Outdoors column: End–of-summer pond walk is feast for senses

In spring and most of summer, I survey dragonflies and damselflies flying above the water and vegetation at a local pond for a statewide census program.

My most recent visit there, however, was not to document these fascinating insects, but to experience the pond in whole and all the delicious sensory treats it has to offer.

Surrounding this small body of water known as Community Pond in Mundelein is a mini ecosystem perfect for native plants and insects. Instead of mowing right up to the edge of the pond, the village has created a native vegetative buffer around the pond, and that’s great for dragonflies and damselflies which lay their eggs in the wet vegetation.

Lovely native grasses flourish here in late summer. In one little section, I found switch grass, yellow Indian grass, big bl