Top Sixteen Adventures of 2016

(Next year's list is "Top Seventeen Adventures of 2017", obviously.  2038 will get rather tiresome, I suspect, provided I'm still writing this blog by then!)

God has blessed me so much this year, and I've been able to participate in and see so many amazing sights and wonders.  If you're new to this blog and want to catch up on the most relevant parts of this blog, read on.  If you are an old reader of this blog, read on to see what I've ranked as what.  If you went on one of these trips with me, thanks for putting up with all my nonsense and for going along with me, because that really made my days.  If you've never been on a trip with me, sign ups are in the comments section below:)

By the way, I do know that we have a month to go, but I doubt I'll see anything in December that will be put on this list. December is such a busy month that I'm not likely to be able to do anything during it.  If I do have a surprisingly amazing adventure, it will be on next year's list.

16.  Electroshocking- Honestly, getting to go out and do this was great.  I caught more fish in this one outing than I ever have in my entire life, and I got to do it as part of a wonderful class.

15.  Being detained as a terrorist -This is one of my favorite stories to tell people, as an introduction to my life.  It probably shouldn't be, but it was quite exciting, even if that title is basically the punchline of the story.  Additionally, I got to hang out with my brother, something which I'm growing to appreciate a little bit more each year.  He actually took the photo above.



14.  Exploring Carpenter Park with Dan and Jesse-  There were so many toads, a few lifer plants, and just great times with great friends.

13.  Twenty-Three Smallmouth Salamanders in Lick Creek Wildlife Area - What's better than a Smallmouth Salamander?  How about finding twenty-three of them in about an hour of searching?

12. The Great Northern Expedition- If you can't tell, I have some of my best trips with my dad.  He put up with a lot on this day, and we had a great time, especially late in the day at Nachusa.




11.  Exploring Lick Creek Wildlife Area with Dan and Jesse-  This was the first trip we did as a group, and the three hikes I went on with those two are among the best  I've been on.  All trips are better when taken with friends, especially friends who appreciate nature, but who can also drag you out of it for a random conversation about philosophical topics and general nonsense.  This is especially good when you're exploring someplace you've never been before.



10.  The Ides of March - First Common Loon and Western Chorus Frogs, two of the best new birds and frogs I've seen this year.  Overall, it was a wonderful day, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, so much so that I split it into two blogposts. Links are here and here.

9.  Michigan Canoe trip-  My shoes may never smell the same way ever again, I may have fallen out of the canoe twice, and my sunglasses have never reappeared since, but this was awesome.  Next time, though, I'm going to get a little more prepared!

8. Seeing 14-plus duck species in Center Park-  If Northern Harriers drew me into birding, this expedition capped it off!  I got to see just about half of all Illinois duck species at once!  Links for both sections are here and here.

7.   Going to Revis Hill Prairie and Scrub Oak- Sand Prairie with Dan-
It was a difficult hike, but a great trip to two of the wildest spots in Central Illinois, and even better because I brought a friend along for the struggle. Several new plants and many strange insects awaited us in these, the absolute wildest of Central Illinois natural areas.

6. Going to Southern Illinois with the Environmental Club-  This trip had orchids, salamanders, friends, and grand adventures.  Plus, I got to see a Logperch! (It's a fish). Unfortunately, we didn't find any of the scorpions, copperheads, or anything else scary or dangerous (other than the heights at Fults Hill Prairie).  Still, there's always next time!  Links for both sections are here and here.

5.  First winter trip to Nipper-  This single trip got me into birding big-time (to the point where I say birding instead of birdwatching).  A single Northern Harrier along the road ended up becoming a hobby which I have spent countless hours doing this year. I also met people I didn't know who read my blog, and that was back in January!  Honestly, sometimes I forget how many people read this blog, and who all that might be.  And, I got to do this all with my dad!

4.  Going up to Mason County for the first time-  That was a long, lonely trip, but there were so many new  birds and experiences I had that I will never forget.  I saw the rarest lifeform of the year there, the Tennessee Milkvetch, and I found a large number of nature preserves only an hour or so from my house, with tons of exciting plants and animals.  The wild sandlands of Illinois are the best.  Links for the three sections are here, there, and ere.

3.  Going up to Chautauqua and Emiquon with Jesse and Dan-  Trips are always best with friends, especially when we debate philosophical concepts while watching sandpipers on a levee in the middle of a mild thunderstorm.  Trust me, it's an invigorating experience, and one which brought me plenty of lifer shorebirds and great memories with friends, as well as an interesting experience in accidental trespassing which I hope no future employer sees as a reason to not hire me...
Links for both sections are here and there.

2.   Going to Indiana Dunes- Five Orchids in one day! I've seen seven this year, and as it's November I am unlikely to see any more.  Roughly a quarter to a third of the lifer plants this year were seen on this trip, including a plurality of the best ones.  And, as with several of my favorite trips, I got to go on this with Dad.  Links for all four sections are here, there, and also here, and everywhere.

