SANDHILL CRANES at VOLO BOG

This summer, my main focus has been on the resident Sandhill Cranes of Volo Bog. One of the nice things about Volo is that even if you just have a few minutes to spare, you can walk the 1/4 mile boardwalk area and see a wide variety of subjects including rare plants and flowers, dragonflies, frogs, muskrats, birds and more. The pair of Sandhills that reside here until they head south for the winter have been easy to spot this year, perhaps that because of the heavy rains they are spending more time in the grassy areas of Volo.

Here is the chick at a very young age. Return to this blog for updated photos as the summer progresses. I have read that they grow about an inch a day.

And here is family meal time.

Here they are heading down to the water's edge, perhaps where the nest is.

Other treats at Volo this time of year include a variety of dragonflies, predominently the blue dasher.

And looking ahead to the late summer, watch for the Muskrats at Volo Bog. Here they are feeding on duck weed.

And of course there are always beautiful flowers at Volo.

And you'll hear, if not see, frogs.

As a State Natural Area, Volo Bog is directly affected by the Illinois DNR budget. Please see the message below, and what you can do to help protect areas such as Volo.

"As a member of Partners for Parks and Wildlife, Prairie Rivers Network has been working to prevent funding cuts at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). On July 9th, Governor Blagojevich cut $14 million from the IDNR’s budget, cutting 20% from a budget that has lost a quarter of its staff to budget cuts since 2001. This comes at a time when our parks, forests, lakes and streams continue to experience increases in attendance. The cuts are set to take effect unless the Illinois Senate and House both vote to override them by July 25th. It is imperative that Illinois’ natural resources do not suffer a disproportionate share of cuts. PPW calls on the State of Illinois to retain the current funding levels for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE TODAY! "