Upcoming Events and News


VAN TRIP:  Chicago's Black-Crowned Night Heron Rookery
Saturday, May 2nd - 8:30am CDT
Lincoln Park Zoo

Join us for a special van trip to see the Black-crowned Night Heron rookery at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo.

Cost - $40 + Eventbrite fee – This includes transportation, parking, and all remaining proceeds donated to the Chicago Black-crowned Night Heron Project. Registration is limited to 14 participants.

Click HERE to see the full itinerary for this special trip and to register.

The Chicago Black-crowned Night Heron Project is a collaborative conservation initiative aimed at protecting and studying the state-endangered Black-crowned Night Heron. It focuses on monitoring the large colony at Lincoln Park Zoo and urban habitat usage to support the species’ survival in Illinois. In addition to tracking and research, the project aims to identify and protect new nesting sites along with raising awareness about these magnificent birds. Search “Black-crowned Night Heron Project” on Facebook for more information.
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Photo by Joe Ng on Unsplash
BIRD WALK:  Indiana Dunes State Park
Saturday, May 2nd - 8:00 CDT
Indiana Dunes State Park

Join trip leader Dan Barriball for a special extended bird walk at the Indiana Dunes State Park. The group will leave from the Wilson Shelter lot at 8:00 am and head out on trail 2 and down the trail 2 boardwalk. We will return to Wilson Shelter on trail 10. The walk will be 3 miles long through mostly flat terrain and it will last until the early afternoon. Be prepared for muddy sections of trail and the possibility of mosquitoes. Trail 2 has some of the best migration birding in Indiana Dunes State Park for warblers and other spring migrants. Let's go and find them!

Click HERE to register through Eventbrite.
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Photo by Mark Olsen on Unsplash
PROGRAM:  Breakfast with the Birds
Sunday, May 3rd - 9:30am to 11:00am CDT
Paul H Douglas Center
100 N. Lake Street, Gary, IN

Every first Sunday of the month, our Outreach Ambassadors will help visitors focus on the birds seen through the bird feeder observation window at the Paul H. Douglas Center, providing help with bird identification and binoculars will be available to use. Each month will also feature and highlight a specific bird species and include its life history and conservation story. This month's bird is the Northern Cardinal.

Beverages and treats will be supplied from Tiny's Coffee Bar (555 S Lake St, Miller) for all to enjoy. This is a FREE event and a National Park parking pass is not required.
PORTER COUNTY WOODCOCK WANDER
Friday, May 8th - 7:30pm CDT
Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve
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The bird with many names! Whether you call it the timberdoodle, bog sucker, Labrador twister, or more simply the woodcock, its spring dance is a sight to behold. Join us to watch the evening curtain rise on this quite punctual performer.

The group will meet walk leader, Dan Barriball, at the base of the stairs in the Beach West parking lot at Indiana Dunes State Park. This event is free to Dunes-Calumet Audubon Society members and open to the public for a of the $5. Registration is required as capacity is limited. Click on tickets to register through Eventbrite.
If you have questions about the walk or are unable to attend, please contact us at [email protected].

​Click HERE to register through Eventbrite.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Saturday, May 9 - Global Big Day (with participation giveaways)
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Thursday, May 14 through May 17 - Native plant sale at the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival

Saturday, May 23 - Plants for Birds Event with Forest Heights Community Garden. For information about this event, email Shawn Manner at [email protected].

Saturday, June 6 - Bird walk at Indiana Dunes State Park with Dan Barriball

Saturday, June 20 - Bird Walk at Kankakee Sands in Newton County. Click HERE to register.

​Helping our Natural Resources

Join or Donate
  Click HERE to learn about the benefits of becoming  both a National Audubon and Chapter member.
Dunes-Calumet Audubon Society Chapter (only) memberships allows more funding to support local projects.
Events and Activities
The Dunes-Calumet Chapter meets monthly for informative presentations. Bird Walks are led to sites that highlight the great diversity of bird-life found on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. 
Great Birding Opportunities
The diversity of birding sites in Porter and Lake Counties host more bird species than anywhere else in Indiana.  Many birding sites are National Audubon recognized Important Bird Areas. Read more by visiting BIRDING LOCATIONS.
Support us by Shopping for Dunes-Calumet Audubon Merchandise.
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FEATURED BIRDING SITE

Gibson Woods Nature Preserve

Gibson Woods Nature Preserve
Tucked away in the heart of the industrial region of northwest Indiana is an island of nature with some very unusual features. This 131-acre parcel of virtually "undisturbed" land is known as Gibson Woods Nature Preserve.
Gibson Woods is one of the last sizeable remnant of high quality dune and swale topography remaining in Lake County. Because of the widespread urbanization and industrialization in Northwest Indiana, this type of topography and its associated natural communities have been almost entirely eliminated.  Today over 130 species of birds have been recorded at Gibson Woods.  Typical time to bird site: 30-90 minutes.
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OUR MAILING ADDRESS
​Dunes-Calumet Audubon Society
​P.O. Box 36
Wheeler, IN 46393