November 17, 2012 / Leslie

Autumn on the Prairie

Birds, Nature, Photography, Photos, Prairie

A few weeks ago on National Public Lands Day I went on a Prairie and Bird Walk at Wolf Road Prairie Nature Preserve, an 80-acre remnant prairie, wetland, and savanna complex that is part of the county forest preserve. Thanks to the Save the Prairie Society, it is now protected from development.

The prairie has an interesting history. This 80 acre parcel of land was originally planned as a 600 lot housing development in the 1920s. Sidewalks were laid in the south 40 acres but the project failed in 1929 during the Great Depression and was never completed. Since then the prairie has remained mostly undisturbed.

The prairie is surrounded by commercial development but is remarkably quiet and peaceful. In the photo above office buildings can be seen rising up in the distance. I could barely hear the traffic on the nearby four lane roads.

The sidewalks and three cutouts for streets still remain at the entrance to the prairie forming an eerie grid through an oak savanah before reaching the open prairie. Some of the sidewalks are intact but most have some damage from trees growing along side them. Above, a large tree has broken one of the sidewalks.

The prairie and it’s wetlands are home to over 150 species of birds, more than 360 native plant species plus amphibians, insects, butterflies, mammals and is a resting point for numerous migratory birds.

Many sparrows and hundreds of goldfinches were eating seeds in the prairie grass. Below is a Tree Sparrow, a migratory bird that makes its home here during the winter.

A Baltimore Oriole nest was hanging in a Cottonwood tree. The orioles were long gone having migrated south a month earlier.

A group of European Starlings were lounging in a dead tree. There were quite a few cavities in the tree and I was told by the bird monitor that they had taken over old woodpecker nesting sites.