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Tree planting in Parke County

An Antidote to Bad News

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Your actions make a difference!

A letter from our executive director

Everywhere we turn these days, we hear bad news about the state of the world. When it comes to the environment, things seem particularly dire. Habitat loss. Species extinction. The climate crisis. When you care about the natural world, the news can feel overwhelming. Continue reading →

Cliff Chapman

President and CEO

cchapman@conservingindiana.org
317.525.3329
As CILTI’s President and CEO, Cliff keeps CILTI’s focus on good science and stewardship. He’s mindful that the natural places you love took thousands of years to evolve and could be destroyed in a single day, and that knowledge drives his dedication to their protection.
Dickcissel

Dickcissels Are a Lively Grassland Bird

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Our spring newsmagazine featured Cliff’s top ten hidden gems of birding. Here is the seventh of a blog series on these birds, by guest blogger Ed Pope.

The dickcissel, slightly larger than a song sparrow, looks much like a miniature meadowlark. This grassland bird breeds in the Great Plains and the Midwest of North America. In winter they migrate to Mexico, Central America and the northern parts of Venezuela and Colombia.

Continue reading →

Ed Pope

Guest Blogger

ed@circlecitybicycles.com
Ed Pope is a retired engineer from Rolls-Royce and a CILTI member since 2002.
Planting trees in Parke County

Monitoring Land Protection with “Kermit” the Drone

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If you are a CILTI member and received this summer’s newsletter, you probably noticed the unique vantage point of our cover photo. Seen from the sky, our cover shot showed the stewardship team hard at work, planting young trees on the edge of a lush forest in Parke County. To capture this photo, we used a relatively new tool (or some might say toy): a drone. Continue reading →

Grace van Kan

White River Steward

gvankan@conservingindiana.org
312.286.2484
Grace grew up roaming the woods, creeks and wetlands around the Chesapeake Bay watershed. From an early trout-raising project to a “gap year” spent restoring coral reefs in Thailand, her interest in aquatic conservation has only grown. Now she cares for several riverine nature preserves as CILTI’s White River Steward.
Purple coneflower at Nonie Krauss

Exploring Nonie Werbe Krauss Nature Preserve in High Summer

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Third in a series on the Trek our Trails Challenge by guest blogger Ben Valentine

I drove up to Nonie Werbe Krauss Nature Preserve with my son one early morning in a failed effort to avoid the heat. It’s late summer now, and wildflowers and pollinators are my new joy, as the migratory birds have largely moved north and stopped their mating melodies. Binoculars in our hands, we set off into this preserve for the first time, not knowing what we’d find. Continue reading →

Ben Miller

Land Protection Coordinator

bmiller@conservingindiana.org

Ben Valentine

Guest blogger

Ben Valentine is a founding member of the Friends of Marott Woods Nature Preserve and is active in several other conservation organizations. He leads a series of NUVO interviews with Indiana's environmental leaders, and he cherishes showing his son all the wonders of nature he grew up loving.
Cedar waxwing

Who is that Masked Bird? Cedar Waxwing!

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Our spring newsmagazine featured Cliff’s top ten hidden gems of birding. Here is the sixth of a blog series on these birds, by guest blogger Ed Pope.

The cedar waxwing is a songbird roughly the size of a song sparrow. The plumage over most of its body is fairly drab, consisting of brown or gray feathers. But this bird is a stunner, with bright red feathers on its wingtips, yellow on its tail and a black mask around its eyes.

Continue reading →

Red-shouldered hawk

Red-Shouldered Hawk: Stately Raptor is Year-round Resident

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Our spring newsmagazine featured Cliff’s top ten hidden gems of birding. Here is the fifth of a blog series on these birds, by guest blogger Ed Pope.

The red-shouldered hawk can be found year-round in Indiana. It is one of nine hawk species that inhabit our state. Its breeding territory includes the eastern United States and southeastern Canada.

Continue reading →

Ed Pope

Guest Blogger

ed@circlecitybicycles.com
Ed Pope is a retired engineer from Rolls-Royce and a CILTI member since 2002.
Dr. Elizabeth Barnes explains the difference between Brood X cicadas and other insects

Fact and Fiction: An Entomologist Talks Brood X

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The arrival of Brood X periodical cicadas—while patchy in Central Indiana—has given us all something to talk about. Love them or leave them, hate them or taste them, their 17-year emergence is a memorable one.

Continue reading →

Shawndra Miller

Communications Manager

smiller@conservingindiana.org
317.370.2464
Shawndra is in charge of sharing our story and connecting you to our work. Through our print and online materials, she hopes to inspire your participation in protecting special places for future generations.
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo

“Knocking” Bird: Yellow-Billed Cuckoo

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Our spring newsmagazine featured Cliff’s top ten hidden gems of birding. Here is the fourth of a blog series on these birds, by guest blogger Ed Pope.

This bird is slightly larger than a cardinal. Its long tail is brown on top, while the underside is black and white. The top of its head and back are brown, while the belly and lower part of the head are white. The lower bill is a bright yellow. Continue reading →

Ed Pope

Guest Blogger

ed@circlecitybicycles.com
Ed Pope is a retired engineer from Rolls-Royce and a CILTI member since 2002.
Hooded merganser

Hooded Merganser: Eye-catching Diver

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Our spring newsmagazine featured Cliff’s top ten hidden gems of birding. Here is the third of a blog series on these birds, by guest blogger Ed Pope.

If you are wondering what a merganser is, it is a fish-eating, diving duck. The hooded part of its name comes from a crest on its head, which can be raised or lowered. Both males and females have crests, but the male’s is more eye-catching. Females are a grayish-brown with a crest that is a reddish-brown. During the breeding season, the male’s head is mostly black with a big white patch at the rear. Continue reading →

Ed Pope

Guest Blogger

ed@circlecitybicycles.com
Ed Pope is a retired engineer from Rolls-Royce and a CILTI member since 2002.
Ovenbird

Ovenbirds: Nesting Low, Migrating Far

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Our spring newsmagazine featured Cliff’s top ten hidden gems of birding. Here is the second of a blog series on these birds, by guest blogger Ed Pope.

The ovenbird gets its name from its dome-shaped nest, which looks like an old style oven. It is slightly larger than a goldfinch. The males and females look similar, with brown feathers on top and black streaks amidst white on the bottom. Ovenbirds breed in the northeast and Midwestern portions of the United States and into Canada, and as far west as Montana and western Canada. In winter, they migrate to Mexico, Central America, Florida and islands in the Caribbean. Continue reading →

Ed Pope

Guest Blogger

ed@circlecitybicycles.com
Ed Pope is a retired engineer from Rolls-Royce and a CILTI member since 2002.