Scenic Drives
1st day take a scenic drive along the coast of the Dunes National Lakeshore. This drive is sure to deliver great leaf peeping-fall drama. Climb Mount Baldy which stands an imposing 123 feet tall and is the largest “living” dune that marram grass and cottonwood trees cannot hold in place. This giant mound of sand actually moves south at a rate of four to five feet each year, burying all woodlands in its path. Or for the fainter in heart, walk the Prairie Duneland Trail and return to the Inn for a 30 minute massage and the original JellyBath experience! The 2nd day visit Valparaiso’s own Anderson Winery and return to the Inn for a light dinner with your vino. Package additional $250.00 to your choice of guestroom. 877.766.4273

Enjoy the original Jellybath at Songbird Prairie: a truly unique spa experience. Jellybath turns water into luxurious encasing comfort providing the ultimate relief for stress and aching muscles.

 

Experience a Jellybath which is a virtual blanket with aroma therapeutic benefits. Jellybath exfoliates with vitamin c, black tea and reduces swelling and pulls out toxins. Enjoy a bath with Jellybath which retains its heat up to four times longer than water!

 

Enjoy a 45 minute bath and 30 minute massage for $125.00 — and then enjoy a 30 minute relaxation with hot tea, neck wrap in a warm cozy robe. Bath only without massage is $99.00

www.songbirdprairie.com
219/759/4274 or 877/766/4273

Nicknamed “wild canary”, the American Goldfinch is a prized visitor at Songbird Prairie. This little finch is welcome and common at our feeders, where it eats primarily sunflower and nyjer.   At Songbird Prairie, they also cover the salvia along our walkway to the Inn.  They love to drink and bathe in our shallow birdbaths and are attracted to the watercourse that runs through this Indiana Dunes Bed & Breakfast’s woodlands.  The American Goldfinch is a frequent visitor to our feeders and you would be assured to spot these vibrant yellow birds and hear their twittering call on your visit! 

Diet: 
In nature, the goldfinch feeds primarily during the day on seeds of grasses and trees. They may occasionally feed on insects and berries. They frequently visit backyard feeders – particularly those filled with thistle seed.

Size and Color: 
A small bird, the American Goldfinch is generally between 4″-5″. The male is a vibrant yellow in the summer and an olive color during the winter months. The female is a dull yellow-brown shade which brightens only slightly during the summer. The brightly colored plumage of the male is to impress the female during the breeding season and attract a mate.

Song: 
A long, twittering “per-chic-o-ree” or “po-ta-to chip.” The American Goldfinch is known for singing in flight, which adds to their cheerful, “wave-like” flight pattern.

Behavior:
These are active and acrobatic little finches that cling to weeds and seed socks, and sometimes mill about in large numbers at feeders or on the ground beneath them. Goldfinches fly with a bouncy, undulating pattern and often call in flight, drawing attention to themselves.

Habitat: 
The goldfinch’s main natural habitats are weedy fields and floodplains, where plants such as thistles and asters are common. They’re also found in cultivated areas, roadsides, orchards, and backyards. American Goldfinches can be found at feeders any time of year, but most abundantly during winter

Backyard Tips: 
To encourage goldfinches into your yard, plant native thistles and other composite plants, as well as native milkweed. Almost any kind of bird feeder may attract American Goldfinches, including hopper, platform, and hanging feeders, and these birds don’t mind feeders that sway in the wind. You’ll also find American Goldfinches are happy to feed on the ground below feeders, eating spilled seeds.

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Dog Day Greetings

from the Dunes!

Awaken your spirits and fill your lungs with fresh air in the Dunes this month. Enjoy everything from misty morning walks through the back dunes of Trail 2, to picnics on one of over 500 picnic tables in the park, to magnificent evening sunsets over Lake Michigan. Of course, no visit to the park is complete without a trip to the park Nature Center to take in one of many diverse, educational, and fun interpretive programs. Take a beach break this month and join us for any of the great programs being offered.

Here’s a quick glimpse at some of the fun and educational programs coming up this month:

·         On Saturday, August 7, join Park Naturalist Jenna for “Campfire Stories on the Beach!”  Meet at the main beach, by the pavilion, for an evening of storytelling. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on.  In case of inclement weather, we’ll be at the Campground Shelter.

·         The 4^th Annual Perseid Stargaze is approaching fast. Come Saturday, August 14 to the Tremont Shelter Picnic Area (parking at Duneside Shelter) to watch the annual meteor shower. Special constellation talks and sky storytelling will also take place. Activities begin at 8:30 p.m.

