Wonders of the Wetland If you Build it They Will Come

Wetlands such as the one at Homer Lake were once widespread in Illinois but were largely drained for agriculture. In fact, the beautiful wetland here at Homer Lake is a restoration on land once used for farming. It was constructed in 2007. The amazing diversity of life now found here is testimony to the resilience of nature and the careful planning and hard work of the Champaign County Forest Preserve staff.

TOP: clouds reflected in the water of the wetland, April 2022. BOTTOM: the wetland dry for weeks, vegetation filling in where the water had been, August 2022. One of the most intriguing features of the Homer Lake Wetland is that it isn't always wet! It is an ephemeral wetland, meaning that it is dry during portions of most years. This fact has a huge impact on what can -- and equally important -- what cannot live at the wetland. It's easy to figure out what cannot live in a wetland that doesn't always have water: fish. It is the absence of fish that makes the wetland particularly attractive to many of the animals that do choose to live there. Fish are major predators in most aquatic systems, so having a body of water with no fish in it is a boon for many animals that fish would otherwise prey upon such as frogs, salamanders and many insect and other invertebrate species. Other creatures, such as the ones featured below, are not as much impacted by its "fishlessness" but still find the wetland a great place to visit or raise a family. (Drone photos taken with the permission of CCFPD)

Male red-winged blackbirds are easily recognized summer residents of the wetland along with their less conspicuous mates perching and nesting in the cattails and raising a ruckus whenever they feel alarmed. Males are very showy and can be seen in early spring perched at the top of the cattails singing and showing off their red shoulder patches to attract mates.

Much more secretive than the red-winged blackbirds and seldomly seen, the American mink is a semi-aquatic mammal that may rely more on the lake but still, as seen in this photo, visits the wetland from time to time, perhaps taking advantage of the springtime abundance of frogs for an easy meal.

White-tailed deer can often be seen in the Middle Meadow area surrounding the wetland as well as at times wading in the wetland itself. In addition to quenching their thirst they seem to enjoy grazing on some of the plants that grow up out of the water.

Turtles! Commonly seen basking on a log in the wetland pond are an assortment of large and small red-eared sliders and painted turtles, though a snapping turtle was seen spending time in the pond in 2021 as well. Turtles require deeper water for overwintering, so they must spend their winters in the nearby lake and their numbers at the wetland seem to fluctuate over the summer as they likely come and go between the wetland and the lake.

It isn't just the adult turtles that find the wetland an attractive spot -- it is common to spot young hatchlings like this painted turtle peeking out from among the aquatic plants. I suspect that the wetland may be a more hospitable habitat for these young turtles than the big lake nearby.

The solitary sandpiper (left) and American bittern (right) are both migratory birds which have been seen stopping over at the wetland during spring and/or fall migration in multiple years on their way to their final destinations.

A sora (left with yellow bill) and a pair of blue-winged teals are among the other migratory birds that have made use of the wetland during their migrations.

The common watersnake is a non-venomous snake that can often be found hunting tadpoles and frogs along the edges of the pond in the wetland when there is water. They are adept swimmers and will quickly disappear underwater when disturbed.

Garter snakes are also aquatic and prey on tadpoles and frogs, but in my experience are seen much less frequently than the common watersnake at the wetland. I recall seeing only two in my years of spending time at the wetland.

A circle of life moment: there are inherent risks in relying on a wetland that doesn't stay wet. Here the wetland has gone dry in late September of 2021 leaving behind dead tadpoles and dragonfly naiads that didn't make it to maturity. The naiads are more difficult to spot but there are at least twenty of them in this photo. An assortment of flies can be seen attempting to let nothing go to waste.

Related Website

The Homer Lake Wetland Blog followed life at the wetland from March 2021 through November 2021 and features posts on most of these and many other creatures of the wetland. If You Build It... is a blog post giving some background on the Homer Lake wetland restoration itself.

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Credits:

Drone Photos by Micah Mills | Text and All Other Photos by Doug Mills