Listing Through Life

This large piece of prairie is owned by The Nature Conservancy. Unlike almost every other birding spot I know about, here you’re encouraged NOT to stay on the trails. In fact, except for a short semi-mowed path that goes about a quarter mile out from the parking lot, there are no trails.

I got to the end of this stretch when I realized I’d dropped my pedometer somewhere. I turned around and walked slowly the entire way back to my car without finding it. I turned around again and walked back to where I had been and still didn’t find it.

I gave up and headed off through the sometimes-ankle, sometimes-waist-high grass. There were a lot of birds around, and I saw almost everything I was looking for.

My list: American Robin, Great Blue Heron, Red-winged Blackbird, Red-tailed Hawk, Mallard, Turkey Vulture, American Goldfinch, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Meadowlark, Henslow’s Sparrow, Bobolink, Grasshopper Sparrow, Dickcissel, Common Yellowthroat, Field Sparrow, Eastern Kingbird, Bell’s Vireo, Lark Sparrow, Gray Catbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Tree Swallow, Eastern Bluebird, Orchard Oriole, Canada Goose, Barn Swallow, Killdeer, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Yellow Warbler, Willow Flycatcher.

In addition to stunning scenery, I saw a lot of spectacular flowers and butterflies.

I spent about two hours walking about. And oh, on the way back to my car, I somehow found my pedometer in the grass about 300 yards out from my car.

This is what much of Northern Illinois looked like once upon a time, and there are very few prairies this big anywhere around. It’s also got some great birds.

I crossed the Rock River in Oregon and drove back north a mile or so to Lowden State Park where the giant Indian statue is located. There isn’t a lot to the park other than the Indian, but I managed to find a few bits of excitement, including several stumps that were carved into mushrooms.

See that rock in the picture on the right? The plaque says:

Frank O. Lowden 1861-1943. Governor of Illinois 1917-1921. President The Holstein-Friesian Association of America 1921-1930.

Sensitive to the best in men and animals, devoted to the refinement, productivity and integrity of both, conscious of the contribution of the dairy industry to the people of this nation. He discovered the fountain of youth in his Hostein cow and said, “without her milk children languish, the vigor of the adult declines, and the vitality of the human race runs low.”

Erected by the Hostein-Friesian Association of America

Really. That’s what it says. They don’t make governors like that anymore.

The Indian statue is 50-feet tall and hollow. It was created by some guy named Lorado Taft who was a member of an artist colony on this site. Although it’s often called Black Hawk, it isn’t supposed to represent any particular Indian. It’s just that Taft liked Indians, and he liked to stand on the bluff above the river with his arms folded. The rest is history. The park brochure says it is “thought to be the second largest concrete monolithic statue in the world.” I know I think so.

Anyway, here’s the Indian and me.

And here’s what we’re looking at:

It’s not every day you get to see the second-largest concrete monolithic statue in the world and while it wasn’t all that exciting, I’d say it was worth the hour and a half drive from home just to get away from the crowds and see some scenery — and a really big Indian.