Sheryl DeVore

3 weeks ago | nachicago.com | Sheryl DeVore

In April, Katie Kucera looks for blooming marsh marigolds andVirginia bluebells while listening for leopard frog growls. “I love experiencing the wetlands awakening in spring,”says Kucera, an ecologist for The Wetlands Initiative (TWI), a Chicago-basednonprofit (Wetlands-Initiative.org).

1 month ago | chicagotribune.com | Sheryl DeVore

Myriad bird species will be flying through northern Illinois in the next couple of months, filling the region with bird songs as they fly to their northern breeding grounds or establish nesting spots here. But right now on a sunny afternoon in March, I can hear three distinct bird songs that put pep in my step. There’s no need to go to a forest preserver to hear these songs. Just step outside in your yard, or take a walk in the neighborhood where there are some trees or shrubs and listen.

1 month ago | birdsandblooms.com | Sheryl DeVore |Kimberly Kaufman |As a teenager |Kirsten Schrader

House SparrowThis sociable bird was introduced from Europe to New York in 1852. It’s common throughout most of North America, although its numbers have declined both here and abroad. The male house sparrow has a gray and rusty crown with pale cheeks and a black bib. It nests in man-made cavities, including streetlights and gas station roofs (and often competes with bluebirds for nest boxes).

2 months ago | chicagotribune.com | Sheryl DeVore

My favorite season is spring, but when winter comes I am hoping for snow. We in northern Illinois have not gotten much of it so far this year, until recently when several inches fell. I enjoy the quiet and calm of the falling snow. Freshly fallen snow absorbs sound. The air pockets between snowflakes actually trap soundwaves and lessen noise vibrations. Snowflakes form when the temperatures drop below freezing and water vapor condenses into ice, bypassing the liquid stage.

2 months ago | outdoor.wildlifeillinois.org | Sheryl DeVore

Photos by Tamima Itani. In spring of 2025, federally endangered piping plovers will fly north from their winter homes to begin another nesting cycle in the Great Lakes region. Brad Semel, regional recovery specialist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), along with a host of volunteers and staff members of several environmental groups, are hoping to greet two captive-bred plover pairs that nested in Waukegan and Chicago last summer.