Color on wing(s)

A wide variety of brightly colored birds are visiting Hennen Conservation Area these days, and it appears that at least some of them have decided to call the park home for the time being!

On a daily basis at the birdfeeder, we are seeing at least three pairs of goldfinches, an indigo bunting (pictured at left), at least one pair of rose-breasted grosbeaks, a pair of cardinals, many house finches and three varieties of woodpecker: hairy, downy and red-bellied.

And, one cannot walk back by the pond without hearing the Belted Kingfisher that has been resident for about two months now. It's very sharp "squawk" seems to be a warning, but perhaps is just a greeting. As far as we can tell, it is a single bird, not a pair, so he (or she) might be lonely.

The Kingfisher is a large, blue bird with very striking markings (pictured at right), so is hard to mistake for anything else. The fact that he or she is staying by the pond leads me to believe that the pond must have fish in it.

So, if you stop by Hennen, be sure to look & listen for the Kingfisher as you walk by the pond. And keep an eye open for the other colorful birds that call this place home.

Weeds Are Us

Well, that's what Michael Pollan, author of Botany of Desire, says. He makes a compelling case.

He points out that plants we call weeds are those plants that tend to do well in areas that have been disturbed by humans - farm fields, urban areas, any suburban lawn, for example...

Add to that the fact that people have moved plants around the planet for pretty much as long as humans have been moving themselves, and one can see that weeds and people are inextricably linked.

In some cases, we have even planted the future noxious weeds ourselves. This is the case with both multiflora rose and reed canary grass, which were promoted for planting by the federal government as recently as the 1960s! Today, there is not a natural area manager around who does not curse those plants on a regular basis.

Multiflora rose, with its thorns and long, twining vines, has ripped clothes, snagged skin, and made many walks through the woods unpleasant for decades now. Cutting it and treating the cut stalks with herbicide is about the only way to get rid of it. And that is tedious, unpleasant work!

Reed canary grass (rcg), which was recommended to farmers as a forage plant for low-lying areas, has now moved on to invade nearly any wetland area. Too many wetlands that were dominated by native plants just a decade ago are now dominated by reed canary grass. Rodeo (R) is an herbicide that will kill the grass, but because rcg produces so many seeds, it can take years just to exhaust the seed bank. And, if the area has any water draining into it, there is always the likelihood that seed will flow in from infested areas upstream.

It's daunting, isn't it?

So, what can one person do?

Well, the best thing to do it to plant only native species. Red Buffalo Nursery in Hebron has a nice feature on its website that allows one to get a list of native plants that fit certain criteria (amount of sun, soil conditions, and type of plant -- grass, forb, etc)

The second best thing to do is plant only species that are not invasive. The Chicago Botanic Garden has a nice feature available to help people choose plants that are not invasive - weedy - for most every situation.

Making different choices about what we plant will help stop the increase in invasive plants crowding out our local natural areas.

If you'd like to do more, you can volunteer to help at a restoration work day!

Feeding a hungry planet?

An article in Grist caught my attention today. It is about a recent NPR Marketplace piece touting the need for getting poor, rural farmers around the world using synthetic fertilizer & other chemicals if we are ever going to produce enough food to feed 9 billion people by 2050.

The problem with the story was that it relied on one man's opinion, and did not include any other perspective. The story did not mention that the chemicals and fertilizers are too expensive for poor, rural farmers in 3rd world countries to buy. Nor did it mention that there are other, low cost ways that rural farmers can boost productivity without becoming dependent upon petroleum-based fertilizers.

Finally, the story failed to mention a groundbreaking study about the future of agriculture that was conducted by the UN, World Bank and others, and completed in 2009. The 400 agriculture experts from around the world who worked on the project for 4 1/2 years, concluded that the planet must move away from chemical & fossil-fuel dependent agriculture if we want to have a sustainable future to feed a growing world population. In fact, the study recommends using an agro-ecological type of farming at a small and mid-size scale "that does not deplete natural capital."

