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Nachusa Grasslands

2021 Restoration Technicians

8/30/2021

2 Comments

 
By Connor Ross
Nachusa Restoration Technician
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After the 2020 fire season was cut short due to the pandemic, the burn crew came back strong in 2021, helping prevent woody encroachment (and making hiking a bit easier on the crew).
​Rebounding from the unusually short 2020 field season, the Nachusa restoration crew hit the ground running in 2021. It’s amazing what you can do when you have a couple extra weeks and a full crew on hand! Each year presents its own challenges. Last year I wrote about how the infamous (and unfortunately, still ongoing) pandemic disrupted the burn season. A record fire regime this year ensured the crew didn’t have to trek so much through unburned plots of land – that’ll really put your knees and hips to work! I also discussed the extremely wet spring of 2020. In a reversal of fortune, we ended up working during a drought year for 2021. Creek levels in late May were as low as they should’ve been in August, and most storms conveniently split to the north or south (often both) before they could supply Nachusa with some much-needed water. This drought meant the crew faced a mixed bag of effects: a lower invasive plant population and some seemingly confused natives. These “confused” natives often seemed to bloom and go to seed earlier than expected from previous years. New England asters started blooming at the very end of June! 
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Trusty bucket in tow, Matthew works on collecting seeds.
​As we face the transition to fall, the focus of the crew has been mainly on seed collecting, as weed killing season drew to a close. We swept certain units no less than four times this season for birdsfoot trefoil, tore sweet clover out of the ground on remnant knobs, plucked king devil heads before they could go to seed, and even patrolled the roadside ditches, spraying yellow iris and scything parsnip. 
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​The crew feels incredibly lucky to have the new Morton building to process seed. Because of this, we’ve been able to collect and then subsequently mill record amounts of seed, blowing our 2020 numbers out of the water. As of this writing, we currently have milled over 250 pounds of seed from over 40 species. We’ve been able to collect some seeds we missed last year, such as the seed pods of blue flag iris, which explode and shower seed everywhere in the vicinity when ready. We’ve seen all sorts of seed diversity: sticky catchfly seeds as small as a grain of sand, hairy beardtongue seeds that smell like roadkill, delicately fluffy dwarf dandelion seed, black-eyed Susan seed that digs into your skin like fiberglass. They’ve been harvested from every part of the preserve and in any sort of environment: golden Alexander from a classic mesic prairie, sedges that require a good pair of muck boots to collect, and fameflower from the sandy, desert-esque remnant knobs of Nachusa. As the fall season kicks into gear, the crew will continue collecting even more species from all across Nachusa in preparation for future restoration projects. 
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Molly and Matthew work to untangle a cliff swallow from some twine caught on its feet.
​The crew has worked hard this season in all sorts of conditions. We can attest to some bone-rattling days in May where we wore two layers under our rain jackets. And we’ve also labored through unusually hot June and August days with heat indexes topping 115 degrees Fahrenheit. We’ve killed sweet clover during rainstorms and been blasted with 40 mph gusts as we picked seeds. At times, the restoration technician position can be physically demanding and exhausting; hauling a two gallon herbicide pack for eight hours on the prairie is no joke! But time and time again it has proven incredibly worth it. We’ve seen the 2020 planting come to life this year, and already some of the seeds we collected last year have sprouted up: black-eyed Susan, white wild indigo, partridge pea. It has proven especially worth it through our wildlife encounters. A mink on her morning pond patrol on a cloudy day. Rescuing a cliff swallow with twine wrapped around its toes. Listening to sandhill cranes uttering their melodious primeval cries. Scaring up more frogs in a few minutes than you could count on your hands and toes. We even found an endangered Blanding’s turtle whose radio tracker had died. And of course, we’ve had plenty of encounters with bison. As rut season begins, the roars of the bull bison almost sound akin to lions on the Serengeti.  We’ve watched adult bulls size each other up, and yearling bulls jostle each other around in imitation of their elders. We’ve also seen a more tender side to the bison, as one crew member, Zach, was lucky enough to come upon a cow that had just given birth in late June. The calf couldn’t even stand up yet!
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Throughout the summer, the crew saw a lot of the Nachusa bison, including this pair of calves wallowing near a pond.
All in all, it’s been an incredibly successful summer at Nachusa that has proven worth the hard work. Nachusa is truly a place like no other, and we all feel lucky to be a part of it. 
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Meet the Crew
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Anna Scheidel is from Westmont, Illinois and finished her MS in conservation biology from Illinois State University earlier this year, studying root hemiparasitic plants at Nachusa. This is her third year as a restoration technician, second year as the Nachusa Resident Fellow and crew leader, and first season on the burn crew. She plans to continue building her conservation management experience during her last year with the technicians and is excited to work with a full-person crew once again! When she's not killing weeds or picking seeds, you can find her out curled up with a true crime book, baking, or out hiking looking for frogs.
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Matthew Nugent is returning for his second year from Orland Park, Illinois.Matt has just recently graduated from Illinois State University, and received a B.S. with a double major of Conservation Biology and then Crop and Soil Sciences. He hopes to continue his career in conservation and is enjoying his current position as Assistant Crew at Nachusa Grasslands. Matt’s hobbies include hiking, fishing, tending to his prairie garden at home, and just generally enjoying the outdoors.
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Riley Miller is a senior at Loyola University Chicago in the 4+1 dual degree program earning his bachelor's in environmental policy and master's in environmental science with a focus in environmental assessment and planning. Riley hopes to use what he learns at Nachusa to continue his career in conservation and land management. In his free time he enjoys playing rugby for Loyola and hiking.
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Connor Ross is from Grand Detour, Illinois, and is excited to continue restoration at Nachusa this year. He is currently enrolled at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign with a history major and a planned minor in environmental sciences. His hobbies include reading, drawing, and hiking. 






