Predation in the city

I saw the remains of this yellow-shafted flicker on the UIC campus along Taylor Street yesterday. I wonder what kind of animal ate it?

Peak color

Just a few days ago I was skeptical that we'd get any good tree color this year, but the change from cold and yucky to warm and sunny seems to have brought out the best in the trees.







Just a few days ago I was skeptical that we'd get any good tree color this year, but the change from cold and yucky to warm and sunny seems to have brought out the best in the trees.

It looks like last year the colors came later in the fall, based on my photos from last year.

Request trees on Chicago 311

Did you know that you can request trees to be planted at your address? Go to Chicago 311 and search for trees, or scroll down to "Tree Planting" in the dropdown menu.

You can also report graffiti, missing or damaged street signs, request a lead inspection, and a whole slew of other things. Pothole in your alley? Complaint about a cab? Worried about your elderly neighbor during extreme weather? Chicago 311 has an impressive list of things to report or request.

I've requested that a tree be planted in front of our building. The neighborhood could really use some more trees. It will take you about 2 minutes to request a tree. What are you waiting for?

UIC in full splendor

Photo taken November 3, 2008 from UIC campus. The Sears Tower is in the background.

I really don't think UIC is ever going to win any kind of awards for its architecture or landscaping, but for a few weeks in the fall there are some spectacular displays of color. Here's a series of photographs taken from approximately the same place on different days.

October 31, 2008

November 2, 2008

November 6, 2008

November 7, 2008

A closer look from Nov. 7.

These Norway maples do look beautiful in the fall.

November 3 (above)

November 6 (below)

Part of getting to know a place and its nature involves getting to know its seasons. I'll try to make regular posts of seasonal harbingers.

Little garden in Little Italy

Last week I noticed this garden while I was biking down Taylor Street between UIC's east and west campuses. It's in front of an abandoned building that is adjacent to Arringo Park and across from Bar Louie.

They have a few watermelons in the garden.

Flowers & Food

You can see the trees of Arringo Park in the background.

The garden is completely fenced in but has its own water supply. I wonder who takes care of it? It looks great! I didn't see any signs but it's possible I missed them completely while peering through the fence at the plants.

Tree of heaven

I have a love-hate relationship with the tree of heaven. I hate that it is so invasive but I have to admire its tenacity to thrive in my tree-deprived, park-poor, coal-fire polluted neighborhood of Chicago. It's a hard life being a tree here where most everything is paved or otherwise impervious, but tree of heaven succeeds.

The five largest trees near our apartment are all tree of heaven.

Is there even soil there?

Tree of heaven (scientific name Ailanthus altissima) is one of the most common trees in Pilsen. It is an extremely vigorous tree able to cope with the difficult conditions of city living such as soil compaction and air pollution. These characteristics make it invasive and capable of displacing native trees. It was introduced from China first to Europe and the to the United States over 200 years ago. It is hard to eradicate from natural areas due to its numerous wind-borne seeds and tendency to resprout from stumps and roots.

The wikipedia article about tree of heaven has a lot of information and can help you identify if you have tree of heaven in your neighborhood. If you live in Chicago, you probably do.

Jardin Mariposa

In August while looking for a yard sale I discovered Jardin Mariposa. It's a nice little green space at 1835 S. Carpenter. On my way to the farmer's market today I stopped by to take some photos for the blog.

The entrance to the garden on Carpenter

Mural in the garden

Colorful stage

Looks like a variety of black eyed susans

Honeybee- probably from the local hive!

According to the Openlands calendar, there was a garden workday on September 6 and I think there will be another in October. I'm planning to go so I can meet some other Pilsen gardeners.

Seeking shelter in the storm

Urban fungi

On Friday I was walking from Union Station to the #60 bus stop when I spied something a little out of the ordinary. There was a mushroom growing in the few inches of bare ground between the sidewalk and a parking garage.


At first I just walked past, but then I thought, wait a minute, I don't remember the last time I saw a mushroom growing in downtown Chicago! So I stopped and took a picture of it, much to the bewilderment of the passers-by.

We know very little about fungi compared to plants and animals. The mushrooms that we see are like the tip of the iceberg- mushrooms are just the reproductive, spore-spreading structures for a vast below-ground network of fungi. I think this one probably immigrated with the mulch that you can see at the base.

I hope it goes without saying, but I'll add that I have no idea what kind of mushroom this is and therefore you should not eat it.

Erosion from the storm

I was at a conference in Milwaukee when the big storm happened last week, but I could easily see there had been a lot of rain in a very short period of time. I bike under the train tracks on Morgan between 15th and 16th almost every day and there are huge amounts of gravel all over the road because the railroad right-of-way is steep and eroding.


This is the gulley that formed just north of the tracks near University Village.

You can see the path the gravel took from the slope down to the road and under the underpass. It's all over the road.

The real bummer about this for me is that late last winter I spread a prairie seed mix all over that ugly brown area in the hopes that some of it might establish and make the place a little less of an eyesore. By mid-June it was covered in green but then a sad, but not entirely unexpected, thing happened. It started turning brown. Unnaturally brown. And it only got browner. The whole area was sprayed with herbicide, and now it is dead and ugly like you see in the photos. I know there wouldn't have been nearly as much erosion if they hadn't herbicided my plants. I wish I'd taken a picture of it when it was green.

I know that they spray railroad right-of-ways to reduce the fire risk, but did they really have to spray all the way down there, way below the tracks?