What Should I Be Doing?

It's been an interesting past few days.  Having reread most of my blog over the last week or so, I've come to the conclusion that it's mostly a travelogue all about my exploits.  Is this blog really about exploring nature, or is it about me exploring nature?  Which is better for me to write?  I know which is easier to write.  Some of you may or may not know that I'm an aspiring fiction writer on the side of everything else, and that has slipped as I've done more work on the blog.  It's easier for me to write a blog than it is to write fiction, because every detail in a blogpost has already happened.  I just have to write it in a humorous and informative way.

I also wonder whether I should keep the ads I've put out on the blog.  Someday, they might pay for the time I spend running the blog... but I don't get enough pageviews currently to get paid for them. It's an interesting situation, and I'm not sure what to do with it at present.

Speaking of interesting situations, I found this Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) vine growing on this Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos).  Two of my least favorite plants in Illinois, next to each other.  The day improved steadily from then on.

This American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) is a warbler, and I rarely see warblers, much less photograph them.  The bird gets its name from its spring colors, not its fall plumage.  Even then, it's orange and black, not red.  From what I understand, if there's even a hint of red in an animal or plant's appearance, the early settlers and naturalists would call it Red Something or Other.

After this, I decided to take a drive.  First I went up along Irwin Bridge Road, along the Sangamon River, one of the most scenic drives in the county.  It's not a scenic county.  There was a rainstorm the night before, and the area was fairly flooded.  As a result, the Sangamon River was even wider and muddier than usual, although like most Illinois rivers, it is usually big and brown.

I took a picture from the top of the bridge while I was there.  With bluffs on the right side, the Sangamon River can be quite picturesque here, particularly when not flooded.

As I walked back, my old friends the Conservation Police arrived.  Back in February I was suspected of terrorism by this organization, so I was a bit nervous.  They asked me if I was the only person there, and I said yes.  That seemed to satisfy them, and they drove off.  This was definitely better than last time.  I got back in my car and decided to keep driving, as I hadn't found anything.  I drove past the town of Athens, locally pronounced Ae-thins, in the proud Illinois tradition of mispronouncing everything.  Yet, we get offended when people from out of state say Illinois and pronounce the S.  I'm certain Athens, Cairo, Berlin, and many other major cities which have their names bequeathed upon Illinois towns didn't expect to be called AE-thins, Cay-ro/Caro, BUR-lin, etc.

Either way, north of Athens, I scared some Bobwhites into a cornfield.  These were the first Bobwhites I'd seen in about three years, so I stopped to get a picture.  However, they had vanished.  The only birds remaining in the area were a few Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris), so I photographed them instead.  These birds get their name for small tufts they have on their heads, which this particular bird lacked.

Driving north still further, through the great sea of corn that is Central Illinois, I spotted mountains.  Well, that's actually an exaggeration, as a two-hundred foot hill is hardly an official mountain.  Central Illinois being one of the flattest lands in North America, we take what we get.

Along another dry country road, just south of the "mountains", I spotted a second flock of Bobwhites, and both they and I paused for a brief picture.  I hadn't seen any in three years, and now I see two flocks in one day?  Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) are declining in Illinois, as they have a hard time finding places to breed.  Technically, they're Illinois' only native quail species.  Millions lived in this state at one time, before European settlement.  But this is the story for dozens of bird species.  Despite being on the decline, Bobwhites are safe in this state, as they're too popular with hunters to be allowed to vanish.  It amazes me how much of the old prairie wildlife has hung on in farmland.

Crossing over Salt Creek, the largest tributary of the Sangamon River, I made my way to the
"mountains." These loess hills are the location of Revis Hill Prairie, central Illinois' largest remnant (existing since before European settlement) prairie and one of my favorite places in the area.

Even the road at the base of Revis Hill Prairie provides excellent views of the surrounding terrain. On top of the main section, the view is even better, but that is a difficult hike.

One of the smaller sections, however, has a partial trail running up one side of it, and I parked at its base.  Here, you can see the mixture of prairie and woodland that dominates the top of these hills.

The age of the prairie makes it an excellent home for several rare insects, some found nowhere else in the state.  Others are a bit more common, but I always find some strange ones, like this Big Sand Tiger Beetle (Cicindela formosa), running across the soil:

I also found what looked like a miniature Velvet Ant, running across the soil.  I suspect it may be some sort of ground-dwelling wasp, hopefully without the stinger that gives the Velvet Ant its other name of Cow-killer.  For perspective, this insect is the size of a small Carpenter Ant. The sand/gravel/loess soil is excellent for burrowing creatures:

Among those burrowing creatures was this Fowler's Toad (Bufo woodhousii fowleri), the rarer of the two toad species in this area.  Fowler's Toads prefer sandy areas in which to live.  This toad is the main food source for one of the rarer snakes in Illinois, the Western Hognose Snake, found only here in Central Illinois.  Hopefully I'll find it here someday.

Birdwatchers, however, should flock to Revis.  The mixture of old forest and old prairie makes for great habitat.  I got my first photograph of a Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens), and there were dozens more warblers too indistinct for me to identify.

Back on the road, I found something a bit disturbing:

This is a Leopard Frog (Lithobates spp.), dead , and based on the symptoms quite possibly to chytridomycosis, or the amphibian plague.  It's a disease that is currently killing off many tropical amphibians, but as it has been present in Illinois for over 100 years, most native species are less susceptible.  Chytrid, to use the most popular name, is a scary fungal infection that's wiped out over 200 species of amphibians in the last 20 years or so.  However, that's not what's disturbing.  These two Common Skippers (Pyrgus communis) landed on this dead frog, ignoring my camera only inches away, and they appear to be feeding on the corpse.  I don't generally associate butterflies with this vulture-like behavior, although from what I've observed this year, they do seem to congregate on some corpses to obtain nutrients.  Still, it's creepy to me, and so I left.

Just north of the Bradfordton Grain Elevator on Route 97,  I came across thousands of migrating dragonflies, and following them came dozens of Common Nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) and swallows.  I pulled off and photographed the Nighthawks, some of which flew only arm's length from me as they pursued the dragonflies.  It was a wonderful natural spectacle which sadly did not lend itself well to photography.  Like much of what I write about, you had to be there to appreciate it.