Illinois Beach State Park

Joel on November 2nd, 2009

The south end of Illinois Beach State park is like no other place in the entire state. The northern third of it consists of a pine savanna over a rich prairie understory. But not one of the pines is native- they are what remains of what might be considered the first attempt to engage in [...]

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Joel on September 26th, 2009

The field trip I co-led  two Sundays ago (September 13) allows me to introduce two important parts of my life that I have not yet mentioned in these blogs. The most important of which is spouse Cindy Kerchmar, who likes natural history very much but seems to have avoided going on any outings that I have [...]

Continue reading about Passing Through: A Day of Birds and Birders

Joel on August 6th, 2009

Amar Ayyash, Tim Wallace, Carolyn Fields, and Sulli Gibson.   The outing of July 28 was really spawned by a desire to see some friends I had not birded with all summer: Carolyn Fields (whose gorgeous photographs have greatly enhanced this blog), Tim Wallace (ditto), Amar Ayyash (a mathematician living in “far away” Will County), [...]

Continue reading about Long Daze Journey Into Night