It Hardly Seems Possible

Yesterday we woke up to frigid temperatures, snow covered ground and thick layers of ice on pond and puddles. Exactly what you would expect in the first week of March in Chicago. But today is an entirely different story.


With a high of 67 degrees it seems like a whole other world. The turtles are basking in the sun, clearly enjoying the warmth.


There quite literally is not a cloud in the sky and what a stunningly blue sky it is too.


The Canada Geese are clearly feeling spring in the air as many of them are already paired off.




There are tiny shoots of green appearing amongst the leaves and mud.


The trees are putting huge energy into some fat, round, sticky buds.



The conifers are producing clusters of tiny new pine cones.


And the poor daffodils are very confused and pushing out very early buds.


Even the seagulls are full of the joys of spring, squealing and wheeling effortlessly in the warm winds blowing over the lake.



This certainly isn't a normal spring day in Chicago but you most definitely will not hear me complaining.

Nature Notes hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Masses of Mergansers

'When you are done at work you need to go out to the mouth of the harbour, there are hundreds of ducks out there.' That was the email that my husband sent me this afternoon. So when I finished work I went home, grabbed my camera and binoculars and set out to the harbour entrance. Sure enough there were little black dots scattered all across the water.


Upon closer inspection they turned out to be Red-breasted Mergansers. They were very shy and as I approached they scuttled across the surface of the water to get away from me.


I sat quietly and eventually they started to move closer. Of course every time a jogger or a cyclist went past they moved away again.


It was pretty chilly and over time my fingers were gradually going numb.


The pretty red headed females had a little more courage and led the way.




Not to be outdone the striking males with their bright white collar soon followed along.





Just love that crazy head crest!



If you think this is a lot of photos - you have no idea!! This is a very small fraction. I wonder what this female is saying to her mate?


Nature Notes hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods.

Snow at Last!

We have been dodging the inevitable bullet for two months now - where was winter? The sky was clear and blue, the sun was shining and we hadn't frozen. The jet stream that usually dips straight down from northern Canada to us and delivers a hefty whack of snow, ice and frigid temperatures has been staying far to our north but we knew that couldn't last.


Last week it finally arrived. The city with all its sharp edges, hard angles and loud noise is suddenly softened and quietened by a soft white blanket. The world is suddenly monochrome and gentle. My walk home from work was very peaceful.


Even the geese on the pond were wearing a coat of white snow.

A Sneak Peek

Well it has been a long time coming. It was well over a year ago when I first sat down in a little meeting room with our exhibits team and members of the education department to begin planning our next big 'in house' exhibit and now we are just two days away from opening it to the public. And although the boards are still up


I am going to give you a sneak preview of what we have been toiling away at for so long.
The title of the exhibit is Nature's Architects and, as the name suggests, it showcases all the incredible structures that creatures create. It explains the techniques, the materials used and why the structures are created. It has been a long, and at times painful process but now the opening is upon us we are feeling quite happy with how things have turned out.
The centerpiece of the exhibit is a huge termite mound (a little homage to my favorite place in the world!)


which towers 15 feet high. The signage explains all the amazing features of these structures (if you want to know more you will have to come and see the exhibit!)


I think the exhibits team did an amazing job of creating such a realistic representation, it was fun seeing it slowly growing out on the loading dock of the museum. There is even a little area that allows you to see inside.


You can explore a Prairie Dog town and learn what all the different tunnels and chambers are used for.


And visit with that most industrious of North American species, the beaver and learn how he builds things just to his liking.


We have a working beehive. They are currently being fed in the hive but when the weather finally warms up, that little pipe at the back of the hive gives them direct access to the outside world so that they can go and gather nectar from our surrounding prairie areas.


While you are with the bees you can learn the dance steps that they use to communicate to each other.


We have incorporated some of our extensive collections to highlight the plethora of different birds nest designs and materials


I just can't resist the hummingbird nests, they are too perfect.


And as for new charges that will come under my care. We couldn't really do an exhibit about builders and not include spiders could we?


So we have got trapdoor spiders and the beautiful orb weavers too


Although we are still working on a better way to light their display so that you can see the webs better.


Ants also just had to be included


And the mysterious caddisflies


But by far the noisiest new animals I have got are the Monk Parakeets


They are an exotic species that have established themselves very successfully in and around Chicago in recent years. They build massive communal nests usually on power lines so we tried to recreate their Chicago environment in the exhibit.


Another little personal homage was the inclusion of a section about weaver birds. The footage of the industrious males constructing their masterpiece nests made me feel quite winsome for the colony who used to build over our lagoon every year.
And if you fancy your chances as a weaver bird you can even try your nest building skills but you can only use a beak and a foot (hand puppet)! Don't worry, abject failure is perfectly acceptable. It just makes what these little birds create even more spectacular.


Other tests of skill include trying to move as much soil as an aardvark does when it digs (are you noticing another African link here? Well lets face it, all the coolest animals live in Africa!!!)
Have I left anything out? Probably, but I have been working on this project for so long now I am starting to see nests and webs and burrows in my sleep!

The press gets 'let in' tomorrow and then on Friday we finally take down the boards and open to the public. Phew! It has been a long journey but we've almost made it.


Photo Credits - CJT