Waterfall Glen

En route to my first meeting with the Illinois Mycological Association (IMA), I choose to kill some time by stopping off at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve in DuPage County. This span of woodland completely encompasses the Argonne National Laboratory, and the nine mile circular trail attracts runners and cyclists like moths to a light.

Swampy!

My stay at preserve was brief, and since I was on foot I did not stray too far from the car. The southern part of the trail was closed due to flooding, something to bare in mind should I be foolish enough to bike the entire trail. Most likely I will make this a regular stop before heading to my mushroom meetings, exploring the area with my bike. 

During my walk, I kept a eye out for any poison ivy, not for fear of being viciously attacked, but to sharpen my skills at recognizing it. I took a couple of photo of plants that matched the three leaves rule, but on closer inspection, neither of them where poison ivy. One was most likely a box elder sapling, with its opposite arrangement of leaves, a characteristic of maple (Aceraceae) trees. 

The other suspect plant, creeping along the ground, had serrated leaves in addition to a thorny stem, most likely a species of wild blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)

Creepy fruit

There was one pretty flower I came across peeking up through the leaves. It had with five white petals and yellow stamens. 

To my surprise, on my way back to the car I actually found a group of mushroom growing out an old broken branch. Shamefully, I have no idea what it is. I could have taken it to the meeting for identification, but being a good person, I honoured the rule of not collecting anything from the preserve. The highlights my need to develop my very own fungus identification database!

 

At the parking lot, I attempted to find the frog or toad that was cheerily croaking away at the pond. I knew I had no chance in hell of finding it, but just to be sure, the frog (or toad) ceased its calling. Little bugger. 

To my right, a group of  red wing blackbirds were busy playing among the reeds. My knowledge of birds is fairly limited, and even the species I do know are those common in England - blackbird, thrush, starling,  sparrow, blue tit, wren, herring gull. Even the red breasted robin of England (Erithacus rubecula) is a completely different species than that of the American Robin (Turdus migratorius). So yes, I had to look up these birds in a book in order to identify them. Don't judge me.

Several flowering plants were adding a touch color to the area, mostly pinks and yellows. So far I have taken many photos of flowers. Plants tend to be easier to identify - in part because of their vibrant colors, various shapes and size, but mostly their inability to run away when I attempt to photograph them.