October: North Park Village

On the advice of Mr. McGregor's Daughter, I made time in between Home Depot and Bears game last Sunday to go see some fall color at my favorite neighborhood place, the North Park Village Nature Center. Located in Chicago at Pulaski and Peterson, it is a lovely place to unwind and experience forest, wetland, and prairie all at once. I always promise myself that I'll go more often and so far this year I've done a little better. This time, I took my camera...

This praying mantis reminds visitors that smoking is bad for your health (unless you're a male mantis and your long-term health isn't really an issue); "hands" sculpture that used to be buried in the undergrowth but is now a prominent feature in the next section of woods to be restored

American basswood trees; basswood sapling in a cage (they can be vicious, you know!)

View across the wetland; more basswoods

Buck snacking on savanna grasses, I'm sure to the irritation of the habitat restorers; the female of a pair of twin fawns that were nursing until mom got nervous and walked away, leaving both fawns looking rather bereft

Again with the basswoods! Basswood leaves, just starting to turn (basswoods turn a lovely bright yellow in fall); red oak leaves

Bur oak and big bluestem - a classic Midwestern savanna