May 2015

Dixon Park District 804 Palmyra Street

Dixon, Illinois 61021 815-284-3306 Debra Carey,

Executive Director

Ruth Edwards Nature Center in Lowell Park

2114 Lowell Park Road Dixon, Illinois 61021

815-288-5209 Greg Hunter,

Natural Resources Director

The main purpose of a park is to preserve, restore, develop, and make accessible natural scenery. A park is not primarily a place for play, but rather to feed one’s soul.

—O.C. Simonds

How to Plant Milkweed, and Help a Monarch!

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Choose your site. Milkweed needs LOTS of sunshine!

Wait until the soil temperature is above 55 degrees (late May).

Spade or rake up an area - it does not need to be perfectly level or groomed.

Large areas help to draw in the monarchs and supply plenty of leaves for caterpillars and flower nectar for butterflies. Chat with your neighbor to plant contigu-ous areas of milkweeds.

One tablespoon of seed will gen-erously plant an area about 4 feet by 4 feet.

NUTHATCH NEWS

Plant seed no more than 1/4 inch deep into the soil.

Lightly pat soil over seed. Water as needed. Keep new plants free of weeds.

Monarch butterflies lay their eggs exclusively on Milkweed plants, mak-

ing them the sole food source for their larvae. Once found in abundance in nearly every farm field, ditch, and dis-

turbed site, Common Milkweed num-bers have been in dramatic decline in recent years, due in part to suburban development and the increased effi-ciency of herbicides used in conjunc-

~continued on the following page

tion with herbicide-tolerant, genet-ically modified row crops. It spreads readily by seed and underground rhi-zomes, and its taproot can withstand

drought. Common Milkweed is one of the easiest and fastest to establish of the Milkweeds and planting more, even in small ur-ban pockets, can provide personal

satisfaction while helping Monarchs. The large flower can vary in the color range from nearly white to deep pink-purple. The fragrance is very delicate and pleasing and numerous native pollinators will benefit during its long bloom time.

Free seed available at the Ruth Edwards Nature Center

in Lowell Park and at the Dixon Park District office.

Native Seed source: Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, Minnesota

May at Ruth Edwards Nature Center

Platter Prints

Using recycled Styrofoam trays, par-ticipants will punch various leaf de-signs into the surface from which a print will be made. Date…………………Saturday, May 2 Time………………………1 - 3:30 pm Ages……………....2nd grade and up Maximum…………....…8 participants Younger students will require adult supervision.

Make Tracks After a short session in which every-one will learn to identify a variety of mammal footprints, participants will make their own reference charts us-ing rubber ink stamps. Date…………….…..Saturday, May 9 Time…………..…..……...1 - 3:30 pm Ages……………....2nd grade and up Maximum………….......8 participants

Let It “Bug” You! Come learn about the world of in-sects, and make your own bug sculpture. Date…...…………..Saturday, May 16 Time………….……...…….....1 - 4 pm Ages……………......1st grade and up Maximum……………....8 participants Younger students will require adult supervision.

“I will be the gladdest thing under the sun. I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one!” ~Edna St. Vincent Millay

Mushroom Pie dac

About 20 years ago, Aunt Hazel and my friend Cassandra ventured with me on a prairie chicken counting trip to Wisconsin. While the boom-boom-boom of the male prairie chick-ens was amazing, a side visit to the Civil War-era home of Dr. Frances and Dr. Frederick Hamerstrom re-mains as a cherished memory. Both well-respected wildlife biolo-gists and students of the great Aldo Leopold, the Hamerstrom home was certainly usable, animal-friendly, and offered no airs. A great horned owl lived in a corner of the living room. A zinc bathtub hung on an outside wall. Antique silk wall hangings from Dr. Frances' side of the family (she was a Boston debutante) decorated most of the interior. The Hamerstroms were a true delight, and I view the brief time spent in their presence as an honor. She wrote numerous books; please take time this summer to en-joy one or two. She also wrote cook-books, and the following recipe is her own words from the Wild Food Cookbook.

Mushroom Pie Pie making is an art. It takes more than art lessons to make an artist, and it takes more than recipes to make a pie-maker. The going rate for my pies is fifty-five dollars apiece, and further more, I am eager to

share my secrets. The crust is of the essence, and the same skill is need-ed for fruit pies, mushroom pies, or any pies.

