September has arrived, and with it falling temperatures … at last! The warm days and cool nights are a signal to our wildlife that it’s time to get ready for winter; and that’s just what they’re doing.

September marks the official start of the Autumn Snake Migration at the LaRue Pine Hills Ecological Area in nearby Union County. It’s here that they close the road to motorized traffic at the base of the bluff to safeguard the numerous snakes migrating from the swamp to the rocky bluffs a short distance away. While the number migrating at any one time is small, the number of species present is quite large so anyone with an interest in our serpents should plan to visit. Just remember that you’re the guest and that the snakes are to remain unmolested in any way!

For those of you interested in wild mushrooms, keep your eyes peeled for Giant Puffballs which will be appearing soon. These very large (softball- to football-size) fleshy fungal fructifications appear in lawns and pastures in our area and while they’re relatively bland in and of themselves they have the useful property of soaking up the flavor of whatever they’re cooked with. Besides, having a slab of mushroom that covers your plate is more than worth the trouble of cooking it.

An abundant Indian staple is also available now as well: acorns – specifically white oak acorns. While any given tree produces a crop only every three years or so (to deter predators from becoming too abundant) these large and nutritious nuts are quite literally ripe for the picking.

Most acorns have to be boiled in several changes of water to remove the bitter tannin they contain, but if you catch them as they’re sprouting they’re nearly sweet. Apparently the sprouting alters the tannin content … or perhaps I was just lucky and the oaks at the Public Library yield an unusually palatable product. Walnuts and hickory nuts are ripening this month too and were also an important aboriginal food source.

For wild fruit, be on the lookout for Persimmons. These small, orange pumpkin-shaped fruits are delicious raw, baked in pies, puddings and cakes or made into wine. Their season is a long one and they’ll be available nearly till Thanksgiving.

A certain sign of Fall’s approach are the armies of Woolyworms marching across country roads at this time of year seeking places to sleep the winter away. While their utility as moths is debatable, their ability to forecast the coming winter weather is indisputable.

The fall wildflowers will be peaking this month with purple Ironweed and Goldenrod being the most conspicuous. But keep an eye out for the more cryptic members of our flora: the orchids.

Fall Coralroots with their closed flowers, Ladies Tresses spiraling their blooms up their stems and Nodding Pogonias – our most endangered fall species will all be out in force this month.

September also marks the start of the Deer rut, so be careful while driving. Distracted bucks and harried does (not to mention inexperienced fawns) will be dashing across the roadways oblivious to everything but each other.

While our overabundant deer will be preoccupied with matters of the heart, the bats are getting sleepy and moving to their hibernation sites in caves, hollow trees and unused attics. I want to encourage anyone lucky enough to have a colony to leave them alone since these voracious little mosquito eaters are far more valuable alive than dead.

And finally (for those on the edge of town) the wild turkeys will begin flocking this month. Look for them along the edges of both fallow and freshly harvested fields seeking out spilled grain and sluggish insects.

While Fall officially (and astronomically) begins at 11:09 pm on the 22nd with the Autumnal Equinox, our biological fall is already well under way.

Ed. Note — reprinted from Carbondale Times, 2006… .The time of the Autumnal Equinox has been updated for 2010 with data from NOAA. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/equinox.html

The arrival of August means that Summer is over and Fall is just around the corner. While it might not seem like it, autumn begins in our area the middle of this month – the biological autumn, that is. Anyone who’s skeptical about this can check for themselves by watching for Sumac and Virginia Creeper to begin showing their bright red fall colors around the 15th.

Other signs of summer’s departure are the clouds of Chimney Swifts that have tripled in size over the summer. Any decent sized chimney holding a colony is great twilight entertainment (and some of the easiest nature watching around) as they circle and wheel before diving into the chimney’s depths But get out there soon because they’re massing for their departure south. Most will be gone when the Sumac begins turning.

But it’s not just the trees and shrubs showing color at this time. This month also marks the beginning blaze of fall blooms. Early Goldenrod has already begun flowering. Swamp Milkweed, Jewelweed, the sweet-scented wild Clematis, Boneset and Nodding Pogonia Orchids among others will be following soon. As the month progresses look for more Goldenrod species to join in as well as the purples of Blazing Star and Ironweed, the whites and pinks of Wild Hibiscus (one of our showiest and most conspicuousfall flowers) and the gold of Compass Plant, Rosinweed, Cup Plant and Prairie Dock – prairie plants all. And of course many of our dozen species of Sunflowers will bloom this month.

