If this looks at all familiar, it's because this was my second visit to Revis Hill Prairie Nature Preserve within a three-week period. During that time, however, entirely new and different flowers bloomed.
Here is one of the many Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis) plants I found, a sign of an old prairie. Scientific names are back, because plants have confusing common names. This, for instance, is also known as Lousewort, yet I've never gotten a louse from it.
I found the great yellow flowers of Hoary Puccoon (Lithospermum canescens), which used to be used as a dye by Native Americans (hence puccoon, from the word poughkone- meaning dye, in the Powhatan dialect of the Algonquin language). (Yes, I googled that- I'm not that smart!)
Here was the view from the top of Revis, with thousands of Wood Betony plants blooming on the hillside. Now, add in about six bumblebees whirling about, checking me out, and you have a complete picture of this prairie.
Blue-eyed Grasses (Sisyrinchium sp.) bloomed profusely all over the hillside, and I spotted several hundred on my way back down the hill. I then drove on down to another hill prairie, to go looking for a small plant of considerable rarity in Illinois:
I found it. This, the Ozark Milkvetch (Astragalus distortus), is an Illinois state-threatened species, and it's quite a beautiful little flower. Several dozen bloomed along a thin hill prairie ridge, bordered by trees. I had to be careful where I walked!
Ozark Milkvetch, as its name implies, is generally found to the southwest of Illinois, where it becomes more regularly found in the Ozarks and even more common in Texas. The sandlands of Mason County bring something from the west yet again!
Fringed Puccoon (Lithospermum incisum), a paler, more ruffled relative of Hoary Puccoon, bloomed along the roadside by the hundreds. My only other time finding this plant was finding three small specimens hiding low in a hill prairie somewhat north of here, Manito Prairie. I'd assumed it was a bit rarer, but this proved me wrong. I also heard my first White-eyed Vireos and Lark Sparrows calling as I walked down the road, among many other birds:
Lark Sparrows (Chondestes grammacus) are yet another western species far more common in Mason County. They love the sandy prairies, and migrate back here each year. This is my first Lark Sparrow of the year, but hopefully it's not my last!
Another first was in dust devils, those miniature tornadoes that one occasionally sees out in barren fields (or, on one memorable occasion, in a parking lot slamming my parent's car door shut). At one point, about six made their way across the field. They did not film well, so I took a few pictures and watched the spectacle move on. I'd imagine the combination of a warm day and unusual air currents off the hills moving into the valley helped to form these dust devils.
I then drove off to go looking for an orchid. I didn't find it, so I stopped and looked about at Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge. I heard calling Red-headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). It never ceases to amuse me how people get so excited about Red-headed Woodpeckers (including me). They're not that rare in my area, but they are a bird, like Eastern Bluebirds and Indigo Buntings, that automatically require a photo when seen.
The Red-headed Woodpeckers here were at war. A dead tree on the shores of Mud Lake had several holes in it, and over these the Red-headed Woodpeckers were fighting near-constantly while I watched. This bird and its apparent mate drove off the other three or four Red-headed Woodpeckers, claiming victory at last.
In total, I saw seven Red-headed Woodpeckers. The shoreline of Mud Lake is one of the best places in the world to see Red-headed Woodpeckers. Between the oak and nut trees along the banks of the lake, the grasshoppers in nearby roadsides and cornfields, and the large fly population on the lake, they have tons of food. Red-headed Woodpeckers often catch flies for food, and cache live grasshoppers in tight tree crevices. They are fairly un-woodpecker-like in this respect.
Then I went "into the desert on a horse with no name"- minus the horse, and minus most of the desert, but this is still H.A. Gleason State Nature Preserve, the driest spot in Illinois.
Field Sparrows (Spizella pusilla) called from all corners of the preserve, with their song that has been unjustly compared to the bouncing of a ping-pong ball. It sounds, to my ears, like a metal detector, where the beeps come closer and closer together when metal is found. "Fe-fe-fefefefeeeee" is a good approximation of it. I saw a couple in the bushes, but I'm sure more were hiding nearby.
Also hiding nearby was one of the rarest plants in Illinois, the Silvery Bladderpod (Lesquerella ludoviciana), and I had finally found it in flower! It was far better a sight than the name "Bladderpod" would imply! (It's called Bladderpod because it has seedpods that swell up like balloons in a few month's time.)
Here, for scale, is my hand. Now, though this wasn't the last place I stopped that day, this is the last plant of the day. I decided to split these posts down the Illinois River, so that all my Emiquon adventures will be in another post. It should also be noted that no flowers seen in this blog are probably in flower now, because it's been a few weeks, unless you're reading this in future mid-April.
Revis Hill Prairie:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36222914
Chautauqua NWR
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36222914
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36222899
H.A. Gleason State Nature Preserve
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36222587
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