If you're new to birding, there's no better place to start than the Indiana Dunes. With over 370 species of birds recorded in the area, the Dunes provides the perfect location to learn about the diversity of bird life and practice your beginning birding skills. When birds migrate around the eastern…
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Accessible Adventures in the Indiana Dunes Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors. Whether you're looking to hike, bird, paddle, or just wander and take in the scenery, the Indiana Dunes area has many accessible adventures to offer. Here are some popular outdoor places and…
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November is a wonderful time to visit the Indiana Dunes. The temperatures are mild, the leaves are starting to fall, and the holiday season is just beginning. Here are five of our favorite fall activities in the Indiana Dunes area. Hike at the Indiana Dunes State Park Whether you're looking to burn…
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October is loud and raucous on the Kankakee Sands prairie. It can also be dark and ominous. In the early morning, you can hear them long before you see them. Off in the distance is a lone tree or perhaps a small cluster of trees. Their branches beginning to tremble. Growing ever louder, a…
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On this chilly May morning, I’m bundling up for a pre-dawn excursion. With binoculars round my neck and bird book in hand, I meet up with other Kankakee Sands staff and volunteers for our annual Kankakee Sands Bird Survey in the bison pasture. We are looking and listening for all the birds that…
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Well, shucks, try as I might, I have not yet been successful in seeing a northern shrike at Kankakee Sands. Even though more than 450 beautiful bird species have been documented in Indiana over the years, this winter, I had my sights set on just one—the clever northern shrike. Classified as a…
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Nature isn’t always what it seems —a chatty little grasshopper sparrow taught me that. For the first ten or so years that I worked at the Kankakee Sands Nursery, I was always looking down, either at the native plants that I was planting into the soil or at the seeds that I was harvesting for our…
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The Upside-Down Bird With the Strange Song By: Alyssa Nyberg If you think saying the word “bobolink” is fun, you’d be right! Even more fun is seeing the bird itself. It’s the male bobolink ( Dolichonyx oryzivorus ) that will turn your mind upside down. Many birds, such as bluebirds or chickadees, are…
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For great springtime birding, there's no place like the Indiana Dunes. More than 350 bird species live or migrate through the dunes every year, drawn to Lake Michigan's open waters and to the diverse habitats available for nesting. Beaches, dunes, woodlands, wetlands, and prairies decorate the…
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Hike, bike, paddle, bird, and fish at the Indiana Dunes! Local adventurer Paul Osborn can show you some of the many adventures just waiting to be discovered. Paul starts his adventure at the Visitor Center, the crossroads of Indiana Dunes Country. You can rent a bike right here in the parking lot…
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