Grasses too that have lain low all summer will now be pushing their leaves toward the sun. Look for the Bluestems – Big and Little – with their strangely blue-green foliage as well as the Broom Sedges. Forest and savanna species, notably Bottlebrush Grass and Sea Oats with their nodding seeds will be prominent as well as they ripen their seeds.
But of course the big news this month is the upcoming migration of birds and insects in August.

Even while you’re reading this Swifts, Vultures, Bobolinks and Purple Finches are all moving slowly toward our area (or are already here) fueling up and getting ready to head south at the end of August to avoid the autumn rush.

And not only birds but insects are heading south as well. Watch for dragonflies and Monarchs during and after the passages of northern cold fronts which these insects use to surf their way south.

And as if in anticipation of the coming rush south and winter’s deadly advance the plants are all busy finishing up business and ripening fruits, seeds and nuts – just in time to fuel the great migration south.

Keep an eye out for the Sourwood trees which, lacking brightly colored fruit, color individual leaves a bright and inviting red – apparently to fool birds into thinking they’re berries and thereby visiting their branches and gorging on their dull purple fruits. A strategy I suspect both Sumac and Virginia Creeper use for the same reason.
For those more interested in fruit edible (or at least more tasty) for humans, hie thyself to the wooded bottoms and find a Pawpaw patch. Pawpaws are small understory trees seldom more than 30 feet tall with large leaves and smooth gray bark. These members of the Custard Apple family produce three inch long, green-skinned fruits that smell a little like bananas. And while they’re somewhat of an acquired taste they’re certainly edible and the trees are magnets for wildlife this time of year.

However our best native fruit – the Persimmon – begins to ripen at the end of August. Soft, squishy, orange and sweet when ripe they make great puddings, pies and cakes – to say nothing of wine. And they’re quite good fresh from the ground (never eat one from straight from the tree!). The Persimmon, along with the Chestnut (now extinct), the Pawpaw and the Pecan were among the most prized wild fall edibles of the Indians who formerly lived and farmed here.

Ed. Note — This article first appeared in Carbondale Times, Aug. 2006.  The photograph of the ripening Sumac berries was by Jim Jung for his website.

Well, it’s hot and unbearably sticky. Of course since it’s July this will come as no surprise to any long-term Carbondalian, but while we delicate, endothermally over-heated humans retreat into air-conditioned comfort, our six- and eight-legged ectothermic friends outside are in their element.

This is the month when the insect armies triumph.

And armies they are. It’s estimated that insect species outnumber mammalian species more than two thousand to one, and after a July spent outdoors in Carbondale one might think that’s a conservative estimate.

Mosquitoes, deer, black and horse flies are either emerging from or already cruising our streams and lakes looking for prey – which includes us. Termites are chewing our homes (or trying to), ants are stealing our food, aphids are sucking our roses dry, bagworms are busily defoliating our evergreens, fleas are infesting our pets (and sometimes us), and alarmingly huge (but usually harmless) Cicada-Killer wasps, sweat bees, hornets, and velvet ants round out the potential dangers. Not to mention the disease- infested ticks and supremely annoying chiggers (which are technically mites).

But these potentially annoying species are far outnumbered by the thousands of benign or (from a human perspective) beneficial insects out there: assassin bugs (which eat almost any sort of bug), lady bugs (who specialize on aphids), mud daubers (which seldom sting humans and prey almost exclusively on Black Widow spiders), dragonflies and damselflies (aka: mosquito hawks) who are munching their way through clouds of biting and sucking flies, and praying mantids which eat nearly everything else. All these species prey on the bugs that prey on us.

And then there are the relatively useless but beautiful moths and butterflies, incredibly colorful leaf hoppers, intricately patterned hieroglyphic beetles, metallic blue and green carrion beetles, melodious Katydids and Snowy Tree Crickets and – my personal auditory favorite and true herald of summer – the Cicadas which, coincidentally are true bugs.

But the preceding insects are just the most annoying, most noticeable, or noisiest of our insect neighbors.

Very, very few of us appreciate (or even know about) the honeybees and solitary bees who pollinate our crops, the solitary wasps who kill pests that would quickly defoliate our fields and forests, the harmless and extremely beneficial soil turning ants, or the vast armies of other drab, obscure, little noticed (and little-studied) insects out there that keep the ecological wheels greased by either performing some vitally useful (but overlooked) service or provide food for the rest of the natural world.

