Highway Kestrel

[Suzanne Coleman]

Marilyn’s post about her kestrel tree just reminded me I forgot to mention this yesterday. Before I got on the highway to go birding yesterday I saw a bird in a spot along the entrance ramp to the main highway with a couple of native plants at least, and the rest I’m not sure, and I realized it was hovering and then I noticed it was a kestrel and I was pretty happy to see that there’s something for them to use in that bit of land that remains uncovered by massive amounts of concrete.

I heard that the state of Illinois was going to be restoring or planting native plants along the highways but that was years ago and I haven’t seen anything happening. When I asked IDOT about it they refused to respond to my questions. Not very professional. So it basically sounds like they’re not going to be doing it based on their poor behavior. It’s unfortunate because we have a lot of space to plant native prairie and savannah plants to help our pollinators, our birds, and help people feel happier on the highways. At least we’re allowed to plant native on our own property.

Suzanne Coleman
Cook Co.