Plants and Planets (Part 3 of 3)

5/12/11

After thoroughly exploring the beach, it came time to move south. By now the sun, which had been gradually scattering the mist, had fully illuminated the now clear sky. Heading into the woods it wasn’t long before I came up to my first wetland; a rather large pond. While I surveyed the site I didn’t notice the beaver quietly swimming along.

It just so happened that I was standing at the edge of a bottle neck that connected two ponds. The beaver’s lodge was in the next pond, so naturally he noticed me at the pass and slapped the water in alarm completely surprizing me. I moved away to explore further and let the beaver get home. It is probably worth noting that I probably would be seeing literally tones of birds if I wasn’t spending so much time looking down instead of up. That said I think I’ll try to balance the up and down a little more in my next trip. Anyway, in this area I came across both a Green Heron (Butorides virescens) and great blue heron (Ardea herodius). I also found throughout the area a plethora of the critical and beautiful purple Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) another first for me, an at the time of this post still unknown yellow plant (though I suspect it’s a type of hyssop), and a few plants of ruby/yellow Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). I say critical in reference to Lupine, not because it is necessarily in trouble, but because it is the sole food source for the larva of the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa).

Traveling along the ridges, I found it to be quite an adventure trying to find my way forward in the maze of wetlands that at any given point could be connected and subsequently bar a path forcing me to retrace steps or turn down a new ridge. The wetlands were also nestled within already established dunes as every slope into a wetland was steep. Some of the ways forward were also thick with shrubs and young trees. Why there were masses of saplings that were mostly the same age is beyond me. Soon enough I entered Miller woods and ended the day on a board walk above a marsh where I spotted yet another beaver.

This was an awesome adventure; the first really proper spring trip with boundless flowers, birds, colorful budding trees, and beavers. It was a day of new sightings for birds, flowers, and habitats. In addition, rarely have I witnessed natural areas that show so little sign of disturbance or human presence; pristine. The only way I know of to get the splendor that I witnessed across is what I’ve written in this blog. I was so captured while traveling that I hadn’t considered at all parasites. Luckily I seem to have come away with only one mosquito bite. I can’t encourage you to go out enough. Either ideal or foul the weather, it is so worth it to get out there. The trees are flooding with leaves. Spring is quickly going to give way to summer!

See you all in the field!

Edward Warden

Plants and Planets (Part 2 of 3)

5/12/11

Since I was in the dunes I figured I’d explore them before I headed inland to the higher succession woods. While being nowhere near as dramatic in scale as some of the other dunes I’ve been to, it was vastly superior in habitat diversity. While passing along some early succession dunes I found in low areas between dunes sudden rich pockets of wet woods and temporally flooded grassland.


As I approached the wooded pocket I couldn’t help but think about how trees really aren’t just colorful in the fall. Here I found wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) and False Soloman’s Seal (Smilacina stellata) in bloom.


This area was small and before long I found myself in a shallowly flooded area. Despite the low water level the vegetation had a very distinct character apart from that of the surrounding dunes. Clearly this area gets inundated fairly frequently for a whole different community to develop. Unfortunately, as much as I pride myself on my plant knowledge, it was a community that I am unfamiliar with and hence could not identify most the biota present. Again I lack the knowledge, but I’m taking the educated guess that I was looking at what is called panne habitat, a rare type of inter-dunal shallow wetland.

Regardless of my having basically no knowledge about what I was looking at, it still didn’t stop me from marveling at the subdued beauty of it. I can’t really describe how this quiet, short, red-hued habitat nestled between dunes gave a…well…secure and peaceful feeling. I also managed to accidentally scare up a Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) which actually was a first time sighting for me, or life bird.

To Be Continued

Plants and Planets (Part 1 of 3)

5/12/11

Instead of doing my usual where I go out, crash, wake up and then explore I decided I would get on one of the late trains and stay up all night. The reason? Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter were going to be in a cluster just above the horizon at around 4:30am. I didn’t want to miss that and since I was only going to get about 3 hours of sleep I figured forget it. So after exiting the train I just made a bee line to the beach. This involved walking through I guess what was a small corner of Gary. I must say, when I am walking in the dark forest barely able to see, I feel a lot less fear (if any) than I do when walking through a run-down neighborhood at night. It is rather odd, even when you encounter habitat though, if it is hyper degraded and weedy it still gives that same ominous sense. It’s only when you enter clearly healthy habitat that you feel safe. At point the steel plant’s glow was visible just to the west as well as the flames coming from the oil refinery.

Well after making my way through the seedy areas I arrived at the beach. I set out my pad for intermittent naps or just lounging and began either to practice Jo kata with my staff, sing songs to myself out loud, or beat the heck out of some makeshift claves I brought. Soon enough the line above the lake began to glow indicating that the time had come. But what happens next?

Winds which had been gradually picking up all night suddenly began sweeping in a heavy mist and dark clouds. I was genuinely concerned at the peak that I was going to be in the middle of a squall. Alas, my morning did not grant me even that flavorful adventure. No, the mist just came in and obscured the horizon the entire time the planets were above the horizon. Soon the light of the sun began to reclaim control of the atmosphere and my morning activities commenced.

