Dune ramble

A weekend trip to Indiana Dunes yielded 62 bird species. Highlights included sora (seen at Cowles Bog and heard at Miller Woods), northern waterthrush and orange-crowned warbler. We also heard a blue jay imitate a red-tailed hawk, and we may have heard an elusive sedge wren calling in the bog. Woodpeckers were everywhere -- we identified all six that occur locally (pileateds unfortunately do not occur locally). In addition, at our campground, a barred owl began calling around 6:30 p.m. yesterday and continued flying around and calling all night and into the morning. The weather was brisk, in the upper 40s, but comfortable.