By Gary Swick, President Many years ago I was given a wood carving from an anonymous source. The accompanying note read: “This is the River Spirit. It only speaks to children and a few select adults. You are one of those.“ So I was sitting by the Fox River wondering what it has on its … Read more
By Jack MacRae Witch Hazel was one of my least favorite Looney Toons characters. She wasn’t a deep thinker like Foghorn Leghorn or a slapstick genius like Yosemite Sam. But I do like her namesake shrub. Witch Hazel was named after an attractive tree native to our understory of our wooded lands. Blooming during the fall, this … Read more
From time to time Friends of the Fox River receives questions thru our website or Facebook page about the river, pollution and other watershed related issues. Here’s a question we received that FOFR Director Art Malm researched and answers. J. Faust asks: Do you have an estimate of the volume the many water reclamation districts … Read more
By Holly Hudson, Senior Aquatic Biologist, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning The 31 square mile Mill Creek watershed includes portions of four municipalities (Batavia, Campton Hills, Geneva, and St. Charles) and five townships (Batavia, Blackberry, Campton, Geneva, and St. Charles. The primary land uses in the watershed are agriculture (30%), residential (26%), and open space … Read more
By Art Malm, FOTFR Board Member Will the river stop flowing altogether in dry years if the low head dams like the one at Carpentersville are removed? “I remember back in the 60’s when we walked across the top of the Carpentersville dam and it was dry”. This was the memory of a gentleman who … Read more
By Gary Swick Personally, I love living in a region that has distinct seasons. Walking ankle to waist deep in a stream on a hot summer day is always a refreshing experience, and something my children always loved. On a calm fall day, gliding in a kayak or canoe on the Fox River is incredibly … Read more
By Jack MacRae The nighthawks are dining. They appear at dusk in our October skies, swooping, darting and snatching bugs in their big mouths. As neotropical migrants, nighthawks are on their way to Argentina where they’ll hang with the gauchos for the winter. Common nighthawks are slim, medium sized birds with big black eyes, long wings and short legs. Their … Read more
By Art Malm, FOTFR Board Member Maybe the first question asked by almost anyone considering dam removal is “what will it look like?”. There aren’t many people left in the Fox Valley who remember what the Fox looked like before the dams were built. Doubtful their grandparents did either. The best way to know what … Read more
By Gary Swick It’s back-to-school season for Friends of the Fox River (FOFR) and our team of educators is geared up to teach more than two thousand students how to collect water quality data in their schools’ local streams. Our “Watershed Watchdogs” education program is composed of lessons in traditional topics like local geography, natural … Read more
By Jack MacRae 20th century scientific research into Kindchenschema showed that humans consider baby animals as inherently cute. It has something to do with the size and proportion of their facial features. I think this idea is especially valid with new born northern red belly snakes. I mean, OMG, they’re totes adorbs. When they emerge from … Read more
