Emiquon in Late December

I visited Emiquon on December 28 with my friend Ed. We found two Northern Harriers working the wet prairie by Thompson Lake.




Sister Creeks Farm is visible miles away from the tranquil lake.


A Red-tailed Hawk posed briefly before flying away:


A juvenile Bald Eagle sat in a tree along Dixon Mounds Road:


Scott and I went back on December 30 and found thousands of geese, mostly Canada, but with a mix of several hundred White-fronted geese and a thousand or so Snow Geese! What fun!







A Red-tailed Hawk cruised along the levee:



On the way home,what we think were three Trumpeter Swans were in a corn field just south of Duck Creek Road:

Emiquon and Duck Island in November

I made it to once this month, unless I drive down there tomorrow! I drove down early this month, on the 7th. I stopped at Duck Island, Rice Lake Conservation Area. It was pretty quiet. The sand and gravel mine was quietly churning away. From the road it sounded like a freight train in the distance.

Gulls were swarming around Rice Lake.


A blind out on the water surrounded by decoys probably had a hunter in it, but I didn't hear any shots while I was there.


Actual Ducks were hiding in the flooded back waters of the waterfowl preserve, safe from the hunters.


At Thompson Lake,waterfowl covered the lake. Most of the ones I could identify were coots, but there were also some Gadwalls, Blue-winged Teal, and Pied-billed Grebes.




A Northern Harrier was flying over the bluffs along Prairie Road.


A Sharp-shinned Hawk sat in a tree along the bluff with glaring light behind him.

Emiquon Bio Blitz

Saturday October 11 was the Emiquon Bio Blitz. In the morning, I went out in a canoe with a biologist looking for water fowl (and struggling to paddle the canoe! good thing the water was pretty calm that morning!), and then pulled on some high water waders and went out searching for invertebrates living in Thompson Lake. In the afternoon, after a wonderful lunch of burgers grilled at the UIS field station, I attended workshops looking at the invertebrates under microscopes and identifying prairie plants, which was a challenge after the blooms have dried up and the seeds have blown away.


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A pair of juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons flew over:

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Hundreds of waterfowl flushed:

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Hundreds of Tree Swallows swarming in and out of the few trees growing along the former agricultural canals:

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A view down the canal, tiny white specs are egrets roosting in the trees:

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A beaver swimming to his den along the side of the canal:

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A Common Yellowthroat peeking out from the corn growing along Prairie Road:

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View from Prairie Road:

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Canton power plant off in the distance.

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A cave in the bluff along Clark road.

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On Thompson Lake: Emiquon in September

Ed and I had the opportunity to go out on Thompson Lake in one of the Nature Conservancy's canoes. The view from the lake is wonderful. Lots of clouds that day, making for some interesting photographs.

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This heron was flying with such a straight neck that I thought it was a crane! As it prepared to land on the beaver lodge on Thompson Lake, it pulled its neck back in and regained its heron composure.

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Emiquon Grows More Beautiful With Every Passing Day

One morning in August, I visited Emiquon and tooks some photos from Thompson Levee:

July Explorations

After working with volunteers planting wet prairie plants, TNC treated us to a tour of Thompson Lake from their pontoon boat. We saw many wonderful things that are not easily seen without a boat.

This butterfly turned out to be a moth. It was wandering around the milkweed along one of the old farm canals on the east side of Thompson Lake, near the now under water Pumphouse Road.
Alypia octomaculata; Owlet Moth Family Noctuidae; Forester Moth Subfamily Agaristinae
From eNature.com (Click title above to link to the article).
"Adults fly in bright daylight and are often mistaken for butterflies. The caterpillars spin thin cocoons of silk and litter or wood chips on the ground or in tunnels cut into wood. There is 1 generation a year."

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Thousands of Bank Swallows were swarming over the waters of Thompson Lake, landing briefly in the few trees and shrubs that still exist along the farming canals in the center of Thompson Lake.

This summer of 2008 a dozen or more Black-necked Stilts have been inhabiting one of the canals left from the farming where Thompson Lake now resides. I was fortunate to catch a ride on a tour given by The Nature Conservancy after a day of volunteer work planting Cardinal Flowers in the wet prairie around Thompson Lake.

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As the storm passed through the Emiquon valley, a golden light seeped in over the prairie.

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Looking towards Canton from the Prairie Road, just after a great thunder and lightning storm passed over Emiquon.

Muskrat at Emiquon, Thompson Lake
Originally uploaded by jward199

This muskrat had his/her eye on me as we passed the den in our pontoon boat.

Spotted Sandpiper with Black-necked Stilt at Emiquon
Originally uploaded by jward199

A Spotted Sandpiper was peeping around with the Black-necked Stilts at Thompson Lake, Emiquon Preserve, on July 11, 2008.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

This little Wood Duck was kind of late in responding to the take-off call from the mama. But his eyes show his intention to flee, which he presently did!