What are Chimney Swifts? Why are they important? Chimney Swifts are birds that spend nearly all their waking hours flying as they forage for insects in the sky and are a major predator of mosquitoes. They cannot perch like most birds and instead cling to vertical surfaces, so they need surfaces for roosting and nesting. […] Continue reading "Girl Scout Chimney Swift Project in Oak Park"
Wild Ones West Cook 2021 Accomplishments by Byron Lanning A pandemic did not prevent West Cook from carrying out its mission. We hope that amidst a time of turmoil and uncertainty, we brought you respite from that stress and hopefully you found some peace in nature, especially if it was right outside your door or […] Continue reading "Wild Ones West Cook Accomplishments 2021"
What does it take to move 11,500 plants? Then organize them into 629 orders for 500 people? A lot of dedicated volunteers in a well-organized system! (Other fun facts: 580 milkweed plants of different species; 100 asters and 250 goldenrods-yay! Good news for pollinators in the fall.) There would be no West Cook Wild Ones […] Continue reading "Loving on our volunteers!"
Announcing: Recipients of Garden for Nature Grant West Cook Wild Ones launches its 2021 Garden for Nature program by announcing grants totaling close to $5,000 to 11 nonprofit and public organizations in the Chicago area. Garden for Nature 2021 grants range from $250 to $1,000 to be used solely to buy native plants or seeds. […] Continue reading "Announcing: 2021 Recipients of Garden for Nature Grant"
West Cook Wild Ones is a member-driven organization. We ask all members to save the date for our January membership party. We will celebrate the accomplishments of 2019 and plan for 2020, including electing our board. We will also have winter sowing supplies and native seeds available for planting. Sunday, January 19, 2020 2:00 […] Continue reading "2020 Members’ Party and Board Election"
Wild About Our Volunteers Volunteers power our organization. Whether it’s helping with outreach (AnnMarie, Anne P, Candace), running and assisting with the yearly plant sale, maintaining public gardens (Laura, Byron), creating the newsletter, running the bi-annual conference, volunteers keep things humming along, and we are incredibly grateful for them. Here’s a spotlight on some of […] Continue reading "Wild About Our Volunteers"
Please Donate to Support Our Work WildOnes is a 501c(3) Not for profit organization. There is no other local organization quite like us. We do a lot of education and outreach on a small budget. Our income is comprised of a small percentage of membership fees from the National WO, a small amount through our plant […] Continue reading "Donate to Support Our Work"