KNC Board Member—Donald Skalla

Soon, when the frost is out of the soil, the frogs and toads in Kish’s wetland areas will be in full, amorous chorus, restlessly looking for mates after a cold, lonely winter. Turtles and toads will awaken. Red-winged blackbirds will suddenly appear, defiant and brave, fearful of nothing.  In the woods, migrating birds, like the Eastern Bluebird, will be spotted if not heard screeching first. Bloodroot, Trillium and Cut-Tooth Spiderwort (I love that name!), along with other spring ephemeral...

Our Heritage Oak, awarded “Oldest Oak Tree” winner in the Black Oak category in 2022 by the Geneva Lake Conservancy, has succumbed to the inevitability of Nature’s life cycle.  While taking a quiet, late afternoon walk through Kishwauketoe, it was surprising and unexpected when I saw our Great Oak…there she was, silent, broken, her great canopy lying quiet and still upon the ground in the white satin of a fresh, light snow. She looked tired, peaceful and content, a long life lived well.  So,...

If you walk the trail, from west to east, past Kishwauketoe’s open prairie on your right and the Viewing Tower on your left, and ascend upwards toward the mature oak and hickory woodland, you’ll notice what may appear to be a stark transition from prairie to woods; but what you’re really seeing, if you slow down and REALLY look hard, is a remnant of what is called, in Midwest ecological terminology, an “Oak Opening”. You see, white, burr, and black oaks are able to withstand intense ground...