An Unusual March at the Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve

Happy Easter to all. Back on Monday.

Till then, an image from almost two weeks ago: crazy green for March.

Taken at the Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve in Lake County, Illinois. But just barely in Lake County, since just beyond the horizon is the aptly named Lake-Cook Road, more-or-less the border between the counties.

"Most of this property was previously owned by the Popp family, who since early settlement times had farmed the rich land," says Lake County Forest Preserves. "The Popps initially had a dairy farm, and then converted to grain crops such as soybeans, wheat and corn. Acquisition of this land by the Lake County Forest Preserves took place in several purchases between 1978 and 1987...

"Prior to European settlement, this land supported a tallgrass prairie dotted with a few small wetlands. Restoration of that prairie has been underway since the 1980s. Though the land has been drastically altered, first by farming and later during reservoir construction, a surprising diversity of grassland birds uses the preserve, including bobolinks and eastern meadowlarks."