By: Jim Haniford As I mentioned in my first blog entry, we are in search of the American Mink (Neovison vison). In case you missed it, I wrote about a few random encounters that led to the initiation of a creekside monitoring project, enlisting the use of a trail cam in order to capture this …
By: Jim Haniford A few scattered reports have come in from around the preserve about a small, furry creature, glimpsed for just a matter of seconds in each instance. One staff member saw it run out from the tall grass as she approached on a riding mower. Another encountered it running up a trail in …
Winter Hiking? Sure! By Evie Kirkwood Many avid warm weather hikers shun the chill of winter, but it’s a great time to be on the trails. If you’ve stayed away from winter hiking, wary of slippery or cold conditions, the right gear can improve the experience.
By Glenn N. Major You can call them snags, nurse logs, stumps… Forestry folks call them “coarse woody debris”. Much of the life in our forests call them home. Some of us this think they are natural modern art. They are so important to forest ecology. That is why we let them lay where they …
By Dale Nichols Given the right growing conditions, the budding seed of curiosity can sometimes blossom into a wonderful new passion. My name is Dale Nichols, and this is a story about a three-and-a-half-month journey of discovery involving my own curiosity with, well, seeds—more specifically the seeds of native plants growing in the Shirley Heinze …
By Glenn N. Major, Volunteer Preserve Steward at Walnut Woods Nature Preserve Maybe we should rename Walnut Woods to Sleepy Hollow. Long ago, a Red Oak tree at the preserve may have been hit by lightning, resulting in its canopy falling to the forest floor where it sits today, feeding mushrooms and moss. Its branchless, …
Headless Zombie Oak Haunts Walnut Woods Preserve! Read More »
By Terry Bonace On a crisp and clear September 19 morning, a group of skilled birders spread out to visit sixteen Shirley Heinze Land Trust nature preserves across northwestern Indiana. From Lake County to St. Joseph County, they were out looking for migratory birds on one of our peak fall migration days. The knowledge of …
First Shirley Heinze Land Trust Bird Count with Indiana Audubon Society Read More »
By Rich Hawksworth Earlier this year I committed to locating the six species of lady’s slipper orchids native to Northwest Indiana. These alluring wildflowers are members of the genus Cypripedium. The name, which is derived from Ancient Greek, is an early reference in mythology to Aphrodite, meaning “sandal” or “slipper.” Like their namesake goddess, lady’s …
A Quest for Aphrodite’s Slippers in Northwest Indiana Read More »
By Warren Buckler When Peg Mohar and I embarked on our Bringing Nature Home project ten years ago, in part as a way for older members to remain active, we had no idea what response we’d get from the gardening public. Our goal, inspired by Doug Tallamy’s book “Bringing Nature Home,” was to recognize …
On the 10th Season of our “Bringing Nature Home” Program, a Look Back – and Forward. Read More »
By Peg Mohar The ten-year anniversary for “Bringing Nature Home” program brings back fond memories of the garden visits, award ceremonies and dedicated people I had the pleasure of working with! It does my heart good to have been part of the beginning of a great program. When we moved to Virginia in 2015, we …
An Allegorical Story: Good Versus Evil and Sanity Versus Insanity Read More »