3/4 cup lard 2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt

Lard varies, flour varies, temperature varies. It's just beyond me to circum-vent these variations by dependence upon recipes and measuring cups! Try to learn from a good pie-maker, rather than from a book. Using a large, dull knife, cut the lard into lightly salted flour. Work quickly until there is no loose flour, but stop be-fore the dough becomes even-textured. Add barely enough water to hold the dough together. Lightly pat a wad of dough about the size of a small grapefruit into a ball and put in on a lightly floured wooden table. Roll from the center toward the edg-es. If your crust persists in cracking apart at the edges, start humming a little tune. Your pie will not be pretty; it will probably be patched, and it is sure to be praised. If, on the other hand, the edges remain smooth, there is little cause for rejoic-ing...such crusts are manageable. They taste like cardboard and even polite guests tend to leave rather a lot of crust on their plates. (If Dr. Hamerstrom's crust instruc-tions strike fear into your heart, you can always purchase a pie crust from

the refrigerated section of your gro-cery store!)

Once the bottom crust is safely in-serted into a glass pie plate, prepare the mushroom filling: 2 pounds of morel mushrooms, well cleaned of all sand and grit, and well dried of water 1 pint heavy whipping cream 4 tablespoons lemon juice 4 beef bouillon cubes 1 cup sour cream

Slice and sauté mushrooms in butter, goose or duck fat. Add whipping cream, bouillon cubes, and lemon juice. Carefully add just enough flour to slightly thicken. Add sour cream last, and remove from heat. You may add up to one cup sour cream as needed. This will make enough filling for two pies - one is never enough. Her recipe ends at this point. We would suggest adding a top crust and baking in a 325° oven until the crust is fully-baked and brown. Cool for 1 hour before cutting. Enjoy thor-oughly!

Dixon Park District Prescribed Burning

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In August 2014 Smokey Bear turned 70 years old. His message, “Only you can prevent forest fires,” has been very effective in teaching us to be careful with fires in our na-tion’s forests. As a result, many be-lieve that any fire is bad and damag-es the wild areas we treasure. While Smokey Bear’s message is relevant today - always being careful with our campfires and other human-started fires - fire is actually a very important part of many ecosystems. Pre-scribed fire at first appears destruc-tive, but is in reality very beneficial in the long run. In our area, natural resource management agencies, both govern-mental and private, have specially trained prescribed burn teams to per-form planned and controlled burns on grassland and forested lands. Prescribed burns help release nu-trients to the soil, control invasive species, reduce competition of invad-er plant species, encouraging germi-nation of fire dependent plant spe-cies to provide more diverse and healthy grasslands and forests. The Dixon Park District’s pre-scribed burn crew has been involved in several prescribed burns this spring along with its area natural re-source management partners includ-ing the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Nachusa Grasslands

(The Nature Conservancy), Amboy Marsh (Illinois Audubon Society), and most importantly all the volunteers. These groups train together to main-tain credentials required, share equipment, and combine teams in or-der to execute the burns safely and effectively.

From the Drey of Nick Nutcakes

Hi, Folks:

It's May, the month to gorge

on flower petals, sweet, sappy

tree buds, asparagus from some-

one else's garden.....ahhh.

With two new mouths to feed,

Mrs. Nutcakes and I actively for-

age for the better part of each

day. And most definitely differ-

ent from the snow-covered land-

scape of January, filling our tum-

mies is an easier job during clem-

ent weather.

Just what do we eat? Well, it

depends on the season. In the

dead of winter, our diet consisted

of cached acorns, hickory nuts, and

walnuts, along with seeds from the

many coniferous trees in the Pine-

tum at Lowell Park. The spillage

from the bird feeders at the Ruth

Edwards Nature Center affords us

easy pickings for sunflower seeds.

Springtime brings a smorgas-

bord, and I will admit to indulging

in a few, or as many as I can

snatch, bird eggs. I guiltily admit

to even eating a couple of baby

birds. We do need protein, espe-

cially Mrs. Nutcakes, as she is

nursing her babies.

Continuing on the protein menu,

June bugs are delightfully crunchy.

Earthworms sometimes can be a

bit slimy. Other smaller insects

are swallowed in one gulp. The

problem with insects is that eating

a butterfly gives us a bad name,

when in reality, the normal balance

of Nature would provide sufficient

butterflies for us to occasionally

enjoy a colorful snack. But in to-

This spring, Dixon Park District fire crew has been involved in 15 con-trolled burns totaling 471 acres.

day's world, the butterfly popula-

tion is crashing due to chemical

use and genetically-modified

crops.

Fungi, lichen, twigs, leaves, and

juicy plant stems are all part of

our omnivorous diet. Grains such

as corn, soy-

beans, wheat,

and rye are

s o m e t i m e s

eaten, but

with all the

chemical sprays, including those

scary neonicitinoids, we avoid most

crops. Tulip and crocus bulbs can

disappear before your eyes when

we are in the vicinity. Bulbs of na-

tive plants are the very best -

mmmm.....the tiny tubers of Spring

Beauties are delicious!

