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Butterfly, Dragonfly and Fungus Monitoring Opportunities. Though DBC is “all about the birds,” DBC member Kathy Lech of DuPage Forest Preserve is looking for volunteers to monitor for Dragonfly and Butterfly Monitoring plus Fungus Monitoring. Required training classes will prepare you for the field work. Contact Kathy at klech@dupageforest.org. Health Status of Local Aquatic Species Now Available. The Urban Stream Research Center (USRC), the only one of its kind in Illinois, gave a well-received presentation at a recent DuPage Forest Preserve Board meeting on the status of aquatic wildlife in the county. Six different species of mussels totaling nearly 29,000 […]

On February 20, Natalie McFaul and Andie Duffy presented a children’s program at the Lemont Library called Birds Can Fly, Why Can’t I? The focus was “5 Reasons Why Birds Can Fly.” After an interactive lesson with Andie accompanied by great slides from Natalie, the 10 participants, first- through third-graders and one four-year-old, made a paper bird that could flap its wings. Afterwards there were other activities: observing feathers with magnifiers, matching their “wingspan” to various birds’ spans, playing bird sounds on an Identiflier device, and finding familiar birds among picture cards. Natalie and Andie report that the group size […]

Forest Preserves Considered a Good Value by Residents Responses on a county-wide survey for the Forest Preserve District were collected from nearly 1,000 household residents in DuPage. Among these, 82% were favorable of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County with only 4% containing negative viewpoints. The remaining percent were neutral. The ratings for DuPage FP District came out much higher than the average state rating and were comparable to the nearby Lake County scores on a similar survey. Given that only 2% of a household’s property taxes contribute to the district, general opinion was that the preserves are a […]