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News from the Hickory Hills Chapter of the Illinois

Audubon Society, Stewards of Bremer Sanctuary,

Hillsboro, Illinois

THE PROJECT IS COMPLETE! The new Chimney Swift Tower is done and installed (see above photo) in the south

silo at the sanctuary. The tower measures 12’ long and 18” square. It protrudes 4’ above the ladder chute. Constructed in late March, it was installed in late-April and anxiously awaits arrival of occupants.

WHAT IS A CHIMNEY SWIFT? A Chimney Swift is a sooty-colored bird, weighing less than an ounce, with a 12-

inch wingspan and a 5-inch “cigar-shaped” body. A Chimney Swift spends their life airborne except when they are roosting or on a nest. They cannot perch or stand upright. When they need to rest at night, they face upward in the chimney and hold the rough surface with their strong claws while wedging in their spiny tail tips to brace themselves. A Swift leaves it’s chimney in the morning and continuously flies until evening. Around sunset, it will go back into the chimney to roost (rest and sleep). Although many will roost in a chimney, only one pair will nest there. The nest is a half-saucer of loosely woven twigs, stuck together and cemented to the wall with the bird’s glue-like saliva.

REMAINING 2019 CALENDAR EVENTS

June 19, 10:00-noon---Children’s program, “Aquatic Adventures” sponsored by Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom and Bremer Sanctuary. Ages 5 & up, families welcome! See pg. 6

July 17, 10:00-noon---Children’s program, “Bug Out!!” sponsored by Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom and Bremer Sanctuary. Ages 5 & up, families welcome! See pg. 6

July 27, 4:00 pm---Prairie Wildflower Walk with wiener roast to follow. See pg. 6

September 21, 8:00am-noon--Lincoln Land Association of Bird Banders will conduct on-site bird banding. Children’s program “Be a Bander”, will be offered in conjucntion with banding.

September 22, 1:00-3:00---children & family workshop, “All About Trees”.

October 12, 4:00 pm---Owl Prowl, live owl program and release, wiener roast & owl activities.

October 20, 2:00-4:00--- All-ages Program back by popular demand…“Owls of Illinois”

November 9, 5:00 pm--Annual Meeting Potluck, with Jim Herkert, Illinois Audubon Society’s Executive Director as guest speaker.

Reminder: The Bremer Education Barn is a seasonal barn, no heat and no air conditioning. The stewards make every effort

to provide supplemental heat or cooling fans based on the weather. Please dress accordingly when attending events.

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This is the reason why our prairies are so beautiful in the summer………….

Restoration Activities – Winter 2018-2019 by Ken Schaal

Restoration activities at Bremer Sanctuary this past winter included prescribed burning and seeding of native wildflowers and grasses after the fire. Although Mother Nature did not cooperate by providing us with many good burn days, the Bremer Crew was able to find three dry days where conditions were favorable for burning. Total number of acres that our crew burned in those three days was estimated to be around 60 acres. Our first burn of the season took place on February 25, where all of the south slope prairies and savannas (except for the Cemetery Prairie) were burned, an estimated 15 acres. In order to safely burn by the south property line, a south wind is needed. With a south wind we can safely predict where the fire will go. With a 7 – 10 mph

wind and a low relative humidity that afternoon, our fire burned safely down and up the slopes. A few days later Bremer volunteers scattered several dozen pounds of native wildflower and grass seeds in the newly burned savanna areas. The end of February is not the ideal time to scatter wildflower and grass seeds since most of these seeds need to experience a couple of months of cold weather in order to germinate. Time will tell if germination occurred this spring or will have to wait until next year. The second burn took place the next day at the East Prairie and the south portion of the Pollinator Field. Since construction of the pipeline created a 60 foot wide path through our large CRP pollinator field, that bare ground became a fire break. The south portion of this field was chosen since the wind was out of the east, making the burn easy. Total area burned was estimated to be 12 acres out of the 15 acre total. We had to wait until March 18 for our final burn. On that day eight volunteers spent over four hours burning the remaining CRP fields, which are also in the pollinator program. With a north wind blowing that afternoon, we were again able to use the same pipeline construction bare ground zone as a firebreak. This time we burned an estimated 34 acres. The burn was quite thorough with at least 98% coverage. One of our restoration projects remains unfinished; we still have dozens of brush piles to burn in the grant area. Much work remains to be done there. We are always looking for help to burn these brush piles as well as our other restoration activities. Contact Bremer Sanctuary if you are interested in volunteering.

