We’ll head toward northwestern Indiana on Friday, November 14, and stop at Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area around dusk, to see Sandhill Cranes stopping over on their fall migration. This won’t be peak migration time, but in the last three years, as many as 12,500+ individual cranes have been seen gathering there in mid-November.
We’ll spend the night in the Indiana Dunes area before getting an early start on the morning of November 15 to look for migrating waterfowl along the Lake Michigan shore. It’s common to see scoters, jaegers, Red-throated Loons, and Long-tailed Ducks this time of year, along with random rarities and vagrants that the Dunes are known for. Matt Kalwasinski, vice-president of the Dunes-Calumet Audubon Society, has graciously agreed to be our guide for the day’s birding!
NOTE: Admission to the Indiana Dunes State Park is $7 for in-state vehicles. Admission to the National Park, for up to 7 days, is $25 per vehicle.
That evening, at 6 p.m. (Central Time), we’ll participate in the Saw-whets & S’mores event at the Dunes, hosted by the Indiana Audubon Society. We’ll observe captured owls being banded during hourly checks and enjoy s’mores around a campfire in between checks.
Register for the owl-banding event well in advance at tinyurl.com/NSWO-banding. Click on the red “Check Availability” button and, in the calendar provided, select November 15. After clicking on the red “Continue” button, you’ll be prompted to confirm and pay $12.51 per person (or $7.18 per person if you’re a member of the Indiana Audubon Society). You can cancel and receive a refund up to 7 days before the event.
The next morning, we’ll make one final visit to the Lake Michigan shore, to see if we can spot any other waterfowl, before heading home.
Lodging: Participants are asked to secure their own lodging well before November 14. Both Al & Sally’s Motel* and Spring House Inn (google to find booking sites) are highly-rated, affordable options in the immediate vicinity, and several mainstream hotel chains are also nearby: Quality Inn (Portage), Holiday Inn Express (Portage), and others. (*Note that Al & Sally’s does not have desk staff on site; an entry code is provided for self check-in.)
What to bring: The weather will likely be brisk, with average November temperatures in the Dunes ranging from 50 degrees in the daytime to 35 degrees at night. And the observation tower at Jasper-Pulaski is almost always cold and windy this time of year, as the sun goes down, so bring warm clothes (winter coat, hat, and gloves).
Also be sure to pack a sack lunch for Saturday, and bring a lawn chair, snacks, and a flashlight for the owl-banding event.
Interested individuals should contact Barb Stedman, Field Trip Chair, no later than October 28, at
YmFzdGVkbWFuIHwgZ21haWwgISBjb20=. She’ll provide more details via email.
Photo credit: Long-tailed Duck ( non-breeding male)
Credit: Russel Smith/Audubon Photography Awards
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