I know I’m in the minority when it comes to insect watching (and especially insect appreciation) but for those of you gentle-readers who either already admire – or those willing to be convinced – that insects are worth the effort I would like to suggest a nocturnal visit to Alto Pass and the Bald Knob Cross. This huge, white, well-lit steel and porcelain icon sits atop a mini-mountain surrounded by square miles of field and forest and acts like a magnet for every moth, beetle and bug for miles around. As an added bonus it’s also cool and breezy on even the hottest and stickiest July night to boot. Anyone braving the well-marked, well-paved road leading to the summit will be rewarded with insect diversity (and beauty) they’ve probably never dreamed existed.

Cecropia, Luna and Prometheus moths all as big as your hand and as exotically colored as any insect denizen of the tropics are here in abundance; brightly colored and intricately patterned beetles abound; Sphinx moths of all sizes, colors and kinds flutter about; all sorts and sizes of water beetles(!) and hundreds of other species of insect – some drab and nondescript – and others displaying colors, forms and shapes in sometimes astonishing combinations can be found here.

Should you have even the slightest interest in insects it’s a trip well worth taking.

reprinted from Carbondale Times, 2006

by Jim Jung

Box Turtle in southern Illinois

01 – Box Turtles lay eggs
06 – Wild Turkeys hatch
09 – Butterflyweed blooming
13 – Snapping Turtles nest
15 – Nighthawks begin to call
21 – Summer Solstice
21 – Prickly Pear Cactus blooms
26 – Painted Turtles lay eggs
29 – Amanita Mushrooms appear

Not that most people really want to know this but all of our reptiles are laying their eggs this month! So if you should uncover some small, leathery flexible eggs buried in your garden mulch or compost relax – they’re just reptile eggs. If you want to raise them yourself (and it’s worth the effort!) see our website for full instructions. If not give me a call and I’ll be more than happy to take them off your hands. Among many other species our Box Turtles, Painted Turtles and Snapping Turtles are laying all this month

While the turtles are busy laying their eggs, the Wild Turkey eggs are hatching and will be following mom around the forest as they learn the Way of the Turkey. As far as other birds go the Nighthawks are at their most vociferous in June as they pair off in preparation for nesting. These are interesting birds in that they’ve adapted well to our civilization. Originally nesting on sand and gravel bars of large rivers they’re now most commonly found on the flat, gravel-covered roofs of our office buildings and malls and are probably more numerous now than they ever were before we began building flat, graveled roofs.

The Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year – occurs this month with the sun rising at its northernmost point.   Sometimes called Midsummer, the night of the 20th is supposedly the great festival of the fairies and other little folk as immortalized by the Shakespeare in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”  In the Northern Hemisphere, summer solstice begins this year on Jun 21 2010 at 7:28 AM EDT.

Two plants of note that will be blooming this month are the eye-catching and very orange Butterflyweed - a member of the milkweed family and an extremely common and easily seen wildflower along our highways. The second species of note this month is the Prickly Pear Cactus whose large, showy, bright yellow flowers are extremely un-cactus-like. In the wild they grow along the well-drained edges of cliffs. But odds are you’ll see them without traveling to such exotic locales since they’re a common decorative plant in urban gardens.

Mushroom hunters should be aware that numerous species of Amanita Mushrooms will be popping up in the woods after every warm summer rain this month. While many in this clan will only make you very sick, several of our native species are deadly. So be cautious when hunting fungi out there!

ed note: this article first appeared without a photography in Carbondale Times, June 2005.  …The photo was snapped by Jim in June 2006.

Selected Natural Events for May

02 – Shooting Stars in bloom
05 – Twayblade Orchids bloom
09 – Box Turtles wake up
11 – Black Locusts in bloom
15 – Chimney Swifts nesting
18 – Gray Treefrogs lay eggs
21 – Chigger Season begins!
27 – Bagworms begin to hatch
31 – Hummingbirds nesting

There are two months in the year that make living in southern Illinois worth it and this is one of them. Wildflowers blooming this month include Twayblade Orchids, Black Locust Trees (pictured above), Green Dragons, White Trilliums, all sorts of Violets and Shooting Stars – one of my favorites.