The rain stopped just in time for

the Annual Woodland

Wildflower Walk held on April

27th

. The group of 10 hikers

(photo by participant Ray

Luebbert) traversed the muddy

trail to enjoy many colorful

blooms. Ken Schaal and Jerry

Prater led the 90 minute walk

and cookies and good

conversation was enjoyed by all

afterwards.

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Benches Memorialize Outdoor Enthusiasts at Bremer by Mike Plunkett

Two new benches in memory of two avid outdoor enthusiasts will now provide peaceful resting places at one of their favorite places. The themed benches, masterfully crafted by artisan Chris Hubbart of Hubbart Wood in Hillsboro, in memory of Wayne Belanger and Jim Hefley are now part of the scenic landscape at Bremer Sanctuary, after they were delivered and installed on Tuesday, May 14th. Mr. Hefley, who passed away on August 9, 2018 was a member and longtime active volunteer at the sanctuary while Mr. Belanger, who passed away on September 4, 2018 was a member of the Hillsboro Natural Resources Committee as well as Bremer. The memorial bench for Mr. Helfey, engraved with “Faithful Bremer Steward”, is carved from cedar with an owl on one flank and a cardinal on the other. It now provides a resting spot along the fence near the Bremer barn. Mr. Helfey’s wife, Anna, son Jim of Rochester, and daughter Debbie Berry of Peoria, were all present for the installation. The cedar bench in memory of Mr. Belanger now provides a shady spot for contemplation in the woods along the Timber Trail, and features a cleverly carved axe on each flank. “He was an axe collector,” his wife, Linda stated. The Hefley bench was provided by memorials to the sanctuary while the Belanger bench was provided by Linda Belanger. Both families are grateful to Hubbart for his artistic craftsmanship in designing and carving the memorial benches.

Bremer Sanctuary was excited to be included in the annual ACES day held

on May 1st at the elementary schools in Montgomery County. 4th and

5th graders from Hillsboro, Coffeen and Nokomis were treated to many

diverse presentations from local vendors. ACES is sponsored by the

University of Illinois, College of Agricultural, Consumer and

Environmental Sciences. Nancy Redman, education chairperson for the

sanctuary, did a presentation at Beckemeyer elementary in Hillsboro

regarding trail safety. Items discussed were using bug repellent and

sunscreen, proper clothing and shoes, staying on marked trails and

avoiding dangerous plants and animals while hiking. Students were

allowed to select a picture of an item that is located at the sanctuary and

tell if they would feel safe or scared when encountering it on a trail.

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West Creek Trail by Ken Schaal

Last year during the grant period several members of the Bremer Crew wanted to re-establish an old hiking trail

on the Bremer Sanctuary trail guide map. This area is on the other side of Cress Creek and had a trail years ago; but due

to trailhead problems that trail was lost and forgotten. Since part of the designated grant area was reserved for the

west side of Cress Creek, grant money was available to open this old forgotten trail. It took lots of effort, energy and

money to re-create the West Creek Trail, which leads to the largest Bur Oak tree on the property. This special Bur Oak is

on the floodplain at the southwest corner of Bremer Sanctuary and has been inaccessible for a long time due to dense

thickets of brush.

Now that the West Creek Trail has been completed, access to the trailhead requires crossing Cress Creek. To

make a reliable and safe way to cross Cress Creek will require the construction of a low water crossing structure. This

will allow hikers as well as our tractor and other maintenance equipment to safely cross the creek and gain access to the

West Creek Trail. Lots of our resources will go into this project, which will begin when Pipeline Trail dries out enough to

allow heavy construction equipment to maneuver the trail without damaging it—probably this summer. Stay tuned for

more on this project in future newsletters.

Last winter after the trail-clearing project was completed, I was asked to tour the area and critique job. While

walking the new trail toward the large Bur Oak tree, I took pics for this newsletter article. The hike took me across Cress

Creek (I used boots to keep my shoes dry), along the floodplain and past the “failed wetland,” which was overgrown

with cottonwood trees and brush, and on to the oak tree. Visible along my hike was the damage created by the pipeline

construction. Fortunately the pipeline company provided money to restore the damage on the west side of Cress Creek.

Last February that area was seeded with prairie grass seeds; we await warm weather and germination of those seeds to

fill in the construction damage.

The pictures follow the path and scenes I took to my destination: the large Bur Oak tree and back again to the

Cress Creek crossing.

West Cress Creek Trail: before

brush removal began.

The trail clearing begins to make a

wide swath for hiking and trail

maintenance.

On the berm approaching the

“failed wetland.”

