This is the time of year for Trilliums. We have scattered flowering plants in the oak savannas, but the major display is in the north woods, easily visible by driving…

Dale Bonk photo 2015 We get quite a few birders at Pleasant Valley Conservancy, and most of them comment on our red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). This is a bird species…

Violets are blooming now in the prairies and are close to their peak. There are two species of violets found in prairies. The one that tends to form patches is…

Honeysuckle is one of our more annoying invasive shrubs. However, it is one of the first shrubs to green up in the spring, thus making it easy to spot. Thus,…

Today our intrepid crew burned the wetland strip, thus finishing our burn program for the spring season. The map shows the area (3.6 acres) burned. For more details on the…

It turns out that 2014 was a good year for acorn production by bur oaks. What is called a good "mast" year. However, it was only now, after we had…

Catnip (Nepeta cataria). Easy to spray since there is nothing else green nearby Many perennial weeds come up early, since they overwinter as dormant buds. Right now weeds such as…

Due to Amanda's initiative and the skilled help of Integrated Restorations, Monday 6 Apr 2015 we managed to carry out two more major and complicated burns. At Pleasant Valley Conservancy…

We are in the midst of our spring burn season but scheduling has been maddeningly complex, since it has been hard to predict from one day to the next whether…

What's good for a prairie? A big wet snow right after a burn! A big wet snow brings down lots of moisture but causes no soil erosion. As the snow…