Wander.Wonder.Learn.Share.: I Smell Spring and It Kinda Stinks

Winter is wearing on me right now. I have been a bit of a wimp this winter and spent too much time inside. I even got all kinds of winter clothing goodies as gifts this Christmas. I like to blame it on looking for jobs and what not, but the fact remains, I have spent way too much time inside. With that being said, I decided that on a very beautiful and stormy March 8th that I was going to get outdoors despite the rain, wind, and lightning. It was time to go find those wonderful harbingers of Spring that are waking up out in the woods.

On this particular March 8th, I decided to head out to Black Partridge Woods. This wonderful patch of forest is a jewel of the Cook County Forest Preserve system. You can find a beautiful and clean stream that flows even in the driest days of summer. If you get way off of the trail you can find secluded little vernal pools and gurgling spings. There are deep valleys filled with very large trees and there are an abundance of wild edibles.

A view down into the main valley at Black Partridge Woods.

This preserve is one of my very favorite places to visit year round but it truly shines in the Spring. The show of wildflowers here is, I feel, unmatched in Cook or Dupage county. Bluebells, hepatica, shooting stars, spring beauties, wild ginger, phlox, jack in the pulpit, green dragons, and many more species can be found in great abundance. I would mention the mushrooms that can be found here, but like any good mushroom hunter, I will keep those facts secret and well guarded. Sorry.

On this particular visit I knew that the only signs of Spring that I would find would be small and well hidden. Only the most hardy of plants and animals would risk rearing their sleepy heads this early in the year. I was hoping to find skunk cabbage and hear some chorus frogs calling in their vernal pools. I was successful on one of those goals but I did find more signs of Spring than I thought I would.

Skunk cabbage flower.

Skunk cabbage is a pretty nifty plant with one of the most bizarre flowers that you can find in our area. This bulbous and mottled flower is the first to brighten up the forest floor in the Spring in Chicagoland. At any other time of the year this flower would be impossible to find due its low growing tendencies. It would simply be overshadowed. In the early Spring, though, it is simply almost impossible to find. The flowers grow to about three inches tall and are flesh colored. I have a hard time spotting reds so these are a particular challenge for me until I spot my first one, after that they turn into a piece of smelly pie.

Because they bloom so early there are none of your more typical pollinators buzzing around. The ingenious and impatient skunk cabbage must instead rely upon the early scavengers to visit it. It attracts these beasties by emitting an odor similar to that of rotting meat. Mmmmm. beautiful. Besides being bizarre looking and smelly this plant has another amazing feature, it produced its own heat. This plant can actually melt its way through ice in order to reach the surface and bloom. That is pretty darn cool in my book.

While looking for Skunk cabbage I came across a few other treat. Later on in the year Black Pratridge is an amazing source of leeks, garlic, and onions. While looking in closely at the ground, I spotted some of the very earliest growth of the wild onions. I can't wait until they grow up a little and I can use their leaves to flavor all kinds of tasty treats again.

Early onion shoot and roots.

Hepatica is another very early blooming wildflower that can be found in these woods. These little guys were still a wee bit sleepy but you could see their buds starting to swell and burst. These leaves are from last year. They hold them all year long. I will write more about these in a week or so.

Old hepatica leaves.

It was such a warm day (for early Spring) that even this little yellow jacket was starting to wake up. He was not very mobile yet. That being the case, he was very cooperative during his photo shoot.

A sleepy little yellow jacket.

Something that I failed to hear on my little trip out to Black Partridge was the chorus of tiny little frogs. Perhaps it was the torrential downpour and the lightning that had the chorus frogs being silent. Maybe it was just too early still. Despite their silence their pools were still wonderful places to visit. I think that I might go back with a net to see if I might be able to find a few salamanders. I actually found one of these pools this winter on one of my hikes. It was frozen solid and covered with animal tracks. The pool with more grass and the stump was a new find for me on this trip. I can't wait to go back with my audio recorder. Hopefully the frogs will be calling then.

Vernal pool getting a refill.

New found pool.

Well, after I made it out to these pools the rain and lightning were starting to get to me. My camera was wet. I was wet. The weather was steadily getting worse. When I made my way back down to the creek it had obviously grown during my time there. It did not even care where its banks were. Seeing the creek like this was a pretty awesome sight. It made me wonder about the animals that call it home. What happens to the nymphs, crayfish, and fish during washouts like these? I image most of them tuck away as best they can underneath large stones and some of them end up in the Des Plaines river. Anyways, it was time for me to call it a day. The rain was washing me straight back to my car.