Gulls flock at the bluffs of Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve. Tom Rollins, Thomas Rollins Photography.

Cape Monroe (County), on the southwest coast of Illinois, is a renowned haven for wildlife. The reasons are simple: location and habitats. A bird’s-eye-view of the landscape helps to explain our county’s attraction for wildlife.

The Mississippi River flyway, and associated riparian wildlife corridor, is the longest migration route in the Western Hemisphere, running from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Arctic. Twice each year, 3½ billion birds, representing almost 300 species, use the flyway to move between breeding and wintering grounds.

Monroe County’s cape-like jut to the west, and the river’s long, circuitous route around the cape, bring scores of migratory birds over our wide, often wet, floodplain and wider-still forested bluffs and uplands. And when they get here, they like what they see: superb habitats, offering a wide array of in-route stopover sustenance or a welcome doormat to stay and start a family. But a bird-brained viewpoint doesn’t tell the whole story.

Our bluff lands and bottomlands are inextricably linked, both

A Great-blue Heron at Cape Monroe wetlands. Tom Rollins, Thomas Rollins Photography.

physically and ecologically. The imposing, unglaciated uplands have held their ground over geologic time in defining the limits of the floodplain. We call the bottoms a floodplain because it is a plain that floods; and try as the Corps of Engineers and Levee Districts may, as soon as it rains some, the bottoms have wetlands all over again, as spring-fed creeks, emanating from the bluffs, historically continue to send water to the bottoms, even as old man river tries to ship water to the bluffs.

The bluffline’s north-south orientation is also an important factor in linking bluffs and bottoms. Prevailing westerly winds, streaming unobstructed over the floodplain, are orographically forced to rise over the bluffs creating updrafts and cascading vortices of wind deep into the uplands. In fact, the bluffs rich mantel of loess soil deposits came from wind driven, pulverized rock dust from the bottoms during Illinois’ last glacial epoch.

Ring-billed Gull. Tom Rollins, Thomas Rollins Photography.

Where bluff meets bottom, literally along Bluff Road, there is an important intersection of differing habitats called an ecotone, which ecologically links wetlands, cliff face, and forest.  Wildlife, particularly amphibians and reptiles, breeds in summer in the wetlands and retreat to dens and hibernacula in the bluffs in winter. Similarly, many birds and other wildlife feed at wetlands by day, and take shelter in the bluffs at night. An ecotone offers critters the advantage of distinctively different habitats in close proximity.

Conner Lake, along Bluff Road near the county line and Rocher, Kidd Lake Marsh, along Bluff Road just south of Fults, and Pinkel’s Woods, a couple miles south of Valmeyer on Bluff Road, all are excellent examples of ecotones and the interface of wetland and upland habitats.

Taken together, our county’s expansive and diverse habitats support an amazing panoply of wildlife, one of the richest listings of resident and migratory species in the state. Our corridor sustains 1,000 plant species, of which five hill prairie species are found nowhere else in Illinois. Three hundred species of birds can be found in the corridor.

Sixty-three species of reptiles and amphibians live here, including four species occurring only in our county and no other place in the state.  And 45 species of mammals call the corridor home, including a flourishing population of bobcats.

And, though unknown by most local folks, our bluffland-bottomland corridor enjoys a regional, bi-state reputation for being a rare bird hotspot, with many unusual, vagrant species dropping in for a visit. In the last few years our corridor has hosted black-bellied whistling ducks, a mottled duck, wood storks, a brown pelican, tricolored herons, a swallow-tailed kite, a Swainson’s hawk, whooping cranes, a burrowing owl, and, most recently, a snowy owl, which is hanging around the eastern fringes of the corridor, near Red Bud.

Immature Bald Eagles. Tom Rollins, Thomas Rollins Photography.

Even this drab, dead-winter February is festooned with active and interesting wildlife in the corridor. Bald eagles are congregating again this winter, with the largest convocation, near Harrisonville, numbering 150 birds or so. The eagles aren’t long-distance migrants, however, as they all grew up within 20 or so miles of here, just up or down the river.

In winter, the eagles gather to re-establish social hierarchies, and the five and six year olds select life-long mates. The Harrisonville conclave, smack dab in the middle of the floodplain, is a perfect location. Nearby wetlands and the river provide ample food, but proximity to the bluffs is the key factor.

