Category Archives: Nature

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands It’s all too easy to overlook things, isn’t it? As we move so quickly from place to place, from task to task, we often miss the nuances and details that make life so interesting. In the fall, with goldenrods painting our Kankakee Sands prairiesContinue reading “Just like Kankakee Sands, You’ll be Golden!“

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands I feel so lucky to live where there are lots of flowers—in Newton County with all its natural areas and close to Kankakee Sands, where I can enjoy 20,000 acres of native flowers brimming with color from April through September. There are pretty flowers,Continue reading “Pretty in Pink“

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands Old plainsman played its cards well this year. Early spring in Newton County was quite pleasant, with regular rains and warm temperatures. Old plainsman (Hymenopappus scabioseaus) was able to send up its two-foot tall flowering stalk in time to get pollinated by short tonguedContinue reading “Old Plainsman: Hurdling Drought and Drench”

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands Just this past week, I just put away all my winter clothes and brought out my summer clothes. Turns out bison are doing the same thing! Our Kankakee Sands bison herd spent the winter on the prairie, with their insulating fur coats keeping themContinue reading “Shedding that Winter Coat”

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands On this chilly May morning, I’m bundling up for a pre-dawn excursion. With binoculars round my neck and bird book in hand, I meet up with other Kankakee Sands staff and volunteers for our annual Kankakee Sands Bird Survey in the bison pasture.  WeContinue reading “Thunder-pumper”

By Alyssa Nyberg, Restoration Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands There’s something about having your feet in water that is a thrill. As a kid, I jumped and splashed in puddles and ponds just to see how big an impact I could have.  Now, as adult, I enjoy watching kids jump and splash, butContinue reading “Springtime Wetlands”

By: Alyssa Nyberg While the March prairies are still sleeping and the woodlands are just beginning to break bud, our Indiana wetlands are waking up.   Wetlands are critical habitat for so many plant and animal species. One of our first Indiana wetland residents to begin filling the spring air with its call is theContinue reading “Calling Spring”

By: Alyssa Nyberg Well, shucks, try as I might, I have not yet been successful in seeing a northern shrike at Kankakee Sands. Even though more than 450 beautiful bird species have been documented in Indiana over the years, this winter I had my sights set on just one – the clever northern shrike. ClassifiedContinue reading “Shucks, No Shrikes”

By Alyssa Nyberg Twenty-five years ago, