TLC's Blog Archives - Page 34 of 39 - The Land Conservancy of McHenry County

February is National Bird-Feeding month!

Written on February 20, 2012.

I’ve been watching the little dark-eyed juncos at the bird feeder today. They keep hopping onto the tube feeder and then quickly off. I did some reading, and found that they are ground feeding birds, so would really rather...

How old is that oak?

Written on February 13, 2012.

When we say that we found an oak that is at least 400 years old, what do we base that conclusion on? Obviously, we would have to cut the tree down to count the rings, and unless it is already dead, we aren’t going to do that! The...

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What does the warm winter mean?

Written on February 2, 2012.

In December 2010, I wrote an article about the coming of winter – “Slow down and take a cue from nature” In it, I discussed the fact that in this part of the world, nature takes a break in the winter, and...

Snowflakes and Wilson Bentley

Written on January 31, 2012.

When first married, my husband and I moved to Vermont from Chicago, motivated by our image of that state as a beautiful, rural paradise – the antithesis of gritty Chicago where our car got broken into every few weeks. We thought...

Whether we weather the weather

Written on December 30, 2011.

As I write this, it is December 30, 2011, 11am, and I am in Woodstock, Illinois. And it is about 40 degrees and raining. Okay, that looks as strange in writing as it sounds in my head. I remember a New Year’s Party when...

Keep me in the Dark. Please!

Written on November 29, 2011.

When was the last time you saw the Milky Way? What, you say you’ve never seen it? Well, you’re hardly alone. We live in a time when millions of people are growing up in urban areas where they are lucky to see a few stars now...