Eagles court by performing dramatic aerial acrobatics, including steep headfirst dives, with courting pairs locking talons in their descent and sky-tumbling together one over the other. Not surprising, the eagles conduct their courtship flights over the bluffline, taking full advantage of the persistent updrafts and eddies.

Ring-billed, herring and Bonaparte’s gulls have again moved into our area for winter, drifting south along the flyway when frigid temperatures overtook their colonial breeding and hunting grounds around the Great Lakes. Foregoing their typical fish diets, the gulls are perfectly willing to sample mollusks and grubs from prepared farm fields, leaving behind only gull poop in payment for their meals and visit.

This month’s ring-billed gull concentration at Kidd Lake has been historic. With the warm winter and open water, nearly 1,000 gulls have been observed, riding the updrafts before the cliff face and squawking their pleasure like a day at the beach.

If you are a wildlife lover, everyday offers a discovery on the southwest coast of Illinois in Monroe County — where our mountains meet our sea.

Clifftop, a local nonprofit organization, is focused on preserving and protecting area bluff lands.

A version of this article appeared in the February 17 2012 edition of the Monroe County Independent.

© 2012 all content rights reserved, Clifftop NFP.

Martin Kemper, Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Monroe County boasts the greatest contiguous swath of hill prairies in the Midwest.  The largest complex, at Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve, has been designated a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Park Service.  One of only 600 such Landmarks in the U.S., Fults Hill Prairie’s recognition is testimony to its enduring value in the nation’s natural treasure chest.

Our hill prairie corridor, however, frames only the spine of our region’s distinctly unique natural heritage.  Monroe County also boasts a large karst area, with 50,000 acres of steep-slope forests, sinkholes, and caves that hold the greatest biodiversity in the state.  And, at the foot of our beautiful bluff’s cliff face lie several ancient wetlands, once-dependant upon watercourses from the uplands creeks.

Tom Rollins, Thomas Rollins Photography

Taken together, the hill prairies, karst and wetlands constitute Illinois’ Ozarks, a one-of-a-kind landscape and viewscape, right here in Monroe County.

Celebrate Illinois’ Ozarks at Festival of the Bluffs on Saturday May 16^th at Cedar Bluff Park in the Village of Fults from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The nature festival, co-hosted by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and Clifftop, a local blufflands conservation organization of landholders, will focus on the natural history and stewardship of the area.

Cedar Bluff Park will host a variety of displays and presentations on improving land

Tom Rollins, Thomas Rollins Photography

and wildlife management practices.  There will be a wealth of information and presentations on identifying and controlling invasive plant species, growing native plants, pest management, and groundwater quality.  Close up introductions to the varieties of wildlife in our area include live demonstrations featuring native raptors, snakes, turtles and frogs.

IDNR professionals will lead interpretive hikes at Kidd Lake Marsh State Natural Area and at Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve throughout the day.  Hikers can save their energy for the hikes by riding a bus between the main festival grounds in Fults and the hiking areas.

Dennis FitzWilliam, Clifftop

A diverse variety of nature-oriented arts and crafts will be offered for sale at the park.  Many local artisans are participating and their selections include: wood carving, glassware, jewelry, photography, painting, ironwork, weaving and bone art.  Purchasers of native plants or bedding plants will be able to grow a bit of the festival at home.  Nature books and field guides, offered through the Illinois Natural History Survey, can help grow new awareness.

The many threads that create the human cultural tapestry of Southwestern Illinois can be explored throughout the day in performances by a number of area musicians.

Tom Rollins, Thomas Rollins Photography

Illness first led John MacEnulty to explore the spiritual dimensions of music, culminating in his discovery of the Native American Flute.  Mr. MacEnulty, formerly of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and former executive director of the Belleville Philharmonic, will share selections of his music for this instrument and for Native American hand drums.

The four young musicians who formed The String Connection in 2007 are dedicated both to enjoying music and to keeping alive our local area’s musical history.  While their selections of traditional folk songs and ballads bring an echo of early French settlers, the group’s fiddle music, waltzes and bluegrass offer a musical tour from past to present.