·        Join us Wednesday, August 20 at 7:30 p.m. for “Who Pooped in the Park!”  Meet at the Campground Shelter for 45-minutes of fun as we explore the facts on feces and the data on dung. Test your scat knowledge for prizes!

·        Meet at the Nature Center at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 4, for “Beautiful Blowout” a 1-hour moderate hike to see one of the most beautiful sunsets in the Midwest from atop Beach House Blowout.  We’ll also be exploring the twilight time for our nocturnal animals on the walk back.

Want to stay even more updated on park happenings, park news, and more?  Become a fan of the Indiana Dunes State Park Facebook page. Check out photos and videos from other Dunes visitors, take part in discussions, or just let others know about the dunes. Visit Facebook.com/indunes to join more than 7,100 current fans.  

The complete August Interpretive Schedule can be found at http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/files/sp-Dunes_August.pdf.

Stay at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast while you are in the dunes area 877.766.4273

$169-$249 Whirlpools in every room 3 course plated breakfast

 

How hummingbirds

chirp:

 

It’s all in the tail

Patricia Yollin, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, February 8, 2008

 

 

Clark and Feo filmed the birds’ plunges and recorded the sound they made at the end of their roughly 50 mph descent from a height of 100 feet or more. High-speed video, at 500 frames per second, showed that the birds started their dives with their tails shut and suddenly spread them at the bottom, for one-twentieth of a second - quicker than a blinking eye.

“Now we have a greater understanding of what’s actually going on in really sophisticated behavior by one of our residents,” said Robert Dudley, a professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley. “It’s a pretty amazing sort of experiment. It took a lot of initiative, and they put in a huge amount of field time.”

Clark and Feo concluded that the squeaks and beeps made by the dive-bombing birds are not vocal - as some research has asserted - but instead are created by their tail feathers.

“I found it really interesting just because these birds were basically doing mechanical sounds,” said Feo, 22, who played clarinet in the Cal Band for four years. “It sort of speaks to the musician in me.”

Clark, who is finishing his Ph.D. in the department of integrative biology, began the project more than three years ago. He eventually acquired a collaborator in Feo, who graduated in May and is working at Cal’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. They had to obtain an array of permits from agencies ranging from the state Department of Fish & Game to the university’s Animal Care and Use Committee, which ensures that experiments are done ethically.

In the course of the research, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Clark and Feo encountered many visitors to the Albany Bulb, a former dump that is part of Eastshore State Park.

“We had a lot of people ask what we were doing,” said the 28-year-old Clark, who also met up with any number of curious canines.

Before acquiring a car, he and Feo would take a bus to the Albany Bulb, hauling a duffel bag that held a stuffed hummingbird mounted on a stick and a cage they had made from netting and tent poles.

During the November-to-May breeding season, the Cal students devoted up to four hours at a time, two or three days a week, on the male Anna’s hummingbird - a magenta-splashed creature that looks like something you’d see in New Orleans during Mardi Gras or in San Francisco’s Castro district on Halloween.

Clark and Feo, aided over time by a dozen research assistants, lured the birds into traps, banded them and plucked or trimmed one of their tail feathers, which grow back after about five weeks and are not needed for flight. Then they captured their dives with audio and video equipment.

“It’s a great example of aerial acrobatics,” said Dudley, who is Clark’s graduate adviser. “And what’s really interesting is not only the mechanism of the chirp but also the timing. Everything is so beautifully synchronized. The males are using it to advertise to females.”

He said it’s an occasion where sound, color and movement come together.

“Everyone in the Bay Area can see this in our natural areas and parks,” Dudley said. “We see this on campus, remarkably enough.”

Clark said that people have known birds make sounds with their feathers since before the time of Charles Darwin, who wrote about it in his 1871 book, “The Descent of Man.” However, the physics of how non-vocal sounds are created hasn’t received much attention until recently, he said.

“The first year, I got basically no data,” Clark said. “I was figuring out how to do it.”

After he contracted poison oak in the thick brush of Strawberry Canyon, he relocated to the Albany Bulb because the trees and bushes are short, the birds perch at eye level, and they stand out against the blue sky, making them easier to photograph.

“There were other issues with the Bulb,” said Clark, recalling how he fell flat on his face chasing someone who had purloined his camera. It was all recorded.

“You can hear the crash of me hitting the bush,” said the researcher, who succeeded in catching the thief.

Clark and Feo employed dead birds from the Lindsay Museum in Walnut Creek and live caged birds to lure the male Anna’s hummingbird. The work was slowed by wind, rain and avian confusion.

