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.
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