Freeman Kame-Meagher Forest Preserve

Freeman Kame – Meagher Forest Preserve is located along the Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) and is managed by the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. Its landscape was shaped by the glaciers during the ice ages.

We began monitoring Freeman Kame – Meagher Forest Preserve in 2024 and detected:

Amphibians

• • 

    8 species-

    • Central Newts, Tiger Salamanders, Boreal Chorus Frogs, Green Frogs, Bullfrogs, Northern Leopard Frogs, Gray Treefrogs, American Toads

 Reptiles

• • • • 6 species –
        • Blanding’s Turtle, Common Snapping Turtle, and Painted turtle, Dekay’s Browsnake, Common Gartersnake, and Milksnake

Bats

• • 7 species of bat –
    • Big Brown, Eastern Red Bat, Silver-haired,  Little Brown, Evening, and Tri-colored

• Bumblebees

  • 8 species of bees,
    • SGCN Half-Black Bumblebeee,
    • wild bergamot was the plant in 61% of bumblebee observations

• Birds

  • 58 species of birds,
    • 10 SGCNs. Red-winged Blackbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Blue Jays, and Canada Geese dominated the bird observations

• Butterfly

  • 17 species of butterfly

• Dragonflies

  • 11 species of dragonflies
    • Dominated by white-faced meadowhawks

• Fish

  • 3 fish species in the small unnamed stream-
    • Brook Stickleback, Central Mudminnow, and Green Sunfish

• Moths

  • 16 species of Papaipema moth
    • SGCN, Veronia Borer, Ironweed Borer, and Rigid Sunflower Borer

• Mollusks

  • We did not survey mussels due to high silt, low water quality, and no shells present

Report Citation: Rahlin, Anastasia A., Jennifer M. Mui, K.C. Carter, Katrina A. Cotten, Sarah A. Douglass, Ethan J. Kessler, Hugo Y. Ruellen, Claire E. Dietrich, Janet L. Jarvis, and Michael J. Dreslik. 2024. Biological Monitoring along the I-90 Corridor through Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry, Boone, and Winnebago Counties in 2024. Illinois Natural History Survey Technical Report 2024 (23).