On Monday, April 8, 2024, I travelled approximately 260 miles to east central Indiana to view the first total solar eclipse I have seen. I had been looking forward to this event since the last eclipse in 2017 that occurred while I was working at the College of DuPage. I didn’t have the opportunity to … Read more
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 is a day I’ll remember for a long time! For on that day, I checked off one of the items I’ve aspired to on my personal birding bucket list: seeing and photographing a Whooping Crane! I had seen a Whooping Crane flying with a flock of Sandhills back in March of … Read more
On a beautiful, autumn day in the year 2000, I took a walk through the woods along a footpath not far from a home that my husband and I were considering in Algonquin. We were moving from Flagstaff, Arizona where we had lived for just two years. (Prior to that I was living in Washington, … Read more
The first day of spring is a day on the calendar, but we know that it is a long process requiring good timing and resilience if you are an emerging plant. Friends of the Fox River (FOTFR) has selected the onset of spring to be our period of emerging growth. For FOTFR, April and May … Read more
Join the exciting world of environmental education with Friendsof the Fox River (FOTFR)! We are currently seeking enthusiastic individuals to join our education team as paid staff, interns, and volunteers. Friends of the Fox River (FOTFR) is a leader in providing watershed education for youth and restoring the Fox River through advocacy, cleanups, and public … Read more
I’ve been blessed to see lots of Bald Eagles over the course of my life. The effects of the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the outlawing of the use of DDT in that same year has led the Bald Eagle back from the brink of extinction to being a fairly common sight in the … Read more
Can you resist watching young puppies and kittens play? Their pouncing and wrestling reflect instinctive drives that once were important for survival but are no longer required for our furry pets since the advent of reliable “bowl feeding” by humans. In the wild, adult animals pass on knowledge to offspring to guide their behavior to … Read more
Earlier this month, a cohort of kindred spirits visited the Friends of the Fox River at the Schweitzer Environmental Center for lively conversation about Raising Kane, The Fox himself, and what Fox River protection looks like today. The readers were a high-minded slice of Fox River watershed residents including FOTFR Board and staff members, teachers, government officials, ecological restorationists and active, informed voters.
I still am, but not the Snowy Owls! Regular readers of this space know that I enjoy looking for Snowy Owls during the winter months. Over the last several years I have enjoyed searching for, and finding, these beautiful visitors from the Arctic North. This winter has been no exception, at least in the searching … Read more
February offers several reasons to celebrate, such as, Ground Hog Day, President’s Day, Chinese New Year, and Mexico’s Constitution and Flag Day. The big winner though is Valentine’s Day. Like many holidays, the actual honoring of the date has been stretched but the essence is the heart symbol and love messages. As a fourth grader, … Read more