2022 Schedule

Early Spring Birding Hike

Lake County Nature Preserves
Saturday, April 2, 2022, 8:00am - 11:00am Central Time

Join Matt Kalwasinski to search for waterfowl and other early spring migrants. We will meet at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond (7770 Corinne Dr, Hammond, IN 46323) at 8:00 am CT and visit a variety of locations such as the Highland Rookery, Grant Street Marsh, and the Shirley Heinze Land Trust property, Seidner Dune and Swale.  Matt birds extensively in Northwest Indiana and has led many birding trips for the Shirley Heinze Land Trust, Indiana Audubon Society and the Dunes-Calumet Audubon Society.

Highland Rookery and Grant Street Marsh contain paved walking paths. Estimated total time: 3 hours

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Spring Wildflowers

Bendix Woods, St. Joseph County
Saturday, April 30, 2022, 9:00am - 11:00am Eastern Time

Bendix Woods of St. Joseph County Parks was once owned by the Studebaker Corporation, and its Nature Center is in the 1926 Studebaker Clubhouse. An Interpretive Naturalist from St. Joseph County Parks will lead us on our hike through high quality, old-growth beech-maple forest, where we should see ephemeral marvels including wild ginger, purple spring cress, blue cohosh, cut-leaved toothwort, squirrel corn, Dutchman’s breeches, yellow trout lily, false mermaid, wild geranium, blue phlox, bloodroot, large-flowered trillium, red trillium, Canada violet, and possibly the locally rare crinkleroot.

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Rare Plants of the Tefft Savanna

Tefft Savanna, Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area
Saturday, August 27, 2022, 9:00am - 12:00pm Central Time

You probably know Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area as a great place to observe the migration of thousands of sandhill cranes. But there is a lot more to see in this over 8,000-acre natural area including some state dedicated nature preserves where rare coastal plains “disjunct” plant species can be found. In ephemerally wet, shallow basins, there is an impressive array of unusual flora which are more commonly associated with the distant coastal plains of the southeastern United States. This is where the term “disjunct” comes in. Uncommon or rare plants like long-horned beakrush, sessile-leaved bugleweed, narrow leaved sundew, scaly mild water pepper, creeping Saint John’s wort and many others could be seen. Who better to show us these rarities than Indiana State Botanist Scott Namestnik. There are no trails in this area so walking may be difficult, and the walk is limited to 12 people.