by Carl Strang
I have enjoyed watching Autumn’s transition in the savannas at Mayslake Forest Preserve. Early in the season I found an aster growing, and blooming, in an unlikely spot: a crevice a few feet off the ground between forks of a bur oak.
Here it is close up.
Squirrels continued to take advantage of the oaks’ mast year. Here is the synchronized eating team.
Colors peaked, then faded. The sumacs provided a final burst.
Meanwhile, assisted by other volunteers, stewards Conrad Fialkowski and Jacqui Gleason continued removing buckthorn bushes from the edges of the savanna. They augmented the brush piles by piling on leaves.
They had raked the leaves to clear space for spreading bottlebrush grass seeds.
That grass is their workhorse for initially reclaiming restored ground in open woodlands.
Nature Inquiries 