Crabtree Nature Center

A new hike this week at the Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington Hills, IL. We are hoping to see different types of trees, specially trees that drink a lot of water. This is a good family location with several child focused activities. We are here for the hike. Here is a trail map: https://fpdcc.com/downloads/maps/natu…

From the Nature Center we hike along the Bulrush Pond and then the longer Phantom Prairie Trail. The prairie along the Phantom Trail provides a worthwhile view even in the early spring. Make sure to use your 360° controls. As is usually the case, dad makes a technical statement about not using keyframes in the video and then gets new software where he adds keyframes all the time. So, make sure and subscribe to our channel so you can watch the new and improved videos.

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Along the far side of the Phantom Trail are the forest views. We continue to talk about prescribed burns and learn that prescribed burns in the midwest are great for controlling invasive species. Listen and comment about your experience with prescribed burns.

We hike through the intersection of the Phantom Prairie Trail and the Bur Edge Trail. The Bur Edge Trail goes along the far side of Bulrush Pond. We see a lone deer walking through the short grass field. The wind picks up and we lose the audio for a bit, sorry about that. Nature will be nature.

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We stop in at the bird blind looking over Crabtree Lake. Inside are two great boards showing the different types of geese and ducks that frequent Crabtree Lake. “Nothing quite like the call of a Loon,” we get a bit ‘punchy’ after this hike.

The surprise of the day are the captive birds at the end of the hike. We hiked counter-clockwise today, but I would suggest hiking clockwise so you can see the captive Owls and Hawks before looking for them in nature. The Red Tailed Hawk was surprisingly large and if you use the video controls to zoom in, you’ll see the Hawk yawn.

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This video is a holdover from the day before when the Crabtree Nature Preserve closed early. We parked at the trailhead across the street and had a special PB&J snack. Today’s sandwich was homemade bread, sunflower butter and pineapple passion fruit preserve. What a great sandwich, “tropical” is the term I use. Comment below what is your favorite jam, jelly or confit.

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