by Fred Wooley, Park Interpreter, Pokagon State Park
Early April -
Watch for migrating waterfowl in preserves near big bodies of water. Bufflehead and common goldeneye ducks, pied-billed and horned grebes will dive in deeper waters. Blue-winged teal and wood ducks will seek quiet backwaters of cattail marshes.
April 8 -
Male purple martins are back! Look for them along lakeshores.
April 15 -
Listen for the buzzing of the recently returned blue-gray gnatcatchers! Spot them high in trees - long tails with white edges, flitting.
Early May -
Hooded warblers, scarlet tanagers, and Acadian flycatchers return to their summer haunts.
May 20 -
Bluebirds are feeding young! Look for them in natural dead snags or your bluebird boxes.
June 3 -
Aquatic turtles are on the move! Now's the time females leave their wet worlds and travel seemingly ridiculous distances to lay eggs.
June 23 -
Full moon, the "strawberry moon" as both colonial America and Algonquin people knew it.
