Middlefork Savanna

Middlefork Savanna is a 687 acre mix of oak savanna, woodlands, wet/mesic prairies, sedge meadows, and marshes, managed by by the Lake County Forest Preserve District. It is located on the east side of the I-94 Northern Tri-State Tollway.

In 2023 we began long-term monitoring of the site for bats, birds, bees, butterflies, moths, amphibians, reptiles, fishes, and mollusks.

Amphibians
    • Blue-spotted Salamander, Boreal Chorus Frogs, Green Frog, Northern Spotted Frog,
Reptiles:
    • Painted Turtle, Red-eared Slider, Smooth Greensnake, Dekay’s Brownsnake, Common Gartersnake
Bats:
    • We detected 7 bat species total at Middlefork Savanna: Big Brown, Eastern Red, Hoary, Silver-haired, Little Brown, Evening, and Tricolored.
Bumblebees:
    • bumblebee on flower
      American Bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus)

      We detected 401 bees, representing 9 species,

    • 2 SGCN, American Bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus) and Half-black Bumblebee (Bombus vagans).
Birds:
    • We detected 65 total bird species,
    • 7 SGCN,
    • state-endangered Snowy Egret
Butterflies:
    • We detected 237 butterflies of 18 species,
    • no E&T species
    • detected the SGCN Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus).
Dragonflies:
    • detected 10 dragonflies of 4 species:
    • Common Whitetail, Black Saddlebag, Green Darner, and Wandering Glider.
Fish
      • We detected 582 individuals of 13 species of fish
Mollusks
    • For mussels, we detcted 225 individuals of 4 species:
      • White Heelsplitter (Lasmigona complanata), Paper Pondshell (Utterbackia imbecillis), Lilliput (Toxolasma parvum), and Giant Floater (Pyganodon grandis)
Moths
    • We detected 8 species of Papaipema moths: baptisae, cataphracta, cerussata, maritima, sciata, silphii, unimoda

Report Citations

Mui, Jennifer M., Janet L. Jarvis, Anastasia A. Rahlin, and Michael J. Dreslik. 2023. Initial Assessment of Biotic Resources along the I-94 and I-88 Corridors. Illinois Natural History Survey Technical Report 2023(2):1–42.

Rahlin, Anastasia A., K.C. Carter, Katrina A. Cotten, Sarah A. Douglass, Hugo Y. Ruellen, Jennifer M. Mui, Janet L. Jarvis, Ethan J. Kessler, and Michael J. Dreslik. 2023. Biological Monitoring of DuPage, Kane, and Lake County Sites in 2023. Illinois Natural History Survey Technical Report 2023(49):1–119.