1.  Surviving this year-  Thanks to God for my survival this year.  Considering this is a website open to the internet and the general public, I don't plan on sharing all that's happened to me over the course of this year.  I will say that a close family member suffered from a serious disease.  They are completely fine now, (again-  Thank you, God!)  but between that and the usual hassles that come with being a full-time student, it's been a rather... interesting... year.  At the same time, I've gained so many good friends... too many to list! (And besides that, half of them are all named Josh, Jesse, Dan, Logan, or Jake- It would get confusing:)  I've been so many wonderful places and seen so many wondrous creatures.  I really look forwards to next year!

P.S.  Some of the older posts have egregious errors.  Rather than redacting them, I've decided to leave them in, mostly because I'm lazy, but also because I think it's fascinating to see how much the tone has changed from month to month and year to year on this blog.  My apologies for any incorrect information.  Also, there may be photos taken by other people.  Other than ones taken from state websites, I will be removing those for copyright reasons, albeit slowly over the next month.

A Dozen Passenger Pigeons? - Illinois State Museum Research and Collections Center- Vertebrate Zoology Journal #Bonus#

Since this is the week of Thanksgiving, I figured I'd show off some stuffing and an obligatory photo of a turkey- or three:

There's quite a reliable spot for Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo)  along Chatham Wildlife Sanctuary.  I saw about nine there last week, though they should be hiding soon if they're at all wise to the time of year.  Then again, it's only gotten cold in the last couple of days.

In the meantime I visited the (closed to the public) Illinois State Museum's Research and Collections Center, as part of a field trip for Vertebrate Zoology class.

Above is the backbone of a Northern Right Whale. This skeleton was previously owned by the University of Illinois in the 1800s before its donation to this museum.  We were actually allowed to hold one of the vertebrae.

Out in the hallway, I found this Platypus as part of a display.  I thought it was impressive, until we were let into one of the main storage areas:

That's a lot of animals.

There was even a Walrus, and this is a HUGE head, by the way.  I did not realize how big a Walrus is.

In addition to all the stuffed animals (taxidermically speaking), they also had jar after jar of specimens, including the Ornate Box Turtles above.

Notably, I finally found my Kirtland's Snakes.  Hopefully I'll see them alive at some point!  (However, with the current snake epidemic going around this part of the world, that grows less likely every day. For more information, google Snake Face Disease)

This strange fanged animal is a species of Chevrotain or Mouse-deer, possibly the Water Chevrotain of West Africa.  I had no idea these existed.  They apparently are among the smallest hoofed mammals in the world, and considering that's a possum next to it, I'm not surprised at this fact.

Where else are you going to find a drawer full of moles?

This drawer contains more bats than I've seen in the last two years!

We were then allowed into the bird collection, where stuffed birds of every feather lined the shelves and filled the cabinets and drawers.  I hope this isn't the only glimpse of a Snowy Owl that I get this year (although, based on the current predictions, it probably is.)

Whoever posed this Great Horned Owl did an admirable job.

In this drawer, the dozen birds all lined up in a row are all extinct.  They are Passenger Pigeons, and I can honestly say I'll probably never see so many Passenger Pigeons ever again!  This is a sight very few people will ever seen, as this collection is private.

Thankfully, the birds shown here are not extinct, although they came pretty close.  Whooping Cranes are surprisingly tall when seen this close up.  Hopefully I see more Whooping Cranes at once than the half-dozen stuffed ones here!

I'm 99.99% sure I'll never get this close to a Whooping Crane ever again!

Adding to the amazement was this Rail you can see in the bottom right... oh, and the Condor in the back, which I believe is the California Condor.  None of this is anything you ever see normally!

After the amazing wonders of the bird collection, we ventured into the insect department. A local beetle identifier  told us about his work, and I examined his Tiger Beetle collections, above.

We  moved on into the Geology section. Above is a section of the largest meteorite to ever strike in Illinois in recorded history, the Tilden Meteorite, which struck near Tilden, Illinois in 1927.

They also had a moon rock, seen here inside a plastic sphere.  All states were given moon rocks back in the day, but Illinois, unlike several other states, has held on to its moon rocks.

Several fossils were present, including this impressive Ichthyosaur fossil.

The back wall also had petrified logs like this one.  Overall, it was quite an experience, and while this collection is not open to the public, it still amazes me to see all of this under one roof!

Also, on the way out, we heard some sort of noise coming from behind a door.  It turns out that one of the botany researchers practices traditional Chinese songs in his spare time.  It was such an unexpected noise that I couldn't keep from laughing purely from the novelty of the thing.  To the best of my knowledge, it was excellent singing for what it was, but as I know nothing about traditional Chinese songs, I have no idea.  That singing was the second-to-last surprise of a surprising day.

