Indiana Dunes is hot spot for birding this weekend with fest. Including a new 'Bird Town.'
Pollywog Pond is wrongly named, though it often does have water there nestled between stands of jack pines. Never mind. The town of Ogden Dunes knows what it has — a haven where 170 species of birds have been identified, including the rare sighting this February of the migrating Townsend’s Solitaire.
But it’s never enough to just know what you have. Ogden Dunes will celebrate May 18 how it has taken steps to preserve bird habitat, claiming the title of Bird Town from Indiana Audubon.
Part of this effort is making a bird sanctuary out of Pollywog Pond, which actually is a panne, which experts describe as a relatively rare interdunal wetland that forms in wind-blow depressions in the sand, thus exposing the water table. Since the panne goes dry at times, it supports a rare selection of plants that can’t be found elsewhere in Indiana or even the dunes.
The celebration comes in the midst of the popular Indiana Dunes Birding Festival from May 16 to 19 that attracts bird-seeking enthusiasts from across the Midwest each May in the height of bird migration. Colorful warblers, waterfowl and other birds pause by Lake Michigan’s southern shores or keep cruising by because it serves as a critical oasis on their migration highway.
Most of the festival’s more than 180 events, workshops and guided tours are booked, but there are still some last-minute sign-ups, along with free, walk-in events. More on that in a bit.
Ogden Dunes, a town of 1,219, will hail its Bird Town status at 11 a.m. CDT May 18 near Pollywog Pond with local and Indiana Audubon officials as they talk about their conservation efforts, including the removal of invasive plants. The event will be in the small parking lot at the west end of Shore Drive, which runs along homes by the Lake Michigan shore. You can see the panne from there. Find a link to more parking options in this column online. Access the town via Hillcrest Road, off of U.S. 12 west of Burns Harbor.
Granted, this may not be a long-distance destination, but it's part of something larger. The town, nestled in the middle of the Indiana Dunes National Park, just west of the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk, has counted the late Dorothy Buell among its residents. She led the fight to save the Indiana Dunes from industry.
Today, it wins the Bird Town status partly because town officials voted in 2023 to name Pollywog Pond a sanctuary. It’s owned by the local home association and the national park.
But the town also wins because of its efforts to use its website and other means to educate the public about removing invasive species, keeping all cats indoors so they don’t hunt (rather than supported, free-roaming cats), avoiding bird collisions on buildings and other bird-friendly measures.
A handful of other Indiana communities have gained Bird Town certification, too, including nearby Beverly Shores in 2019 and Chesterton in 2013, along with Bloomington and Fort Wayne. The certification is partly an effort of the advocacy groups American Bird Conservancy and Environment for the Americas.
Indiana Dunes Birding Festival
While the festival's full schedule is at indunesbirdingfestival.com, here's a breakdown on what you can access.
∎ Art and film: The Indiana Dunes Birding Festival launches with a free event from 6 to 9 p.m. CDT May 15 at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center that features the opening of the "Dune Birds in Art" exhibition by more than a dozen regional artists, the unveiling of this year’s art print by artist Kristina Knowski (prints available for purchase) and the showing of PBS's "Flyways" at 6:30 p.m. CDT, a nearly hourlong documentary that tells the migration stories of shorebirds like godwits, curlews and red knots across the globe. The Visitor Center is at 1215 N. Indiana 49, Porter.
∎ All ages: "Youth and Family Day” is a series of free activities from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT May 18 at the nature center of the Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton, just down the road and bike path from the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center. There will be birding walks, birdhouse building, field sketching and live bird demonstrations.
∎ Gear and info: Another free event is the “Migration Marketplace” at the Visitor Center that offers vendors with bird-watching gear, feeders, optics, travel information and advocacy. This will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 16-18 and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 19.
∎ Native plant sale: The Dunes-Calumet Audubon Society will host a native plant sale during the “Migration Marketplace” on May 18 and 19. Club members will be there to offer advice on what the plants are and how best to plant them. The plants may include milkweed, wild columbine and black-eyed Susan.
∎ Registration: While the festival’s online registration deadline has passed, there will be walk-in registration for whatever tours and events are still available (there are fees for each one) at the Indiana Dunes Visitors Center. You can register there from 4 to 8 p.m. CDT May 15, 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT May 16-18 and 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. CDT May 19.
Tips for birds and wildflowers
You can check on the daily forecast of how intense bird migrations will be, depending on factors like storms and winds, at the cool, radar-fed map at https://birdcast.info.
Get some help with identifying birds — including by the sounds they make — at the rightly popular Merlin Bird ID app, which is free. After all, you’ll hear a lot of birds before you can ever see them.
Outdoor Adventures: Goshen College grad tends globally popular Merlin app: Try it at big Christmas Bird Count.
If you’re going to Indiana Dunes State Park, it’s worth visiting the "Longshore Platform,” a bluff-top platform that you can climb by steps or ramp. Experts will be counting impressive numbers of birds in the mornings. It also affords a cool overview of the beach and lake. Also, watch for spring wildflowers that are still blooming, including lupines on the dunes. Or stroll the flat, dirt trail No. 2 for three miles through the woods and its wetland boardwalk.
In Elkhart, local naturalist Jan McGowan will lead a birding hike and explore “The How and Why of Migration” from 8 to 10 a.m. May 18 at the Elkhart Environmental Center, 1717 E. Lusher Ave. Cost is $1 per person. Register by May 15 in a link in this column online.
Bike to Work breakfast delayed
The rainy forecast has led Michiana Bike to Work Week organizers to delay the free blueberry pancake breakfast by one day and move it to a new downtown South Bend location. Originally set for Tuesday morning, May 14 at the Jon R. Hunt Memorial Plaza, it will instead be from 7 to 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 15 at the Gridiron by the former College Football Hall of Fame.
Read more about the full Bike to Work Week schedule in our story online.
2024 in Michiana: Bike to Work Week returns with pancakes, food, drink, fun rides and insight for cyclists
Wander more
∎ Winery trail walk: The Harbor Country Hikers will walk more than two hilly miles at 10 a.m. May 18 on the Mt. Tabor Trails in Baroda. You’ll hear about the area’s glacial history and perhaps see flowering grapes. Meet at the trailhead at the Round Barn Winery, 10983 Hills Road. From Shawnee Road, west of the bypass, drive south on Hills Road for 1.7 miles. Gather in the furthest parking lot.
∎ Free park admission: All Indiana State Parks will offer free admission on May 19.
Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana Dunes Birding Festival marks migration Ogden Dunes is Bird Town
