Biking Busse and bugling elk

Biked 15 miles on the Busse Woods Trail today on the way from church to Linda's birthday party. I haven't biked here for several years, and the 8 mile loop is as gorgeous as ever, as it traverses dense forests, 32 picnic groves surrounded by lush lawns, vast open meadows of prairie grasses, and occasional views of the large reservoir and its wildlife refuge islands.



Even though we have been blessed with a heat wave this last week and the temperature is a record 88 degrees today, you can see the start of the beautiful Fall color change, and some of the trail areas are covered with fallen leaves.


The real treat (and the reason I carried the camera) were the elk which have resided in a large compound for 3 or more decades, in honor of the local community, Elk Grove Village.



This fellow below was bugling every 30 seconds or so, and the elk above, located a hundred yards away, was returning the call, entertaining the dozen or so onlookers.

More photos of this trail