Above / The great egret, a type of heron, is a tall stately bird, often as tall as 38 inches on long stilt-like legs with a pointed yellow bill, great for tackling fish. It’s tough to distinguish between males and females. For many years we’ve watched white egrets and great blue heron with their “S” shaped necks feed on tiny fish in May Watts Pond with one gulp. Until this week in late July 2025, we’d never observed a big gathering of the big stately white birds at May Watts Park. Thanks to our neighbor for sending the above and below photos at our request when for once we were without our camera! (Egret Photos by Louis Giokas)
In the good old summertime, the colorful flowering landscape surrounding May Watts Pond is a natural tribute to a Naperville woman, May Theilgaard Watts, who enjoyed a passion for preserving, writing and teaching about the great outdoors.
Naturalist Watts (1893-1975) is remembered for her dedication to the Illinois Prairie Path at this park, pond, trail and District 204 elementary school, all named in her honor, bordering Countryside and West Wind subdivisions in Naperville.
Visitors can enter the May Watts Park via its concrete trails, totaling an .89-mile trek through the park and around the May Watts Pond, from Oakton, Whispering Hills and Sequoia roads.
Buddy up with a friend and plan to explore the great outdoors this summer where fishing always is a fun way to learn patience. Experience May Watts Park with its many play spaces, busy with park district sports programs every spring and fall.
‘The only way to have a friend is to be one.’ —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Whenever we see the Buddy Bench with the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote we’re reminded that Emerson, considered the “father” of transcendentalism, had a deep (and sometimes controversial) relationship with his student Henry David Thoreau whose writings connected with nature and simple living. Both men lived in the mid-1800s.
Emerson’s most famous essay, “Self-Reliance,” promoted individualism.
By contrast, his younger friend focused mainly on the importance of connecting with nature and living simply. One of Thoreau’s most famous works is “Walden,” a reflection on his life at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts.
Simply put, like Emerson, Thoreau focused on the importance of self-reliance, a wonderful lesson to learn for life.
Lake Osborne
Note also that the May Watts Trail is a short hike and a clear shot from the nature trail around Lake Osborne, accessible from both Aurora Avenue and Oswego Road.
From chirping crickets to buzzing cicadas to soaring dragonflies to singing birds to grunting double-crested cormorants to screeching squirrels, enjoy the sights and sounds of wildlife in natural settings throughout the community.
With both natural settings named to recognize local women activists, try to imagine what May Theilgaard Watts and Marjorie Osborne would think of these two beautiful trails today.
Enjoy your neighborhood parks this summer!
Just remember let wildlife be wild. Let the ecosystem thrive. Keep waterways clean. Encourage natural migration by keeping human food and snacks away from wildlife—especially ducks and geese.
And enjoy big bird watching right here in Naperville!
Naperville is blessed with natural park settings all along the winding DuPage River where that “watch” message can be applied to all the changes of the season during quiet walks through neighborhoods or along the Riverwalk.
Seize the moments to see nature run its course. Just watch out where you step. With an abundance of Canada geese that seldom migrates, their droppings make a mess on the trails, paths and open space.
—PN
One more thing…
As a Naperville resident and adult educator, May Theilgaard Watts lived in a historic home on Jefferson Avenue on the campus of North Central College.
RELATED POSTS / Use the “Search” tool on this website to discover photos and more about May Watts featured here.
