Birds, Butterflies, and Blooms: A walk through Fermilab’s Big Woods

A group of 7 had an exciting mid-day walk.  It was an adventure going along the south path of the Big Woods heading east and looping through the woods back to the Margaret Pearson Trail.  Experts and friends abounded.  Patches of twinleaf and Jacob’s ladder greeted us first, the latter with petals of lavender and soft blue.  Neon red quickly turned our attention to the tree canopy as a Scarlet Tanager was seen, a first for many.  An angle-wing butterfly took off from its resting place.  Two large Red-bellied Woodpeckers courted.  Sunlight dappled through the newly emerging leaves of red oak and sugar maple and we saw a Tiger Swallowtail franticly fly south.  The air was humid like summer.  The group next came upon literally hundreds of large white trilliums, red trilliums, and even a few nodding white trilliums.  The deer had not nibbled them away.  A bridge crossing the creek held an empty chrysalis from an unknown species of butterfly, perhaps a Grey Comma (rare to the Chicago region but common in Fermilab’s restored woodlands).  As ground squirrels hid, we continued down the path and saw a blue-headed vireo, Dutchmen’s breeches, and broad-leaved puccoon (the latter rated a 10 of 10 on the conservative scale).  We looped back to see the hepatica and heard, then saw a Baltimore Oriole.  At the edge of the woods was a nice treat.  Several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were feeding on the newly emerged catkins of a red oak tree.  Marsh marigold blossomed in the nearby wetland.  What a nice way to spend our lunch break, witnessing the ecology of Fermilab’s natural areas.  Hope to see you next time!

FNA May/June Newsletter Published

The online version of the May/June 2011 Fermilab Natural Areas newsletter is available and includes a recap of Earth Week activities and spring burns as well as details about our upcoming FNA five-year celebration picnic planned for Sunday, June 26!

Photo of the Day: Bellwort

Gordon Koizumi photographed Bellwort in the Big Woods at Fermilab, back in April:

Photo of the Day: Goldenseal

Thanks to Gordon Koizumi for the photo of Big Woods Goldenseal:

Photo of the Day: White Trillium

Last week Gordon Koizumi photographed white trillium in Fermilab's Big Woods:

Photo of the Day: Red Trillium

FNA supporter & friend Gordon Koizumi captured this photo of red trillium last week:

Volunteer Workday: Garlic Mustard Pull

FNA will be hosting a garlic mustard pulling event at Fermilab on Wednesday May 11th from 4-6 pm.


Please meet at the Lederman Science Center parking lot at 4:00PM (Across from the guard shack at the Pine Street Entrance).  Wear mud boots or shoes and long sleeves. Bring gloves if you have any as poison ivy is starting to leaf out.

We will be focusing on Morgan's woods at the corner of Kirk and Pine St.

Photo of the Day: Shooting Star

Thanks to Gordon Koizumi for the photo of shooting star, from the Fermilab prairie:

Photo of the Day: Dutchman's Breeches

Thanks to Gordon Koizumi for the photo of Dutchman's Breeches:

May Desktop Calendar

Enjoy scenes of Fermilab's natural areas on your computer desktop! Here are instructions for downloading & installing the May 2011 calendar pictured below onto your computer:

1. Click the image above to open in a new browser window (or tab).

2. Right-click (or ctrl-click for some Mac users) on the image, and chose the option that says, "Set Picture as", (or similar words; the exact wording will depend on your internet browser) and save to your desktop. On your desktop, right click “Properties” and select the “Desktop” tab. Click “Browse” and navigate to the saved image on your desktop. Select it & click “Open.” On the “Display Properties” dialogue box, click “OK.”

3. If the image does not fit your desktop background neatly, you may have to go to your preference screen (on a Mac: System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Desktop; or on Windows: Control Panel > Display > Desktop) and choose "Fit to screen" as the display mode of your background image.

FNA will make a new desktop calendar available each month. If you'd like to share photographs for future calendars or the FNA newsletter, send us a note at fermilabnaturalareas@gmail.com.