Woods photo by Doug Sherman. Caterpillar photo by Joe Nowak. Words by Stephen Packard.

To some people, the photo above means warblers. Oak leaves on the ground suggest the trees above are alive with bright-colored birds. Bloodroot and fungus also provide clues to the future of migrant birds.

Bloodroot blooms throughout April and into May. As with the hepatica on our cover, the flowers come before the leaves. Deceptively small at first, the leaves will gradually surround the flower like a cape and then overtop them and fill the area of this photo with their lobed softness.

On the forked limb, fungus is hard at work, turning it back into soil. New leaves and wood will soon be forming from that recycled soil. But will they be oak leaves and oak wood? This photo suggests not. Spring bloodroot here shares its space with no dried stems of sun-loving grasses or sedges or summer-blooming wildflowers. There's no hint of char on the wood. Oaks are fire trees, and the sunny, insect-filled warbler habitat they produce is a fire-dependent habitat. In most of our woods, the oaks are giving way to shadier maple, ash, and buckthorn.

Consider the sphinx moth caterpillar. As long as six inches, it has a scary-looking "stinger" that in fact is harmless. It fools many birds, but not all. This caterpillar of this species eats ash leaves in summer. Take a look at some ash and maple this spring, and you’ll probably find the leaves mostly intact then. But check out oak and elm leaves during migration. You’ll find them riddled with holes made by the vast numbers of caterpillars of other species that eat oak and elm in spring. Migrant birds feast on them.

Is there hope for the oak woods — and for all the species that need them? Two facts say yes. Take another look at these crispy oak leaves. By spring, maple and ash leaves have already melted into the forest floor. Oak leaves persist, rather than rot: they are born to burn. They fuel the fires that insure the future of their ecosystem. The second fact is that this site is the Rollins Savanna; Lake County forest preserve volunteers and staff will take good care of it. Buying land for conservation is another rebirth. May the richness of this nature be celebrated each spring, forever.