Tom Rollins, Thomas Rollins Photography

Nationally known dobro player Bob Breidenbach and Friends will offer their “untraditional” bluegrass music along with some western swing and country tunes.  And, rounding out the day, the Bandroom Brass will offer some easy listening.  The “Brass” players are members of the Bud Light Brigade, a Monroe County music group now celebrating 25 years of music making.

And, just so everybody doesn’t run out of energy for all the listening, seeing, hiking and doing, several local church and social service groups, and others are cooking and serving food and drinks from a menu nearly as vast as our hill prairies.

So, please, come stretch your legs – there will be plenty to see and do – to celebrate Illinois’ Stretch of the Ozarks, at Festival of the Bluffs.

Clifftop, a local nonprofit organization, is focused on preserving and protecting area bluff lands.

Versions of this article appeared in the May 1 2009 edition of the Monroe County Independent and in the May 6 2009 edition of the Suburban Journals Clarion Enterprise.

© 2009 all content rights reserved, Clifftop NFP.

Dennis FitzWilliam, Clifftop

Illinois, the Prairie State, once was part of a vast grassland, covering most of central North America, called the tallgrass prairie.  In pre-European settlement times, Illinois consisted of approximately 22 million acres of prairie — about 60 percent of the state’s land — and 14 million acres of forest.

At the time of European settlement, several large tallgrass prairies existed in Monroe and Randolph Counties.  Big Prairie, on the American Bottoms, ran for 10 miles in southern St. Clair and northern Monroe Counties.   Flat Prairie, some 10 miles in diameter, was located 20 miles east of Kaskaskia in Randolph County.  Horse Prairie, also in Randolph County, got is name from the presence of wild horses roaming there.  And the grandest, Prairie du Long, a huge 70-square mile tallgrass prairie, stretched from southern St. Clair County through Monroe County’s eastern panhandle into Randolph County.

By 1830, farmers began to realize that tallgrass prairie soils were more fertile than forest soils and much easier to convert to agricultural use.  In the years following the Civil War, conversion and cultivation of prairie accelerated.  This was due to both the development of railroads, giving farmers improved transportation for their goods, and to the ever-increasing pace of agricultural mechanization.  By 1900, most of Illinois’ tallgrass prairie was gone.  Today, only one percent of the original sea of grass remains in the state.  In an ironic twist the very “sodbuster” pioneers who broke the great prairies for agricultural bounty now protect many of the small remnants, for pioneer cemeteries, untouched by plow and mower, now harbor tallgrass prairies.

Martin Kemper, Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Also remaining, however, are variations on tallgrass prairie called hill prairies.  Hill prairies are distinctive natural communities occurring along the bluff tops of major rivers in the Midwest.  They are island-like small patches of prairie growing on the steep south- and southwest-facing slopes immediately above the cliffs.  The hot, windy and dry conditions on the slopes discourage all but the hardiest prairie plants.

The bluff lands of Monroe County historically were completely forested, excepting on the cliff edges and in forest openings, called glades.  Today, our bluff lands are home to more hill prairies than any other county in Illinois.  Many of the hill prairies can be easily spotted from Bluff Road, clinging to the slopes, from the tree lines to the cliff edges.  The hill prairies of Monroe County differ from others in the state because of a unique geologic history.

Pleistocene glaciers that covered most of Illinois — which were responsible for the pancake flatness of most of our state — didn’t quite reach the bluff corridor.  Our landscape is really a geographic extension of Missouri’s Ozark Plateau jutting into Illinois.  As a result, our hill prairies host some unusual plants and animals, more characteristic of Missouri and the West, and rare or nonexistent elsewhere in Illinois.

Hill prairies are a collage of plants — broad-leaved plants called forbs and grasses — growing close together; sharing and competing for resources.  This arms race for resources — for sunlight, soil moisture and nutrients — results in the plants taking turns at growth and flowering.  Small, short forbs grow and flower earlier racing ahead of the taller grasses to stay in the sunlight.  These earliest growing flowering plants include alumroots, oxalis, whitlow grass, blue-eyed grass, bluets, cleft phlox, and puccoons. They are the first to flower, but are largely dormant by June.

