I have been compiling the results of nesting surveys carried out by volunteers with the North Branch Prairie Project at four forest preserves along the North Branch of the Chicago River. All four sites are being restored by the NBPP, and our bird surveys are part of a continuing effort to record the changes in plant and animal life produced by the restoration.
Despite this variety, there is a substantial similarity in the bird life of the four sites. Of the 33 confirmed species, 14 were confirmed at more than one site. Of the 48 on either the confirmed or probable lists, 26 were found at more than one site.
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One morning while crawling through dense brush, I was suddenly hit with a strong wild smell. I could see droppings on the ground in front of me and, just beyond, a hole in the ground. It was a red-fox den. I was recording birds, so this mammal will get only a note at the end of my report. As will the several spotted fawns I flushed from the tall grass over the course of the late spring.
In Of Wolves and Men, Barry Lopez writes about the state of mind of the wildlife biologist who thinks of a wolf as “an object to be quantified; it is limited, capable of being fully understood.” He compares this with the view of the Nunamiut Eskimos, who live among wolves, hunt wolves, and even use wolves to guide them to caribou herds. For them, the wolf in its essence is unknowable. We can observe much about the way wolves act, but we can never fully comprehend them. And we have to be careful about generalizing, because wolves are individuals too. Each animal has its own distinctive character.
