rland Grassland

NEWS

​11-11-25 and 11-18-25--Seed Cleaning
 
Volunteers completed two successful nights of annual seed cleaning at the Orland Park Civic Center Annex. Twenty people joined the fun on Tuesday 11/11 and eighteen people continued the camaraderie the following week on 11/18.
 
Seed "cleaning" removes the seeds from the seed head and other parts of the plant.  Volunteers used wire screens, meat tenderizers, pruners, a mortar and pestle, and even a plastic container of stainless steel nuts and bolts in the case of Illinois Bundleflower, to separate seeds from the seed heads. The remaining plant material, referred to as "chaff", is saved in separate bags. Inevitably, the chaff will have some seeds in it, so it will be dispersed at Orland Grassland also.
 
The seeds will be combined into mixes suited for different soil habitats at Orland Grassland, such as dry, mesic, wet and savanna.
 
This coming fall and winter, most of the seeds will be dispersed by hand by the volunteers in selected areas of the site.


04-26-25--Earth Day Cleanup 

We had 27 people working hard at clearing out Marley Creek in the FPCC's new 15-acre site just north across 167th Street from Orland Grassland.  We found some amazing things - wooden pallets, rusty old and heavy farm relics, chunks of asphalt and a pile of stone pieces - and some we didn't recognize.  To help us out with the heavy lifting, FPCC's Thorn Creek Resource Management sent over four crew members and a skid steer.  


​03-22-25--Hike the Nite 
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David Carlson reports that "There was great weather for the night.  American Woodcocks were peenting and showing off."
 
It was one of the best of the Hike the Nite events for weather and camaraderie afterwards.  Besides the woodcocks, a real treat, also sighted were Canada geese, northern shovelers, gadwalls, mallards, ring-necked duck, killdeer, great blue heron, American robins, American tree sparrow, song sparrow and red-winged blackbirds.
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Prairie Pass Pond and Crane Valley took a hushed and serene look in the soft light of dusk.  Still, enough light to see our birds gliding about.
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Participants enjoyed hot beverages and delicious treats along with terrific conversation about what was seen, how great Orland Grassland is, etc. etc.
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02-15-25--Brats and Burn was a huge success!
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"The Patch" and "The Regional" picked up our press release. A great success, The Oasis bur oak savanna looks terrific from the clearing of invasive shrubs and small trees.  The food and fellowship that followed was terrific.  Welcome to our new volunteers who are coming back on our field days to experience more of nurturing nature.  Photos of the day are on the Orland Grassland Volunteers group Facebook page.
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09-29-23--Our growing season has been amazing, both for our native species and for minimizing invasive species, specifically white sweet clover and teasel.  Our native species like prairie gentian and nodding ladies' tresses have propagated many times over and our seed harvest has been surprisingly robust on species like compass plant and prairie drop seed.  
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Our efforts to get rid of white sweet clover were successful.  Not only were we able to pull and cut and toss the plant at the right time, we hauled out 65 bags of seeded stems from Bobolink Hill.  We're seeing this nasty species declining significantly throughout the site and especially within our remnants.
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03-25-23--In honor of Earth Hour, Hike the Nite was the best ever.  By special permit from the FPCC, at 7:15 p.m. about 30 people hiked into the sunset along Birdsong Trail, turned left and were surrounded by the shrill peeps of American woodcocks all over the west side.  It was a clear night so we watched overhead as stars emerged to twinkle in the darkness.  We ended up in the parking lot about 9:15 with hot beverages, cookies and lots of conversation. 
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03-09-23--Sadly we say goodbye to our friend, Dan Pletcher.  Dan passed away last Thursday.  He and his wife, Annette volunteered on our Habitat Rescue Team for many years, monitored dragonflies, and much more. Dan was a true Friend of Orland Grassland, a true friend of nature.  We miss him.
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01-28-23--Brats and Burn cancelled due to weather.  The target area to work was adjacent to a swale.  Too wet, buried under continuing snow.  Start a brush pile burning?  No way.  New date TBD.
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12-2022--FPCC purchases 15-acre farm to the north of Orland Grassland.  A pole barn to die for!!  House is likely to be taken down.
 
11-20-22--Afternoon Chat to celebrate our first 20 years of volunteer stewardship-Amazing!  
 
11-08-22--The referendum passed!  That's very good news for Orland Grassland and all of the FPCC holdings.  Thanks to all who were friends in nature.
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09-01-22--Tony Del Valle from the Morton Arboretum is running a study on the impact of brush pile burns on the soil.  He reached out to us and asked if we would like to be a part of it. We collect data on a survey form, and we also insert a probe into the center of the fire that collects heat data. His sites are in six counties in Illinois and he'll likely be able to share findings next year or so.
 
05-21-22--The Orland Grassland Grand Birding Event (OGGBE) was held on May 21st and the data is in.
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Orland Grassland Land and Water Reserve, FPCC, is a remarkable place, a regional treasure.  On May 21st it proved just that when the Orland Grassland Volunteers hosted the Orland Grassland Grand Birding Event (OGGBE) in honor of their 20th anniversary of volunteer stewardship.
 
OGGBE is a one-day snapshot of what birds are where throughout the site.  Begun in 2005 by Suzanne Koglin and other site volunteers, it continued each year for ten years.  Suzanne retired during this time and Jeanne Muellner Stacey continued leading the tradition until 2014.  
 
We thought it would be a good idea to see how our birds had changed, or not, so we brought it back for this year. We’ve come a long way with restoration activities and seen many successes.  We’ve been designated an Important Bird Area.  Our remnant borders have greatly expanded and flourished with native wildflowers and grasses, the natural hydrology is settling in with water-filled swales and new ponds, and our field days are filled with background songs provided by grassland birds, the most threatened group of species in North America. 
 
Orland Grassland has upland, prairie, swale, wetland, pond, shrubland, oak savanna and woodland habitats.  The nearly 1,000-acre site was divided into ten sections and each section was assigned a birder and an Orland Grassland Volunteer (OGV) scout. Regional and local birders came in for the count and OGVs helped them navigate around swales and ravines, helping them recognize their boundaries.
 
Jeanne, OGV and one of the BCN monitors for Orland Grassland, again took the lead in collecting the tallies from the birders and compiling the data.  She sorted it in many ways, making trend charts reflecting species, habitats and Birds of Concern.  The birders: Nancy Buis, Linda Radtke, Chip O’Leary, Sharon Krygowski, Jenny Vogt, Mary Bernat, Lisa Rade, Aubrey Sirmon, Mike McNamee, Mike Ores, Jeanne Stacey, Daniel Suarez, Stephanie Beilke and Anastasia Rahlin.  
 
“Well isn’t this a surprise” said Marnie Baker.  She also analyzed the data which included this pie chart that divided the total number of species into habitats.  The woodland habitat has a lot of migrating warblers in May and that’s reflected in its total, but the number of shrubland species was a surprise when displayed in this way.  Nesting grassland birds are of primary importance, but shrubland birds are challenged too and it seems we have them both.​​