Blog Archives

Teaching Materials from Limberlost

8/28/2016

By Alexandra Forsythe

Did you know? Limberlost has an abundance of teaching materials for educators, homeschoolers, families, and visitors of every age! Here's the best part: each of these resources is free to use!

Our oldest resource is our website. On the Limberlost website (Limberlost.weebly.com), under the "Resources" tab, we have a "Teachers" page full of information, resources and links. Be sure to check the other pages, like "Alexandra's Outreach", for even more information and lesson plans.

We have a mobile app for android devices, and an interactive ebook for Apple devices, that allow you to go "Birding with Gene". Both are filled with Gene's quotes about her favorite birds and favorite places within Limberlost, Loblolly and Rainbow Bottom.

You can borrow a Birding Backpack filled with equipment and resources from the visitor's center that will help you to trace Gene's steps, and find, identify, and learn about her favorite feathered friends.

The most recent addition to the educational resources collection is the Bird Box. This trunk is filled to the brim with books, worksheets, hands-on activities, and much more. It is equally perfect for use in the classroom or the family room. Appropriate for all ages, experience levels, and learning styles, you'll learn more about Gene, Limberlost, ornithology, and the natural world. Lesson plans are inspired by, and revolve around, Gene's quotes. Call the visitor's center to reserve the box.

Coming soon is the Wetlands Box. This trunk should be completed by the end of September. Similar to the Bird Box, the contents include lesson plans, hands-on activities, and more. The worksheets and activities are ideal for learning about swamps, wetlands and marshes, the importance of these unique habitats, the plants and animals that depend upon them for survival, and the jewel of Northeast Indiana: the lovingly restored Limberlost Swamp.

Call today to learn more about these and our plethora of other learning resources!

Wherein Mrs. Porter Receives Good Reviews of Her Book “Freckles”

8/21/2016

Source: Saint Paul Globe, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 20 Nov 1904, p. 33

Mrs. Gene Stratton-Porter, whose portrait appears on this page, the author of “Freckles,” just published by Doubleday, Page & Co., is a daring and adventure loving nature photographer. From her childhood she has lived in the country and loved the woods. She is one of the best known and most successful photographers of birds in the United States. She has waded through swamps, risked quick sands, climbed lofty trees and forded swift rivers to get pictures. Her life has been in danger dozens of times. She lives in a fourteen room log cabin at Geneva, Indiana, in sight of the Limberlost Swamp, which figures so prominently in “Freckles.” She is the original of the Bird Woman in this delightful nature novel, which has real sentiment and an exquisite love story.

Prairie Warbler

8/15/2016

By Alex Forsythe

Despite its name, Prairie Warblers are not typically found in prairies or in back yards. As an early successional species, they prefer large brushy areas and young trees. They are not widespread in Indiana, and even the earliest records of sightings are few. Prairie Warblers were first recorded in the northern half of Indiana in 1892, with one recorded in Wabash on May 2, 1892 and two in Lebanon on April 29, 1892. In that year, the Prairie Warbler had only been reported in four locations across Indiana. (Amos Butler, Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, Volume 3, 1893).

This tail-wagging little bird has been featured on several postage stamps, including stamps in Grenada, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, and most recently in St. Kitts. In 1951 the National Wildlife Federation offered Peterson’s illustration of a Prairie Warbler in the form of a collectible conservation stamp, and American Bird magazine offered slides of male, female and nestling Prairie Warblers for $0.50 in 1903. For the more gruesome, barbaric collector, you could buy a Prairie Warbler skin for the low price of just $0.15 in 1895. That was a bargain compared to the cost of a Bald Eagle at $6.00. (Natural Science News, Volume 1, October 5, 1985).

Thankfully we no longer shoot songbirds and sell the skins as collectibles. Nevertheless populations of many birds remain in decline largely due to human activity, loss of habitat, predation, and parasitism. The USGS North American BBS (Breeding Bird Survey) Population Trend Map for 1966-2013 shows an unmistakable decline in breeding Prairie Warblers in several states including Indiana. Between 1966 and 1993, the Midwest had an alarming 44% decline in breeding Prairie Warblers, and an overall 66% decline from 1966 to 2014. By the way, I confess I have a bit of an obsession with these BBS Trend Maps. I am in charge of the BBS for Adams County, and I assist with the BBS in Wabash and Huntington Counties, so I look at the Trend Maps often. Even if you are not helping with the BBS, I would encourage you to take a look at the Trend Maps for your favorite birds. You might be surprised. Incidentally, when the map indicates a percentage decline, that’s not the total decline. It’s a yearly decline. A “-1.5” indicates that the population dropped 1.5% each year from 1966 to 2013. Those declines add up!

Indiana University professor Val Nolan, Jr. studied the Prairie Warbler populations extensively and wrote a book in 1978 about his findings: “Ecology and Behavior of the Prairie Warbler”. His findings were troubling. The nests he studied suffered 24% parasitism by cowbirds, only 69% of the warbler nestlings survived to adulthood, and the annual female mortality was 35%. Using those numbers, he calculated that the population would barely replace itself. The U.S. Forest Service has conducted a more recent study of the Prairie Warbler and found that the biggest cause of the decline is no longer the cowbird, but habitat loss. (Conservation Assessment for Prairie Warbler, U.S. Forest Service 2001).

Fortunately, several Prairie Warbler habitats are being preserved. I found the bird in this photo happily residing at the Indiana Dunes last spring. New Jersey has set up a 1200-acre preserve specifically for Prairie Warblers: the Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve.

If you decide to go in search of a Prairie Warbler, and if you bird by ear, take note: Prairie Warblers have two distinct songs. One song is used for courtship while the second song is used to mark territory. An excellent video of a Prairie Warbler singing his heart out can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLKLCqN8WS0

Limberlost Essay

8/7/2016

By David Smuts

The morning After the Flood, The Song of the Cardinal could be heard in the Music of the Wild. A Girl of the Limberlost sang with her Friends in Feathers as she skipped happily through the swamp. The girl was a Daughter of the Land. She loved all things in the swamp. She looked to the sky to see The Fire Bird and its brilliant Wings overhead. She smiled happily with a Morning Face and skipped along.

As she skipped along, she and a feather and thought to herself that Freckles would love to see this. She put it in her bag and went on her way. As she came to the edge of the swamp, she saw the White Flag and skipped even faster toward it. As she entered the Magic Garden, she saw Laddie and Michael O’Halloran.

She ran to them and yelled, “Guess What I Have Done With Birds? I have sung with them.”

“You have sung with birds!”

“Yes! Yes! I have sung with birds!” she said happily.

“The Harvester has told me Tales You Won’t Believe about Birds of the Bible.”

“The Keeper of the Bees told me about Moths of the Limberlost Homing With the Birds At the Foot of the Rainbow deep in the swamp.”

She smiled when she heard this news for she too knew of these tales from deep in the swamp. She looked up to the sky deep in thought, “Let Us Highly Resolve These Tales.”

She was Her Father’s Daughter and proud of it. In a kind gentle voice like her father’s she said, “The Limberlost is not just a place of magic but a place of wonder and caring like Jesus of the Emerald.”

The all looked at each other with a smile and skipped off into the swamp.

David Smuts wrote this essay incorporating titles of Gene Stratton-Porter’s books while a student at South Adams High School in the mid 1990s.

Teaching Materials from Limberlost

Wherein Mrs. Porter Receives Good Reviews of Her Book “Freckles”

Prairie Warbler

Limberlost Essay

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