The massive flowers before you are saw-tooth sunflowers. The three large oaks to the south were once invisible behind a screen of buckthorn. The Skokie River Prairie is home to more than 100 native wildflower species, six tall grasses, eight sedges and rushes, eastern bluebirds (inhabiting our network of houses), great horned owls, flickers, green heron, great blue heron, kingfishers and 25 other bird species. Blue-spotted salamanders, prairie crayfish and at least eight other amphibians and reptiles. Mammals include coyotes, fox, mink, beaver, and many more. For a link to our 1981 and 1995 ecological assessments, go here.