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Molly Duncan is from Polo, Illinois and is currently pursuing a B.S. in crop sciences with a minor in natural resource conservation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is back for her second year on the crew and is excited to continue to build on her knowledge of native ecosystems and natural areas management. Molly hopes to take what she learns at Nachusa and apply it to conservation efforts within agriculture in the future.
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Zach Storc is from Naperville, Illinois and earned his BS in Environmental Science from North Park University in Chicago in 2014. He originally served as Nachusa's crew leader for the 2014 field season and has since worked a variety of positions within the green industry. He is excited to be back at Nachusa for this spring and summer before he begins his masters in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at The University of Kansas this fall. He is passionate about anything relating to plants and enjoys hiking, camping, backpacking and gardening.
​
2 Comments

Butterfly Monitoring

8/6/2021

1 Comment

 
​By Becky Jane Davis
Nachusa Grasslands Butterfly Monitor
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It was exciting to see the regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) along my route. The butterfly is an Illinois threatened species.
For several years, I’ve been trying to start butterfly monitoring with the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network (IBMN). Everything finally came together this year. Recently I did my first butterfly monitoring at Nachusa Grasslands. Butterfly monitoring consists of counting butterflies by species, in a specific route, throughout the season. This first year, I need to identify only 25 species of butterflies. Forty years ago, I could identify more than that, but I'm a bit rusty. 
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A glimpse of my butterfly monitoring route.
So, I walk at a regular pace, scanning the area, left and right on the trail, spotting butterflies. As I see one, I identify it and mark it on my field report. When I’m finished, I enter my findings in the database. It sounds easy and straightforward but my first time out, I identified about half. The rest were noted as “unknown butterflies,” so I have some learning and growing ahead of me.
Things they don’t teach you in butterfly monitoring training:
1. How do you count each Monarch only once? They go here, over there, cross over the trail, and then you wonder, did I already count you?
2. Prairie plants are dense and tall. Those little butterflies can dart across the trail and into the plants and disappear before I can even see the markings or colors.
3. You need to protect yourself from ticks. That means bundling up head to toe in insect repellent-treated clothing, wearing hiking boots. Take a walking stick for uneven ground, don’t forget binoculars (if you can get them out and focused fast enough). There must be a simpler way!
4. It is good to know what a species looks like both flying and resting, but what about moving so fast, never resting, and not at an angle to fully see all four wings at once, as in the photos?
5. Back when I knew all the different species, it was because I caught them, put them in a kill jar, mounted them, and used a detailed key to identify them. No guessing! 
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A monarch butterfly visits the prairie gay feather (Liatris pycnostachya).
​When my route is done, I have a short 10-15 minute walk back to the parking lot that allows me time to linger, get out my iPhone for a few photos, or get my good camera out to capture prairie life.

