Lake Bluff Open Lands Association

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Lake Bluff Open Lands Association

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Preservation, Restoration, and Education for Open Space

LBOLA is an almost all-volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of open spaces and natural areas in and around Lake Bluff, Illinois.

10/26/2026

Clocks will move back an hour overnight on Halloween night, on October 31. You sleepyheads might want to skedaddle down to the beach that morning when sunrise is at 7:21AM. On November 1 sunrise will “fall back” to 6:24AM. The gorgeous photo above by Sue Raymoure was taken just after sunrise.

10/03/2026

Welcome to fall. We work year-round but one of our joys in Autumn is the return of LFHS volunteers. We are beginning our monthly community workdays again. Everyone welcome!

Sunday, October 4, Prairie Preserve

Sunday, November 15, Skokie River Prairie Land and Water Reserve

Sunday, December 27, Rockland Wetlands

Sunday, January 17, Skokie River Prairie Land and Water Reserve,

Sunday, February 21, Carolyn Goetz Wetlands Preserve,

Sunday, March 21, Rockland Wetlands,

Sunday, April 18, Skokie River Prairie Land and Water Reserve

Tomorrow we’ll be at Prairie Preserve, at the end of Belle Foret Drive, off Green Bay Rd at 9am. Area youth have given LBOLA many hours over many years to foster a healthy environment. Thank you!!

09/23/2026

It’s the fall equinox, when day and night are equal length.

Summer lingers on the breeze,
A golden warmth amid the trees
The shadows stretch a little more
And crisper air waits at the door

Sun and night now share an eye
In equal measure across the sky
On quiet feet yet without a call
The summer season tiptoes to fall

Summer’s pink asters can still upstage a glowering sky. Photo taken at beautiful Crab Tree Farm.

09/18/2026

Rain rain go away.

Despite this week’s weather we usually do have an extended dry fall, basking in the lake’s microclimate. Some days it's warmer on the beach than on the tableland above.

Gorgeous new railings are in at the beach steps, thanks to the generosity of Ragsdale Inc. When the sun comes ouy give the beach some love! Carpe diem!

09/04/2026

Witness Trees

Do you have a big tree? Measure its circumference, check the chart at GrowingNativeHabitatLB.org and you’ll find its age. GNH LB is documenting these “witness trees.” Send in your stats! So far, 22 trees are over 250 years old. One is 360.

Save some love for baby trees, too. Celebrating our 250th national anniversary, GNH LB is giving away 250+ oak saplings. Two-thirds are already on their way to new homes. Get yours ASAP, at Farmers Market on September 11 and 25.

HUGE News: Tree gurus Mickey Collins, Janice Aull, and Karen Szaflarski report a giant elm in East Lake Bluff. It’s untreated for Dutch Elm Disease - yet perfectly healthy - and perhaps a chance to share some precious DNA. Thanks GNH!

08/30/2026

Have you peeked at the outdoors lately? As they say at our sister organization, Lake Forest Open Lands, think outside the box – think outside.

Just-plain walking is good for your body, good for your head and an underrated exercise. What might you see? Friends, furry and feathered, maybe friends of the humankind, too.

Be a grownup! Assign daily recess to your schedule.

08/24/2026

We at LBOLA haven’t commented on coyotes in a few years. They are among us, in wooded areas, in ravines, wherever habitat can support them. Heightened vigilance is wise two times of the year: during spring mating season, and denning time when families are raised.

The recent event in Lake Bluff was neither of those times. A small dog was taken. The owner was very close by, giving chase unsuccessfully. If you spot a coyote behaving like a predator make noise, wave your arms, do whatever makes you seem menacing, including throwing what you can at the coyote. Be more wary at dawn and dusk.

Our hearts go out to the pet owner. We hope this unpleasant lesson in nature’s ways doesn’t happen to you. This is the first incident like this recorded here.

Photo by David Torres

Have you followed the adventures of the Piping Plovers on Waukegan Beach? Check out Lake County Audubon Society’s faceb...

08/17/2026

Have you followed the adventures of the Piping Plovers on Waukegan Beach? Check out Lake County Audubon Society’s page.

About ten days ago one of the volunteer plover monitors watched a kestrel hovering, intent on hunting. Soon, all of this year’s new chicks were gone. Avid birder and LBOLA board member Scott Gulson says ”It’s an emotional roller coaster. We get so attached.” Happily, several captive-reared plover arrived on schedule and two fledglings born at Montrose Harbor spontaneously flew north to check out the Waukegan beach. A choice Scott calls “Fascinating!” Because southward migration has already begun.

Despite the non-stop drama, the Great Lakes plover guardians are hugely successful: 19 nesting pairs in 1990 are nearly a hundred today.

Photo by Piping Plover Project

08/13/2026

Photo by T Aull Purple prairie clover in the Skokie Reserve

We optimistically purchase multitudes of species, with mixed results. This time of year we see a few spots to infill. Plants have very strong preferences.

Do you want an interactive database you can customize to our region? Try these:
Audubon Native Plants Database
National Wildlife Federation Plant Finder
Field Museum’s Field Guides

If you want a brief pocket guide try Xerces Midwest Region Pollinators. Page two is a great short list: Xerces Society’s Pollinator Friendly Plant Lists. Is a particular area of your yard in need of a tune-up? Here’s a plant list that's already sorted by the habitat the plants prefer: Illinois Wildflowers

When planting in the late summer/fall dry months you will need to water those young seedlings, but they will heel in well by next summer. All of these links are on LBOLA's Education page of our website: lbola.org

07/31/2026

This Monterey Cypress must branch sideways because of the relentless winds on New Zealand’s coast. What do you see? Is it resilient? Struggling?

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” So says Dolly Parton. But if she’s not your guru, then maybe you are more of an Einstein weatherwise: “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

As we settle back into gentler summer days, the memory of this week’s powerful storms may fade. For most of us, anyway. Please accept our sympathies if the fierce weather has tested your resilience.

Address

PO Box 449
Lake Bluff, IL
60044

Telephone

+12244361512

Website

http://lbola.org/

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