Late July and early August are great times to look for wildflowers, insects, and birds at Columbus Park!

Mid-summer is a peak time for wildflowers that bloom in the wet meadow habitat at the tip on the peninsula (surrounded by the lagoon on three sides). Here’s a link to the PDF version of a one-page field gude to wildflowers that bloom there at this time of year:

Although the spring woodland wildflowers have long since gone to seed, there are still many wildflowers blooming in Columbus Park’s woodland and on the adjacent lagoon and its edges. Here’s a link to the PDF version of a one-page field guide showing some of those wildflowers:

All those wildflowers attract many kinds of butterflies, and the lagoon is home to the nymphs of several kinds of dragonflies. Here’s a link to the PDF version of a field guide to some of those insects:

Columbus Park’s lagoon attracts birds almost all year round. (Canada Geese graze in the park even in the dead of winter, except when the snow gets too deep.) Here’s link to the PDF version of a guide to the most common water birds at Columbus Park:

Many land birds also spend the summer in the park, singing on territory, builidng nests, and raising their young. Here’s a link to the PDF version of a one-page guide showing some birds that nested in the park this summer:

During July, 2019, we saw two kinds of hawks in Columbus Park: Cooper’s Hawks nested in the woods along Austin Blvd., and an adult Red-shouldered Hawk stopped by for a short visit (last seen being chased across the golf course by an Eastern Kingbird). Here’s a link to the PDF version of a one-page field guide showing the most common kinds of hawks and falcons in Columbus Park:

You have our permission to print your own copies of these field guides for educational or personal use.

If you want to learn more about the birds we’ve been seeing in Columbus Park, you can check out the park’s eBird Hotspot page: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L108479

The Nature in Columbus Park Facebook group has photos of plants and animals seen recently in the park, plus annoucements about upcoming events in the park: https://www.facebook.com/groups/233989470332311/

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The Field Museum publishes more detailed guides to the nature in the Chicago area and beyond. For instance, here’s a link to a five-page guide to prairie plants and animals in Chicago Park District natural areas: https://fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/guides/guide/721

Here’s a link to a seven-page guide to Chicago area butterflies: https://fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/guides/guide/586

Heres a link to a four-page guide to dragonflies and damselflies in northeastern Illinois: https://fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/guides/guide/380

Here’s a link to a three-page guide to common summer birds in Chicago: https://fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/guides/guide/593

This web page lists all the Field Museum guides to nature in the Chicago region: https://fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/guides?region=1039

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of checklists to wildflowers and wildlife we will be looking for during upcoming field trips to Columbus Park. We updated them on June 24th, because some of the wildflowers on last week’s checklist have already gone to seed:

Here’s the link to the PDF version of a checklist of wildflowers that are blooming in the park during late June:

And here’s a link to a PDF checklist of some wildlife we expect to see in the park during June:

Feel free to print your own copies of these checklists for educational or personal use.

 

 

 

Here are a couple of checklists to wildflowers and wildlife we will be looking for during upcoming field trips to Columbus Park:

Here’s the link to the PDF version of a checklist of wildflowers that are blooming in the park during mid-June:

And here’s a link to a PDF checklist of some wildlife we expect to see in the park during June:

Feel free to print your own copies of these checklists for educational or personal use.

 

 

 

The spring wildflower show in the woodland by Columbus Park’s lagoon keeps changing! As of May 9th, I could no longer find flowers of Bloodroot, Sharp-lobed Hepatica, or Dutchman’s Breeches, but May Apple and a Shooting Star were blooming, and Golden Alexanders were getting close.

If Wild Columbine makes it into flower soon, this one-page checklist for Columbus Park Wildflowers  should be good for the weekend of May 11-12, 2019:

I’m sorry if your favorite spring wildflower did not make it onto this one-page sheet. The Field Museum publishes a much more complete guide to Chicagoland spring wildflowers: https://fieldguides.fieldmuseum.org/guides/guide/513

Go here to download a PDF file of the latest addition to our collection of one-page field guides and checklists: Wildlife to look for in Columbus Park during March.

You have our permission to download and print this document for personal and educational use.

We developed three new field guides to birds we’ll be seeing this spring in and around Columbus Park. Two of those guides were used as matching games at Wonder Works, a Children’s Museum in Oak Park.

