Magical Wings

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands Back in grade school I learned about the fascinating ways in which butterflies and bees pollinate flowers. As they gather energy-giving nectar from a wide variety of flower shapes and sizes with their perfectly adapted proboscis and tongues, their bodies are simultaneously gathering pollenContinue reading “Magical Wings”

A Sighting of Sandhill Cranes can be Good for You and Science, too!

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands Have you ever been out in nature and said “Whoa, that is so cool!,” and then followed it up with a “I wonder why”? Well, you may find it hard to believe but your observations about nature have the power to help not onlyContinue reading “A Sighting of Sandhill Cranes can be Good for You and Science, too!”

Getting Warmed Up with the Rough-legged Hawk

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands My ninety-year-old neighbor used to tell me that he was going out fishing… not catching, but fishing. It’s about the experience, he’d tell me. And that is how it is with me and birding… it’s about the experience. Attempting to see some birds –Continue reading “Getting Warmed Up with the Rough-legged Hawk”

A Visit from a Good Luck Sparrow

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands December and January are ‘a visiting time’ – a time to escape the chill of winter and explore new spaces in far-away places, or to travel to see friends and family in old familiar haunts and catch up on the year that was.  It’sContinue reading “A Visit from a Good Luck Sparrow”

Four and twenty blackbirds, gracing the sky

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands October is loud and raucous on the Kankakee Sands prairie. It can also be dark and ominous. In the early morning, you can hear them long before you see them. Off in the distance is a lone tree or perhaps a small cluster ofContinue reading Four and twenty blackbirds, gracing the sky

Just like Kankakee Sands, You’ll be Golden!

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands It’s all too easy to overlook things, isn’t it? As we move so quickly from place to place, from task to task, we often miss the nuances and details that make life so interesting. In the fall, with goldenrods painting our Kankakee Sands prairiesContinue reading Just like Kankakee Sands, You’ll be Golden!