As the summer progresses, so does the height of flowering forbs, continuing to race the heights of the dominant grasses.  Next to bloom are several species of coreopsis, spiderworts, fleabanes, bergamot, coneflowers, skullcaps, beardtongue, prickly pear cactus and milkweeds.  Then come the legumes:

Dennis FitzWilliam, Clifftop

lead plant, bush clovers, prairie clovers, mountain mints, goat’s rue, scurf pea, and partridge pea.  Blazing stars follow.  Even as they race the grasses for available sunlight, many of the forbs also lean on and into the grasses which help them stand erect.  The forbs return the favor with an abundance of nectar-producing flowers attracting insect pollinators who also visit and pollinate the tiny flowers arranged along the growing tips of the grasses.

By midsummer, three tall grasses dominate the hill prairies:  thigh-high side-oats grama, waist-high little bluestem, and head-high Indian grass.  As the grasses turn to fall colors, complete setting their seeds,  and begin to dry out

Martin Kemper, Illinois Deptartment of Natural Resources

and die back, it is time for the “composite” flowers.  A dozen species of goldenrods, asters, and boneset come into bloom in late summer, setting their bright colors against the dominate orange and golden-tans of the still-upright dried grasses.

In all, over a hundred species of plants make up our hill prairies.  A couple of noteworthy “Ozarkian” rarities are found only here in the entire state.  Missouri coneflowers, a certain heliotrope, and a dwarf bedstraw grow only in Monroe and Randolph County hill prairies.  Stickleaf can be found only here and in three other counties along the Mississippi.  Our hill prairies and glades also host two animal species found only here in all of Illinois.

The stripped or plains scorpion lives only in the hill prairies of Monroe and Randolph Counties.  It is Illinois’ only scorpion, and is a far more common resident of the Missouri Ozarks. Scorpions belong to the same family, Arachnida, as spiders, ticks and mites, and, like them, have four pairs of jointed

Scott Ballard, Illinois Department of Natural Resources

legs  The paired enlarged pincers at their front are used to capture prey; the stinger at the tip of the long tail is used in defense.  Even though scorpions may have as many as six pairs of eyes positioned on their backs and along their bodies, they have poor eyesight.  The pincers have tiny, very sensitive hairs that help detect motion, and scorpions also have a comb-like structure on their undersides which seems to sense movement including ground vibrations, and also may detect sound.  Scorpions are solitary creatures, interacting only to mate or, sometimes, to prey upon each other.  Scorpions give birth to live young, which climb onto their mother’s back and remain with her for one to two weeks.

The plains scorpion is about an inch and half-long, and holds its tail to one side, as do all scorpions that remain under stone or bark during the day.  They are active only at night, emerging from their shelters to hunt their prey — spiders, cockroaches, ants, beetles and crickets, or, sometimes, a smaller, weaker scorpion. The sting of our native scorpion generally is no worse than a bee or wasp sting, although a few people may have an allergic reaction and experience severe symptoms.

Plains scorpions sometimes are food for another very rare hill prairie, glade, and talus slope resident, the flathead snake.  The diminutive, seven-inch long flathead snakes now are only found in Monroe County, although their range once included St. Clair, Randolph and Union Counties.  They have brownish-tan bodies, darker brown heads, and salmon-pink bellies.  Also nocturnal, flathead snakes live under rocks and logs on rocky wooded hillsides with plentiful limestone.  They eat plains scorpions as well as spiders, centipedes and other small insects which they seem to track by scent.  Flathead snakes pose no threat to humans but may serve to remind us of the unique nature and specialness of our bluff lands.

Recognizing the singular uniqueness of the hill prairies, the State of Illinois established Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve in 1970.  Located just south of the Village of Fults along Bluff Road, the 532-acre site contains the largest complex of hill prairies in Illinois.  In 1986, the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Park Service designated Fults Hill Prairie a National Natural Landmark.  There are only 600 such landmarks in the entire country.  Our bluff

Dennis FitzWilliam, Clifftop

lands shelter a little known, one-of-a-kind natural national treasure, in our own backyard.

Clifftop, a local nonprofit organization, is focused on preserving and protecting area bluff lands.

A version of this article appeared in the July 4 2007 edition of the Monroe County Clarion.

© 2007 all content rights reserved, Clifftop NFP.