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Naturalist Curt Burnette Imparts the History of the Loblolly and Rekindles the Legend of the Wizard

2/26/2017

 
By Nicole Ball

“Nature is full of adventures,” said Limberlost State Historic Site Naturalist Curt Burnette as he wrapped up a presentation on the history of the Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve and the benefits of wetlands like the “Lob.” This year Curt was invited to be the featured speaker at the Jay County Soil and Water Conservation District annual meeting and dinner held on February 22.  



The evening began around 5:30 at the Jay County Fair Grounds. Local organizations set up information tables and booths for incoming guests to explore before the meeting.  The Limberlost booth featured information about Gene Stratton-Porter and the Cabin, Nature Preserves, and some hands-on displays like a woodpecker nest cavity, mink and muskrat furs, and a black bear skull.  (Many participants were surprised to learn that black bears once roamed our area!) The booth also displayed a digital photo frame that featured Naturalist Bill Hubbard’s photography of birds in the Limberlost.  


By 6:00, the crowd of approximately 200 members of the community made their way to their seats. Guests were treated to a delicious meal followed by a dessert of delightful cakes.  As everyone finished their dinner, the District held their annual meeting with the swearing in of new officers and awards given to local farmers.  District Coordinator Bettie Jacobs, recognized local FFA and 4H members for their hard work and achievements over the past year.  Bettie is no stranger to the Limberlost, as each year she brings all of Jay County’s fifth graders on a field trip to the Lob for the annual Wetland Field Day where students rotate through stations hosted by a variety of experts including Limberlost and DNR staffs.  Bettie then wrapped up the annual meeting by announcing winners of the door prizes, which featured four Limberlost t-shirts!


With the conclusion of the raffle, it was time for Curt’s program.  Using a colorful slideshow, enthusiastic storytelling, and a dash of humor, Curt explained how the Loblolly and the Limberlost were first formed by glaciers in the last ice age.  He described how the Loblolly was once full of lush plant life and served as excellent hunting grounds for Native Americans and early settlers. He even unveiled the long-forgotten folktale of the Loblolly Wizard including Curt’s own artistic illustration of this fabled Lob resident.  


With historic photos and documents, Curt went on to explain how the wetlands were dredged and drained in the late 1800s, and how despite the efforts of local farmers, the Loblolly would persistently flood the fields year after year.  The audience also learned about the efforts of Ken Brunswick, the Friends of the Limberlost, and DNR Nature Preserves to restore the Loblolly and Limberlost wetlands in the late 1990s.


To wrap up the presentation, Curt described how the re-established Loblolly is used today, both by wildlife and by visitors—like school groups, families, and many birders.  He described some of the programs he hosts like Wildflower Safari in June and private gatherings through his Rent-a-Naturalist program.  In the end, Curt’s discussion of the Lob was a hit, and many community members stayed afterward to ask questions and pick up information from the Limberlost information booth.   


As Curt said, “Nature is full of adventures.”  And whether you visit the restored wetlands in search of the Loblolly Wizard or a flock of migrating geese, you’ll be sure to have an adventure of your own!

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

2/19/2017

 
Picture
By Alexandra Forsythe

Quick! Identify this bird! Is it a Ruby-crowned Kinglet? Or a Cuvier’s Kinglet?

If you have never heard of a Cuvier’s Kinglet, there’s a good reason. While John James Audubon claims to have shot one in 1812 in Pennsylvania and included a painting of it in his “Birds of America” book, there is no evidence that such a bird ever existed. His painting appears to be a hybrid of a Ruby-crowned and a Golden-crowned Kinglet, with the dark head stripes of a Golden-crowned combined with the red crown of the Ruby-crowned. Was it a hybrid? A now-extinct species? Or did Audubon make a mistake? We may never know.

What we do know is that this tiny bird can be found across North America, from their breeding areas in northern North America to their winter grounds in the southern states. We also know that despite their diminutive size, they lay a lot of eggs: up to 12 per nest! Even though they have a curious habit of flicking their wings almost constantly, they only burn about 10 calories per day (“The Boreal Ecosystem”, James A. Larsen, p. 395 (2013)). According to the Chipper Woods Bird Observatory, over 325,000 Ruby-crowned Kinglets were banded between 1955 and 2000, but only about 120 have been recaptured. The oldest to be recaptured was a female in California that was at least 4 years, 7 months old.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets can be found throughout Limberlost in the early spring and late fall. Just look for a tiny, friendly bird flitting its way through the bushes near the swamp!