“A big part of the project was sitting and waiting,” Clark said. “There were short moments when it was exciting.”

The researchers relied on several cameras, including a $50,000 model. They produced sounds from the feathers they’d collected by placing them in front of a jet of air or inside a wind tunnel. They decided, after painstakingly analyzing the male bird’s tail feathers - 10 total, five on each side - that the chirping sound comes from the fluttering of part of the inside edge of the outer feathers.

Clark, a bird-watcher since high school, said he likes to work with hummingbirds because they are common and easy to catch.

“If I didn’t study birds, I’d probably study something else that flies,” he said. “Flight fascinates me. I’m jealous - I wish I could fly.”

Local ornithologists and bird-watchers have long debated the source of the sound made by the diving male Anna’s hummingbird.

In the 1940s, a UC Berkeley graduate student stated in a published paper that he could produce sound by attaching one of the creature’s feathers to a strip of bamboo and whipping it through the air. However, a 1979 paper by the curator of birds at the California Academy of Sciences declared that the sound was vocal. Almost 30 years later, Clark and Feo have countered that argument.

“They’re fascinating little creatures,” Clark said. “And even though the landscape at the Albany Bulb seems kind of devastated, there’s interesting research to do in your own backyard.”

Places to Go and Things to Do Summer 2010

Saturday, May 1

 Native Plant Sale, Wild Ones Garden Club – Gibson Woods, 6201 Parish Ave., Hammond, 219-844-3188

 

LaPorte County Master Gardeners Symposium – 8:30 am- 3 pm, Best Western Hotel, 444 Pine Lake Ave., LaPorte, $28 in advance $33 at door, includes lunch 219-324-9407

 

Rise and Shine Seminar,   8:30 am, $5, Gardens on the Prairie   “A Plant Preview for 2010 and Garden Maintenance. 3242 W. 169^th St. Lowell, IN   219-690-0911

 

Friday, May 7

Spring Bird Migration Hike, 8 am, Wild Ones Garden Club, see over 300 species, registration is required, 6201 Parish Ave, Hammond 219-844-3188

 

Saturday, May 8

Lake County Master Gardeners Plant Sale, 8 am – 2 pm Plants are selected to maximize drought tolerance, disease resistance and deer and slug resistance. Master Gardeners will be on hand, pre-orders picked up. Lake County Fairgrounds, Fine Arts Building, closes at 4 pm, Crown Point, 219-755-3251

 

Lowell Garden Club Plant sale, 9 am – 3 pm, Olde Towne Square Park 219-696-8282 or 219-696-6464   www.lowellgardenclub.com

 

Portage Plant sale 9 am – noon, Woodland Park, Willowcreek Road,   Portage   219-762-1732 or 219-762-0861

 

Wednesday, May 12

Rain Gardens, 7 pm, Master Gardener, Dolly Foster, provides information and tips on how to utilize and set up Rain Gardens, Munster Library, 219-836-8450

 

Saturday, May 15

Miller Plant Sale,   9 am – noon, Miller Beach Home and Lumber Center, 875 Lake St. & Rt. 20, also selling garden books, tools, baked goods and knick knacks, 219-938-6880 www.millergardenclub.net

 

Build an Annual Container Workshop, 8:30 am, $30, Garden on the Prairie, 3242 W. 169^th St., Lowell 219-690-0911    www.gardensontheprairie.com

 

International Friendship Gardens, Opening Day and Plant Sale, Mothers in free all weekend, 2055 U.S. Hwy 12, Michigan City, free admission to plant sale, master gardeners on hand. 219-879-3564 or 219-878-9885   www.friendshipgardens.org  

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 18

New Plants to Try, Central Library, 7 pm, 1919 W. 81^st Ave., Merrillville, sponsored by Lake County Library, Master gardener, Zann Wilson. Pre-register

 

Thursday, May 20

Rose Gardening, 6:30 pm, Master Gardener, Wayne Barnes will talk; meet the 3^rd Thursday of every month at the Highland Branch Library, 2841 Jewett St.  Field trips are planned for June-August, call 219-838-2394

 

Friday, May 21

            Munster Plant Sale 8 am-1 pm, 1101 Oriel Dr., Munster   219-923-1255

 

Saturday, May 22

Rise and Shine Seminar, 8:30 am, $5, “DIY Paver Projects to Enhance your Home and Maintenance” at Garden on the Prairie, 3242 W. 169^th St., Lowell 219-69 0-0911, www.gardensontheprairie.com

 