We actually have two species of Shooting Star – the Common Shooting Star found on sunny hillsides and open woods, and French’s Shooting Star which is found only under deeply shaded sandstone overhangs.

Our Box Turtle population is finally wakening after their long winters nap and they’re hungry! Keep an eye out for these slow, shy omnivores when driving. They weren’t designed to cope with cars or highways and for the next two months they’ll be wandering everywhere looking for food and mates.

The birds are at their most vocal this month and begin advertising their presence at three AM and then keep up their calls all day. By mid-month every species that calls this area home will be in residence and setting up housekeeping, and every couple will have a clutch of eggs to attend.

For those with fireplaces don’t forget to close the damper since this is the month Chimney Swifts nest. These birds are truly in their element in the air. It’s said that the only time they land is to lay their eggs, and then only the females. Males spend their entire lives on the wing …

Toward the end of the month the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds will pair off and nest. Keep your eyes open this month and you might see the males displaying to attract females. A male will sit on a bare branch on the edge of a clearing and fly out and up in a loop landing back on his original perch while making a bizarre, buzzing chirrup. Quite a sight.

The Gray Treefrogs will be active (and vocal) as well. Sometimes called Rain Frogs because they call just before summer showers they’re calling now to attract mates. These small, gray, warty little frogs with the sticky toe pads are sometimes found clinging to windows at night attracted by the bugs.

On a more somber note the Chiggers become fully active this month so be sure and use bug spray when walking through tall grass and never, ever lie down on the lawn – unless you enjoy the horrible itch these diminutive mites cause.

Gardeners should keep a careful eye on their evergreens since the Bagworms are hatching. Only a quarter of an inch long at birth, these little eating machines grow like weeds and if enough are present can denude your evergreens in nothing flat. For control try some Bt spray. It’s a biological agent that infects the little munchers with a bacteria that’s harmless to everything but them. Great to use if you have small children or pets.

Spicebush Swallowtails at lick

Keep an eye out for Spicebush Swallowtails – large, showy, black butterflies with electric-blue triangular splotches on their hind wings. Having slept the past five months away in their chrysalises they’re emerging now to spend the next three weeks feeding on wildflower nectar and seeking mates.

Early April also hosts the emergence of our area’s most destructive insect pest: the termite. These colonial subterranean insects live deep in the soil and ordinarily shun the open air and sunshine. But on pleasant sunny days in early April they open their tunnel exits and release hundreds of alates – winged reproductive individuals – who fly off into the wide world to mate and then found new colonies of their own. So be alert to their presence.

But the Big Event this month is the Morel harvest which usually peaks in our area about the middle of April. Morels are ranked just behind the black Perigord truffle in taste so the relentless – and often fanatical – dedication with which they’re pursued is understandable.

They’re a forest species and are most commonly found growing in patches in association with elm, ash, and poplar and occur in the same areas on the forest floor decade after decade. So the trick in hunting morels is knowing the exact location of a patch … and they can occur anywhere, even in town.

And while morels are the ultimate mushroom quest this month, there are (believe it or not) other edible species out there this time of the year as well.

The Sulphur Shelf – aka Chicken-of-the-Woods – will begin to appear on fallen trees this month. This huge (up to 100 pounds), orange and yellow unmistakable fungus really does taste like chicken and when properly prepared is delicious.

Horns of Plenty – aka Death Trumpets – (a relative of the Chanterelle) will be making an appearance as well toward the end of the month. Despite their ominous-sounding name they’re completely safe and nearly as good (and far more plentiful) than the vaunted morel.

And speaking of Chanterelles, if the weather cooperates and the end of April is warm these mushrooms too will begin appearing in sheltered locations. While these are considered a delicacy in Europe and California our local species (seemingly) lack the fruity aroma and delicate flavor they’re famous for.

And finally be on the lookout after warm, rainy spells for the ubiquitous Cedar Apple Rust. This ordinarily obscure and harmless little fungus lives in potato-like swellings on the branches of our Red Cedars. But given warm, wet conditions each little tuberous growth sprouts bizarre yellow-orange, gelatinous tentacles – it’s fruiting bodies – and casts its spores to the winds. While not edible (so far as I know) these are striking and unmistakable fungi.

However even if you don’t hunt mushrooms it’s worthwhile to walk the woods this month.