To Be Continued

A Not So South Shore (Part 3 of 3)

5/4/11

            This was a very illuminating trip. I hope I was able to demonstrate how despite the limitations that prevent Chicago beaches from reaching the heights that Indiana dunes do (both height wise and ecology wise) we still can nurture potential gems on our municipal beaches. That said it is also perfectly possible to spoil gifts also evidenced in this trip. Chicago in the last decade or so has been touting itself as a green city. In proportion to the number of public beaches there are very few dunes habitats and even with those few we can’t take care of them all. As a city we need to begin looking at how we use what resources are still present such as our lake shore. Too much of it still looks like this.

Next time you are at a public beach or exercising on the lake shore trail don’t forget the beautiful natural history of the land you are on and how people are working to bring some semblance of that back. Heck, why not get out and volunteer at one these places some time?It’s always fun. Soon I will go to explore the icon, model, and inspiration of dunes restoration on Chicago beaches; Montrose point.

Thanks for reading!

Edward Warden

A Not So South Shore (Part 2 of 3)

5/4/11


          Traveling north from Rainbow Beach, It wasn’t long before I arrived at the palace that is the South Shore Cultural Center. No joke, this place is lavish in its architecture and grounds keeping. But anyway, behind the building on the lake shore is another dunes restoration project. Occupying an artificial outcrop over the lake, there is a dune area, a couple round stone benches and a small wetland. The area is pleasant, cool and secluded.

As a restoration project though, it’s a joke. The small area that is even an attempt at a proper dune is nothing but Marram grass (Ammophila breviligulata). It doesn’t even touch the water, it’s a mound of sand leading to a beach but it lacks any beach of its own. It’s as if the land manager decided to use “INSTANT Dune!” and POOF the Chicago park district can claim yet another dunes project. In the connected habitat, the situation is no better. A few token native trees and forbs are planted in an area over run with non-natives, lawn grass, and unkempt shrubs.

This terrible description of mine is only relevant though from an ecological stand point. As a garden it is quite a nice place but ecological is all I’m concerned about here. With all that criticism it is also completely salvageable and in a short time. The necessary conditions, plants, and habitat are in place. All it would take for this area to become a municipal gem is for a dedicated crew of volunteers to frequently and gradually work their magic.

          Moving north again, I approached my last destination for the day; 63rd st. beach. I had been here a few times during the winter before anything was growing. I had also heard some pretty rave reviews about it especially concerning birds over the years so I was anticipating something promising. I have little in the way of complements. When I dismounted my bike and walked down the beach to the designated area, I was a bit taken aback. Instead of asking “what life is present here?” I was asking “what the hell happened?”

There are areas on both ends of the public beach. The area to the west was home to large barren areas. There was more trash than plants. A rather large depression filled with water probably was an attempt at an inter-dunal pond or panne habitat. What was present though was a bowl of water with shores lined by garbage surrounded by a fence. The east side didn’t look so much like a disaster zone but it was not very praise worthy either. Lacking in any cottonwoods it was suffering from the same lack of dune creation that is occurring at rainbow beach.

But at least at rainbow beach, biodiversity was increasing and the entire area was exploding with life. Here, the biota was simply Marram Grass (Ammophila breviligulata) and Little Blue Stem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and the growth was spotty. This place needs regular care and, due to the ambitious size of the project, a strong and numerous group of volunteers too. This habitat needs help.

To Be Continued

A Not So South Shore (Part 1 of 3)

5/4/11


   Dunes on the great lakes are not unique to Indiana. Dunes more or less encircled the great lakes to some extent. Chicago for sure was home to dunes just as grand and extensive as those that we only see in designated parks like in Indiana. The entirety of Chicago’s dunes though, were bulldozed for development at some point or another. Nearly all, if not all, of the beaches currently lining the lake shore of Chicago are reconstructed, not natural. Under Daniel Burnham’s plan, the entire Chicago lake front should be parkland and that plan for the most part became reality. I suppose it was only a matter of time before this designation would extend to the restoration of former inhabitants. All across the city many parks now have areas set aside for restoration projects and some parks are solely devoted to that. The municipal beaches are no less subject to this trend. In this blog post I’ll describe my one day trip to three dune habitats on the south side of Chicago: Rainbow Beach, South Shore Cultural Center, and 63^rd st. beach.
            My first reaction when I dismounted my bike and walked onto Rainbow beach was, “I think I’ve been here before.” Well regardless of whether I have or not it was a welcome sight. The area set aside for the restoration project was covered in Marram grass (Ammophila breviligulata). At first most of what I saw was Marram but as I proceeded farther from the civilian beach eventually the Marram started to give way to other species such as goldenrod (Solidago sp.), prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa), a couple young trees and, shown below, Sand Cress (Arabis lyrata).