Friday, May 28

Wildflowers Walks – 9am-2pm, Wild Ones Garden Club, see over 300 species, meet at parking lot kiosk, Gibson Woods, 6201 Parish Ave., Hammond,   219-844-3188

 

Saturday, June 5

Rise and Shine Seminar, “Behind the Scenes of garden Design, Planting & Maintenance”, 8:30 am, $5.00, “DIY Paver Projects to Enhance Your Home & Maintenance”, Gardens on the Prairie, 3242 W. 169^th St., Lowell, 219-690-0911

 

Sunday, June 6

Art in the Garden, $5 per person, Art Fair 10 am – 4 pm, Taltree Arboretum & Gardens, 450 West 100 North, Valparaiso, 219-462-0025, www.taltree.org/events

Wednesday, June 9

Shade Gardening, 7 pm, Master Gardener Daryl Dorton provides information and tips on how to grow a shade garden.  Munster Library  219-836-8450

 

Friday, June 11

Wildflower Walks, 9 am – 2 pm, Wild Ones Garden Club, see over 300 species, meet at parking lot kiosk, Gibson Woods, 6201 Parish Ave, Hammond, 219-844-3188 

 

Tuesday, June 15

Hydrangeas, 7 pm, Central Library, 1919 W. 81^st Ave., Merrillville, sponsored by Lake County Library in cooperation with Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service. Preregister at 219-769-3541 x317  www.lakeco.lib.in.us

 

Thursday, June 17

Lawn Care, 6:30 pm, Master Gardener, Jim Colias will talk about fertilizing, aerating and organic lawns. Highland Branch Library,  2841 Jewette St., meet the 3^rd Thursday of every month. Field trips are planned for June-August so call 219-838-2394.

 

Saturday, June 19

Rise and Shine Seminar, “Reclaiming Water in Landscapes,” 8:30 am, $5, “DIY Paver Projects to  Enhance Your Home and Maintenance”, Gardens on the Prairie, 3242 W. 169^th St., Lowell  219-690-0911

 

Friday & Saturday, June 25, 26

Crown Point Garden Club Garden Walk, Sat – 9am - 4 pm, Sun 12:30 pm – 5 pm, Crown Point, 219-663-0386 or 219 -663-7678

 

Saturday & Sunday, July 10, 11

Lakeside Garden Walk, Saturday, July 10, 11 am – 5 pm. Lakeside, MI, for more info see

 www.thelakesideassociation.org

 

            Lowell garden Walk Sat-9 am – 5 pm and Sun 11 am – 5 pm. Tickets are $8, children under 12 free.  Includes historical museum tour at Homestead Museum.  There are 7 gardens. For more info call 219-696-8282 or 219-696-6464   www.lowellgardenclub.com or  jsmutt@att.net

 

Sunday, Monday & Tuesday, July 11, 12, 13

Day Lily Days, Garden Open, 1:05 pm– 6:35 pm (eastern time), Twin Starz Gardens, 10072 North 650 East, New Carlisle  574-654-9124

Wednesday, July 14

Herb Garden, 7 pm, Master Gardener Karen Hix provides information and tips on how to grow and give herbs as gifts. Munster Library, 219-836-8450

 

Saturday & Sunday, July 17 & 18

Sat., July 17 Porter County Master Gardeners Garden Walk, 9am – 4 pmmaster gardeners will be on hand at each location to explain plantings. For more info www.pcgarden.info  219-465-3555 x26

 

Miller Garden Walk,  Sat & Sun 10 am – 3 pm both days, $8 in advance, $9 at the door, featuring 6 gardens.  Shuttle busses from the Aquatatorium at the National Lakeshore Park.  10 am – 3 pm, box lunches available at Miller Bakery Café, tickets at Ayres Realtors at 646 S. Lake St., combines with Miller Art Fair Miller Beach in Gary, IN  219093806880  www.millergardenclub.net

 

July 18-24

            LaPorte County Fair, LaPorte, IN

 

Heirloom Kitchen Garden, Master Gardeners plant and display a Heirloom Garden at Pioneer Land during the LaPorte County Fair.  219-324-9407

 

Tuesday, July 20

            Attracting Hummingbirds, Central Library, 7 pm, 1919 West 81^st Ave., Merrillville, IN, sponsored by Lake county Library in cooperation with Purdue University Cooperative Extenstion Service. Pre-register at 219-769-3541 x 317,  www.lakeco.lib.in.us

 

July 22 – August 1

            Porter County Fair, Valparaiso, IN

 