And boy, finding a big, fat mo-

rel mushroom is a prize to fight

over! And we do fight-- I've wit-

nessed (and yes, been involved in)

a few knock-down drag-out tussles

over this delectable item.

Until next month,

Nick Nutcakes

National Wildflower Week May 4 - 10, 2015

Across the nation, wildflowers growing in woodlands, wetlands, for-ests, beside highways, in gardens, and elsewhere are valued for their natural beauty. And as Lady Bird Johnson once said, they “give us a sense of where we are in this great land of ours.” What bet-ter way to commem-orate these beautiful features of our land-scapes than helping preserve and protect them? Why do wildflowers matter? Wild-flowers and native plants help con-serve water, reduce mowing costs, provide habitat for birds, butterflies, and other wildlife, and they protect the soil from erosion. In addition, na-tive plants can require fewer re-sources to maintain than plants that aren't native to a region. But many wildflowers nationally are in danger from habitat loss, inva-sive species, and other factors. Wildflowers are an integral part of our ecosystem, especially at Lowell Park and in the oak savanna area at the park office. These wildflowers have been in place since the last gla-cial period and are considered to be our native herbaceous layer. They

deserve to survive and thrive be-cause this is their home; humans are the invaders and displacers. Garlic mustard is a real threat to flowers at Lowell Park and in the savanna. This insidious European plant smells like garlic and can be eaten as salad green. But it displaces all native vegetation, and soon we have a sea of garlic mustard and no wildflowers. Help us remove garlic mustard by volunteering to pull this nasty weed. It does not have thorns, is not poi-sonous, and is pretty easy to pull. Call the Nature Center or the Park office and schedule an hour to help us "save the wildflowers!”

cide use, habitat loss, and disease, according to the U.S. Fish and Wild-life Service. USFWS halted the use of products that include neonico-tinoids on federal lands. The EPA is conducting an assessment of the six types of neonicotinoids. In the interim, the agency said in a state-ment that its move stemmed from the agency's "ongoing effort to pro-tect pollinators." Please be aware that just about every flower, bedding plant, and even vegetable plant you buy has been treated with neonicotinoids, and the result is insects, including butterflies, that feed on the plant's nectar, pollen, leaves, or stem will ingest neonicotinoids, and the result is neurological damage and/or death. In our area, the Palmyra Greenhouse does carry flowers and plants that have not been treated with neonicotinoids.

U.S. to halt expanded use of some insecticides amid honey bee decline (Reuters) - 3 April 2015 ... The U.S. Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA) said it was un-likely to approve new or expanded uses of certain pesticides while it evaluates the risks they may pose. Neonicotinoid pesticides are rou-tinely used in agriculture and ap-plied to plants and trees in gardens and parks. Their widespread use has come under scrutiny in recent years after a drop in the number of honey bees and other pollinating in-sects. The decline is attributed to fac-tors including pesticide and herbi-

Farmers’ Market

Fresh fruits and veggies, herbs, eggs, farm-raised meat, and baked goods - and sometimes crafts and flowers are available. Haymarket Square Park was cre-ated in 1842 specifically as a place for farmers to market their wares. Let’s keep history rolling! May 2, the Market will resume on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, 7 am - Noon.

Mustela frenata dac

A long-tailed weasel popped into my view last week. A few days earli-er, a volunteer at Amboy Marsh Wild-life Sanctuary witnessed a mink en-tering an irregularly-shaped hollow in an oak tree. A game camera was placed so as to catch any action. What appeared on the video was Mustela frenata, long-tailed weasel. This large species of Mustela sports a lovely black tipped tail which

can be almost half the length of its body. Adult weasels range from 11 to 15 inches in body length.

They are found in a variety of habi-tats, but are neither common nor abundant. They take advantage of existing burrows - they are not dig-gers! A hollow in a tree would be something worthy of investigation to a long-tailed weasel. In 1858, Robert Kennicott wrote: “It is said not to burrow readily, but usually to take possession of the bur-row of another animal, or to choose its retreat in some natural crevice among rocks, or in the slight excava-tions formed by itself under trees....have known it to live in hollow logs in summer.” This mammal is nocturnal but far more diurnal than many other Illinois carnivores. If you spend quality time

in the woods, you may be rewarded by the sight of this curious creature. If surprised, the weasel may pause to get a better look at you! Long-tailed weasels are superb hunters and climbers and often take off after fox and grey squirrels, leaping branch to branch. “A hungry long-tail, once on the trail of rabbit, is an intent, relentless pursuer. A healthy rabbit, however, will give the weasel a good run and may cleverly confuse its own trail by hopping back and forth over a small area. Again, the rabbit may freeze motionless and be nearly lost to sight in a tangle of brush so that the wea-sel may pass it by momentarily. The rabbit may make a confusing maze of tracks before dashing off....but once the gap is narrowed between predator and prey, the weasel makes a quick dash.....and the rabbit ceas-es to struggle. Hoffmeister and Mohr (1957) Rabbits, birds, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, grasshoppers, snakes, and in our area, six-lined racerun-ners-- weasels are carnivores and rarely pass up any prey. They have been known to scavenge on road-kill but rarely because they are good hunters. Kennicott’s 1858 notes continue: “...the weasel destroys great numbers of meadow mice. A gentleman from Wisconsin related to me that, while following a plough, in spring, he noticed a weasel with a mouse in its mouth, running past him. It entered a hollow log. Upon

