Wildflower walks on Elkhart Hill return in April

 

[March 13, 2024] 

The Elkhart Historical Society is once again offering guided wildflower walks on Elkhart Hill every Saturday in April starting April 6th. There will be two walks per Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. tickets are available for the walk only or a combination ticket that includes lunch at the Wild Hare Café in Elkhart. Discounts will be offered to children. All tours will leave from the Country Bumpkin, 103 Governor Oglesby Street.

On the morning of Saturday April 27, the Historical Society feature Biology Professor Tony Rothering, from LLCC who will 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.

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 because of its significance as an incredibly biodiverse “island” (oasis) to the birds. The hill’s forest measures approximately 600 acres of mature hardwoods, which 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.

It is hoped that some of these travelers banded on Saturday April 27. Rothering’s work helps to catalog the changes in migration patterns caused, in part by climate change and loss of habitat.

The April 27th 2 p.m. tour will feature both flowers and birds with the help of local birders, Dr. Lara Borgerson, Joe Funk and Rhetta Jack.

Groups of 10 to 20 people may arrange for private tours of the April wildflowers by calling 217 947 2238. If group tours are conducted on Wednesday-Friday lunch can be included at an additional cost.

[Elkhart Historical Society]