Stories by Patty Wetli

Community volunteers helped Shedd Aquarium researcher Karen Murchie discover an important trigger of sucker fish migration and along the way they've become vital advocates for freshwater animals.

Despite the frigid end to the month, November 2024 was still nearly 5 degrees warmer than normal. In fact, the entire year is on track to become the warmest since recordkeeping began in 1872.

It’s an annual tradition even non-birders have come to enjoy as huge flocks of sandhill cranes head from their northern breeding grounds to their winter home in Florida.

Conditions for a potential winter storm never materialized, which should make for largely pleasant travel conditions this Thanksgiving.

Officials suspect the plant — hydrilla — which is banned in Illinois may have been dumped from an individual's aquarium.

“Failure to thrive” was determined as the official cause of death for three piping plover chicks at Montrose Beach, likely due to a stretch of bad weather that kept the chicks from foraging for food.

The show has been running at Briar Street Theatre in Lakeview since 1997.

Chicago notched 2.7 inches in the first snowfall of the season, according to the National Weather Service.

The last pass of sweepers was originally scheduled for Nov. 22, but the season will now end on Nov. 29.

So far in 2024, the district has acquired 249 acres, the second most in any year since 1984, according to officials with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

The Chicago Plan Commission will meet Thursday to discuss approval for quantum computing campus on former South Works steel plant site. 

Of the billions of birds on the planet, a lone osprey with a unique ID band was found in Colombia and linked to Cook County.

Pitchfork announced Monday it had made the “difficult decision” not to host Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago in 2025.

Researchers at the Chicago Botanic Garden and Chicago Park District have teamed up on a project to answer one of ecology’s burning questions: What could lawns be besides grass?

Take your jack-o’-lanterns to one of the dozens of pumpkin smash events happening Saturday in Chicago and the suburbs.

Nature was on the ballot in several suburban counties, with forest preserve and conservations districts in DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry asking for funding increases to support land acquisition, habitat restoration and ongoing maintenance.

October 2024 was the ninth warmest in Chicago since record keeping began in 1872.

While all eyes have been on next week’s presidential election, another important local race has flown under the radar. We’re talking about the vote for Chicago’s official bird.

Enjoy an extra hour of sleep this weekend as clocks "fall back" an hour with the return to standard time.

The 53-foot Colorado blue spruce was planted in Logan Square 50 years ago and represents a bit of neighborhood history.

The fountain will shut down for the season Thursday night. 

Warm temperatures combined with strong winds are also creating a fire hazard in northern Illinois, the National Weather Service warned.

The final bit of work will take place Monday and Tuesday on the stretch between LaSalle Drive and Hollywood Avenue.

Thousands of Aztec marigolds grown in the University of Illinois Chicago’s research garden will play an integral role in Saturday’s Day of the Dead celebration on Chicago’s lakefront. 

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside, here come the ladybug swarms.

This week’s schedule of overnight lane closures is a repeat of last week’s as pavement marking continues on sections between LaSalle Drive and Hollywood Avenue.