Looking into the “failed wetland.”

Loaded with cottonwood trees

and brush.

On the trail again, the largest

Bur Oak tree at the sanctuary

is in sight.

Back to Cress Creek crossing. Boots back

on to wade across the creek. Pipeline

Trail is in the background.

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Earlier this spring the Bremer Restoration Crew consisting of

Henry Eilers, Jim Hefley, Don Krefft and Ken Schaal planted a

dozen trees in the Cress Creek floodplain. They were donated by

Henry, who planted the nuts and tended them in his garden for

the past five years, dug them and brought them to plant at

Bremer Sanctuary on April 16. These trees were planted in the

bottomland since their natural habitat is moist but well-

drained. The trees planted that morning were our native pecan

and shell-bark hickory, an uncommon tree in our area.

When Bremer Sanctuary became part of Illinois Audubon

Society in the late 1970’s, it was an old-fashioned farm with

major erosion problems, lots of rusty abandoned farm equipment

and very little plant diversity. There were few unusual plants on

the property. (Today most IAS properties contain endangered species or possess some other special

feature). By planting the rare Shell-bark Hickory tree on the property we hope to give this local species

protection. The nuts from this species come from a single tree found on a farm in Macoupin County. (That

single tree may be accidentally exposed to herbicide drift from ag. chemicals, bull-dozed for more row crops or

struck by lightning). We hope to continue adding unusual plant species to Bremer Sanctuary as a safe place for

rare plants to survive in a quickly changing world. Not only will this species be preserved, but its presence also

adds to the ecological value of Bremer Sanctuary. Ken provided the tree guards that are necessary to keep the

deer from destroying the trees.

BIRDING NEWS FROM HICKORY HILLS by Nancy Redman

The annual sanctuary bird walks, Spring on April 13th and the Summer on

June 8th, were attended by several enthusiastic birders. Both walks began

at 7:00am and lasted about 90 minutes with breakfast goodies available

afterwards. The spring walk compiled 29 species with the summer walk

recording 37 species. Highlights were the many Red-headed

Woodpeckers along with Indigo buntings, Yellow-breasted Chats and the

always “showy” Eastern Towhee. Left photo, group during the spring walk

enjoy a visit by a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

The nest boxes are busy with Eastern Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, House Wrens with an

occasional Black-capped Chickadee and Carolina Wren. So far 56 Eastern Bluebirds

have been fledged, but that number would be much higher if the Buffalo Flies would

not have invaded. On June 4th , 45 hatchlings(14 bluebirds and 31 swallows) were

found dead in the nest boxes due to the biting flies. On May 4th, Nancy Redman

conducted a bird survey for the annual Spring Bird Count for the Illinois Natural

History Survey and recorded 66 species at the sanctuary with the highlight of the

survey being a Pileated Woodpecker (right photo).

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Children’s Summer Workshops

The Hickory Hills Chapter of

the Illinois Audubon Society

Board of Directors

Henry Eilers-Restoration

Ron Gazda-Building

Gale Johnson-Building

Don Krefft-IAS Chapter

Representative, Treasurer,

Restoration

Sonya Luckett-Bulletin Board

Ed Martin-Building

Dane Murphy-Building

Jerry Prater- Secretary

Bruce Redman-Building

Nancy Redman-Newsletter,

Bluebird Trail, Education

Chairperson

Dick Rompasky-Building

Carl Savage-Membership

Ken Schaal-Restoration

Jim Yount-Building

Free, family friendly workshops co -hosted by Illinois Ag in the Classroom

and Bremer Sanctuary. Moderate hiking on trails so wear sturdy shoes and

apply bug repellent and sunscreen before arrival. Snack provided.

Next up for Bremer……Prairie

Wildflower Walk, Saturday July 27th.

The walk will leave the barn at 4:00pm

and will last 60-90 minutes. Wagon

rides may be available depending on

trail conditions. Wear a hat and sturdy

shoes, use sunscreen and bug spray.

Wiener roast will follow the walk so

bring your own hot dogs, buns, lawn

chairs and a dish or two to share.

Water will be provided.

Volunteers always welcome, Tues & Thurs mornings 8:00-11:00

Check out our website at www.bremersanctuary.org

Like us on Facebook at “Bremer Sanctuary, Hickory Hills Chapter

of the Illinois Audubon Society”.

Illinois Audubon Society website: www.illinoisaudubon.org

Photo credits this issue: Beth Groves, Don Krefft, Ray

Luebbert, Bruce Redman, Nancy Redman

& Ken Schaal