“Aw, crud.” Those were the words I uttered a few days ago when I stepped outside my office to take the picture for this week’s column. High above our service entrance, at the back of Hickory Knolls, a robin’s nest still sat among the supports of our photovoltaic, or solar energy, panels. My intent this
Bird, Fly, Robin
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District May 18, 2012 With all the dire warnings emanating from Chicago regarding the NATO Summit, the Windy City is the last place I’d want to find myself this weekend. The media have been telling
Giant Killer Moth, Insect, Moth
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District May 11, 2012 “Mew.” The sound was soft and, at first, easy to overlook. But the longer I spent in the woods, listening as I walked, the more insistent the caller became. “Mew…Meew…Meeeww!” I
Bird, Catbirds, Fly
Pam’s Perspective From the… Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District May 4, 2012 I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure St. Charles has laws preventing public intoxication. Yet there I was Wednesday night, stumbling in the dark, head back, eyes squinty as I
Basswood, Linden, Plants, Tree
If you’re like me (and Heaven help you if you are) you may find yourself faced with a daily barrage of questions, mostly self-imposed, on a wide range of topics. Like, for instance, who decided that dandelions are “bad” and need to be killed? How and why did the myth get started that a mother
Bird, Fly, Purple Martin
Here we are, not even halfway through April, but you wouldn’t know it by looking—at least not looking outside. Plant-wise and animal-wise too, things are far ahead of what we’ve come to think of as “normal” for this time of year. Woodland wildflower favorites that, in past years, were only in bud or just beginning
Ants, Plants, Seeds, Spring
April 6, 2012 Last weekend, the St. Charles Park District held its annual Easter Egg Hunt at Pottawatomie Park. Thousands of eggs, hundreds of kids…a good, albeit chilly, time was had by all. While that egg hunt is over, another one is just beginning. We’re on the verge of waterfowl nesting season, and ducks and
Animal, Critter, Mink
March 30, 2012 There are a few things in this world that I’m absolutely nuts about. Snakes are one (but we won’t get into that right now, especially given the response to last week’s column), puppies are another. And then there’s chocolate. As I write this, I’ve made an embarrassing number of attempts to scrounge
Bunny, Chocolate, Rabbit
March 23, 2012 Maybe I’ve missed something over the past week, but somehow I think not. Nowhere, as far as I’ve seen, amid all the reports about flowers blooming, tree buds popping, birds singing, all sooner than expected, has anyone said anything about the snakes. Granted, our local species don’t have the vibrant, showy colors
Reptile, Scale, Snakes
March 16, 2012 This past week has to be one for the record books—in terms of temperatures, for sure, but also in terms of the number of times I tried, and failed, to document for you the signs of spring that literally are all around us. The first attempt was on Tuesday. Walking out by
Nature, Season, Spring