Romance at the Limberlost

2/12/2017

 
By Terri Gorney

Did you ever wonder about “Romance at the Limberlost”?  Well, romance was a common theme in Gene Stratton-Porter’s novels along with a love of nature and a happy ending.

Valentine’s Day 1911 was a special day. Gene began writing The Harvester after breakfast that morning according to her secretary Lorene Miller Wallace. She sat at her desk in the library facing the east window and wrote the book in a mere twelve weeks. David Langston, a “harvester” of the woods, is one of Gene’s best loved characters.

The Harvester is a love story told from the view of David Langston, a man who sees a vision of the woman he will love, his “Dream Girl”. The Limberlost Cabin is the backdrop for the story as well as the Limberlost Swamp. David Langston makes his living from harvesting plants and herbs for medicinal reasons and other purposes. He eventually finds his Dream Girl and does his best to win her. “In his soul” he knew he would marry his Dream Girl.  At the Limberlost Cabin, the back porch, often referred to as the Dream Girl’s Porch, also serves as a private entrance to a room many consider the Dream Girl’s bedroom.

Gene weaves nature and love together in many passages in The Harvester. Some examples: “the quavering voice of a night love song” was an owl calling for a mate; “flickers drunk on the wine of nature, flash their yellow-lined wings and red crown;” she writes about the songs of spring and “the bold, clear whistle of the cardinal sounds never so gaily; and song sparrows pipe from every wayside shrub and fence post.”  She wants the reader to learn and to appreciate and love the nature that is around them.

Romance and a love of nature are common threads in Gene’s other Limberlost novels. Freckles, Song of the Cardinal, and A Girl of the Limberlost are some of Gene’s best known novels, and there’s plenty of romance that plays out in these stories, too.

We hope you will read one of Gene’s books this Valentine’s Day and enjoy the lure of the Limberlost and the romance to be found there. The Limberlost Cabin is open all winter for tours and our gift shop carries all of Gene’s books mentioned in this blog.

​
                                 Happy Valentine’s Day from Limberlost!

The Cuckoo, a Favorite Bird of Mrs. Porter

2/5/2017

 
By Terri Gorney
​

“I love the cuckoo,” wrote Gene Stratton-Porter in her book Friends in Feathers. The yellow-billed cuckoo is a secretive bird of the woods. It is not an easy bird to see let alone to find a nest. Gene’s friend Jacob Studer called the bird a “slipper” because it slips into the underbrush so easily.

Two of her best cuckoo nests were on the Hale farm, just outside of Geneva. Will Hale, who worked for the Bank of Geneva, showed Gene a cuckoo nest on the same day he led her to where the kingfisher was nesting. Bob Black found several nests around Geneva. Gene discovered that the cuckoo will use abandoned old nests of other birds, such as a robin or a green heron. She made a study of the habits of this bird.

Of all the young birds Gene photographed, the cuckoo was her favorite. She loved their “trusting, tender, and gentle” disposition.

For all her success over a five year period of photographing the nests and young cuckoos, Gene was frustrated in that she had not been able to photograph an adult cuckoo. This is primarily due to the fact that they perch in thick foliage. This changed in June 1906. Bob Black came to Gene and said that he had found a nest on the Aspy farm and that it was a short distance off the ground, not twelve feet. It was also situated where Gene could place the camera on a tripod and have a clear photograph of the mother bird on the nest.

She lost sleep over the excitement and “nervous strain” of thinking about photographing an adult cuckoo. She was ready for a new adventure.

When she saw the cuckoo, Gene noted that it was the black-billed cuckoo, not the yellow-billed which is more common. She photographed the mother on the nest for the next few days. She patiently moved a little closer to the nest each day. Eventually she was able to get to within ten feet of the nest.


Gene was a gifted naturalist, photographer, illustrator and writer. We are lucky that she called this part of Indiana home. Her nature studies and photographs are still amazing accomplishments over 100 years later.

Gene would be pleased to know that over one-hundred years later, the cuckoo still nests around Geneva. With wetland restoration, especially along the Wabash River watershed, it is the perfect habitat for this bird.
​

Limberlost is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Friends in Feathers. This is the last book of Gene’s that is entirely about the birds of Limberlost. The Friends of the Limberlost gift shop carries the book Friends in Feathers.  One chapter is on the cuckoo. This book has stood the test of time in regards to Gene’s bird studies.

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