Nothing to Do? Try Nature Bingo
July 9, 2020 6:00 pm Leave your thoughtsBefore heading out for a walk in the woods, prairie, or wetland, kids could prepare their own nature-based bingo game... Read More →
Author Archives for Lon Drake
About Lon Drake
This old guy's favorite large-scale conservation projects include integrating soils, water, plants, and animals, especially native species. I still bike through my South Sycamore stormwater management system from 2001.
Nothing to Do? Learn Animal Tracks
July 2, 2020 6:00 pm 3 CommentsBooks often portray rather idealized animal tracks as a guide to identification, while in nature what you see depends upon... Read More →
Nothing to Do? Try Building a Bird Nest!
June 25, 2020 6:00 pm 2 CommentsOne of the fascinations of nature is the design and construction of nests by birds. In Victorian times, it was... Read More →
Nothing to Do? How About a Nature-Based Scavenger Hunt?
June 18, 2020 6:00 pm Leave your thoughtsIn a traditional scavenger hunt, teams search for a dozen or two unusual items within a time limit between 2-6... Read More →
Nothing to Do? Make Some Fishing Lures!
June 11, 2020 6:00 pm 2 CommentsWhen I was 10 years old, to supplement the holiday excitement, a friend and I spent part of Christmas vacation... Read More →
Nothing to Do? The Adventures of Captain Pebble
June 4, 2020 6:00 pm 2 CommentsFor schoolchildren, summer break came two months early this year, thanks to COVID-19. And by now even the allure of... Read More →
Big Ponds Need Professional Design and Sound Construction
May 28, 2020 6:00 pm Leave your thoughtsMy three recent blogs about spillways have featured variations of little ponds in little watersheds, small enough and in locations... Read More →
Alternative Spillways – Rock and Concrete
May 21, 2020 6:00 pm Leave your thoughtsA few weeks ago, my sketches about building spillways for small ponds in small watersheds focused on using our most... Read More →
Rat Island: A Book Review
May 14, 2020 6:00 pm 3 CommentsWhen you are trying to rescue species from the very edge of extinction, you have to play hardball. This is... Read More →
Designing Little Ponds Without Spillways
May 7, 2020 6:00 pm Leave your thoughtsSome small ponds, retained by berms and with very small watersheds, can be designed to work adequately without a separate... Read More →
