May Flowers

In early May, on a walk through a wooded valley at Emiquon, I found some of the usual woodland wildflowers and three morel mushrooms.

Virginia Bluebells:


Purple Trillium:


Spring Beauty:


Slender Cordalis:


Morel Mushroom:


Horsetail Rushes:

Emiquon in April

I frequently photograph the estuary that has formed at the junction of IL 78 Highway and Clark Road. Some day soon, I will not be able to see the estuary for the trees. 70 percent of the bottomland forest trees planted by TNC in 2007 have survived and are thriving!


At the other end of the lake, one utility pole remains. The rest came down with the incredible movement of the frozen lake water in the winter of 2009-2010.


From the south levee, you can see all the way to the stacks of the Duck Creek power plant, 10 miles to the north.


The grass at the wetland pull-off turned green seemingly over night.


Looking North, you can see the bluffs in the distance. What a wide river valley!


Cormorants hung out in the remaining trees sticking out of the water on the far side of the lake.


Heading along County 9 Road, the bluffs have a different appearance.


The Nature Conservancy burned the prairie next to TNC headquarters this spring. I arrived a couple of days after the burn, when all was black.








The caretaker's cottage really stands out against the brilliant blue sky, white clouds, and bright green grass on this April afternoon.




Prairie Road winds around between the bluffs and the prairie.


My favorite Hackberry tree also stands out against the blue sky filled with billowing clouds.


Looking back at the sun, which is beginning to set over the bluffs.


One last stop, at the Prairie Road wetland, before I head back up the bluff towards home.

Pelicans, Cormorants, and Coots at Emiquon

Yesterday there were a few dozen pelicans out by the Pump House Road pull-off. Surrounding the pelicans were many hundreds of Double-crested Cormorants, dozens of diving ducks, including Hooded Mergansers, and a couple dozen Ring-billed Gulls frolicking in the water.

A group of American Coots foraged for food in the mud and grass at the edge of the lake.

Ducks, Pelicans, and Snow Geese

Yesterday morning, thousands of ducks of various kinds covered the water at the flooded Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Wilder Track, and in the wetland by Bellrose trail, as well as along the edges of Thompson Lake.








On Thompson Lake, a small flock of pelicans was actively fishing, as were gulls swarming around them.



Across from County 9, a large flock of Snow Geese had been rather inactive for the past 40 minutes.


Just as we approached, they rose from the lake and began dispersing in all directions.

Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge

Snow Geese Migration

It seemed like there were a million Snow Geese spread out over Thompson Lake at TNC's Emiquon Preserve on the last weekend in February.

On Saturday Feb 26, we found thousands of birds on Thompson Lake. We stopped at the only shoulder on IL 78 Hwy, across from Dickson Mounds (County 9) Road. It was overcast and foggy in the distance, but we couldn't miss this large flock of geese.

All of a sudden, they rose from the water, circled around, and then settled down again.

On Monday, Feb 28, I went back and the geese put on an even more spectacular show.


I made this video of the geese rising en masse:


Every time I checked back last week, there were geese on the water and/or flying overhead.

Snow Geese and Eagles on Thompson Lake

Last week, as the ice started melting on Thompson Lake, Canada Geese gathered out on the edge of the water as a Northern Harrier flew over.


Snow Geese came flying over the bluff on the West side of Clark Road and just kept going.






Juvenile eagles flew over the lake and prairie at the junction of Rt. 78 and County 9 Road.








Bald eagles hung out on the melting ice covering Thompson Lake.