By: David Dornberg April 3, 2021 started out cold at 38F, but the morning was sunny with blue skies. Earlier in the week I had decided to pick-up some prepackaged wildflower seeds to plant for Shirley Heinze Land Trust. This was only my second nature outing in 2021. I would be driving to Valparaiso to …
Shirley Heinze Land Trust recently held its 40th Anniversary Spring Benefit. The week-long event was presented from May 24 through May 29, 2021, with daily video stories that celebrated the organization’s achievements and highlighted exciting new initiatives to promote climate resiliency, establish conservation destinations at Meadowbrook Nature Preserve in Valparaiso and Lydick Bog Nature Preserve …
Spring Benefit Celebrates 40 Years of Land Conservation Read More »
By Audra Ebling Growing up as a city kid, I regarded any plant that bloomed as beautiful and “good,” a worthy specimen, a garden treasure. I knew better than to pick the flowers my mom cultivated in our backyard borders but the yellow dandelions in the grass were fair game and she kindly received many …
By: Jim Haniford Well, here we are, a little over five months into Shirley Heinze Land Trust’s trail cam monitoring project at Meadowbrook Nature Preserve. We’re marking Earth Day on the west branch of the tributary of Salt Creek, a waterway that rambles carelessly through the bottomlands of the ancient moraine. The occasion is attended …
By Evan Kaiafas The sand prairie regions of Northwest Indiana and Northeast Illinois are filled with an incredible diversity of reptiles and amphibians. Many of these species are what I like to call “sand specialists” because, through evolution, they have become perfectly equipped to deal with the unique conditions of a sand prairie ecosystem. These …
1. Life Cycle Walk Find an interesting plant or animal in your backyard or neighborhood, and think about its life cycle. What do you think the different phases of your organism’s life cycle are? What phase is it in now? For example, does a plant have flowers, seed pods, or young shoots? Are there any …
