Quote of the week: “We’ve had a pair at Illinois Beach State Park that frequently put on a courtship display of diving and twisting hundreds of feet above ground.”

Vic Berardi talks about courtship of red-tailed hawks in a story on the hawks and woodcocks. Read more here

American woodcocks start courting in the sky in March.

Quote of the week: As long as the cells don’t freeze, a fish, frog or turtle can survive in winter.

How do critters who spend time in winter survive frozen ponds in winter? Read here to learn more.

Photo of frozen wetland at Volo Bog by Steven D. Bailey.

Quote of the week: We’re in the beer business, and everybody always wanted to talk about beer. Now…people don’t want to talk about beer, they want to talk about solar energy.

Mike Kloss, COO of Kloss Distributing Co in Gurnee talks about converting his business to solar energy. All the electricity is obtained from 2,000 panels atop the building’s roof. Read more here.

Kloss Distributing Co installed 2,000 solar panels to provide all its electricity needs. (Kloss Distributing Co/PHOTO)

Quote of the week: Packed inside that beak is a really long tongue.

Edward Warden talks about woodpeckers in an article published in Natural Awakenings Magazine. Written by Sheryl DeVore. Photo below of red-headed woodpecker copyright by Steven D. Bailey.

Quote of the week:

“It’s an amazing conservation success story, and really illustrates the resiliency and adaptability of the bird.”

Luke Garver in an article about wild turkeys and turkey tail fungus. Read more here.

Jim Curtis took this photo of a wild turkey in Lake Villa a few years ago.

Quote of the week:

Four different great horned owls were talking in the dark. The most I had ever heard talking together was two. But this was a foggy, chilly night on a date when folks think scary thoughts.

Read all about the great horned owl.

Bob Schifo took this photo of a Great Horned Owl.

Quote of the week: “Every once in awhile there’d be an explosion upstairs when the wine blew up.”

Ty Kovach reminisces about growing up on a farm in Minnesota. He now grows heirloom peppers in his Gurnee home — handed down for two centuries. Read more here.

Quote of the week: “This is a real win for all of us. It’s such a reward – this is why we do this – creating and restoring habitat to support these important animals.”

Quote from Kelly Schultz of the Lake County Forest Preserves about finding the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee at Greenbelt Forest Preserve.  Read more here.

Photo below courtesy of Kelly Schultz, taken at Greenbelt Forest Preserve.

 

Quote of the week: “It really was a quick decision and there were a lot of moving pieces that had to happen to give those birds a chance.”

Reena Bowman of the USFWS talks about why five piping  plovers were transferred from Wisconsin to Lake County, Illinois. Piping plovers are federally endangered. Read more here.

Photo copyright Dawn Fronk. This juvenile plover was discovered at Waukegan Beach after it flew south from Illinois Beach State Park.

Quote of the week: Comet Neowise appeared like “a long brush stroke of white paint on a dark canvas.”

Gary R. Soper, wildlife photographer describes Comet Neowise in a story I wrote about the comet everyone is rushing to see in the night sky. Read more here.