Blog Posts

  Ruby-throated hummingbird sipping nectar from a red tubular flower in soft bokeh light
Read article: More than feeders: Attracting hummingbirds to your landscape
More than feeders: Attracting hummingbirds to your landscape
As temperatures warm and spring progresses, our landscapes come alive. Plants resume growth and begin flowering, insects emerge, and hummingbirds...
a grey cat sits in the grass outside
Read article: Freeroam isn’t natural
Freeroam isn’t natural
I’m startled by the chain-link fence rattling outside the window of my home office and glance up. A lithe, furry predator slinks along the top rail....
a bird getting ready to eat from a frozen bird seed wreathe
Read article: Choose the right feeder and seed for birds in the winter
Choose the right feeder and seed for birds in the winter
By Jennifer Bass, Extension Master Gardener, Master Naturalist, and Conservation@Home member serving Fulton, Mason, Peoria, and Tazewell counties...
birds in the snow
Read article: Top 10 pursuits to fall in love with winter
Top 10 pursuits to fall in love with winter
By Jill Meints, Extension Master Naturalist serving Fulton, Mason, Peoria, and Tazewell counties1. RestJust like with our gardens & plants, it...

News Releases

Snowflake
Celebrate the season at WinterFest set for Jan. 17
GENOA, Ill.—The annual WinterFest, held at the Natural Resources Education Center (NREC) in Russell Woods Forest Preserve, will be Saturday, Jan. 17, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Russell Woods is located 1 mile west of Genoa on state route 72.University of Illinois Extension and DeKalb...

Videos

Uncovering the Winter Secrets of Whip-poor-wills

Often heard and rarely seen, the eastern whip-poor-will and its namesake nighttime call is an iconic Midwestern woodland bird. But like many other insect-eating birds, its numbers are declining. University of Illinois avian researchers are working to uncover the secrets of where this elusive...

Create a Winter Bird Haven

The garden doesn’t stop being a haven in the winter months. Lots of wildlife can use your yard for over-wintering and provide a delightful spectacle on cold days as we look out dreaming of warmer weather. Attracting birds to the winter landscape can be incredibly rewarding for people of all ages...

Staff