Homer Lake Wetland Blog

Here are five images of the wetland captured today (11/11/21). The Fall beauty of the wetland speaks for itself.  I hope you enjoy the Fall Photos! Most of the plants and animals are transitioning to a season of rest, and I am as well. Between March 1 and September 30th this year I spent over 200 hours at the wetland and many more hours working on my photos, videos and blog posts. I've enjoyed just about every minute of it and have learned a lot, but it's time for a change. My hope is that this blog has incited curiosity and stirred up wonder for all who've read some of the posts. And of course the blog will remain as a resource for all who are interested in exploring more of the wonders of the wetland. Spoiler Alert: I've been in discussion with the folks at the Homer Lake Interpretive Center and the current plan is for me to collaborate with them on an interpretive display about the wetland coming probably in April 2023 to be displayed in the Interpretive Center for

The Wonderful Wetland, June 8, 2021 shortly after sunrise It may surprise you to know that fifteen years ago this wonderful, magical, glorious wetland, which I've spent the last eight months marveling at and blogging about, did not exist except on paper. The Homer Lake Wetland I am so fascinated with is a wetland restoration proposed by the Champaign County Forest Preserves and partially funded by a Five Star Restoration Challenge Grant awarded by the National Association of Counties in July, 2006.  The photo below shows the site of the proposed wetland in September 2006 before any work had begun. You may recognize the tree at the right in the photo below as the now dead snag standing on the east edge of the wetland visible in many of the photos of the wetland I have posted, a favorite perch for bluebirds and flycatchers watching for flying insects emerging from or attracted to the wetland. Likewise, bluebird nesting box number seven at the bottom left of the photo below still stan

The Wetland Again Full, October 27, 2021 After over two inches of rain this week, the water level at the wetland is as high as it gets in spring and early summer. For the sake of comparison, below is a photo from one year ago tomorrow, October 28, 2020. In addition to the total absence of water a year ago -- the wetland was dry before the end of August last year and to the best of my knowledge stayed dry until the end of November -- notice the difference in how much the trees had turned a year ago vs. this year at this time. Also notice how tall the dry-land plants had grown last year where the water had been since they had so much longer to grow at the end of summer. It will be interesting to see how much the almost continuous water in the wetland this year impacts things like whether or not dragonfly species  that did not survive the dry spell last year  successfully emerge next year, and if so, which ones. So far I have been able to identify only one species of dragonfly naiads that

Water Boatman, Homer Lake Wetland, October 16, 2021 Checking  out the wetland last week (October 16) to see what was still lurking in "the depths" (ok, about a foot deep in the deepest section at that point) I pulled out two more true bugs we've not yet looked at in this blog. They have a lot in common but also some important differences. In common, both water boatmen and backswimmers are true bugs. As noted before, all true bugs (insect order hemiptera), such as the water scorpions and giant water bugs which we've already seen, have piercing mouthparts which they use to suck up their meals. In addition, like most of the aquatic insects and arachnids we've seen, water boatmen and backswimmers carry air bubbles around with them underwater like little scuba tanks. Also in common, both water boatmen and backswimmers have elongated back legs fringed with fine hairs that they use like oars to make their way through the water -- surprisingly fast, actually. Two import

Disintegrated Diving Beetle with Breathing Bubble, Homer Lake Wetland, October 16, 2021 Another predaceous diving beetle  suitably colored orange and black  for the month of October! Like one of the two beetles featured in t he orange and black post last week , this is another one of the 600 species of predaceous diving beetles found in North America. It was a bit larger than the two featured last week, but only by a couple of millimeters, being perhaps six or seven millimeters long (still less than half an inch). Notable in the photo above is the bubble on its behind. Like the other beetles last week (and the giant water scavenger beetle I wrote about half a year ago in April and many, but not all, of the other aquatic insects we've seen), these beetles breathe air and carry their air supply with them when they go underwater. Their bodies are uniquely adapted for this purpose. It may seem a bit awkward to drag an air bubble around on your behind, but this actually serves an impor

Snapping Turtle (back) at the Wetland, October 16, 2021 The rain has continued much of the past week -- five of the eight days between my visit on Friday 10/8 and my next visit on Saturday 10/16 for a total rainfall in the Homer area of 1.86 inches (according to my Dark Sky app). The water level on the 8th was already impressive for this time of the year, so needless to say, doubly impressive when I visited yesterday. Perhaps the most elegant testimony to this fact was the return of the snapper. If you've followed this blog you may recall that I first saw the snapping turtle on the lawn near the wetland on July 31, then in the wetland on August 4th and again on August 14th . That was the last I saw of her* up until yesterday. Meanwhile, the wetland has been completely dry. Twice. So imagine my astonishment and wonder when I arrived at the wetland yesterday and one of the first things I saw was her large shell protruding from the water near the shore.  The air temperature was 50 de