Also, as a slight Fifth Orchid, the last caterpillar of the year (an unknown species) was crawling on the wall as we came out.   Thanks to Tony Rothering for setting this visit up and thanks to our guide, whose name I have forgotten, for showing us around!

I Forgot This Completely!- Sand Prairie- Scrub Oak State Natural Area

Hey, remember when I went to Revis Hill Prairie?  I completely forgot to write up the first part of that day, when Dan and I visited Sand Prairie-Scrub Oak State Natural Area in June.  Granted, shortly thereafter I went to Indiana Dunes, etc. so my forgetting this trip isn't exactly surprising.  Also, this preserve has the most boring name of any preserve in the IDNR system.

Despite the drab name, drab location (the corner of two roads in the middle of southern Mason county) and drab initial appearance, this place has a bit of life to it.  Milkweed, for instance, was everywhere, especially Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).

As  far as we could look from this one little corner of the preserve, it stretched out for miles.  This is a huge place, and it could easily take days to explore it all.  We opted for exploring one small corner instead, the northeast corner, where one of Illinois' largest milkweed patches can be found.

Since it was late June, prairie birds like this Dickcissel (Spiza americana) were still calling out and about.  Far louder were the Bobwhites calling from the treeline, though they quieted and fled as we approached, and thus we never saw any of those quail.

There are very few places where  Milkweed stretches out to the horizon.  For all this, there was a surprisingly small number of butterflies, probably because the flowers had just opened recently.

We did find this strange leafhopper, but it, like many other bugs, chose to be out of focus.

Some unknown member of the mint family and Common Milkweed made for a decent spectacle, even though despite the good rains we had had that spring, the grasses were already brown and dry.  Sand prairie holds little moisture, and subsequent drive-bys found the area browner and browner.


Among the dense dry vegetation, I found these Dodder (Cuscuta sp.) stems.  This parasite is fairly common in healthy prairies, it seems.  Another sign of healthy prairie is this:

This blurry butterfly is the state-threatened Regal Fritillary (Speyeria idalia), one of the rarest butterflies east of the Mississippi.  Illinois has the largest intact populations on this side of the Mississippi. Regal Fritillaries are a prairie butterfly seen only rarely outsides of healthy prairies. They are one of a handful of insects that receive state protection. Several other rare and protected insects also live here, including the Prairie Walkingstick, but we didn't see any of those, I believe.

A few more butterflies showed up, including this unidentified one.  However, none stayed in focus.

I went back to landscape photography instead, until I came across a new plant or two:

Above is Clasping Milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis), already out of flower even in June.  This is a sand-loving milkweed far more common here in Mason County than in most of Central Illinois.

The terrain opened up a bit as we went along, with small patches of the sandy soil showing through.

Far off in the distance, I could see small songbirds calling, so I cranked up my zoom:

We found Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum), a shy, dry prairie denizen rarely seen outside of springtime, when they are busily calling.

Another resident of dry places was this Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa), a plant amazingly common in Mason County, and in bud here.  Ironically, only the day before I had seen several, just after a rain, in full amazing bloom.  Perhaps the rain triggered the bloom.

British Soldiers (Cladonia cristatella) lichens are fairly common here, growing where nothing else will.  Lichens grow in the most extreme environments, including here.

A couple of Six-lined Racerunner lizards vanished into the bush, living up to their name quite well.  As a result, I went back again to landscape photos of a place that has changed little since pioneer times.  The prairies here are enormous.  If you wanted to film a movie here, (other than the habitat disturbance that would invariably result) it would be a great backdrop for a Western.

While musing on this, we dropped back along one of the roads, where I found this Slender Dayflower (Commelina erecta), the native relative of a fairly common weed.  Unlike its Asiatic cousin, [A] Slender Dayflower grows in dry sandy areas and [B] I had never seen this native plant before.

We  made it back to the car, and driving down the road south a minute, we came to a spot with tons of wildflowers.  Stopping here, I found a fern, Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron).

There were a fair number of insects here, too, including this grasshopper.

A third species of Milkweed, this Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) was the reason we had stopped, as its bright colors are well worth stopping to see.  This plant is yet another one far more common in the sandlands of Mason County than in most of the rest of Central Illinois.

After this, we did a tick check on the road.  While we hadn't picked up too much in the prairie, here on the side of the road we each had gotten half a dozen ticks on our clothes, including one Lone Star Tick, a dreadful animal that can cause permanent red meat allergies if it bites down on you for long enough.  I wish I was kidding, but I'm not.  Read here for more information.  Thankfully, the Lone Star Tick wasn't on me, it was on Dan.  Also thankfully, my friend Dan is a vegetarian.

We stopped at a small lot covered in flowers, where we took in the view.  We were halfway to Revis at this point, and it is here, among the Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) above and Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta) below, that I will end this brief forgotten journey in Mason County.  If you want to read the rest of the adventure, travel back in time (sort of) and click here.