No question that having enough food for everyone as the world population grows is an important issue. And, synthetic fertilizers and large-scale agriculture has worked well for some in the United States to generate amazing crop yields. But one has to ask if our way of doing things is a sustainable system with the cost of fuel rising & a growing interest in local food. Plus, is the US agriculture system even the right model for other parts of the world with vastly different cultures, transportation systems, soils & climates?

Greening Your Eating?

Did you know that 15-35% of municipal waste is a combination of food and paper that is soiled with food? In California, where landfill space is extremely tight, and towns are required to divert up to 75% of their waste from landfills, they actually provide special bins to residents for kitchen scraps.

The bins are picked up each week and the material taken to commercial compost facilities. The resulting material is spread on farm fields as a valuable soil amendment. Shoot, in some places, the compost is bagged and sold in stores!

We may not have curbside compost service in our area, but that is no reason to toss vegetable scraps in the trash. Rather, more folks could be composting them!

Kitchen compost can be added to the backyard compost pile, where it will decompose along with the grass and leaves from the yard. Avoid placing meats and fats in the compost bin, but all manner of vegetable and fruit material is fair game. Egg shells, corn cobs, pineapple rinds will all break down eventually, but the smaller they are chopped up before going into the pile, the faster the microbes and other decomposers can do their work!

And composting isn't limited to residential folks. Think about restaurants, and the amount of food waste that is generated just during the food preparation process. If the vegetable and fruit waste materials were kept separate, and placed in their own disposal container, they could easily be collected for composting.

One Woodstock restaurant is already doing just that: Expressly Leslie's on the Woodstock Square - a vegetarian restaurant that specializes in Middle Eastern food - separates all their compostable material. A local vermicomposter (person who composts food using worms) picks up the food scraps for his worms. Well, except for the lemon rinds -- his worms don't like lemons. Leslie even switched to compostable materials for serving the food to dramatically reduce the waste the restaurant generates.

So, what's keeping you from composting your kitchen scraps?

Farmers' Markets Coming Soon!

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I am practically giddy thinking about the opening of Woodstock's Farmers' Market on May 3rd!

It will be open from 8am - 1pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays through October. One of the nice things about this particular market is that it is a producers' market, meaning that only items raised or made by a local farmer can be sold. This helps keep the market from becoming a craft fair, or a venue for out of state producers to sell their goods.

No, this is a place where one knows that the items purchased are locally raised, locally made and the dollars spent are going into the local economy.

And, did you know that the Woodstock Farmers' Market accepts Link Cards? This means that anyone, regardless of his or her economic situation, has the opportunity to purchase fresh, local produce and meat.

For those who have never visited a Farmers' Market, here are a couple of tips for that first trip:

1. Walk through the entire market to see what is available and to compare quality and prices. Over time, most people develop an affinity for specific vendors, but on that first visit it's good to give everything a once-over before making the first purchase.

2. Bring reusable bags. The vendors have bags, but it feels very chic to carry a canvas bag or two through the market, and to pack it full of fresh, local items. Plus, its good for the Planet!

3. If one won't be taking the produce home right away, keep a small cooler in the car to store the day's purchases until they can be refrigerated.

4. Set a budget for each visit. This helps to ensure that one doesn't buy more than can be eaten before the next market trip. Trust me, there is nothing sadder than putting an heirloom tomato into the compost bin!

5. Try something new each time. The world of produce is quite amazing - beets for instance are not just for pickling! I like to wrap mine in foil and bake them until soft, then slip the skins off and use them sliced in salads. (Or I just eat them hot out of the oven -- the small ones are so sweet!)

6. Don't be afraid to ask. The producers - and/or their staff - are there to answer questions. They will help with suggestions on how to prepare items that may be unfamiliar, and will fill one in on the special characteristics of each different heirloom variety -- which tomatoes are better for making sauce or best sliced in a salad.

Woodstock may have the most robust market in the area, but it is by no means the only one! Starting in May 2011, Harvard will have a market on Ayer Street Saturdays from 8am - 1pm. Crystal Lake and Huntley will have markets on Saturdays again this year, but won't be starting until June.

