A visit to the Forum Nature Area this morning was a study in late summer doldrums. Following a coolish night, a heavy dew coated the vegetation and, despite brilliant sunshine, there was little wildlife activity. Goldenrod, blazing star, thistle and other late summer wildflowers adorned the prairie with purple and gold but the greenery has begun to fade and the placid shallows had a soupy, stagnant appearance.
Cicadas were warming up in the morning sun and the occasional horsefly buzzed our heads but the refuge was otherwise noticeably quiet. Indigo buntings, yellow-billed cuckoos and eastern kingbirds moved among the trees and shrubs but the distant chatter of a kingfisher was the only bird call to be heard. Even the frogs, peering from the shallows, were silent.
A couple more hot days are expected before a cold front brings another respite from the summer heat. Rain and cooler weather will surely reinvigorate the refuge and the surge of the autumn migration will soon diversify its residents. Ever-changing seasons are the best natural feature of the American Midwest.
