Thursday, October 08, 2009

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...
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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

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

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View across the wetland; more basswoods

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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

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

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Bur oak and big bluestem - a classic Midwestern savanna

5 comments:

Noelle Johnson said...

What a beautiful place in the middle of the city. Thank you for sharing.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Wow, they've really done a great job restoring that area. When I was growing up, every summer we'd go to a picnic in Caldwell Woods preserve. The woods there were so choked with invasive exotics it was hard to see anything. Thanks for the link love!

garden girl said...

Very nice! I've never been there, didn't know about it until seeing your post. Very unexpected in the middle of the big city!

MrBrownthumb @ Chicago Garden said...

LOL @ the caged basswood. Love that hands sculpture.

Roses and Lilacs said...

I haven't visited that nature center but will remember it if I'm ever in the area. LOL, poor mantis, long term health is not for him;)

It's great to meet a fellow Rockford blogger. I traveled all over the country before finally returning to Rockford like the proverbial apple wanting to fall close to its tree.
Marnie