Main Ring Prairie

Fermilab employee Joseph Pygott made a trip into the Main Ring recently and shared some of his photos with FNA:

Butterfly Walk this Week

The bugs are bad, but it is always fun to be among butterflies!  Tom Peterson will lead a Butterfly Walk at noon this Thursday, August 26, at Fermilab's Interpretive Trail.  Participants are encouraged to wear mosquito repellent and/or long pants and sleeves.

All are welcome. Tom indicates that many butterflies are still out, including some typically more southern ones such as Fiery Skipper, pictured above.

Find more information about butterflies on Tom's web page.

photo credit:  Tom Peterson

Turtles in the Land of Accelerators

Blandings Turtle, photo credit:  www.petinfospot.com 

In addition to serving as the summer invasive weed crew, Mike Beck & Kevin Sheehan also performed a turtle survey to verify whether the Blanding’s turtle was still a resident of the Fermilab site and to assess the diversity and health of the turtle populations on site.


Regionally, Blanding’s Turtles, a state threatened species, are suffering due to loss of habitat and other disturbances. More information: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=111615

Three types of traps were set at 7 different locations around the Fermilab site, each for one week.

Kevin & Mike, setting a trap

In total, 48 turtles were caught, including 21 snapping turtles, 25 painted turtles and 2 red-eared sliders. Of the snapping turtles, there were 7 females and 13 males, with an average size of 12.11 inches. Four of the painted turtles were too young to identify whether male or female. Of the rest, there were six females and 15 males. The average size of all of the painted turtles was 5.28 inches. Both of the red-eared turtle captures were females, with an average size of 7.88 inches. While not trapped, a spiny softshell turtle was also identified on site.
 
 

Kevin & a young painted turtle

 
Overall results of the survey indicate that the Fermilab turtle populations are healthy, with few injuries or parasites, particularly since male and females were caught, as well as a variety of age groups.
 
 

Mike and a snapping turtle

The lack of Blanding’s may be attributable to changing ecosystems: including drainage of the marsh where it was previously identified, young ponds and frequent construction on the Fermilab site. In addition, while Blanding’s Turtles can live long lives (up to 80 years), sexual maturity doesn’t occur until around 16 years, leaving plenty of time for predators, including cars, to challenge the turtles’ longevity.

Trap full of young painted turtles

Mike and Kevin suggest improved habitats may help attract non-pioneer species, including the Blanding’s, Map and Stinkpot turtles.

Thanks for your work -- and the interesting results!

Habitat Restoration

This Saturday, August 21, Habitat Workday volunteers will gather to remove invasives and perform other tasks to help maintain Fermilab's natural areas.  Volunteers meet at the Lederman Science Center, (see map) at 9:00 a.m. Doughnuts and coffee will be served. The group will then work on different areas around the site that need attention until noon.

Last month, Barb Kristen and John Cooper worked to remove buckthorn and autumn olives from various areas in the Village.

Visiting the Great Western Prairie

from Ryan Campbell:  

The Fermilab ecological restoration seasonal workers and summer employees recently visited another prairie remnant within the Chicagoland area. We met with the site steward, Keith Olson (who also happens to be a Fermilab Prairie Harvest volunteer since the late 1970's) of the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie. Keith explained the formation, preservation, history, and community involvement of the small, 8 block strip of remnant next to an abandoned railroad line. We saw many excellent native prairie plants like Sullivant's milkweed, compass plant, blue-eyed grass, flowering spurge, lead plant, and prairie blazing star. The city of Elmhurst is supportive of this attractive, downtown prairie which makes quite the artistic accent to the Illinois Prairie Path. It was a great chance to visit a dedicated Fermi volunteer and see another example of what prairie is and how it is managed.

Calling on a Neighbor

from Mike Beck & the summer crew:  

On July 9 2010, the new weed control workers consisting of Kevin Sheehan and Mike Beck along with the prairie crew, Julie Allen & Jessica Meyers, took an off-site excursion to Schulenberg Prairie within the Morton Arboretum.

Upon arrival we were in awe at the unique and vast prairie that is so different then Fermilab’s. As we transversed the Schulenberg Prairie, we particularly noticed the diversity of the prairie. Plants that are rare to Fermilab’s prairie are common in the Schulenberg Prairie, including Cream Wild Indigo (Baptisia leucophaea) and Prairie Dropseed (Sorobolus heterolepis). Also, it was interesting to see how different species dominate different prairies.  For example, Fermilab has large amounts of Compass Plant and Prairie Dock, whereas the Schulenberg Prairie is dominated by Prairie Clover.

Overall, the trip to the Schulenberg Prairie at the Morton Arboretum was very beneficial to understanding and appreciation of the diversity of prairies found throughout Illinois, all the while showing us the impact that a restoration can have to the landscape.