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Elkhart Historical Society offers
guided wildflower walks every Saturday in April
[April 08, 2025]
Perhaps Punxsutawney Phil was
correct in his prediction for more winter, but soon that will give
way to a gentler weather pattern. The beauty of spring wildflowers
accompanies the bird songs of migrating flocks heading for their
traditional nesting grounds and starts our spring lineup.
The Elkhart Historical Society is looking forward to offering guided
wildflower walks on Elkhart Hill every Saturday in April starting
April 5th with two walks a day at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. If you have a
group of 10-20 you can arrange to have a private wildflower tour
during the week or on Sunday afternoons in April. If scheduled on
Tuesday-Friday, lunch can be included. All tours leave from the
Country Bumpkin at 103 Gov. Oglesby St., Elkhart, IL 62634. Pricing
can be found at
elkharthistoricalsociety.org.
On the morning of Saturday April
26, the Historical Society is fortunate to have Biology Professor
Tony Rothering from LLCC demonstrate the banding of both migratory
and local songbirds during special tours at 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m. and
10:30 a.m. The 2 p.m. tour will feature both flowers and birds with
the help of our amazing birders, Dr. Lara Borgerson, Joe Funk, and
Rhetta Jack. Rothering is a federally permitted bander, who last
year successfully recorded and released over 120 birds during his
annual Elkhart Hill banding session. The event is done during the
spring migration on Elkhart Hill, an incredibly biodiverse “island”
(oasis) to the birds. Elkhart Hill measures approximately 600 acres
of mature hardwoods, but is surrounded primarily by monocultures of
corn and soybeans fields, where very few hedge rows or groves of
trees remain. For the many species of migrating warblers, Elkhart
Hill offers a much-needed rest and refueling stop, on their journey
north to breeding grounds in the upper Midwest and Canada. We are
hopeful that some of these winged travelers will be among those
banded on Saturday, April 26. You won’t want to miss it. Rothering’s
work helps to catalog the changes in migration patterns caused, in
part, by weather and loss of habitat.
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Reservations are required
and should be made by calling (217) 947-2238 between 8 a.m. -7
p.m. Once you receive a call back confirming your reservations,
payment should be sent within 5 business days to the Elkhart
Historical Society, at PO Box 255, Elkhart, IL 62634, arriving
no later than March 14, 2025. Cash and checks may also be
dropped off at The Country Bumpkin Shop at 103 Gov. Oglesby St.
in Elkhart, IL 62634 Wednesdays – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Reservation forms may be downloaded from the
elkharthistoricalsociety.org website, by clicking here, or
by clicking the photo below.
[Text received from Elkhart Historical
Society]
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