Tucked between Chicago’s Bridgeport and McKinley Park neighborhoods, Bubbly Creek is a hidden gem for many reasons – it has a rich history, it provides opportunities for recreation and, most surprisingly, it is a hotspot for biodiversity in the middle of the city. From its industrial origins, it tells an encouraging story of restoration as nature once again finds its place along the Chicago River.
Shedd’s conservation researchers conducted surveys via kayak on Bubbly Creek and the Chicago River’s South Branch to assess the abundance of local wildlife. Read Conservation Research Technician Elliot Hoinville’s story of a survey day on the river. What he finds, from basking turtles to beautiful birds, confirms that biodiversity abounds here!
This map of the Chicago River's South Branch highlights Bubbly Creek and barge slips where Shedd's conservation research scientists conducted their kayak surveys.
When I began my job as a research technician helping to study the biodiversity of Bubbly Creek and the Chicago River, I was unsure of what to expect. A highly modified river flowing through the country’s third largest city is certainly quite different from what I imagine when I hear “biodiversity hotspot.”
On my first trip on the river, however, it only took a few minutes for my Bubbly Creek bubble to burst. Immediately, I spotted turtles basking atop a tangle of logs along the river’s edge. We passed under a dead tree with a group of double-crested cormorants roosting on top. This hinted at a wider ecosystem; cormorants are fish predators and could only be here if there were plenty of fish for them to eat.
Next, I spotted my first black crowned night heron. I admired its sharply contrasting black and white feathers and long white plume that extended down its neck from atop its head. Another fish predator, and another sign of the area’s diverse inhabitants.
As we continued toward the Chicago River’s South Branch, we spotted more than a dozen turtles openly basking in the full sun: map turtles with their patterns of whorls and lines that resemble the contours of an atlas. Red eared sliders, whose green and yellow lines conjure up a pinstripe suit to complement their scarlet ear patches. And painted turtles, whose smooth black shells and scales are charmingly adorned with splashes of crimson and gold.
I noticed that night herons were everywhere – hunting from low branches beneath groves of trees and steel seawalls beside the highway alike. There was one species, however, that we only spotted beneath the highway, the cliff swallow, flitting about catching bugs inches above the surface of the water.
We soon passed the first set of floating islands, part of the restoration efforts underway in the area. I was so transfixed by the lush flowers growing on the surface of the creek, abuzz with pollinators, that I almost missed the softshell turtles basking nearby. These peculiar reptiles have a mismatched assortment of features, which include a near-perfectly round and smooth shell, a long neck, dark beady eyes and a distinctive spindly hog nose.
Next, we entered several barge slips. Originally intended to house barges and aid industry, these short side-channels now provide a quiet backwater for more timid species to tuck themselves into.
A pair of kingfishers hopscotched ahead of our path, chattering each time they took flight. We found a group of large map turtles and red-eared sliders on an upturned rowboat, soaking in the sun’s rays. We also passed a great blue heron regally adorning a sinking boat.
Trees lined the riverbank, providing habitat for baby turtles to bask and kingfishers to nest. A flock of seagulls circled overhead and a pair of green herons, much smaller than the great blues, hopped among the low branches of a willow tree.
I stopped for a moment to investigate a patch of bubbles that had risen to the river’s surface. As I watched, a scaly head slowly emerged from the murky depths, which was followed by a knobby shell the size of a deep-dish pizza, and then a long, spiked tail. With its full size revealed, the snapping turtle sat at the surface for just a moment, slowly blinking at me, then disappeared back into the river’s depths.
After one day on the Chicago River, my expectations were beyond shattered. The creatures we ran into brought me a sense of connection to nature in the most unexpected place. The impression I had begun with, that there was no way a diverse community of species could survive around the Chicago River, was quickly replaced with a sense of awe at the biodiversity I experienced.
It is an exciting time for the Chicago River, as restoration projects are only in their early days. Shedd and partners are creating new floating islands, removing abandoned boats and submerged debris and rewilding the riverbanks with native plant communities. For anyone feeling disconnected from nature in the heart of the city, the Chicago River offers a unique and thrilling opportunity to connect with local wildlife, the city, its history and our local communities.
- Elliot Hoinville, Conservation Research Technician, Summer 2024
This project is made possible through funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, two grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with support from BNSF Railway Foundation, Walder Foundation, Hunter Family Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, Crown Family Philanthropies, Joyce Foundation, the McGraw Foundation, and FedEx, as well as logistical support from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.