Archives For nature

Toad Serenade at the Cove

Kathy J. —  May 16, 2013 — Leave a comment

Have you heard the sounds coming from nearby lakes, ponds, and puddles this month? The American toads are singing!

PHOTO: female toad looking directly at the camera

This female American toad may be listening for the enchanting song from a handsome male toad.

Every spring, the toads emerge from hibernation in wooded areas and hop to the nearest standing water to breed. The sound you hear comes from the males, who are singing to attract a mate. You’ll hear the sound of hundreds of toads at the Kleinman Family Cove for the next week or so, maybe longer.

The toads will pair up and lay a string of eggs in shallow water where it is warmest and rich in food for their offspring. After laying eggs, the adults will return to the woods or shady gardens to look for food, leaving their babies to fend for themselves.

PHOTO: the toad pair are together in the water with a string of black eggs she has laid around the algae.

The black lines of dots in the water are strings of eggs that were laid by the toad on the right.

The black embryo inside each egg will grow into tiny tadpoles and hatch in about a week. They will grow and develop into half-inch toadlets over the next few weeks. Then they will leave the water and join their parents in the shady gardens and woods. With any luck, some of them will survive the next two years, developing to full maturity, and return to the Cove to breed.

This is the only time of year to hear the toads singing, so visit the Cove this month. If you visit over the next four weeks, maybe you’ll see some little black tadpoles swimming in the water.

Please resist the urge to collect them to take home. You won’t be able to provide enough of the right kind of food for a growing tadpole or toadlet, and they will die. Watch them grow up successfully in their natural habitat at the Cove throughout the month of May and early June instead!

In Ecology & Wildlife , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Stories in the Snow

Kathy J. —  February 8, 2013 — Leave a comment

After the recent snowfall, I took my camera out for a walk to find evidence of wildlife around the Learning Campus. The first animal tracks I found were those of at least one coyote running across the snow.

The individual track was not a clear footprint, but it was the right general shape and size to be a coyote.

PHOTO: the single track of a coyote is seen in the snow.

The coyote track looks like that of a medium-sized dog, with padded feet making toe impressions in the snow.

The tracks formed a few paths across the campus.

PHOTO: two coyote trails are seen very clearly running through the snow, close to the treeline.

A coyote ran through the snow toward the right of the picture, then ran back and rejoined its original trail.

The tracks did not follow the paths that people walk, but tended to run closer to trees. This makes sense for an animal that is trying to stay hidden from other animals. I also found a spot where the coyote seemed to run up, do a little turnaround, and take off in another direction.

PHOTO: The tracks in the snow look like the coyote ran and make a circle in the snow.

The tracks look like a coyote circled around after running out of the woods.

This isn’t the clearest picture, but you can still see that the coyote came from the wooded area toward the front of the picture, then it turned around and sank its front paws in the snow where you see two clear side-by-side holes in the snow. It turned and ran to the right of the picture frame. You can imagine a spirted puppy running excitedly as it plays in the new snow, and leaving tracks like these.

I was hoping to find evidence of animals interacting. The closest thing I found was this set of rabbit tracks.

PHOTO: a set of rabbit tracks appears from behind the corner of the building, turns around and goes back in the direction it came from.

The rabbit who left these tracks decided to turn around and go back instead of coming around the corner of the building.

Here the rabbit hopped to the corner of the building, stopped, and then turned around and went back the way it came. Did it possilby see or smell the coyotes that were running around and decide to go back to hiding?

On my walk I found squirrel, bird, and mouse tracks. And then I found these strange marks in the snow.

PHOTO: a nice layer of snow on top of a hedge row has long parallel lines from students dragging their fingers along the hedge as they walked past.

Fingerprints in the snow?

What could these strange lines be? “It’s elementary, Mr. Watson!” These “fingerprints” were left by elementary school students as they dragged their hands along the snow at the Learning Center this morning.

If you want to find animal tracks in the snow and figure out what stories they tell, here are some tips:

  • Go out and look when the snow is fresh.
  • Think about which animals you have actually seen around, and where you have seen them. Look there.
  • Search around trees and shrubs, especially if there are places a small animal might crawl into for shelter.
  • Be alert for sources of food; the snackers and nappers may be out looking for a meal, and they will leave their marks.

Good luck, and remember not to eat yellow snow.

In Ecology & Wildlife, Education, Nature in View, Youth Education , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Play with Your Pine Cones

Kathy J. —  January 18, 2013 — 2 Comments

I was walking under some pine trees near the Learning Campus and I took a picture of the cones I found.

PHOTO: The ground under the pine tree is covered in dry, brown pine needles and cones that are open, closed and in between.

I found two different kinds of cones on the ground under the pine tree.

When I was young, I noticed there were two different kinds of cones — some solid cones like the three in the lower left corner of the picture, and others are more like the open, branched cones at the top. I thought the pine tree made two different kinds of cones. Actually, they are different forms of the same kind of cone. I will show you how this happens.

I took three cones that were the same size and shape. Then I soaked one cone in a bowl of water. 

