Gifts from the Four Directions
     Loblolly Marsh Look-out

In the East,
yellow leaves and the super
hot sun reminds me of a peach.
Hope in a new day.

In the South, 
leaves of red--red cedar wood tree.
when I look at the South,
I look at the Beautiful-Life.

In the West,
spiky Mystery that flies ---monarch
butterfly wing spots---and the dark
of the buckeye, reddish black.

In the North,
Wisdom's white rocks and white doors.
It's a little purple in the middle---
the white morning-glory.

Collaborative poem by Claire (East), Tyler (South), Ethan (West), and Cameron (North)
Participants in "Among Sights, Sounds and Silences: A Poetry Workshop at the Limberlost"

Bones in a Forest

It's death exposed
in leaves, nuts and dirt---

on display like  a museum
brought to us today.

Maybe it's a dinosaur
like my dinosaur

and his name is Baby Dinosaur.
Or it could be a coyote

with a long jawbone
for a better bite.

It could be a dog
that fell down panting

because he was tired.
The white teeth

look like saws
of old farmers

staring at this land 
only dreaming.

Collaborative poems by Cameron, Claire, Than, Peggy, Rosemary and Tyler
Participants in "Among Sights, Sounds, and Silences: A Poetry Workshop at the Limberlost"

Thank you to Rosemary Freedman for the photos and to Jack Freedman for the group photo.
Thank you to Indiana Poet Laureate Shari Wagner for creating and teaching these poetry
workshops at Limberlost this year.

     The Limberlost Territories consists of primarily five nature preserves around Geneva, Indiana. They are: Loblolly Marsh, Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve, Rainbow Bottom, Music of the Wild and the Bird Sanctuary (for more about the Bird Sanctuary see 7/7/2017 blog). They make up the almost 1800 acres of restored wetlands in southern Adams County and northern Jay County that have been created in the past 20 years. 
     Under the Resource tab of limberlost.weebly.com is a map of the Limberlost Territories.
    The Loblolly Marsh is Indiana's 250th state dedicated preserve. It is part wetlands, uplands, and woods. There are trails to hike in all seasons.  This is one of the natural gems of Indiana. The Friends of the Limberlost own a pavilion and small woods there. 
     The Limberlost Swamp Wetland Preserve is the largest of the preserves. It is most noted for some of the rare birds that have been seen from along County Line Road. It is partly in Adams County and partly in Jay County. The Friends of the Limberlost own a small parking lot, where visitors can walk the Deacon's Trail. It is the area where Gene Stratton-Porter set her second book "Freckles" and her vulture study. 
       The Music of the Wild is a preserve that has the Limberlost Creek flowing through it. Trails were created there in 2015. Some of the trails are impassable in the spring with the rains. Gene Stratton-Porter wrote about this area in her book "Music of the Wild" part II The Fields. 
     The Bird Sanctuary was the first preserve created by the Limberlost Conservation in 1947. It is wooded and is now attached to the Music of the Wild.
       Rainbow Bottom is on the north side of Geneva and is next to the Ceylon Bridge, the last covered bridge on the Wabash River. This 231 acre preserve is along river. Gene Stratton-Porter set her books "Song of the Cardinal" and "At the Foot of the Rainbow"  at this location. 
    The Friends of the Limberlost work with the DNR Nature Preserves and East Central Regional Ecologist Ben Hess to manage these properties. In the future, it is hoped that the Limberlost Territories will increase in size and create a better habitat for birds, insects, mammals.
      Thank you to Nicky Ball for the photos taken at the Loblolly Marsh. The first is a hike on 9/9/2017 and others are from photos of this week.

An Indiana Woman's Novel

About a year ago "The Song of the Cardinal" a book written by Mrs. Gene Stratton-Porter, an Indiana woman, attracted attention because of the new note it struck in the nature study line.  "Freckles," her latest production, just issued by Doubleday, Page & Co., is a more ambitious effort. It, too, deals with out of door life---the forest, the birds and the flowers---but, in addition it contains a love story of an ardent sort. The scene is laid in and about the Limberlost, the big tract of forest land mentioned in "The Song of the Cardinal," and supposed to be located in northern Indiana. The hero, a nameless youth known as "Freckles" is in the employ of a lumber company and in his work as watchman of the timber tract acquires a deep love for the wild things of the wood. His sympathy for and acquaintance with birds are especially great and he finds welcome companionship among the feathered creatures. A "woman with a camera," who also loves birds, comes to know him and through her he meets "Angel," a young girl of marvelous attractiveness with whom he falls hopelessly in love. There are difficulties and complications, because he is a nameless waif, but these are eventually cleared away. There are also adventures, dangers, and even tragic occurrences, but they only serve to throw the final happiness into relief.

The enthusiasm for nature which pervades the tale is given an intensity to which the average reader will hardly be able to rise, but as it is in keeping with the tone of the nature literature now so popular, perhaps no criticism belongs to it on that account.

The book is likely to be widely read. The volume is profusely illustrated by Earl Stetson Crawford.

