Birds’ eggs…Two simple words that once heard conjure immediate thoughts of warm, sunny weather, cheerful whistling songs and industrious parents gathering food for hungry babies. Certainly, birds incubating their eggs are far from our thoughts in December! For humans, this time of year brings to mind visions of snowy weather, cold temperatures and bundling up […]

A snowflake’s life begins in a cloud. A cloud is made up of tiny pieces of dust or salt carried into the sky by wind and water vapor put into the air through evaporation. In winter, as the water in the clouds becomes cooler (around -9°C or 15°F) a water droplet inside the cloud gradually […]

Cult following. It’s really the best way to describe Great Parks’ Winter Hike Series. It consists of a group of die-hard hikers, volunteers and staff who don’t just brave – but embrace – the cold to go out hiking together on Saturday mornings in January. The program was begun in 1985 by Naturalist Penny Borgman. […]

Some of my favorite memories of outdoor adventures are remembered through songs learned at different events. Every time I think of “Tough as a pine knot, tall as a Hemlock, we’re the gang from… Miami!” I think back to my summer camp experience in 1973. Have you ever heard the song that goes, “I love […]

Just in time for Halloween, this all-white creepy critter was found in our colony of captive roaches in Sharon Woods. Although Madagascan hissing cockroaches are not native to the U.S., many nature education facilities use them, because they are easy to raise, large in size and outlive many native insects. They are a great tool […]

I did not know Warren Wells, a former Chief Naturalist of the park district, but recently I had the privilege of leading a small group of hikers off into the 40-acre preserve at Winton Woods that bears his name. Towering ancient trees and flowing creeks and ravines beckoned us as we explored under a canopy […]

Catfish are an amazing group. Ranging from the tiny candiru of the Amazon, to the 9-foot, 650-pound Mekong giants, they are one of the most diverse and far reaching orders of fish in the world. At upwards of 3,000 species – and possibly even more – their diversity is simply astounding! So imagine my surprise […]

Assessing whether it was time to add lye to the lard boiling over an open fire, I was careful not to get too close while wearing my long petticoat. Determining that it was not time for lye, I trudged up the hill for probably the hundredth time, fatigued from lugging iron pots, firewood, buckets of […]