Posts by George Sly
Annual Big Sit at GPFWA – Oct. 10, 2021
Enjoy the spectacular fall bird migration in the company of fellow bird and nature enthusiasts at the Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife Area. Join DNR during The Big Sit! an international event focused on recording all bird observations at one location over the course of a day. The Big Sit! is a stationary birding opportunity;…
Read More2022 Calendar Contest
It’s time to enter photos for the 2022 calendar contest. Time is short, please enter today! Friends of Goose Pond 2022 Calendar Photo Contest Highlighting Goose Pond FWA A challenge to creativity and photo skill for photographers of all ages. An opportunity for recognition in a calendar that will broaden awareness of the natural beauty…
Read MoreCritter Corner No. 24: The American Carrion Beetle
A recent encounter with the carcass of a white-tailed deer (dead of unknown cause), has left me to ponder the world of the scavenging insects. Necrophila americana (shown above) is a good example. This particular beetle is 0.5 to 0.75 inches in size. It has a yellowish thorax with a dark center. The wings are…
Read More23. The Prairie Vole (Microtus ochrogaster)
If I were to ask you to guess what the most abundant mammal inhabiting GPFWA is, you might first think of white-tailed deer. They seem to be abundant almost everywhere in Indiana. Perhaps the muskrat or the mink, a common predator-prey duo of the wetlands, would come to mind. All would be good conjectures. But,…
Read MoreCritter Corner No. 22 – The Giant Water Bug
With several thousand acres of shallow water, it should come as no surprise that Goose Pond FWA is home to an abundant, varied, and highly interesting assemblage of aquatic macroinvertebrates. The prefix macro- means big enough to see without a microscope and the suffix invertebrate refers to their lack of a backbone. Hidden from…
Read MoreCritter Corner No. 21 – The Red Bat
Critter Corner No. 21 – The Red Bat by George Sly (photo courtesy So. Conn. St. Univ.) A recent presentation on bats to a group of Sullivan Elementary School second graders reminded me that this was a group which has, up until now, been totally neglected in my Critter Corner blogs. Time to remedy that…
Read MoreLesson 3 – Conserving Wetlands and Their Sandhill Cranes
Lesson No. 3 Conserving Wetlands and Their Sandhill Cranes (Marshland Elegy) Target Audience: Environmental Science, Biology, Ecology, and Language Arts students. Objectives: This lesson introduces students to some of the issues surrounding wetland conservation and also gives them an opportunity to learn about the conservation history of the eastern sandhill crane population. It also provides…
Read MoreLesson 4 – Lessons in Biodiversity: the Writings of Aldo Leopold
Lesson No. 4 Lessons in Biodiversity: the Writings of Aldo Leopold (Thinking Like a Mountain & Escudilla) Target Audiences – Environmental Science, Biology, Ecology, and Language Arts students. Objectives: This lesson is designed to a) supplement discussion and understanding of the concept of biodiversity, b) introduce students to the conservation philosophy of Aldo Leopold,…
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