Tuesday, August 31, Eagle Marsh, Thom Maher
With the temps in the low 90's to high 80's, a gentle breeze enticed my son Tom and I to venture out for an evening walk at Eagle Marsh. We started at the barn and walked south to the bend in the road. Two great blue herons were fishing for their dinner in the irrigation pond behind the barn. The "ko-wee, ko-wee" of a group of wood ducks roosting on the pond reminded me that their presence meant fall and cooler weather were not far off.
At the oxbow south of the barn, clumps of yellow flowers covered a huge area, almost as if they had been tended and cultivated by some resident gardener all summer long. My flower book identifies these beauties as sneezeweed, the name based on the former use of the dried leaves from the flower to make snuff, inhaled to cause sneezing that would supposedly encourage the body to rid itself of evil spirits. Intermixed were occasional patches of the beautiful purple ironweed, competing for space among the proliferation of the sneezeweed.
As we walked farther west along the levee, the leopard frogs began their scurried exodus from our path. Each step brought more of them, their leaps often colliding with my legs and feet. What had to be hundreds of them, all jumping out of our way on what had to be one of the hottest days of the year. Who said frogs were only out on damp and rainy days? These frogs had evidently not seen the memo.
One, in particular, was a magnificent specimen. Almost six inches from tail (do frogs even have tails?) to the tip of his nose, he kind of just sat there like some kind of leopard-skinned Buddha. He was huge, with a set of frog legs any chef would envision simmering in a pan of hot butter. As my son approached cautiously for a closer look, the frog leg dinner quickly hopped away into the reed canary grass. Safe, to live another day.
A very large bird flew overhead, and we immediately recognized it as a juvenile bald eagle. His white head shown in the sunlight, and as he turned his white tail feathers became more evident. He soared over head, banked gracefully and eventually landed in a dead cottonwood at the south end of the irrigation pond. We later scared him into flight again and he headed west out across the wetland, in search of his dinner. Mr. Froglegs, better stay in the tall grass…
Just more excitement on the Marsh.
Temperature: 90 °F
Thursday, August 12, Arrowhead Prairie, Betsy Y 
Three cheers for the 20 employees from PNC who participated in the United Way Day of Caring by volunteering at the new addition to Arrowhead Prairie. It was hot with a bit of a breeze as one group of volunteers worked on striping and painting the garage. Another prepared and planted native plant seeds around our new native plant education garden-including these beautiful species: long sepal beardstongue (Penstemon calycosus), bee balm (Monarda fistulosa), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), smooth blue aster (Aster laevis), prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum), compass flower (Siliphium laciniatum), and Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum). This group also planted the mud flats around our two shallow water wetlands with monkeyflower (Mimulus spp.), blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica),cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and giant burweed (Iva xanthifolia). Lastly, another hard-working group gathered wildflower seeds and scattered them in areas that need help to get native species established. We appreciate all the helping hands that really made a big difference at our newest restoration.
Sunday, June 13, Eagle Marsh, Paul McAfee 
An American White Pelican had been reported at Eagle Marsh for the last couple of days, so I was in the vicinity and thought I'd drop by and take a look.
This bird breeds in mid-Canada, Utah, northern California and a few scattered spots in between. It migrates through the Great Plains to the Pacific Coast and to the Gulf of Mexico. It's normal migration patterns don't bring it near Indiana. However, one or two or maybe even a half dozen pelicans show up in Indiana every year. Mostly, they are seen on the west side of the state, but very rarely a few show up around here. It was with this sense of spotting a rare but normal wildlife spectacle that I decided to stop at the Boy Scout parking lot and take a look.
Bummer, I couldn't see it. However, there is a lot of water that isn't visible from the parking lot, so I grabbed my camera and started walking. A trip down trail two and a right turn at the pump road and bingo - there it was! Amazing, just like the pictures. It looked like it belonged there. So, I snapped a few pictures, watched it fly a couple of hundred yards away, and then left. Also noted were a great egret and two mute swans. It was a very impressive large white bird walk.
Note: From June 19-22, two pelicans were seen at Eagle Marsh. Perhaps they flew off together to the lakes of northern Canada.
Friday, May 14, Eagle Marsh, Cathy Kelker
Two first grade classes from Saint John the Baptist school visited our marsh for field trips this week. The exuberance of little children tromping along the Eagle Marsh trails is truly a joy to behold. They are such open minds, eager to know about marsh animals and their homes. The free spirit is unleashed as we search and find: crayfish chimneys, muskrat dens, bird nests, insect holes. The questions are honest and clear. Our natural world is of great interest to them. These young folks are truly the next generation of wetland guardians and we have great responsibility to foster and encourage that relationship.
