Tag: habitats

Tiny but Loud

All, Stories

While out on a bird hike recently with a group of homeschool students, we discovered something very cool: a blue-gray gnatcatcher and its nest! Blue-gray gnatcatchers make a very unique nest with lichens from trees and use spider webs to put it all together. The nests have wonderful camouflage and can often be difficult to […]

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In 2013, Great Parks began a park-wide assessment of habitat quality through plant surveys. FQAI, short for Floristic Quality Assessment Index, allows us to compare habitats in different parks, as well as to other preserves outside the parks. Why do we do this? Because being able to compare areas helps Great Parks determine where to […]

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Monarchs on the Move

Stories

Few insects lift our spirits more than the charismatic monarch butterfly. But why? Maybe it’s their stunning color contrast against the backdrop of a blue sky. Or maybe it’s our appreciation for the massive struggle they face to carry on their species. Adult butterflies emerging at this point in the season are biologically different than […]

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Have you ever sat in the garden or near a patch of flowering plants and been amazed at the buzz of activity going on around you? Well that “buzz” is presented to us by the task-oriented heroes of the insect world: the pollinators! Without pollinators, that cup of coffee you enjoy daily, that pumpkin pie […]

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At the Kid’s Fishing Derby at Triple Creek on April 26 Eric Driven from College Hill caught one of the biggest and oldest species of fish in the pond – a paddlefish. He caught the fish on accident by snagging it on the anal fin. The fish topped out our 50-pound scale and was over […]

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Imagine you are enjoying a nice walk on one of the many Great Parks trails and in a nearby stream you see this: What is it? A)  Some strange chemical B)  An incredibly large orange juice spill C)  Water stained from autumn leaves D)  Iron bacteria If you chose option “B,” you might be thirsty. […]

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