I hope to get back to butterfly monitoring at least five more times this summer, hopefully more. Weather is an issue, as is distance, because I chose a location an hour away from my home. I like going to Nachusa, but it is at least a 3 hour commitment to monitor and I need to leave room in my days and flexibility so I can make that trip. Weather has not been helpful this last month. Rain, wind, and cloudiness are not good for butterfly sightings.  In fact, I have rules to follow: at least 70 degrees, partly cloudy to full sun, little wind to moderate wind, and no rain. The last two weeks didn’t give many days to choose from. But I will continue and try to get more of my own photography adventures in as well. The native grasslands and prairies offer so many opportunities for interesting captures. I’m looking forward to what I can share in future blogs!
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Butterfly monitoring data from 7/17/2021:
​
The route was about 50 minutes.
Temperature: 77 degrees
Wind speed: 9 mph. The wind was stronger at the end of the route.
Sky: partly cloudy
​Species
​Quantities
Pearl crescent
1
Regal fritillary
1
​Common wood nymph
8
​Little wood satyr
1
​Monarch
23
Unknown white/sulphur
1
​Unknown butterflies
15
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pearl crescent butterfly

​Who are the citizen scientists, and how can I become one?
Nachusa’s citizen scientists are composed of community volunteers who are passionate about their subject and want to contribute to scientific research.
 
Do citizen scientists need prior experience or a science degree?
No previous experience or scientific background is needed to volunteer, although some monitoring programs require approved initial and/or refresher trainings. Some citizen scientists may desire to seek further training and acquire new skills, while others can assist trained citizen scientists to learn the monitoring process. 
 
What citizen scientist opportunities are available at Nachusa?
  • Frog monitoring
  • Odonate monitoring (dragonflies and damselflies)
  • Butterfly monitoring
  • RiverWatch stream monitoring
 
How can I become a citizen scientist at Nachusa?
It’s simple, just sign up on the Friends of Nachusa Grasslands website.

​To get involved with the critical on-the-ground work at Nachusa, consider joining our Thursday or Saturday workdays or giving a donation to the Friends of Nachusa Grasslands. Donations to Friends of Nachusa Grasslands can also be designated to Scientific Research Grants.

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​Becky Jane Davis is a fine art photographer focused on nature. She has a specific interest in nature, especially trees and butterflies. Her love of butterflies began in college during an entomology class at Michigan State’s Kellogg Biological Station during a summer semester. She has assisted in many classrooms teaching children about the life cycle of butterflies, monarchs in particular. Her engineering background has allowed her to navigate the world of technology with ease, volunteering for different organizations with which she has connections. She has exhibited her fine art photography in Chicagoland and with the group Fleeting Moments Artists. Her other passion is travel photography.
1 Comment

    Blog Coordinator

    Dee Hudson
    I am a nature photographer, a freelance graphic designer, and steward at Nachusa's Thelma Carpenter Prairie. I have taken photos for Nachusa since 2012.

    Editor

    James Higby
    I have been a high school French teacher, registered piano technician, and librarian. In retirement I am a volunteer historian at Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society. 

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