This leads me to believe the area granted for restoration purposes has gradually expanded further down the beach since the biota closer to the civilian beach were very early succession verses the still early but slightly later succession biota I encountered near the end of the beach. Bird life was sparse though this understandable as there wasn’t enough in the way of later succession shrubs to host them. I did see though a few Swamp Sparrows (Melospiza georgiana) and Rough-winged Swallows (Stelgidopteryx serripennis). On the beach I was able to spot a Solitary sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) snooping around some rocks along with the standard Ring-billed Gulls on any city beach. I also spotted several Caspian Terns (Sterna caspia) and managed to pick out a Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri)!

The only point of criticism I noticed is that throughout the beach there were stumps of cottonwoods (Populus americana). While it is a tree that needs to be checked every now and then due to its weedy nature, their complete eradication from this area meant that no dunes could form and the whole project will remain a flat beach until they return and are given time to work their dune creating magic. All things told I think this beach has excellent potential and with some consistent stewardship it is capable of attaining the highest level of ecological diversity possible a municipal beach.

To Be Continued

Where the Big Things Are (Part 2 of 2)

4/28/11

            Soon I entered an area where the woods got denser and discovered to my delight what I had been seeking most earnestly. SPRING EPHEMERALS!!!  White was the order of the day being represented by Large-flowered trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)... 

...a plant which as of writing this I am still unable to identify (I feel ignorant)...

 

  and Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalictroides). 

I got pretty darn happy at this point. I never can explain why I get so joyful at seeing gorgeous flowers in the wilderness.

It’s also worth noting that in just about every location with the slightest amount of inundation was this plant, which was still in its rosette stage but what was noteworthy about it was that the leaves in that rosette were massive, sometimes nearly a foot long and wide. Well the sights of hundreds of giant leaves will soon become the smell of hundreds of Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). Yup. But belive it or not I'm actually excited for it.

          Nearing the end of my self-allotted time, I moved just a bit farther to find myself on a bridge in the middle of a swamp. With the cloud darkened sky, no sounds at all, the water level so high the spaces between the boards of the bridge filled with water, and a tree and shrub broken view, the whole situation was one of wonder. But what capped the whole thing off was the not so distant call of a Pie-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps). The spooky and low mating call set me a flutter. It’s a call that I had always listened to on recordings but incomparably to hearing it in real life; truly unbeatable.

On the return trip I also ran into a patch of beautiful Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris) which broke the rule of white.

 

        While I was forced to cut today’s trip short due to class crunches, it was still an amazing day. Like last time, it doesn’t seem that I actually did much especially in the way of distance traveled but that’s meaningless in the face of all the beautiful things I observed even if it was just the awesome interaction of light within the woods and clouds or the plethora and small creeks. Besides making me feel sky high for the rest of the day, I’m also now pumped for the weeks ahead as I saw more in the way of the impending flower and bird explosion than already present birds or blooming flowers.

GET OUTSIDE!!! It’s beautiful and will only become more so as the season matures.

Thanks for reading.

Edward Warden

Where the Big Things Are (Part 1 of 2)

4/28/11

       The station was completely empty, the sky grey and dull. Often freight and passenger trains use the same tracks, especially at night when there’s less of the human traffic. When I was awaiting my transport to the dunes on Wednesday night a freight train passed by at a fairly moderate speed. But at some random point the train slowed and came to a halt. When the cars are sitting there right in front of you, it makes you appreciate just how huge those things are and scale of industrial might and amount of steel that went into producing each and every car in the extensive line of over a hundred on the one train. It also makes you wanna be one of Jack Kerouac’s dharma bums, clamber onto one of them, and go for a ride. To where? I dunno that’s part of the whole aura. So after the appropriate hunk of steel arrives and I go through an hour long ride on the crazy train of drunk cubs fans I set foot in the drizzling woods. It’s interesting to note that the same drizzle within the trees sounded as if a heavy rain was coming down. As my eyes adjusted while walking along one of the roads in the absolute darkness that results from the lack of anthropogenic lights, I realized the night wasn’t absolute. The clouds above glowed faintly but strong enough to gently illuminate the road ahead. Soon I found a huge and unimaginably tall oak tree with poison ivy vines crawling up it in a clearing. Natures lullaby was one of falling and flowing water.

            Though mildly cold the dawn was invigorating with towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), titmouses (Baeolophus bicolor), robins (Turdus migratorius), a lone red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), and a strong bright sun piercing the water saturated but cloudless atmosphere.

I tried inspecting the area for signs about how this clearing came to be. After all, we were in a fairly dense woodland and to have some random clearing with no clear age succession among the trees was a little odd. Alas, I lacked the sufficient knowledge to find an answer to the ponderous change in tree cover. Proceeding along one of the numerous small waterways, I found myself in and out of minor clearings. In one of these clearings where the river swelled due to some artificial dam I found a deer jawbone and some scat that looks most like that of a Coyote (Canis latrans) due to the size, shape, and amount of hair. I also found a bit of a bird haven involving my first Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) of the spring and an Eastern Towhee as highlights.



To Be Continued