Friday, Saturday & Sunday, July 23, 24, 25

Living Watercolours Pond Tour, Fri 8-10pm, Sat 10 am – 5 pm, Sun noon – 5pm.  Visit 12 ponds and gardens in Northwest Indiana and Illinois Southern Suburbs.  www.illianagardenpond.org or

219-663-2365

 

August 6 – 15

            Lake County Fair, Crown Point, IN

 

 

 

 

Sunday, August 8

August Tea, Classic high tea, classic music. Gardens benefit, $25, International Friendship Gardens, 2055 U.S. Highway 12, Michigan City  219-870-3564 or 219-879-9885  www.friendshipgardens.org         

 

Monday, September 13

Plant Swap, bring your perennials and take perennials, 10 am Lake County Parks Greenhouse, 8305 Randolph St.,  Hobart    219-947-1958 or 219-769-PARK

 

TBA

 

Mid June  Whiting in Bloom, please call for dates 1-4pm, 6 homes, advance tickets $10, day of tour $12.  Tickets available at corner of 119^th & Calumet Ave., sponsored by Arts Alive   219-659-0292

 

Annual Fall Plant Sale, Portage Garden Club, 9 am – noon, Walgreen’s on Central Ave.,  Portage  219-762-1732 or 219-762-0861

 

 

Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast

Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast is a colonial country home in Valparaiso, Indiana, which is 40 miles from Michigan City. Bedandbreakfast.com named Songbird Prairie “one of the top 25 best undiscovered . . . romantic inns based on guest reviews.” The rooms are decorated with Ethan Allen furniture in a songbird theme. The guest rooms have queen or king beds, fireplaces and private bathrooms with Jacuzzi tubs. Amenities also include heated floors, luxurious robes and slippers, bath salts, hairdryers and ironing boards. Rooms have TVs with DirectTV and DVD players or VCRs with access to the video library, as well as wireless Internet capability.

Every evening guests receive a confection and beverages. A three-course breakfast is provided each morning that features fresh bakery breads, fruit fresh from the farm, an entree and a rich dessert in the sunroom where you hear the operas of songbirds through the microphones. Rates range from $169 to $249 per night in 2010.

Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast
1740 N. 600 West
Valparaiso, IN 46385
219-759-4274
songbirdprairie.com

Dunes on Lake Michigan shore NW INdiana image by Steve Johnson

 The same shabby chic furniture and rosey accents grace the green walls in the Purplefinch suite.   Featuring Ultra Bath Whirlpool and Fireplace

The Purplefinch Suite will charm you with its cottage style. An enchanting rose theme creates pure elegance in this classic country room. The Ethan Allen queen size bed’s shabby chic, yet refined style rests against a backdrop of white bead board.

Located on the second level, this suite offers a fireplace, television with DirecTV, DVD/VCR, wireless internet access, complete on-site video library and European bed linens.

The Purplefinch Suite bathroom is highlighted with bead board walls, hexagon tile radiant heat floor, shower, Ultra Bath whirlpool for two with light therapy, Dead Sea bath salts, luxurious Italian towels, plush robes and slippers, and hair dryer.

Enjoy complimentary confections and endless beverages each evening.

Rate: $179 - $199 per night double occupancy plus tax

Bird Watchers digest says:It’s a sure sign of spring here in Northwest Indiana when you hear the conk-a-ree of the male red-winged blackbird. As he gives his call, announcing himself loudly to rivals and potential  mates alike, he spreads his shoulders just so, showing bright red and yellow epaulets against his black wings. Redwings are medium-sized (8 3/4 inches long) blackbirds with an all-black body, and orange-red and yellow patch on the shoulder and nearly conical black bill. Females are streaky brown overall, but their longer bill helps separate them from the sparrows. Wet meadows, cattail marshes, upland grasslands and pastures are all breeding habitat for the redwings and we have all of those habitat terrains here at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast here in Northwest Indiana. Songbird Prairie is a certified wildlife Habitat. The redwing’s diet is mostly plant matter-weed seeds, grain, sunflower seeds, and tree seeds-along with some insects, all of which are gleaned from the ground. They will also visit a feeding station, and they do just that here at Songbird Prairie. The nesting habits start early for the red-winged blackbird, with males singing from an exposed perch on their territories as early as April in Northwest Indiana. Females choose a nest site on a male’s territory and build a cup-shaped grass nest that is suspended from vertical supporting vegetation. Mud forms the foundation of the nest and soft grasses are the inner lining. Clutch size is three to four eggs, and the female alone incubates them for 10-13 days. Both parents care for the nestlings for about two weeks, until they are ready to leave the nest.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology writes:

How Many Birds Are in Your Backyard?