Forest Preserve District of Will County

Have you ever seen this unusual looking plant and wondered what it is? #equisetum #nature #willcounty #themoreyouknow

Prescribed burns look cool, but they sound even cooler. #asmr #prescribedburn

A great blue heron, with its white and blue head, opens its mouth as it swallows a snake.

Fun fact: Great blue herons will eat snakes.

(Photo courtesy of Michal Jakubek)

A turkey vulture pulls a piece of flesh off a dead squirrel.

It may only be Monday, but this is the best nature photo you'll see all week. Here we have a turkey vulture doing what turkey vultures do ... acting as nature's cleanup crew. They lack a killer instinct and almost exclusively eat things that are already dead.

(Photo courtesy of Joe Viola)

A yellow flower on a dandelion

Happy National Weed Appreciation Day! And no, we're not talking about Cheech and Chong's preferred weed. Did you know that not all weeds are bad? For example, the dandelion can help your lawn, because their wide root systems help loosen hard soil, which helps aerate the ground and improve drainage.

Snow covered branches

A trailhead sign with snow on top with a view of a prairie in the background.

A snow-covered prairie.

Snow on a tree trunk.

Happy first day of spring in Northern Illinois! We've entered that time of year where you can be driving to work with snow falling and your heat blasting, and on the way home you'll be driving home with the A/C blasting.

A close up shot of a snake in grass.

Today's warm weather means one thing: SNAKES WILL BE OUT AND ABOUT.

You may see them crossing trails, slithering through grass, or hanging out in the trees and bushes at eye level. A warm, sunny March day is perfect for them to find a sunny spot and bask in it.

(Photo by Anthony Schalk)

An image of a wolf spider that says March 14 is save a spider day.

For us, 365 days a year we are saviors, not squishers.

U.S. Butterflies Are Disappearing at Drastic Rates, With One in Five Gone Since 2000 A new study finds the popular, fluttering insects have declined by 22 percent in the last 20 years

We're bringing the bad news today.

You're not the only one who loves a morning stroll! So does this coyote that we captured on one of our trail cams.

Let nature inspire you! This bold male northern cardinal and the winter landscape create a perfect color palette, with warm reds, deep grays and soft neutrals. Use this inspiration from nature to spark creativity, whether you are designing, painting, or decorating your own space. #colorpalette

Migration watch: Monarchs have landed in in the U.S. We're charting migrations this season, announcing when a variety of species hit major milestones on their travels north.

A sign that spring is right around the corner? When monarch butterflies land in the U.S.

Fluctuations in temperatures aren't a problem. They'll once again enter their frozen state and can repeat this freeze-and-thaw cycle many times over the winter.

That glycerol allows woolly bear caterpillars to survive even the most extreme winter weather conditions. They freeze but don't freeze to death.

Once temperatures rise like we have had, they thaw out and go about their business. But what happens if temperatures dip again?

With warmer weather this week, you've likely been seeing woolly bear caterpillars out soaking up the sun. This winter with frigid temps, they've been surviving in a nearly frozen solid state. The caterpillars slowly freeze, but they produce glycerol that prevents their inner cells from freezing.

Two bald eagles fight.

The kid are gonna be kids ...

(Photo courtesy of Darek Konopka)

10 mind-blowing facts about birds With more than 10,000 described bird species in the world, some of them are bound to be a little, well, unusual.

When it comes to regurgitating pellets, owls usually come to mind. But they're not the only bird to do it.

Do you know what bird is calling?

You know you want some cool nature shirts from OutsiderThreads.com. Right now, buy one, get one 50% off.

Hello there, big boy.

A beaver chews on some twigs.

Me: Just one more bite before I start my diet ...
Also me: Eats the whole tree.
(Photo courtesy of Joe Viola)
#BeaverGoals #SnackAttack #ChewOnThis"

Hey deer, you're supposed to pose for the #trailcam, not lick it.

a man wearing sunglasses and a white shirt is throwing salt into the air . ALT: a man wearing sunglasses and a white shirt is throwing salt into the air .

There is an ice storm coming. But before you go full Salt Bae on your driveway and sidewalks, remember that using more salt won't yield better results. If you see salt left on the ground after the snow and ice clears, you are using too much. #weather #icestorm #saltbae #salty

Fact check: We are a delight.

And we have many other delightful T-shirts here: www.outsiderthreads.com

Baby wearing a pink onesie that has a hummingbird on it and says keep the drinks coming.

Baby wearing a onesie that says if I was a bird, I know who I'd poop on.

Baby wearing a bib that says keep the drinks coming, featuring a hummingbird.

These little future nature lovers are absolutely adorable wearing our bibs and onesies from outsiderthreads.com! We were happy to provide 180 of these items to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox to outfit their newborns in January.

Two squirrels in a tree rub noses.

Happy National Squirrel Appreciation Day! We all could use more cuteness in our social media timelines, so this should do the trick.

The Chicago Bears have completed an interview with our mascot and head coach candidate Willy Woodchuck.

Winter is a perfect time to be planting native seeds and that means we're busy getting all that seed ready and mixed. #nativeplants #willcounty

Why are we mixing seed in the winter? Because now is the perfect time to do just that.

Hey #bird nerds, do you know?