Earth Week Events!

Join us for Arbor Day next week!  In the meantime, check out the great photos from Monday's shrub planting event in the bison savanna.

March/April Newsletter

The latest FNA news is online!  Find the schedule of events for Arbor Day and Earth Week.  Read about nesting facilities for local breeding birds and discover opportunities for butterfly monitoring training.  Happy spring!

FNA General Membership Meeting

Hear about 2012 accomplishments and our plans for 2013 at Fermilab Natural Area’s Annual General Membership Meeting on February 7, 2013, at 7 p.m. in Fermilab’s Wilson Hall One West Conference Room. 

January / February Newsletter

The latest edition of the FNA newsletter is now available. Read about the February general membership meeting, the Fermilab Christmas Bird Count, reports from our high-school only fall prairie harvest, and stewardship at Big Woods South.

The annual general membership meeting is scheduled for February 7 at 7:00 p.m. in Fermilab's One West conference room.  Please join us!

Join us for the fall Prairie Harvests

Fermilab's annual volunteer prairie harvests will be held on Saturday, October 6 and Saturday, November 3, from 10 am until 2 pm.  Volunteers should follow on-site signage to the Main Ring or Interpretive Prairie.  More information is available on the Fermilab website. 

FNA July / August Newsletter

Read about Discovery Day, our 2012 Robert F. Betz intern, and the recent release of Baltimore Checkerspots at Fermilab in the latest edition of the Fermilab Natural Areas newsletter!

Reserve your spot for FNA Discovery Day!

On July 14th, FNA will be leading four special guided tours of Fermilab's natural areas at our first Discovery Day event. Visitors will have an opportunity to visit sites that are normally not accessible to the public! Festivities will begin at the Kuhn Barn in the Fermilab Village where visitors can chat with FNA ecological regional partners such as The Conservation Foundation before beginning a bus & walking tour of some of our off-the-beaten-track natural areas. Tours will require walking outside on uneven terrain so please wear closed-toed shoes. We also recommend long pants, sunscreen and your favorite insect repellant! At each stop, two expert volunteer guides will be provide information on current restoration efforts as well as site history, flora and fauna. This will be the perfect opportunity to ask everything you always wanted to know about our natural spaces, and learn about becoming a site volunteer.

The tours will visit four of Fermilab’s premier ecological locations: award winning Nepese Marsh where our site steward will cover its history and point out some current residents; no tour of our natural areas would be complete without a stop at our Main Ring Savanna; the tour at Indian Creek Woods will give you an opportunity to explore our wetland mitigation site and see how (with a little help!) nature is thriving where there was once a major construction project; the final stop will delight any plant or butterfly lovers as we introduce you to the diversity of Big Woods North. Lunch and other merchandise will be available for purchase at the Kuhn Barn. Email us at fermilabnaturalareas+discoveryday@gmail.com to reserve your spot at Discovery Day – just let us know how many attendees will be attending with you!

March/April Newsletter published!

Read the latest FNA newsletter for information about last month's annual meeting, plans for next month's Arbor Day tree planting and lots of bird news.  Also, we've included ideas about how you can get more involved with Fermilab Natural Areas, including butterfly monitoring training, rain barrel assembly or becoming a volunteer steward.  

Butterfly Monitoring Classes at Fermilab

Tom Peterson, Fermilab engineer and resident butterfly expert, will be leading two butterfly monitoring classes at Fermilab this spring.   

• Saturday, May 5, 10:00 a.m. to noon at Fermilab. A beginners' butterfly monitoring and identification class.
• Saturday, June 2, 10:00 a.m. to noon at Fermilab. An intermediate-level butterfly monitoring and identification class.

Although these classes are intended for people who may be interested in becoming, or already are, members of the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network, visitors are also welcome! The beginner class spends about 45 minutes covering when, where, how, and why we monitor butterflies in the Chicago region. The rest of the class is devoted to viewing photographs of the 20 or so most common local butterflies, discussing their habits, and how to identify them.

 

The intermediate level class follows a similar pattern. However, more time is spent reviewing butterfly identifications with emphasis on some of the more difficult butterflies to identify.

 

Both classes will be in Wilson Hall, the main high-rise building at Fermilab, conference room 1 North, which is on the west side of the main atrium. People may drive in from either Kirk Road via the Pine Street entrance or from Rt. 59 via Batavia Road. Parking is available around Wilson Hall. Walk in the main entrance to Wilson Hall; the room is about half way through the atrium, on the right.  Registration is helpful, though not required.

 

Coming Soon: Prairie Harvests

The annual volunteer prairie harvests are scheduled for Saturday, October 1 and Saturday, October 29, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.  Both harvests will take place in Fermilab's Main Ring prairie, with a hot dog lunch for all participants!

September / October Newsletter

The Fermilab Natural Areas' September/October newsletter is now available online!  Read all about summer activities, our upcoming fall prairie harvests, FNA's new relationship with Northeast Illinois Invasive Plant Partnership and the Chicago area STEW map.

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

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

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!

Today's Woodland Walk Cancelled

The walk in the Big Woods, originally scheduled for today at noon, has been cancelled due to muddy conditions on the trails.

Today's Planting Cancelled

Due to the unfortunate weather, we will be canceling the native shrub planting. Our official Arbor Day event is scheduled for May 3rd from 11:30 AM - 1 PM.

The seed planting scheduled for tomorrow, April 20th is still on. 11:30 AM at the Interpretive Prairie trail.

March/April Newsletter



The FNA March/April newsletter is now available online and includes details on a full calendar for March, April and May.  We've also included a feature on the Arbor Day strategy, history on the Habitat Restoration efforts, an introduction to a prairie seed rate planting study as well as butterfly and bird updates.  As always, if you have any questions, topic ideas or other random notions, let us know at fermilabnaturalareas@gmail.com.

Event Recap: 4th Annual General Membership Meeting

Fermilab Natural Areas' fourth annual general membership meeting was held on February 17, 2011.  In addition to the standard business of electing Directors and reviewing the financials, meeting attendees received an update on the latest FNA activities in President Rod Walton's "year in review" presentation.  In addition, Fermilab Ecologist Ryan Campbell posited that the primary goal of restoration ecology is biological diversity in his presentation entitled, "Fermilab Natural Areas as a Restoring Force?"  For those who missed this comprehensive presentation on the goals and efforts of Fermilab and FNA’s ecological efforts, Ryan will reprise his talk during Earth Week, on April 22, 2011, at noon in Fermilab’s Wilson Hall One West conference room.

Following the formal meeting, the assembled members and friends lingered over cookies coffee, catching up on off-season activities and sharing ideas for the future of Fermilab Natural Areas.

Thanks to all who came out for the annual meeting and a special thanks to Pam Becker for the yummy refreshments.

Fermilab Family Open House

Come out to the Fermilab Family Open House this Sunday!  Fermilab Natural Areas folks will also be at the Open House to answer questions and talk to people about the work we do.  Click here for more information about the Open House.

February 17: 4th Annual Membership Meeting

Please join Fermilab Natural Areas for our 4th annual general membership meeting on Thursday, February 17, 2011, at 7 p.m. in Fermilab's Wilson Hall, One West conference room.  We'll be electing five members to our Board of Directors, Board President Rod Walton will recap FNA's 2010 activities and plans for 2011 and Ryan Campbell will present an overview of projects currently underway at Fermilab, highlighting collaborations between FNA and Fermilab.