Hello again fellow Fox River Valley nature enthusiasts! As I write this column it is mid-February and a rather dreary, cold, and cloudy day. We’ve had a couple of warmer days recently though that promise that spring is on the way and indeed, at least astronomically, spring begins in late March. While March has never … Read more
The Fox River is a fine demonstration of Barry Commoner’s Laws of Ecology. Law #1 is that all things are connected. This is evident in the definition of a watershed; it is the entire land area that drains to a common place. The Fox River Watershed covers over 2600 square miles of land that drain … Read more
Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall, all you have to do is call – Michelle Soland Some people are just special. It’s really that simple. Meet Michelle Soland, veteran Friend of the Fox River. She has been a Friends of the Fox River (FOTFR) staple for close to ten years, developing, leading, and assisting with the … Read more
For this month’s edition of my Reflections on the Fox blog, I thought I’d relate a couple of incidents that occurred this past weekend (January 21-23), on a couple of my Snowy Owl safaris, that I found truly amazing. It was a cold and snowy weekend that I thought would be perfect for Snowy Owl … Read more
If you participate physically or financially in FOTFR, we consider you our friend, and you will enjoy the benefits formerly of a member.
The Snowy Owl is a strikingly beautiful bird and the largest (by weight) of the North American owls averaging about four pounds in weight.
Friends of the Fox River (FOTFR) was founded to save a dying river by empowering the public to take action to care for it as their river. In 30 years, much has changed and conditions are far better, but the work is never done. Challenges change, and so must protection/restoration strategies. Just like at every … Read more
December marks the Christmas season, the onset of winter, and the shortest day of the year. Despite it being “the most wonderful time of the year” according to a favorite holiday song, December provides challenges for those of us who enjoy exploring the outdoors in our Fox River Valley. The cold and sometimes snowy weather … Read more
If hindsight is 20-20, we can see we could have managed a few things differently in the year 2020. Friends of the Fox River (FOTFR) executed necessary pivots, operational adaptations, and reassessed goals when they became a moving target. We made only a few mistakes. Since we couldn’t go to the schools, we developed a … Read more
By Jenni Schiavone Giving Tuesday is today It’s the time of year when opportunities to give to benevolent causes are as abundant and noticeable as all of the brightly colored wrapping paper rolls in shop windows. For your contemplation today is this old saying, “You get what you give.” In other words, the cause you … Read more
