Nature's Storytellers

A Blog About Nature in Our DuPage Forest Preserves

Stressed Out? We've Got Just the Thing

Still recovering from 2020? If you’re like most people, the stress of the pandemic, working from home and e-learning has taken its toll.
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Owl's Story Tugs at Donor's Heartstrings

Sandy Youngstrom of Naperville is a wildlife enthusiast who not only enjoys bringing birds, insects and mammals to her own backyard but also supporting wild animals in her neighborhood. 
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Tales as Old as Time

on 2/24/21 7:44 AM By | Nate Hambel | 0 Comments | Insider Wildlife Nature Willowbrook
“Never forget the trail, look ever for the track in the snow; it is the priceless, unimpeachable record of the creature's life and thought, in the oldest writing known on the earth.” ~ Ernest Thompson Seton, author, artist, and nature enthusiast
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The Hidden History of Hidden Lake

Relics of the former lives of DuPage forest preserves are often hidden in plain sight, but without context they have no meaning.
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Nature's Valentines

Valentine’s Day is a day we celebrate relationships but even more than that, it is a day to celebrate love.
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Why Groundhogs Hit Snooze on Their Holiday

on 1/29/21 10:49 AM By | Nate Hambel | 0 Comments | Insider Wildlife Nature Willowbrook
How lucky it is that groundhogs, also known as woodchucks or whistle pigs, have a famous holiday named after them.
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Bird of the Year: the Pileated Woodpecker

on 1/28/21 12:07 PM By | Keriann Dubina | 0 Comments | Natural resources Wildlife Conservation Nature
They are master excavators, noisy borers and the basis for a cartoon character. And now the pileated woodpecker has been chosen as the 2021 bird of the year by the American Birding Association.
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Seven Nutty Squirrel Facts

Go nuts over squirrels on National Squirrel Appreciation Day! Held annually on Jan. 21 — in the middle of winter when food sources may be scarce — this unofficial holiday was started in 2001 by a wildlife rehabilitator named Christy Hargrove to recognize the role that squirrels play in the environment. 
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Mayslake Art Exhibit "Double Vision: Cooperative Art"

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what about art? It too is subject to interpretation, as two artistic groups from Mayslake Peabody Estate prove in their collaborative virtual art exhibit titled “Double Vision: Cooperative Art.”
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Start a New Chapter with Mayslake Book Club

Explore nature, art and history as it relates to the natural world with Mayslake's “Nature Art & Culture Peabody’s Pages Book Club Three-Part Discussion,” which starts its second year Jan. 8 (mornings) and Jan. 19 (evenings)!
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Lessons From 2020

on 12/11/20 3:21 PM By | Andres Ortega | 0 Comments | Natural resources Wildlife Conservation Nature Rehabilitation
The events of 2020 have been a great lesson for many aspects of my life. At the top of the list, I have gained an even greater appreciation for the work I do to help the natural areas of DuPage County. 
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As the Seasons Change: A Soil Opera

on 12/2/20 8:15 AM By | Stephanie Touzalin | 0 Comments | Insider Plants Wildlife Nature native plant
Soil. Mud. Dirt. Earth. That stuff on the ground that’s always been there and always looks pretty much the same. Not too much happening down there, right? Wrong.
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Raccoon Gets a Second Chance at Life

This year has been challenging for all of us, even our native wildlife. In early August, a young raccoon was found almost lifeless and covered in oil inside a restaurant grease trap.
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Wolf Spider: Friend or Foe?

on 10/27/20 11:52 AM By | Forest Preserve District of DuPage County | 0 Comments | Insider Take 5 Wildlife Nature
Ranging in size from half an inch to over two inches, these large, hairy spiders may be the fuel of nightmares for some people. 
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Fall Color Finds

When the sweaters come out and the kids are back at school, you know it’s time for another sure sign of the season: fall colors. You also know that you need go no farther than your nearest DuPage forest preserve to enjoy the show!
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On With the Show

on 10/1/20 10:15 AM By | Scott Kobal | 0 Comments | Natural resources Plants Wildlife Conservation Nature native plant
Now that fall’s officially here, we’re starting to see the first signs of color in our forest preserves. So it’s only natural that people want to know what to expect in the way of fall color displays.
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Celebrate the Mighty Oak in OAKtober

It’s fall and that means trees will soon be showing their colors. Who can resist a stroll on a crisp fall afternoon to gaze at nature’s colorful changes?
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It's for the Birds

on 9/24/20 8:36 AM By | Keriann Dubina | 0 Comments | Insider Recreation Take 5 Wildlife Nature
Do you like birds and wish you knew more about them? There are a few simple steps you can take to welcome birds in to your backyard and begin to identify them.
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Relocating Fish to a New Spring Brook

on 9/14/20 11:50 AM By | Scott Meister | 0 Comments | Insider Locations Wildlife Conservation Nature
Restoration of Spring Brook as it flows through Blackwell Forest Preserve includes building a new stream channel and removing a dam to provide better habitat and a gentler slope to allow fish to swim upstream.
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Bee Informed About Native Bees

on 9/9/20 1:16 PM By | Keriann Dubina | 0 Comments | Insider Locations Wildlife Conservation Nature native plant
Did you know Illinois is home to more than 500 species of native bees?
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