Thursday, May 13, Eagle Marsh, Judy Nelsen & Renee Wright
After parking near the barn and admiring a set of "peeps," small sandpipers scurrying about near the pond west of the gravel drive, we set out to explore possible 2K and 5K trails for the June 5 Walk for the Wetlands. We both wore boots and on Trails 8 and 9, it got wet pretty fast. Judy's hiking boots-guaranteed dry up to four inches of water-were soon swamped. We saw great blue herons, a male wood duck, and loads of red-winged blackbirds and tree swallows as we walked the beautiful trails. Also encountered several northern leopard frogs, about adolescent-size. Then it got a lot wetter, and soon both of us were knee-deep in the not-so-shallow-water wetlands, each concentrating hard on walking through the muck without falling and drenching our watch, GPS, and cell phone along with ourselves. It was nice to see the blue-flag iris doing well as we staggered by. We had lost the trail by then-it's been too wet to mow, and the native grasses have been growing like crazy. Well, we finally got back to the barn and were rewarded with a nice view of two great egrets from the parking lot. Yes, we'll probably use these trails for the Walk-if they dry out enough in the next three weeks!
Friday, April 23, Eagle Marsh, Betsy Yankowiak 
It was amazing to have over 200 volunteers plant over 1000 trees at our Earth Day and Arbor Day tree plantings! Volunteers of all ages planted native American plum, American black chokecherry, buttonbush, elderberry, high bush cranberry, nannyberry, and red osier dogwood. These shrubs will have beautiful flowers in the spring and will provide nutritious berries for wildlife. While planting, volunteers from LRWP, Senator Lugar's office, Aboite New Trails, Trees Indiana, Summit Middle School, Hagerman Construction, Coventry Meadows, United Hispanic Americans, and Boy Scouts of America enjoyed abundant wildlife. We saw leopard frogs and heard green frogs scattering as we visited planting areas that were close to our shallow water wetlands. We listened to red-winged black birds and a number of different kind of ducks as we entered their domain. We watched red-tailed hawks circle above us and a garter snake feasting on a frog. As I was driving home down Engle Road reflecting on this amazing opportunity to get folks out to help with our restoration of vital wetland habitats, a bald eagle flew out of Eagle Marsh and across the road. These moments of being with like-minded people and wonderful wildlife encounters keep me motivated to promote restoring these habitats as vital to our community, especially our children.
Temperature: 70 °F
Tuesday, April 13, Eagle Marsh, Ed Powers
I went to Eagle Marsh this afternoon, hoping to see some of the recently-reported wonders seen by Rodger Rang and Dave Reichlinger. I didn't see all of them, but did see a wonder of my own: CLAY-COLORED SPARROW. This is new for Eagle Marsh, as is the Common Tern that Dave reported yesterday. That makes 173 species that have been recorded at the marsh.
Canada Goose: 5
Mallard: 30
Blue-winged Teal: 35
Ring-necked Duck: 21
Lesser Scaup: 4
Bufflehead: 9
Pied-billed Grebe: 7
Double-crested Cormorant: 11
Great Blue Heron: 5
Great Egret: 1
Cooper's Hawk: 1
Red-tailed Hawk: 1
Sora: 4
American Coot: 81
Belted Kingfisher: 1
Tree Swallow: 50
American Robin: 3
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW: 1
Vesper Sparrow: 1
Savannah Sparrow: 1
Song Sparrow: 10
Red-winged Blackbird: 100
House Finch: 1
Sunday, April 11, Eagle Marsh, Judy Nelsen 
Marty and I decided to hike some of the trails starting from the barn on this lovely spring day. We immediately scared up a large flock (maybe 30-50 birds) of pintails off to the left as we arrived down the barn road. We took trail #8 (a little muddy) because trail #9 was way too wet for Marty's sneakers. Frogs were calling and we could see a few jumping into the water, but mostly there were birds everywhere. A couple of killdeer flew up from the edge of a pond. The tree swallows have definitely arrived and when we continued on trail #6, one pair was already settled on a nest box, the male ready to defend it almost to the death. A large redtail sat on one of the electric towers watching for prey. Later, it flew away harassed by a flock of smaller birds. Robins were common and red-winged blackbirds made their whirring calls all along the trail. Small birds, perhaps native sparrows, were darting about in the grasses. Several times we saw great blue herons flying. Mallards and Canada geese were present but not abundant. Walking back along the railroad tracks, with prairie and the oxbow pond to our left, we saw a large mixed group of ducks that turned out to include pintails, mallards, coots, and a few smaller ducks I couldn't identify. Almost back to the barn, two pairs of bluebirds appeared. A pleasant end to an ornithologically satisfying day.