Wildflowers – Dutchman’s Breeches, Squirrel Corn, Toothwort, Trout Lilies, Bellwort, Bluebells, Jack-in-the-Pulpit and countless Spring Beauties – are all in bloom in April. If you’re lucky you’ll stumble over the uncommon but aptly named Showy Orchis, one of our nineteen species of orchids. It’s clusters of large pale lavender flowers are striking and (unusual for our area) fragrant.
An interesting area to investigate for wildflowers are our older local cemeteries – particularly Oaklawn on East Main. Three species have persisted here since the time of first settlement – Trout Lilies, Bluets and especially Spring Beauties which carpet portions of the grounds. While displays are occasionally spectacular they’re far more interesting as relicts from the area’s original flora since some of the individual plants living here are probably older than Carbondale.

April is also a huge month for the spring bird migration. The stream of migrants in March becomes a torrent by April. Look for all sorts of species to drop from the sky as they temporarily rest and feed on their long journeys north.
Also note the increasing duration and volume of birdsong as some of these migrants parcel off our local real estate and sing to attract mates. Look for warblers toward the end of the month as the influx of these warmth-loving neotropicals begins.

The natural world in Carbondale wakes up in March.

In town the crocuses and daffodils will be kicking into high gear and the elm and maple trees will be blooming their hearts out. February’s isolated wildflower patches will this month become carpets of flowers as March progresses and dormant bulbs awaken to life. Bloodroot and Toothwort – our earliest bloomers – are followed in short order by Spring Beauties, Dutchman’s Breeches, Spicebush and Dogtooth Violets with emerging Trilliums and the first blooming Bluebells finishing out March. Last month’s trickle of migrating birds will this month become a stream.

Should you have a Martin or Bluebird house get it ready because the first scouts will arrive this month. Keep an eye on lakes and ponds for migrating waterfowl who’ll be resting and refueling before heading north. Woodland and prairie birds are also arriving so listen for them in our wood lots and forests. Most of these species are more easily heard than seen. And be sure and look up occasionally this month on clear, sunny days.

Turkey Vultures will be soaring slowly north and a multitude of smaller hawks will be flying just at the range of human sight high overhead.

Moles will be busy delivering subterranean babies while on the waterfront the first aquatic snakes (all harmless) will be out of their burrows and soaking up the sun. On just about any warm evening this month you should be able to hear the oldest voices on earth greeting the coming spring.

The whistling calls of Spring Peepers and the gurgling chuckles of Leopard frogs will join the Chorus Frogs in March. And beneath the muddy surface of our ditches the sirens will be doing their silent, secretive best to ensure the next generation’s arrival. Toward the end of the month the toads will join in. Listen for the extremely unmusical blaaaat of Fowlers Toads and the ringing, soothing trill of American Toads adding their songs to the mix.

But this month’s BIG EVENT will occur near the end of the month when the first Morels of the year make their appearance. These are the large, robust and very tasty Black Morels or Peckerheads. If you’ve never had a meal of morels before, make every effort to do so this year. These tasty little suckers are rated as the second-best tasting fungus on the planet – just behind black Perigord truffles.

While they occur in greatest number in the forests and orchards outside the city limits (Campus Lake can sometimes be a good producer), surprising numbers can be found in town … if you know where to look. One mailman of my acquaintance regularly gets dozens of these tasty treats every year just walking his route in town.Morels are most commonly found at the bases of elm, ash and apple trees.

But don’t limit your search to just these species since morels, in the words of a noted Mushroom Authority, “grow wherever they damn well please.” Morels have the peculiar ability to make themselves invisible to those they consider unworthy. They can also pop out of the ground in a surprisingly short time so make frequent checks of any local patches you might know about – especially after you hear thunder – since thunder seems to draw them out.

So prepare for ambrosial feasts, keep a close watch on your favorite patches and pray for the right weather. And, of course, should anyone gather too many of these flavorful, fleshy, fruitful fungi I’ll be more than happy to take any surplus.

Bon appetit!

by Jim Jung for Carbondale Times, 2005.

I came across an award-winning nature book for children in my personal library awhile ago: The View From The Oak (recently reprinted and available on Amazon.) … The format for the original printing inspired the layout of the book Forever Jung, which can be viewed in sample chapter “The One True, Correct and Infallible Way to Read a Woollyworm.” (PDF)

Photo snapped from “The Throne” at Fountain Bluff, Illinois, taken by Jim Jung \, Jan. 15, 2004.