For more information about the variety of local food available in the area, check out www.localharvest.org! Happy eating!

Oaky D'Oak, we're planting Oaks!

For Earth Day (April 22) and Arbor Day (April 30), TLC is planting oaks with people throughout McHenry County. These little trees will be Mighty Oaks one day, but it could be 20 years before we're sitting under their shade!

So, what's up with that? What's the point of planting a tree if it is going to take that long to turn into a "real" tree?

Well, for those readers who have been checking out this blog for the last couple of years, you already know the answer, but let's review - for old time's sake!

McHenry County was once 40% covered in oak-hickory woods and savannas. Today, nearly 90% of those woods have been lost. Many were cleared in the earliest days of settlement for farming or building homes, barns & fences, or even to provide fuel to heat homes. In fact, during the first 40 years following settlement, 50% of the oaks were cut down. Over the following 130 years, another 38% were sacrificed - primarily for development.

So, isn't one tree as good as another?

No, Oaks are better. They really are in many ways.

Oaks have acorns. Acorns are a valuable food source for a diversity of wildlife ranging from deer to blue jays. Native people would make biscuits from acorn flour because they were potent sources of energy.

Insects love oaks, and more insects use oaks for at least some part of their lifecycles than any other type of tree. And a diversity of insects translates directly into a diversity of birds! So, even if one doesn't appreciate insects, most folks do like birds.

Oaks are McHenry County's heritage. Not maples, not willows, not cottonwoods. Oaks. Quercus. Macrocarpa (bur), Rubra (red), Bicolor (swamp white), Alba (white). And if we play our cards right -- if we all do what we can to restore, protect and regenerate our local oaks -- oaks will be our future too!

Remember, the Greeks said: A society grows great when old men & women plant [oaks] whose shade they know they shall never sit in. Let's make McHenry County a great society!!

Ponds and Winter

I had a report the other day of dead bluegills on the shore of the pond at Ryder's Woods in Woodstock. Yuck. I didn't have to clean them up (phew), but I did want understand how it happened. Winterkill seems to be the most likely culprit, although no one is sure why it took the fish so long to make it to the surface.

Here's a bit more detail: According to Randy Schietzelt, Biology Professor at Harper College, ponds need to be at least 9 feet deep in Northern Illinois to prevent winterkill of the fish. But, even if the pond is deep enough, it is still very possible for the fish and other critters to use up all of the oxygen in the pond if the freeze last a long time. As Randy pointed out, this year's freeze lasted well into March.

David Wolf, attorney, and owner of two ponds reports that he has had winterkill in both is ponds, even though one is 14 feet deep at its deepest point. As a result, he has added an aerator to the ponds which keeps the oxygen level up all winter long. David also provided some additional wisdom that he gained from his friends at Keystone Hatcheries, who have helped David out with his ponds: essentially, when a pond is frozen over solid, the water cannot gain any oxygen through a process called diffusion - this is the process whereby water absorbs a certain amount of oxygen from the atmosphere based on air temperature and barometric pressure.

Additionally, the heavy (and long-lasting) snow cover blocks off any sunlight from reaching the pond, and that means that no photosynthesis can take place. When plants photosynthesize to create food, they release oxygen as a byproduct. If they stop photosynthesizing, they also stop producing oxygen.

Finally, Duane Ambroz, former Deparment of Natural Resources employee, and current restoration specialist with Red Buffalo Nursery, explained winterkill this way: "Sounds like a combination of thick ice from the early freeze and lengthy snow cover. That equals lack of oxygen in the water. Large bodies of water, or those with inflow of water, can usually get through the winter without running out of oxygen. Smaller ponds almost always run out of oxygen without an aerator."

So, the dead fish were most likely the result of winterkill where oxygen levels dropped so low that the fish could not breathe. They may have been lodged under something and only rose to the surface when the pond started to mix as it warmed during the few warm days earlier in the week. Either that, or it's the work of the Ryder's Woods ghost...?

P.S. you probably noticed that the picture has nothing to do with the story -- I just like the colors, and thought it was much nicer than a picture of dead fish!