Nature's Storytellers

A Blog About Nature in Our DuPage Forest Preserves

Walking in the Rain

Have you ever planned a hiking trip at a DuPage forest preserve, only to find out that the sunny nice day you were planning has turned into a grey, rainy day?
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Five Ways to Relax in DuPage Forest Preserves

With all that’s happening in the world this year, it helps to find ways to take time for ourselves and relax. And it’s good for you!
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A Decade of Studying the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly

on 8/11/20 4:06 PM By | Tom Velat | 0 Comments | Insider Health and wellness Wildlife Nature
Populations of the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly have grown from little more than 100 to 2,000 in the 10 years DuPage Forest Preserve District ecologists have been studying, nurturing and protecting the rare butterfly.
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Get Hooked on Fishing

A lot of people are looking for fun things to do outdoors close to home. If you haven’t already, why not try fishing?
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Do Only Female Mosquitoes Bite?

on 7/8/20 9:57 AM By | Abby Dean | 0 Comments | Insider Health and wellness Wildlife Nature
Many people are surprised to learn that only female mosquitos bite animals and humans.
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Turning to Nature in a Time of Turmoil

Many of us are staying in our homes as the COVID-19 global pandemic has led to quarantines, closures and social distancing.
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Get Healthy With Forest Therapy

on 2/20/20 10:19 AM By | Abby Dean | 0 Comments | Insider Health and wellness Recreation Take 5 Conservation Nature
Looking for new ways to improve wellness and promote relaxation this winter? Try forest therapy! Inspired by the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, forest therapy involves taking in the atmosphere of the forest. Translated as "forest bath," shinrin-yoku does not refer to actual bathing. Instead of submerging in water, forest bathers soak up the atmosphere of the forest. 
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Start Your Day with Yoga on the Lawn

Yoga. It’s the oldest new thing around these days and for good reason.
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Protect Yourself from Ticks While Outdoors

on 5/23/19 9:25 AM By | Andres Ortega | 0 Comments | Insider Trails Health and wellness Wildlife Nature
We need to talk. It’s going to be awkward, it’s a subject we’d all like to avoid, but it’s best for everyone if we just put it out there: ticks are all around you.
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Keep Kids Learning with Fun Summer Day Camps

Help your child unplug from video games and connect to nature with our fun outdoor day camps for kids and teens. 
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Our Top 10 Things to Do to #OptOutside

Between the Thanksgiving dinner prep and the holiday shopping spree, get outdoors with your family and friends to experience the physical, emotional and spiritual rewards of spending time in nature. Today an ever-growing body of scientific research finds that nature is good for the body, mind and spirit. Nature makes us healthier, sharper and even happier, too! 
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Forest Fave: Willowbrook Butterfly Garden

When Willowbrook Wildlife Center site manager Sandy Fejt needs a break from caring for injured native wildlife at the center, she doesn’t have to look far. One of Sandy’s favorite spots at the Glen Ellyn forest preserve is the butterfly garden. She helped with the original design of the garden and loves to teach visitors the benefits of creating a garden out of native plants. Sandy plays a large part in the District’s mission to grow and maintain milkweed plants to provide habitat and food for the struggling monarch butterfly population. 
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Get to Know Nature's Nasties

Ah, summer in DuPage County. Time to get reacquainted with the incredible array of plants and wildlife that call the forest preserves home. Sure, the thought of a few of them might make your skin itch or crawl, but learning what makes them do what they do — and what we can do to avoid them — can alleviate a lot of the uneasiness. So take a deep breath and read on!
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Spring's Nature Reads for Our Natural World Book Club

Banner image by Sam Greenhalgh/CC BY 2.0 Spring wildflowers are starting to pop up, that chilly winter breeze is dying down, and buds are appearing on our trees. As excitement grows for spring in our preserves, The "Natural World Book Club" at Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center is eager to announce its next three reads.
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The Natural World Book Club

With the new year fast approaching, most of us are thinking about how we want to refresh our lives in 2018. For some of us, it might be to become more active. Others may want to spend more time on their personal health or wellbeing. For many, the new year brings the opportunity to start new hobbies and learn new things. The “Natural World Book Club” at Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center can help! Banner image by Sam Greenhalgh/CC BY 2.0
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A Walk in the Woods with Our Four-Legged Friends

Strolling through a forest preserve is great; walking with a best friend through a forest preserve is the best. I have a few best friends, but when I want to walk alone but not all the way alone, I love to bring my six-year-old dog, Jacob.
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Fall in Love with Fall in Our Preserves

Fall in DuPage County kicks off with the goldenrod bloom in September, and it’s the first sign that 90-degree days are coming to an end, in a predestined nod to the tipping planet.
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Take 5 and Get Happy

Whether broadcast on cable news, shared on Facebook or printed in the Conservationist, the word is spreading. Spending time outside — even five minutes — is good for you. Fortunately, with nearly 26,000 acres and 145 miles of trails, you can get a healthier body, sharper mind and happier you without ever leaving the county.
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