Wildflowers in Bill's Woods – April 29

Hepatica with Andrena or Miner bees

On a beautiful afternoon, Glenda Denniston led 26 participants on a Spring Wildflowers Walk in Bill's Woods at the Lakeshore Nature Preserve. Bill’s Woods was the earliest Friends restoration project, begun in 2001 by Glenda and other visionaries.Glenda explained the restoration and showed pictures of what the site looked like before the restoration, when it was basically just a thicket of buckthorn. Although our unusually cool spring has delayed many of the wildflowers, we saw many kinds including Bloodroot, Virginia Bluebells, Trout Lily, Dutchman's Breeches, Hepatica, Spring Beauty, and several Trillium species about to bloom. Glenda identified the plants and explained a bit of their natural history. As a special bonus, one of the participants spotted two Barred Owlets in the tops of two of the trees in Bill's Woods.  The Friends hosts were Steve Sentoff and Doris Dubielzig. Photos by Steve Sentoff and Glenda Denniston.