'Buzz' Nature Show Starts Season Two With Joliet Jewels

Delve back into Joliet’s industrial past or fly high with the eagles
during season two, episode one of the Forest Preserve District of Will County’s nature
program, “The Buzz.”

The show will air at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 27, on the District’s Facebook page.

The episode will highlight two Joliet jewels: the Joliet Iron Works Historic Site and Rock Run Rookery Preserve.

Sara Russell, a Forest Preserve interpretive naturalist, will lead
the tour of Joliet Iron Works, which preserves the remnants of the
massive iron manufacturing facility that once operated on the site from
the late 1800s to the early 1900s employing thousands of people.

“She will show viewers where the old furnaces used to be, and she
also will explain what other structural footprints are left behind,”
said program host Suzy Lyttle, a Forest Preserve program coordinator.
“Plus, viewers will learn the process of making iron and steel and the
different jobs and dangers employees experienced.”

The segment also will feature old photos of the plant when it was in
operation and drone video of the site, which affords the best view of
the ruins left behind.

After exploring Joliet Iron Works, the show will shift gears and head
to Rock Run Rookery, which has been a hot site for eagle watching this
winter. Lyttle will highlight interesting facts about the birds and she
will share viewing tips if you plan to visit the rookery, as well as
important birding dos and don’ts when it comes to viewing eagles in
their native habitat. The segment will also feature video of eagles in
flight and on the hunt.

While some of the weather conditions made filming six episodes of
“The Buzz” a bit of a challenge in 2020, Lyttle said she is thrilled to
be going into season two with the show.

“There is so much more to explore and share with our viewers,” she
said. “This platform is giving us the chance to reach so many new people
and share locations that they might never have been able to see on
their own.”

Lyttle also is excited because season two shows will have a new look.

“Feature segments will be a little longer, which will allow us to
dive deeper into topics,” she said. “Last year we started at the end of
summer and made it through winter, so this year I am really looking
forward to spring. I love hiking in all the seasons but spring is just
so rewarding after a long winter with new flowers bursting from the
forest floor, frogs singing loud and proud in the ponds, and salamanders
sneaking about in the leaf litter.”

For those who miss the shows when they first air, recordings of the episodes are available for viewing on the District’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

In addition to being aired on social media, "The Buzz" also is
carried by cable TV stations in Joliet, Naperville, New Lenox,
Romeoville and Tinley Park.