fourpointedstar

On my visit to the Sagawau Canyon waterfall, you can imagine my surprise when I encountered the same ailanthus webworm moth from the previous photo (and from the photo in 2010.) However, when I looked up the photo from 2010, I found that the photo was from the Sag Quarries Forest Preserve, which is right next to the Sagawau Environmental Learning Center (where the canyon waterfall is located).

This moth wandered all over this particular group of blossoms, seemingly enjoying the buffet. I would love to read an explanation of the coloring for this moth; it doesn’t appear to blend into any flower that I’m aware of.

Back in 2010, I photographed this type of insect with my iPhone. We were on a trip to see a friend on the south side of Chicago, and I remember the photograph because it was one of the first “good enough quality” photos with an iPhone that I’d taken.

Two weeks ago, when I took the above photograph of the same type of insect, I thought to myself “that’s odd that I haven’t see an insect like that in a very long time.” I photograph insects every year, and I wondered why I hadn’t seen such a unique insect in over ten years. According to Wikipedia, they only travel this far north some summers and are more of a southern insect.

The NENA Butterfly Garden doesn’t just have butterflies, but like the variety of plants and flowers, there is a variety of insects as well. I always love finding these damsel flies and watching their movements.

If you’ve known me or followed my photography for a while, you’ll know that I love photographing waterfalls. I’ve lived in the Chicago area for the past 15+ years, and I assumed that I knew about all of the naturally occurring waterfalls in Northern Illinois. But…one of my friends visited Sagawau Canyon Nature Preserve; well that sounds cool – a “canyon” in the Chicago area! And when I looked up the location, I found a random photo on Flickr that indicated that there was a waterfall in that canyon!

So, the next free day, I drove down to see the canyon and waterfall. Well, both the canyon and waterfall within are protected areas due to rare and endangered species of plants, and that is why there are very few photos of either. However, if you stand at the right spot on the walking trail’s bridge, you can see the waterfall … in all of its mid-summer trickle! Needless to say, I’ll be back to photograph this location when the stream has more volume.