A Decatur, Ind., correspondent has this to say of the author and her work "Gene Stratton-Porter is an Indiana woman, a native of Wabash, where she has a host of friends. She has worked all her life to fit herself for a literary career and began publishing four years ago. She is an ardent lover of nature and in order satisfactorily to illustrate her writings in this line she has so mastered the camera that her right to the position of the greatest living photographer of birds is undisputed. No one approaches her work in bird pictures. For the past four years the editors of the Photographic Times Annual Almanac have tendered her first place in natural history photography.

"She was for two years the nature historian of the staff of Outing, and it as on that publication that her skill with the camera became evident and the charm of her nature writings was recognized. All of her short stories she has sent to the Metropolitan, whose editor accepted her first venture in that line and immediately invited her to write his leader for the following Christmas."

"As she only does nature illustration Mr. Crawford was sent to her home to draw the characters for her novel under her supervision, so that they could not fail to illustrate and harmonize with the story."

"Mrs. Stratton-Porter lives in a picturesque log cabin, designed by herself, at Geneva, Ind. She devotes all her time to her camera work afield and to literary work at home."
 

Source: The Indianapolis Star, 6 Nov 1904, p. 13. 

Notes:
The Limberlost was once 13,000 acres in southern Adams and northern Jay Counties. Today the Friends of the Limberlost and DNR Nature Preserves is working to restore some of these wetlands that Gene Stratton-Porter made famous. 
The inspiration for her book was Ray Boze who worked for Gene.
E. Stetson Crawford spent part of the summer of 1904 in Geneva illustrating "Freckles."

The King Rail by April Raver

One hundred years ago, a young woman was standing along a dirt road in Geneva. She carried with her a camera weighing close to 40 pounds while she observed the birds and bugs and animals enjoying a crumbling fence along the edge of a field. When suddenly she heard a sound....

Fast forward one hundred years later, another young woman was standing alone along a dirt road in Geneva. She, too, carried a camera with her while she observed the butterflies and birds and animals along the edge of the fields and wetlands. When suddenly she, too, heard a sound....

"M-U-M-M-M-M" "GYCK!" "GYCK!" That's how Gene Stratton-Porter described that noise she heard that day so many years ago. She quickly made her way across the swamp to where she found a noisy bird calling among the reeds. Gene called her "The Queen."

Last weekend, it was I who stood along County Line Road, when I heard that same sound. I wasn't sure what it was...and I had a hard time finding words to describe it other than "LOUD!" After spending some time trying to locate the source of the sound, I was still confused. Thanks to today's technology I pulled out my cell phone and recorded a quick video of the voice as it echoed through the air. I posted it to my Facebook page and asked...."What is that loud noise!?!" I was fully expecting to be told "frogs" which seems to be the answer every time I get confused by a call I'm not sure of. But not this time! One of my birding friends quickly commented on my post that he was no expert but to him it sounded like a King Rail! A King Rail! I was surprised by that answer. I quickly googled "king rials" and listened to their call on All About Birds. Much to my surprise it sounded just like it! I shared my post to the Birding in Indiana Facebook page and asked...."Could it really be a king rail?" My phone started dinging immediately as people commented agreeing that it was indeed a king rail! The excitement on the post was electric. I text a birding friend who lives not too far from Limberlost and let him know what I was hearing. He headed that way.

The rail continued to call and I continued to try to see it! The call was so loud it was echoing across the fields creating an illusion of more than one bird. When my friend arrived, we could tell the bird was somewhere in the reeds along the creek bed. My friend friend noticed a path worn in the reeds where the rail appeared to travel back and forth along the bank. We stood quietly on the opposite bank, listened to the calls, and watched the moving reeds. Eventually the rail appeared in one of the openings at the water's edge. We both gasped! There it was! What a beautiful bird! Bright orange neck, long beak, big feet and the cutest little white bottom...a King Rail! We were able to watch the bird for a good while as it traveled back and forth along its little path in the reeds. We both took many pictures and a couple of videos before we left. As we went on down county Line Road for some more birding, we did indeed hear a second king rail about a quarter mile down the road from the first!

As I stood and watched that little rail wander in and out of the reeds, I couldn't help but think of Gene one hundred years ago. Was she caught in the same awestruck wonder, as I was that day? Did she notice how loud the call was? Did it echo against the fence posts as Gene listened? Did she appreciate what it was that she was observing?

When I stand on the edge of the Limberlost I always think of Gene and her swamp. As the killdeer yell while flying overhead and the blackbirds trill from the tip of every reed, I stand quietly and look around. After the rains, the swam is alive with water.  Mallards, egrets, herons, mergansers, and teal play in the waters. Vultures and eagles ride the currents over head. Frogs sing from every corner and snakes slither by in the sunshine. Monarchs and dragonflies buzz across the grass. Did Gene stand in the same spot one hundred years ago and soak in the beauty much like I do today?

If you've never visited Limberlost Swamp, I encourage you to take the trip. Take a moment to walk down Deacon's Trail. Listen to nothing but the sound of the frogs and blackbirds. Let the wind blow your hair and the sun tan your skin. Notice the spots on the sandpiper and the lines on the dragonfly's wings. And if you hear a "M-U-M-M-M!" "GYCK!" "GYCK!" know that is just The Queen shouting "Limberlost Lives!" 

Note: April Raver is a member of the Friends of the Limberlost, president of the Mississinewa Audubon Society, and volunteer for the annual SANJO Christmas Bird Count as well as other organizations.