page_title: Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area
section_title: Wildlife
hierarchical_section_title: Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area / Wildlife
caption_attribution_description: Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area, Kendall County, Illinois, USA. Near the city of Yorkville. Loon Lake
context_page_description: Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area is an Illinois state park on 1,350 acres in Kendall County, Illinois, United States. The park was established in the late 1960s and is named for the natural spring within its boundaries. The park has two artificial lakes and the Fox River flows through the northern end of the park. Silver Springs hosts a variety of activities including fishing, hunting, boating and hiking. The park has areas of native prairie restoration, a sledding hill and a seven-mile equestrian trail. The prairie restoration areas hold many species of plants including lead plant, and purple coneflower.
context_section_description: Plant species native to Illinois prairies prior to European settlement are found within the park's 45-acre (18 ha) prairie restoration. While the plant life varies by season, species observed in the park include: lead plant, purple coneflower, wild bergamot, and purple prairie clover, black-eyed susan, tall coreopsis, compass plant, wild quinine, rattlesnake master, New Jersey tea, big bluestem, switch grass, and Indian grass. Along the park's four mile (6 km) trail, several species of trees are found. Six species of oak, three species of ash, and basswood, cottonwood, pawpaw, Kentucky coffeetree and hackberry are among the tree species living within the boundaries of Silver Springs.
  The Fox River at Silver Springs has numerous species of freshwater fish including, bluegill, crappie, channel catfish, bullhead, carp, muskie and northern pike. The Loon and Beaver Lake fish population is maintained through human stocking. Channel catfish, bass, bluegill and crappie are stocked in both lakes.
  Besides its prairie restorations and bodies of water, Silver Springs has areas of deciduous forests, and wetlands, both of which are populated with species of mammals, birds and insects. Bird life observed in the park includes: osprey, great horned owl, eastern screech owl and long-eared owl; bald eagle have been sighted further upstream along the Fox. Reptiles and amphibians are present in the park but are more elusive than other types of animal life.
caption: Twenty one acre (8 ha) Loon Lake is stocked with rainbow trout twice per year.
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