Walk on the Wild Side, the Locknar Property, Saturday, June 27, 10am & 12pm!

The second WPPC Walk on the Wild Side for 2026 will be Saturday, June 27 at 10am and 12pm at the property of Pat and Stan Locknar.   The 1½ acre yard has several perennial flower gardens that attract butterflies, bees and humming birds. The highlight is the 50’x100′ wildflower garden with native wetland plants started with seed in 2009.  In the center of it all is a Bald-Cypress Tree.  There are several nesting bird boxes that host Blue Birds, Tree Swallows and Wrens. Throughout the year they get Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Cedar Waxwings, Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, White-Breasted Nuthatches, Northern Cardinals, and Finches.  Off the backyard deck is a 11’x17’ Zero Edge pond and a 10’ stream with water plant bog filtration. The pond is home to a floating island, Koi and a variety of goldfish.

WPPC Bus Trip to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, July 11, 2026

Save the date!  Following the success of our bus trip to Nachusa Grasslands last year, the WPPC will again sponsor a bus trip this summer on July 11, 2026.  This year we’ll head to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Will County just south of Joliet.  The site was a WWII munitions factory transformed into a 20,283-acre pristine tallgrass prairie. Bison were added in 2015 as a restoration experiment. Midewin’s prairie complex includes dolomite prairies (one of the rarest natural communities in North America) in addition to grasslands, savanna, wetlands, seeps, upland forests, and three streams.  After touring Midewin, we’ll stop for lunch on the way home.  The WPPC will once again subsidize the cost of the trip, so the whole day, including lunch, will be only $50.  We’ll announce the opening of registration via email.  If you’re not on our mailing list you can sign up using the link below.  We’re looking forward to seeing all of you for a fun day of sight-seeing on July 11!

Caring for the Wildlife in Your Yard

So you’ve taken steps to naturalize your property and move parts of it closer to a native habitat.  Good job!  Odds are that you’re seeing more wildlife in those natural areas.  What can you do to protect it from man-made dangers? Check out the WPPC’s Wildlife Friendly Living Flyer of course!  It has a few basic steps you can take to help the wildlife in your yard thrive in the natural areas you’ve created or preserved.  The first part of the flyer mentions mosquito dunk buckets as an extremely effective way to control mosquitos in your yard.  If you’d like to know how to make one, there is a great tutorial on Doug Tallamy’s Home Grown National Park Website.