On Sunday March 7th, I will be at the Maple Avenue Pub in Lisle attending the Willowbrook Wildlife Center Fundraiser and Auction.  I have donated 3 matted and framed pictures for the center to auction off to help raise money for new digital radiology equipment.  Willowbrook is a rehabilitation and education facility in Dupage County.  This will be my third year donating to their cause and I hope to see you there to support this wonderful facility.

The 6th annual Prairie Days in Lombard Illinois is on Sunday, September 20th.  I will have a table set up where I will have some of my photos for sale, as well as some native plants from the Norway Nursery.  It is from 11am-3pm at Terrace View Park on Greenfield ave and Elizabeth Street.  They will have lots of activities for the whole family and will showcase the ongoing prairie restoration around the park and pond.  I hope to see you there.

I took a canoe trip down the Fox River with my friend Cory from the Norway Nursery this afternoon.  Our main goal of the trip was to locate new locations of native forbs, trees and bushes.  Our trip lasted several hours and we found lots of interesting native plants.  Not everything we found was ready for harvest, so we will have to plan another trip in the future so we can collect seed from several of the plants we encountered.

While driving through Du Page County this afternoon, I spotted a Caspian Tern flying overhead.  I didn’t have my binoculars with me, but with its black cap and large bill, it was quite easy to identify.

The male Indigo Bunting who has been calling on top of the White Pines for the past several days finally got himself an interested female.  I was coming home tonight, and as I was getting out of my car, I heard the chips of the female.  I pulled out my binoculars, and sure enough there was a female Indigo Bunting on the small oak tree in the prairie.  Another sign of success for our prairie.