Disease Affecting Minks & Muskrats dac

This month's Illinois Issues maga-zine carried an informative article on the transmission of a cat-borne parasite that causes toxoplasmosis, a disease commonly spread through cat feces. The parasite must reproduce in cats but is found in other mammals and in hu-mans. A healthy human immune sys-tem usually can ward off the onset of serious symptoms, but anyone with a weakened immune system is at risk. University of Illinois scientists con-firmed the Toxoplasma gondii parasite in 20 of 26 minks and 18 of 30 musk-rats tested in Champaign County. A high prevalence in minks was suspect-ed because they eat mice which may already be infected. The muskrat inci-dence was more difficult to explain since muskrats are herbivores. A shrinking number of natural wetlands/natural habitats for muskrats, and the presence of tile drainage systems which channel agricultural runoff into streams and wetlands, means that a higher likelihood of the disease could be present in agricultural ditches where muskrats are now living. Muskrats can pick up the disease passively - proba-bly through grooming or drinking water. It is also likely they're picking it up by consuming aquatic vegetation with at-tached oocysts (a cyst containing a par-asite zygote). Researchers suspect that because of the lack of wetlands in the area (and throughout Illinois) ani-

cutting open this log, five young weasels were found, and the re-mains of a large number of mice. Pleased to learn that his supposed enemy was in fact a friend, the farmer spared the young ones. Like most of our native wildlife, weasels rarely make a negative impact upon humans. Not to say that once having stumbled upon a bounty of domestic chickens, the weasel will not take advantage of an easy food source, but mice are indeed the weasel's first choice in food. Right now in May litters of baby weasels born in April are growing by leaps and bounds. While an adult weasel eats about 20% of its weight daily in food, a youngster consumes up to 25% or more of its weight each day. Hairless at birth, they don't open their eyes until the 37th day. Weaning occurs about this time, and at about 2 months of age baby weasels begin to capture prey. Although weasels have an extremely high metabolism, they have been known to live up to eight years in captivity. The lifespan in the wild is much short-er. Predators of weasels include great horned owls, coyotes, do-mestic cats and dogs, and, of course, vehicles!

“Butterflies are self-propelled flow-

ers.”

~Robert A. Heinlein

mals are exposed through agricultural runoff. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources webpage gives us some history on wetland loss in our state as follows: Unfortunately, the actual damage to the historic wetland re-source is greater. Only 917,765 acres (approximately three-fourths) of exist-ing wetlands can be considered natu-ral wetlands. The other 336,126 acres (one-fourth) of the wetlands have been modified or created by dikes, impoundments, or excavation activities. These figures reveal Illi-nois has lost over 90 percent of its original pre-settlement wetlands. This figure is even higher for Lee County; in pre-settlement, two large

wetlands - Winnebago Swamp and Inlet Swamp - were pre-sent. Both are now drained for

agriculture use with the exception of tiny remnants in protected areas. Northern Illinois, once home to a vast amount of the state's wetland acreage, now only contains the re-maining 22 percent (approximately 283,500 acres) (Suloway and Hubbell 1994). Wetlands are incubators of life. During May, a high number of crea-tures listed on the Endangered and Threatened Species List, and many creatures listed on the Species In

Greatest Need of Conservation List, require wetlands as a part of their breeding cycle. Blanding's turtle, 4-toed salaman-ders-- these are just two of hundreds of listed species that depend upon high quality wetland habitat. Water is magic, and when it is artificially re-moved from wildlife habitat, all species decline in quality, number, and diversi-ty. I'm often reminded about what the late, great outdoorsman John Husar said in a Trib article many years ago. He knew the difference between a wetland and an artificially-created, bermed puddle of low-quality water. By John Husar | October 20, 1994 I Chicago Tribune “Preach all you wish about pre-cious wetlands. But you'll never know the spirit of those babies until you slog toward a duck blind in the blackness before dawn, hoping you won't be lost or drowned. To many duck hunters, wetlands are flooded grain fields that have been pumped full of water. That's what we are reduced to, with most real wetlands drained, farmed, or developed away. The phony ones are easy to navigate-- just stay on the berm or levee surrounding the field…”