Picnic Fun

On Sunday, June 26, more than 50 FNA members gathered under the oaks in the center of the Betz Prairie to enjoy extraordinary sunshine, beautiful breezes, a tasty lunch and each other's company.

In addition to historical musings by Bob Lootens, attendees enjoyed a prairie walk & talk by FNA Board Member Mitch Adamus, a guided bird walk with Peter Kasper and Dave Spleha and a butterfly walk with Tom Peterson.  In the village, Martin Valenzuela offered a presentation about processing prairie seed.

Many thanks to Bob Lootens, Marlene Rosecrans & Evalyn Campbell for their planning efforts!

More photos from the event are available online:

FNA Picnic, June 26, 2011

Photo of the Day: Cow Parsnip

Fermilab employee Gordon Koizumi snapped this photo of an unidentified insect on cow parsnip back on May 31st.

Photo of the Day: Red Crayfish

After the rain last Thursday, Fermilab employee Gordon Koizumi found this red crayfish!

Photo of the Day: Wild Hyacinth

Thanks to Fermilab employee Gordon Koizumi for sharing this photo of Wild Hyacinth taken in late May!

Get Outside this Sunday: Fermilab Family Outdoor Fair

Bring your family to Fermilab this Sunday, June 12, from 1 til 4 p.m.to explore the outdoor world at the Lederman Science Center through hands-on exploration with nature. Sweep for insects. Visit a real bison herd, net for pond critters. Compare yourself to a bison.Go on a nature scavenger hunt. See how raptors see and much more! Open to all ages, rain or shine, this event is free. No registration needed.

For more information, call (630)840-5588 or email edreg@fnal.gov

June Desktop Calendar

Enjoy scenes of Fermilab's natural areas on your computer desktop! Here are instructions for downloading & installing the June 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.