Willow Springs Woods April 8
Twenty-five students from Chicago Bulls College Prep came to Katydid Slough Saturday. We worked with them on a spread of honeysuckle just above the prairie and an ephemeral pond. Chorus frogs were actively trilling throughout the morning, and we had chance sightings of garter snakes and salamanders. A few extra degrees of warmth make a world of difference.
Friends of the Forest Preserves cut and burned across the prairie, while Joe and some of the regular Palos moved farther west, piecing and burning logs downed on a previous workday. The fires were still burning at 4 pm when I departed - I suspect Joe put them to bed just before sunset.
Hidden Pond April 9
Here we again dealt with cuttings from a past workday, in this case several piles of honeysuckle cut last year that could not be burned then. With a brisk wind, out in the middle of the prairie, it was child's play getting those babies going.
Doug on the brush-cutter, the rest of us hand-cutting and dragging to the fires, worked a sizeable area in the center of the prairie.
Paddock Woods April 12
A great turnout for the second week in a row at Paddock, including two first-time volunteers, Oksana and Robert. We had three fires, all of them slow to start with wind that barely met the minimum 5 mph limit.
Next week we'll celebrate the passage of one year since our "Meet Palos Woods" walk that led to the regular Paddock Wednesdays. We've done much good work there to date, with a whole lot more to come.
Twenty-five students from Chicago Bulls College Prep came to Katydid Slough Saturday. We worked with them on a spread of honeysuckle just above the prairie and an ephemeral pond. Chorus frogs were actively trilling throughout the morning, and we had chance sightings of garter snakes and salamanders. A few extra degrees of warmth make a world of difference.
Friends of the Forest Preserves cut and burned across the prairie, while Joe and some of the regular Palos moved farther west, piecing and burning logs downed on a previous workday. The fires were still burning at 4 pm when I departed - I suspect Joe put them to bed just before sunset.
Hidden Pond April 9
Here we again dealt with cuttings from a past workday, in this case several piles of honeysuckle cut last year that could not be burned then. With a brisk wind, out in the middle of the prairie, it was child's play getting those babies going.
Doug on the brush-cutter, the rest of us hand-cutting and dragging to the fires, worked a sizeable area in the center of the prairie.
Paddock Woods April 12
A great turnout for the second week in a row at Paddock, including two first-time volunteers, Oksana and Robert. We had three fires, all of them slow to start with wind that barely met the minimum 5 mph limit.
Next week we'll celebrate the passage of one year since our "Meet Palos Woods" walk that led to the regular Paddock Wednesdays. We've done much good work there to date, with a whole lot more to come.
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