks the Des Plaines River and Goose Lake. As is the case whenever you visit Partridge in spring, the native flowers are stunning. Truly a special place!

McClaughrey Springs May 13, Hidden Pond May 14, 2023

5/17/2023

Saturday May 13, McClaughrey Springs Woods
Saturday was a Chicago River Day, sponsored by Friends of the Chicago River, working since 1979 to improve the health of the Chicago River system for the benefit of people and wildlife. Some of the 70+ events of the day were litter cleanups; ours was habitat restoration, focused on removal of garlic mustard.

In addition to regular volunteers we hosted a group of students from Westinghouse High School, led by instructor Nina Hike. They worked near Mill Creek and scored a large haul of the little invaders - job well done!

Sunday May 14, Hidden Pond Woods
Our Mother's Day special was another garlic mustard search, with a great group including first-time Palos volunteers Edith and Bogie. With a couple exceptions, the weed was growing sporadically, in small bunches, allowing us to cover a good-sized chunk of the south woods.

As is always the case when weed-hunting, the real delight is all the plants encountered along the way. We saw native flowers and shrubs, and a goodly number of small oak saplings growing near the trail. Oaks, a keystone species in our woodlands, don't propagate well in brushed-over areas, so the presence of saplings is a sign that restoration efforts are having a positive impact.

Paddock May 6, McClaughrey Springs May 7, 2023

5/9/2023

Paddock Woods Saturday May 6
Our official kickoff to garlic mustard season (we did pick some a couple weeks back at Black Partridge) was also the treat that Paddock always is, with an assortment of wildflowers in bloom and full color. Beautiful!

Differences from site to site are amazing too. Paddock and McClaugrey Springs border one another, with a thin strip of Kean Avenue all that separates them. Yet the habitats differ, and we see plants at each site not typically found at the other. One thing they have in common this year is garlic mustard, and we found enough to keep us moving, but never so much to be disheartening.

McClaughrey Springs Woods Sunday May 7
One of the day's treats is the abundance of wild ginger seen here, rivaled in Palos only by Black Partridge. This low-growing, unassuming plant, with its fuzzy bashful flower, fascinates me.

We had a good crew on Sunday's garlic mustard hunt, including first-time Palos volunteers Lou and Melanie. We worked one side of Mill Creek, both along the bank and on the flats immediately above. We found enough garlic mustard to justify our efforts, but never in the large numbers we've seen in years past at McClaughrey.

McMahon April 29, Hidden Pond April 30, 2023

5/4/2023

McMahon Woods & Fen Saturday April 29
The last weekend in April is our last weekend of brushpile burns until fall so we wanted to make the most of it. We did, with another good group at McMahon Saturday, including Oak Lawn HS students Austin and O'Ryan. Two more big fires - the first one started up so quickly you'd have thought accelerant was involved, but it wasn't. Just dry fuel, and a favorable wind; maybe John and Carolyn had a special mojo working that day as well.

We hauled logs and cut brush to our pair of big blazes while Doug, Jim and Kevin cut more with brushcutter and chainsaws respectively. The ground was dry enough warrant extra caution, at least 'til late morning when the first of several rounds of showers moved in.

Hidden Pond Woods Sunday April 30
Our ability to work Sunday was very much in question due Saturday's rain, which was predicted to continue through Sunday morning and afternoon. We cut large stacks of brush three weeks earlier that couldn't be burned then, due to low humidity, and didn't want to leave it lying about until fall.

The weather deities heard our entreaties and kept conditions dry until past 10:00 am, when we had a good fire going and much of the fuel already loaded. We got more brush cut and burned by quitting time, with one more quick round of rain. We also managed to scatter some seed, collected last fall, in one of our previous work areas. It was another satisfying and productive day, thanks to the diligence and great spirit of our volunteers.