Fledgling Dicksissel by Lisa Culp Musgrave
Picture this: an immense stretch of tall grasses wavers before you in the breeze. The sweetness of the late afternoon air floods your nose and lingers on your tongue. The three-part tune of an Indigo Bunting echoes faintly in the distance, the bird's brilliant blue body distantly visible perched upon a snag. But his song is punctuated by a sharp, separate chipping noise. As you thumb through your field guide searching for the source of this sound, you feel the cool leaf of a Compass Plant brush against your leg, startling you. Before you can finally solve the mystery, you watch a yellow-gray bird, about the size of the Bunting, flit past you and land on a taller Compass Plant barely peeking above the grassy horizon. Could that be the bird you heard before? What other secrets could this beautiful place hold?
When it comes to questions like these in a place as expansive and richly biodiverse as the Somme Prairie, site steward Laurel Ross and Bird Conservation Network (BCN) monitor Amanda Tichacek have and continue to find the answers. Working exclusively on the collective Somme Nature Preserves in Northbrook, IL, their restoration and surveying allow them to keep these Preserves healthy, happy and hopeful while evaluating whether or not their actions have impacted bird activity.
“In the early days…we knew that pre-settlement it had been rich prairie, and we knew there were these rich remnant areas, and we would thin it [the brush],” said Ross, who manages a team of site volunteers and has herself restored Somme since 1992. Indeed, the cautious and purposeful shaping of the Preserves has long occurred since their overall designation as an Illinois Nature Preserve in the 1970s; most recently, Ross and her crew - along with contractors - have removed large sections of brush and trees to create an open landscape.
“It wasn’t one big Prairie, it was a mosaic of grassland, savannah area, wetland areas, woodlands,” said Ross. “Instead of just having a few small acres of open prairie, the 72 acres is now almost entirely open prairie, which is why we think–and we’ve asked all the experts–that it’s suitable habitat for some grassland birds that very dearly need prairie habitat.”
Tichacek, who began monitoring the site for the BCN in June 2019, keeps track of birds inhabiting the Somme Preserves through a strictly protocolled process involving the use of eBird at eight spots (some off trail) at different times of year. Remaining in each spot for five minutes only, she records whichever birds she hears and/or sees in the highly accessible citizen science app/website.
“There’s certain birds that I expect to see, and then there’s some birds…there’s a list of birds of special concern,” said Tichacek. “It’s basically a list of birds we would love to see there. Dickcissel, Bobolinks, Sedge Wrens…these are all indicators of the restoration process. So, those are always on my mind!”
Often, these desired dream birds become reality.
“Two Junes ago, I got to one of my last points, and I saw a Dickcissel. I could not believe it. And that was one of the birds I had been looking for! It was the first time a Dickcissel had ever been seen at Somme–first time it was ever recorded on eBird. And then last year, I saw at least a dozen Dickcissels at one time! I think they stayed all summer.”
Such birds offer tremendous insight into the quality of the site on a year-to-year scale. Both Tichacek and Ross, as birders, never fail to notice new residents nor brief visitors.
“Just from what I’ve seen in the last few years, I feel like there’s been great progress, just…in terms of what birds I have in mind and what I’m seeing. Dickcissel, a Bobolink, and Laurel had a Henslow’s Sparrow last year!”
This progress, of course, results from Tichacek’s continuous observations and the efforts of Ross and her team, who work the closest with local flora–native species as well as nonnatives that have the potential to break up ecosystems by choking out beneficial food sources for pollinators like the federally endangered Rusty-patched Bumblebee and other environmentally relevant creatures.
Lisa Culp Musgrave
“Plants are what we work on,” said Ross. “That’s what we manipulate, that’s what we can manipulate. A huge part of what we do is collect seed, mix it and spread it. We move that seed around, and that is key to the restoration succeeding. When we cut brush, weeds would just come in [if we didn't seed].”
Such alterations have sustained positive effects through the years and continue to encourage the nesting of grassland species like the Dickcissel, additionally motivating both Ross and Tichacek to continue their work on behalf of the Somme Nature Preserves as well as the BCN.
“I personally think it’s really important to give back, and I do that through volunteering,” said Tichacek. “Collecting this breeding bird survey data that then gets used in a bigger picture to help get Laurel funding for the Prairie itself, or can inform trends either locally or regionally. Henslow’s Sparrows, for example…that data can then be translated into important information on an important species.”
With this data considered, the Somme Nature Preserves present a promising glimpse into the future of both the site and Prairie ecosystems at large, given the resources and the readiness to better nature on a local level.
“People are excited when they hear there’s something going on that’s important,” said Ross. “It’s a conservation story.”
Want to volunteer with Laurel and her North Branch crew? Check out northbranchrestoration.org for more information on where/when to volunteer, or contact laurelmross@gmail.com directly to learn about monitoring non-avian fauna like the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee.
Interested in recording bird activity at a forest preserve in your area? Check out the Bird Conservation Network (BCN) at www.bcnbirds.org/survey/. Information on individual species population and distribution trends as recorded by the BCN can be located here: https://www.bcnbirds.org/trends21/trends.html.