PHOTO: Pictured here are three pine cones of similar size, shape, and color.

I started with three pine cones of the same kind, shape, and size.

 

PHOTO: One pine cone is floating in a white bowl full of water while the other two are resting on the right side of the bowl.

I placed one cone in a bowl of water. It slowly began to change.

 

PHOTO: One pine cone is in the white bowl, now almost fully closed after ten minutes, while the other two are dry and unchanged at the side.

After about ten minutes, the wet pine cone is almost completely closed, while the dry cones are still open.

 

PHOTO: A wet, closed cone is shown next to a dry open cone.

Wet cones are closed, dry cones are open, and that is why cones from the same tree come in different shapes.

Then I let the wet and dry cones sit on my desk overnight. Guess what happened. Try it yourself to get the answer! Go outside and find a pine, spruce, or other conifer tree. Bring pine cones from those trees inside and watch them over time as they adjust to the warm, dry conditions in your home. Put one in bowl of water and see what happens. Let it dry and see if it changes again. 

What is going on here?

Pine, spruce, Douglas-fir and other conifers are so named because they produce cones that bear their seed. When conditions are favorable for the seeds to fall and grow, the cones open and release them. The seeds have the best chance to survive when the air is dry and windy, so they can blow to a nice fertile spot away from the shade of the mother tree. When conditions are wet and not so good for a traveling seed, the cones close to protect them.

Though the cones I found under the tree had released their seeds a long time ago, they still responded to the moisture levels of the ground and air. These cones were in between being damp from the rain over the weekend and drying in the sun.

Pine cone history

By the way, all conifers belong to a group of plants called gymnosperms. This means they produce “naked seeds” — seeds that are not contained within a fruit. Conifers do not grow flowers. Before there were dinosaurs on the planet, all plants reproduced by either spores or naked seeds. The seeds of some conifers can take up to three years to mature. Flowering plants (angiosperms) have a much more rapid reproductive cycle. Some angiosperms flower and produce mature seed in just one week. Understanding how cones and flowers have evolved is what Dr. Pat Herendeen is trying to figure out from plant fossils.

In Education, Youth Education , , , , ,
permalink

Reflections on 12.12.12

One Day on Earth: 24 Hours in the Chicago Botanic Garden

Julie McCaffrey —  December 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

Two Garden staffers set out to capture 12 hours of the Chicago Botanic Garden on 12-12-2012 to submit to the One Day on Earth project. It turned out to be an ideal day to capture winter beauty with clear skies and lots of wildlife. We saw the lights at the Lake Cook Road entrance while it was still dark, the sunrise over the Malott Japanese Garden, gorgeous morning sun on the display gardens, the indoor Wonderland Express exhibition, the sunset over the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden, the holiday lights on The Esplanade and the indoor Greenhouses. Wonderland Express is open through Jan. 6, 2013, so don’t miss it!

In Visiting the Garden , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Snacker, Flapper, Sleeper, Napper

Kathy J. —  December 18, 2012 — Leave a comment

All animals that inhabit this area, including humans, have to cope with the changing of the seasons. There are four basic responses to the cooler temperature and shorter daylight. Which is your favorite strategy for surviving the winter?

Do you eat more food during this time of year, loading up on high calorie goodies? You may be a Snacker. It is a natural instinct. You are like the squirrels, rabbits, and some birds that fatten up and keep going all winter long.  

 

PHOTO: a gray squirrel poses as it feeds on bird seed dropped from a bird feeder.

Squirrels fatten up on seeds and stay active all winter long.

Do you travel to warmer climates during the winter? Wings are not required to be a Flapper. Count yourself in the company of warblers, monarch butterflies, and herons if you leave the area in winter. You may be migrating to escape the cold, but these animals are generally traveling to find more plentiful supplies of food.

Do you become sleepy and hibernate for four or five months every year? Then you are a Sleeper, like a bear, turtle, or frog. These animals undergo physical changes that shut down their respiratory systems and metabolism during the winter. You are probably not a true sleeper, even if it sounds appealing.

PHOTO: This bronze model of a painted turtle on a rock can be seen a Kleinman Family Cove yearround.

This bronze turtle can be seen all year at the Kleinman Family Cove, while the real turtles are hibernating in the mud at the bottom of the lake in winter.

If you are prone to feeling tired and sleeping more in the winter, then it’s more likely that you are a Napper. Animals like skunks and opossum cozy up in burrows or under deep piles of leaves and sleep. Occasionally they emerge, find something to eat, and then go back to bed.

PHOTO: A small skunk is feeding on squirrel corn on a dark winter evening.

A skunk wakes up from its nap and feeds on some seeds during a winter evening.

 

PHOTO: A baby opossum is seen in the snow surrounded by dormant plant stalks.

Like the skunk, this baby opossum emerged from its nap and is looking for something to eat before it returns to its shelter.

Snacker, Flapper, Sleeper, Napper — try to say that three times fast as you prepare for another midwestern winter!

In Ecology & Wildlife, Education, Nature in View, Youth Education , , , , , ,
permalink