Good Natured

Woodlouse Spiders

In these days of physical distancing and social isolation, the sight of a familiar face can bring immeasurable joy. Even, it turns out, if that…

Hickory Knolls Natural Area

Okay folks, show of (thoroughly washed) hands… How many of you had your spring break plans dashed by the COVID-19 conflagration? Were your visions of…

Geneva’s Great Horned Owls

Geneva, some of you might recall, has a bit of a history when it comes to owls. And no, I’m not talking about The Little…

Mockingbirds

Maybe all this social distancing is starting to get to me. Or maybe I watched too much TV as a kid. But do you know…

Red-Bellied Woodpeckers

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that your life has changed quite a bit over the past couple of weeks. I…

Pelicans

I can remember the date like it was yesterday. It was April 1, 2000-something. I’m gonna guess maybe 2001. It was late in the day,…

Sapsuckers

Spring starts a week from today and with it comes the promise of warmer temperatures, as well as visits from a host of migrating birds–including…

Tracking Oddities

Over the past several weeks, we’ve taken a Good Natured look at the tracks and signs of many of our area’s most common mammals, from…

Tracking – Cats

Several years ago we received an email from a St. Charles resident who had found the remains of a feline beneath a pine tree on…

Tracking – Mink

Several years ago, my friend Jessi and I went exploring at McKee Marsh–a small but wonderfully diverse parcel at the north end of the Blackwell…

Tracking – Deer

Walking along Ferson Creek recently, I couldn’t help but notice how the tips of so many plants-young trees, shrubs and crispy brown wildflowers alike-looked really…

Tracking – Rabbits & Squirrels

This week we continue our series on wildlife tracking with a look at two of our most common wildlife neighbors, rabbits and squirrels. But first,…

Tracking – Raccoons, Opossums & Skunks

Well, it’s almost February, the month of love. The greeting card and candy companies know it. The jewelry stores know it. And so, too, do…

Tracking – Dogs & Coyotes

This week we continue our series on winter wildlife tracks with a look at man’s best friend, Canis familiaris; its cousin, Canis latrans, the coyote;…

Intro to Tracking

We all have ways of keeping up with current events. Some of us watch TV; some read the newspaper or online sources. Personally, I like…

Pseudoscorpions

When it comes to tiny arachnids, there’s one individual that grabs a disproportionate amount of the glory. We all know her, and the song that…

Starlings

Depending on how your holiday season is playing out, you may have, in the past few days, found a certain classic Saturday Night Live skit…

Whitetail Deer & Reindeer

Now that we’ve entered that interstitial period between Christmas and New Years, you may find yourself with a little extra time on your hands. Time…

Nature on a Train!

Nature on a train. I know, it sounds like an oxymoron. Or maybe the title of a toned-down Samuel L. Jackson movie. But it’s also…

Woodpeckers

With apologies to Edgar Allan Poe, I offer you the following recap of my Thanksgiving weekend: While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a…

Birds of Prey

Remember The Far Side, those classic bits of natural history humor by cartoonist Gary Larson? One in particular showed three hawks in a tree. All…

Black Squirrels – Part 2

Last week we embarked on a story of Kane County squirrels-specifically black squirrels, which are a dark form of our common gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis-and…

Kane County Certified Naturalists

Josh Libman, naturalist with the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, describes an ecological process during a KCCN field trip to Johnson’s Mound Forest Preserve in Elburn. Good Natured: Kane County Certified Naturalists November 27, 2019 Well, it’s that time of year again. The temperatures have dropped, the leaves have fallen, and the long,