Let's pause for a moment...

These last few weeks have been fairly busy.  Two weeks ago today I was in Louisville, Kentucky for Aimee's birthday trip.  Mostly all of the past week I was in New Jersey on business, and in between I've been working and of course involved with the nature museum and the historical society.  It hasn't been easy finding time to "decompress" - however, today I took an unplanned trip to one of my favorite Cook County forest preserves - the one with the newt swamp, among other things.  This preserve has quickly become a top favorite of mine, due to its relatively good condition, high biodiversity, and location.  Seems every time I go I learn something new about the place and/or its inhabitants.

I don't know where my head was this morning but I left my macro lens at home.  I also forgot to change my shoes so I was wearing this pair of Sketcher's Go-Walks instead of my hiking shoes.  I might as well have worn sandals, they were terrible.  But I got in about an hour and a half of nature therapy and saw some cool things, so it's all good.

First off, here is a photo that I think would fit here nicely.  We were on an all-night self-guided walk/explorative excursion of Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, and like most of the other long-abandoned buildings I've been in, bats were commonly encountered.  I don't mind bats at all, and as a matter of fact I have always been fascinated by their very nature.  Some of the bats at Waverly got really close to us since the hallways were rather narrow.  In one instance, several bats were "pacing" back and forth in a hallway I was standing in.  I could only tell because they would fly into the shine of my flashlight (it was pitch black in there otherwise).  I pulled out my camera and aimed it into the direction of where I thought the bats were and pulled the trigger.  I got the shot of a lifetime - a brown bat in flight, maybe three feet from me, completely illuminated by the flash of my camera.

A rabid wolf spider (Rabidosa rabida) found in the abandoned tuberculosis hospital.

 Cave crickets were numerous along the sides and the ceiling of the "death chute".  So were bats; I imagine there is a correlation.

The Noble-Seymour-Crippen House, the oldest house (and building, for that matter) in the city of Chicago.  Built in 1833 with additions in 1868, this house is the headquarters of the Norwood Park Historical Society, of which I serve on the board of directors.  Not only is this house the oldest house in the city, but I think it is one of the best-looking.  Inside is a small museum documenting the history of the community as well as space for weddings, meetings, etc.  I took this last weekend as the alderman held her annual movie showing on the expansive front lawn of the house.

Early this morning, the first reptile I saw at the forest preserve was this long-deceased roadkilled Northern redbelly snake (Storeria occipitomaculata).  It breaks my heart each and every time I see something like this.

A Chicago garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis semifasciatus) that wasn't fast enough to elude capture.  Because I neglected to put on an appropriate pair of shoes today, I nearly slipped down a rocky embankment in pursuit of this animal.  I learned my lesson!

Orange jewelweed, aka spotted touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis).  These are commonly found in roadside ditches or other wet areas.  I saw a lot of these today.

A flighty katydid.

I believe this is a female common whitetail (Plathemic lydia).

The all-too-common Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota).  

 Aphids.  They are sucking juices from the plant.

Even non-artistic, voucher-style photos of Northern leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens) such as this are worthy of my gaze; hope is reinforced when I come across hundreds of these frogs in one locale so close to the city.  Leopard frogs are ultimate ecological indicators.  Their persistence within this resilient ecosystem speaks volumes about the importance of buffer zones surrounding wetlands.  I hope to see these frogs at this location for years to come.

Nothing catches your eye in the woods quite like the Jack-o-lantern mushrooms (Omphalotus illudens).  By day, these eye-poppingly-bright fungi stand out like a sore thumb.  By night, this amazing species has the remarkable capability to glow a spooky green color from its undersides.  Few species of bioluminescent fungi exist, and mycologists (fungus experts, of which I am not) are not exactly sure why they glow.  One theory states that the soft green glow attracts insects, which may act as vectors for spore dispersal.  Whatever the case, these organisms are surely one of the more unusual denizens of the forest floor in these parts.

 These mushrooms are poisonous, by the way.  So...don't pick or eat them!

There is a reptile in the photo below...

 A big Chicago garter in a periscoping position.  It appears to be looking before crossing, but fortunately I disturbed it enough so that it turned away and headed back into the woods.  And just in time, too, since a long line of cars made their way through here right after.

This muddy pond is the home of hundreds of Northern leopard frogs.  It is a beautiful thing to see.