The Scene
Mosaic of prairie, wetland, and woodland straddling Skokie River

Highlights
Remnant prairie, migrant woodland birds, woodcocks mating in March

Stats
122 acres, 4.2 miles of public trails

Behind the scenes
Volunteers can help band birds in May, monitor butterflies June through August, and restore habitat (first Saturday
of every month)

Getting there
Take Waukegan Rd north to Deerpath. Go right/east on Deerpath to Green Bay Rd. Go left/north on Green Bay Rd, and follow to Laurel Ave. Head left on Laurel and park at the end of the street

Spring 2005

Remnant prairie and riverside woods welcomes butterflies, migrant birds, and visiting artists.

Lake County, Illinois

A mosaic textured with wild grasses, wetlands, leafy trees, and lush meadows, the 122-acre Skokie River Nature Preserve in Lake Forest, Illinois, draws some of the area’s most avid birders, hikers, and ecologists — and more than its share of artists.

The centerpiece of the preserve is the long alley of Shaw Prairie, a remnant of original tallgrass prairie designated as a state nature preserve in 1992. Look for traces of persimmon-colored Indian paintbrush amidst the grasses as well as yellow star-grass and hoary puccoon. In March, visitors can watch around dusk for the compact silhouettes of woodcocks engaged in their aerial mating ritual. By June, Shaw Prairie and the adjacent Bennett Meadow come alive with close to 40 species of butterflies, including viceroy, pearl crescents, fritillaries, and swallowtails. Just past the east end of Shaw Prairie is the Ragdale Foundation, a private retreat for artists of all types, many of whom walk the prairie for inspiration.

Black-throated blue warbler. Photo by Art Morris/BIRDS AS ART.

From the trailhead at the west end of Laurel Avenue, a bike path leads over the Skokie River and onto a woodchip trail to the right. Follow the river corridor north through McLaughlin Meadow, an area of remnant wet prairie and wetlands, listening for chorus frogs and looking carefully for signs of prairie crayfish, whose muddy turrets or “chimneys” jut up from the earth, revealing the creatures’ subterranean hiding places.

From McLaughlin Meadow, follow the mowed grass trail into Shaw Woods and listen for migrant birds. According to Caleb Gordon, biology professor at Lake Forest College, more than 100 species of migrant birds pulse along the river each year, including such rarities as the yellow-bellied flycatcher, the black-throated blue warbler, and the gray-cheeked thrush. More common birds include the magnolia warbler, ovenbird, northern waterthrush, and veery. Every May, Gordon and a group of volunteers, the Shaw Woods Avian Monitoring Project, conduct a month-long bird-banding project in the preserve. Last May, the group banded nearly 1,000 birds, putting Skokie River on the map as one of the nation’s hotspots for migratory bird monitoring. From Shaw Woods, cross a swinging wood bridge over the river (kids love this) onto the straight paths of Shaw Prairie.

Established in the early 1970s through land donations from the families of well-known Chicagoans including Howard Van Doren Shaw, the Edward H. Bennett Family, and General Charles Haffner — Skokie River is the oldest of the nature preserves owned by the Lake Forest Open Lands Association. According to Stephen Christy, former executive director, the preserve continues to expand, despite astronomical land values. In 1999, Open Lands added 4.5 acres to Shaw Prairie. “The diversity is mind-boggling,” says Jeremy Batson, director of education. “Everyone loves this place.”

The preserve will be closed March 7 through April 1 for restoration. People who join Open Lands at the $100 level are permitted to bring their dogs into the preserve. For more information or to join a workday, call (847) 707-9878. To contact Ragdale, call (847) 234-1063.

— Ruth Keyso-Vail

Related Articles:
Biologists and Volunteers Find Rich Vein of Spring Migrants (CW, Spring 2003)
Touching a Bird’s Life (CW, Spring 2003)