23. 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 MoreCritter Corner No 20 – The Fowler’s Toad by George Sly
In previous blogs I have discussed some of the frogs to be found at Goose Pond FWA. During the 2010Biodiversity Survey conducted at GPFWA, eight species of anurans (frogs & toads) were found. In this edition of Critter Corner let’s learn a bit more about the only toad species found during the survey Bufo fowleri.…
Read MoreLesson 1 Nutrient Recycling Within Ecosystems
Lesson No. 1 Nutrient Recycling within Ecosystems (Odyssey) Target Audiences – Environmental Science, Biology, and Ecology Objectives: The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand how nutrients, such as carbon and nitrogen, are recycled in nature. Exchanges between and within the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems allow elements of the earth to…
Read MoreLesson 2 The Importance of Wetlands to Migratory Birds
Lesson No. 2 The Importance of Wetlands to Migratory Birds (Back from the Argentine) Target Audience: Environmental Science, Biology, Ecology students Objectives: This lesson addresses several objectives. 1) Students will be made aware of the importance of the Goose Pond FWA (Greene Co., Indiana) as a resting/feeding/staging area for migratory birds. 2) Students will come…
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,…
Read MoreCritter Corner No 19 – The Fox Squirrel By George Sly
Critter Corner No. 19 (photo by Judy Gallagher – commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55331862) Discussing the Fox Squirrel as a member of the GPFWA fauna may seem a bit surprising. After all, we normally associate the property with wetland and prairie habitats primarily. These are hardly the sorts of places one would expect to find an arboreal (tree dwelling)…
Read MoreWildFlower Walk – 2 Hour Field Trip Focusing On Prairie Wildflowers
Please join Friends members Ron and De Ronk for a two hour field trip focusing upon prairie wildflowers. We will meet at the GPFWA Visitor Center at 9:00AM on Saturday, July 1st. After signing in, we will hear from the Ronk’s about the prairie plantings near the VC. We will also have a chance to…
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