First, you can follow this link to download a PDF of the one-page field guide to Birds that arrive during early spring at Columbus Park:

 

Now that most of the ice has melted on Columbus Park lagoon, you can also download our one-page guide to Water Birds at Columbus Park: 

We developed the water birds guide into a matching game that we played at Wonder Works:

For the simplest version of the game, we laminated two copies of the field guide, and then cut out the nine pictures from one of the sheets to use as game pieces. Then our young visitors were able to match exact copies of the photos on the guide sheet.

To make the matching game more challenging for older children, we also developed sheets with different photos of the same nine species of water birds found on the field guide, with three different photos of each kind of bird. To find the matches, children had to pay much more attention to the unique features that helped identify each bird. Here are links to PDF files with those more challenging game pieces:

Game pieces sheet one: Mallard, Wood Duck, and Canada Goose

Game pieces sheet two: Greart Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, and Green Heron

Game pieces sheet three:  Gulls, Cormorant, and Pied-billed Grebe

 

Our third new one-page field guide was developed for younger children. It includes larger photos of four colorful birds that sing here on the west side of Chicago. You can download a PDF file Common Birds on Chicago’s West Side here:

We also developed a matching game with this field guide sheet, only this time the game pieces were small plush birds that sing when you squeeze them:

The plush birds are manufactured by Wild Republic for the National Audubon Society. You can purchase them at many museum and zoo gift shops or from online sources. We made the game a bit more challenging by having five plush birds, with only four photos to match. That way children had to look more closely to decide whether the American Robin or House Finch matched the photo on the lower right corner of the field guide.

 

You have our permission to download and print these documents for personal and educational use.

We put together two new field guides and premiered them at Wonder Works last week.

You can click here to download a PDF version of the Birds to Look for this Winter at Columbus Park field guide, or click on this photo:

Our new guide to winter mammals in Columbus Park has three parts:

1.   There is a one-page field guide to common mammals and their tracks. You can download a PDF of the field guide here.
2.   There is also a checklist version of the field guide, with boxes to check when you find a mammal or its track. You can downlaod a PDF of the checklist here.
3.   We also developed a series of footprint posters that you can use, with the checklist, for an indoor mammal scavenger hunt. You can download a PDF with all five posters here.

You have our permission to download and print these documents for personal and education use.

Wonder Works presented a lunchtime play station at the Collaboration for Early Childhood‘s 2019 Symposium on February 23rd. The play station included an exhibit of field guides developed by the Nature in Columbus Park project. We developed three simplified guides to local wildlife especially for the play station, and you can downlaod PDF versions of these field guides here.

Follow this link for a PDF of the Winter Birds in Oak Park simplified field guide. You can see these birds in Oak Park right now:

Follow this link for a PDF of the Water Birds in Columbus Park simplified field guide. These birds will be returning to Columbus Park’s lagoon this spring, once the ice melts:

Follow this link for a PDF of the Animals in Columbus Park simplified field guide. Squirrels and rabbits can be seen in the park year-round. Turtles and frogs will emerge from the depths of the lagoon once the ice melts and the water warms:

You have our permission to download and print these documents for personal and education use.

Our latest one-page field guide has photos of the six kinds of woodpeckers that we see around Oak Park. Some are here year-round, others are only seen during spring and fall migration.

You can click here to download a PDF version of the Woodpeckers seen around Oak Park field guide, or click on this photo:

There is also a checklist version of the field guide, available here:

We used the woodpeckers checklist as a scavenger hunt at Wonder Works, a Children’s Museum in Oak Park. The children searched the museum for small posters of the woodpeckers on the checklist. When they found a poster, they recorded its code on the checklist.

You can download a (large) PDF version of the woodpeckers scavenger hunt posters here:

 

You have our permission to download and print these documents for personal and education use.

We developed a one-page field guide to some of the falcons and hawks that we have been seeing around Oak Park, Illinois, duirng the past yard. You can download a PDF version of the field guide by clicking here or on this photo:

There is also a simplified checklist version of the field guide, available here:

We used the falcons and hawks checklist as a scavenger hunt at Wonder Works, a Children’s Museum in Oak Park. The children searched the museum for small posters of the birds on the checklist. When they found a poster, they recorded its code on the checklist. You can download a (large) PDF of the nine posters here:

You have our permission to download and print these documents for personal and education use.