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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Originally uploaded by jward199



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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!

Beavers at Thompson Lake, Indigo Bunting & Dragonfly

Last week my friend and I drove down to Emiquon. Thompson Lake covers a huge expanse of the floodplain on the east side of IL 78. We did not find many waders or other waterfowl though. One egret flew over and later one heron flew over, but none were in the water as we had expected. A few coots and a couple of mallards were in one of the canals, and a few killdeer were around. The main attractions at the lake were the dragonflies. Many different dragonflies, Green Darner, Saddlebags, Blue Damselfly, among others. The flowers in the prairie that was burned earlier this spring are fantastic. Yellow Lance-leaf Tickweed mixed with the deep purple/blue of the Spiderwort interspersed among the bright green of the other plants were a delight to our senses. A gorgeous Indigo Bunting sang from a stalk not far from Prairie Road, giving me a chance to photograph him without leaving the car.

The past several times I've visited the lake, I've not seen any egrets or herons, except an occasional flyover. On Saturday there were five in different spots foraging in the wet grass.

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Originally uploaded by jward199

Evidence that beavers are in the area!

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Indigo Bunting by Prairie Road at Emiquon

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Many dragonflies hovered over and around Thompson Lake: Black Saddlebags, Halloween Pennant, Eastern Pondhawk, and a blue Damselfly, among others.

The prairie at Emiquon is carpeted with Spiderwort and Lanceleaf tickseed.

Nesting Tree Swallows & Flycatchers

Tree Swallows are nesting in the bluebird box along Prairie Road at the Emiquon Preserve.

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Originally uploaded by jward199





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Emiquon in April

Before the Emiquon Corp of Discovery meeting I took a walk along the ridge. I walked down a tractor path leading to the prairie below. On my last visit a couple of weeks ago this prairie and the ridge had been burned by The Nature Conservancy; it is already turning green again. Field Sparrows singing all over the place, each declaring his territory. Tufted Titmice, White-crowned Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers are just the birds I could identify in the poor light. The view of Thompson Lake from the ridge is expansive; Emiquon lies spread out before you, as far as you can see in all directions, from horizon to horizon. You can see the Havana power plant to the south and the Canton plant to the north. That's how far you can see! On the way back to the car, four crows flew over and an American Kestrel flew rapidly by. One American Bald Eagle was soaring over Thompson Lake. The sun began peeking through the cloudy sky. Hundreds of American Coots were swimming in the shallow waters of Thompson Lake. Thompson Lake has expanded so far! it covers the roads that we used to be able to drive!

 

 

 

Emiquon Ridge in Black and White.

 

 

 

The Nature Conservancy has been doing controlled burns at Emiquon, in the prairie and up on the ridge. It is amazing how fast it is turning green again!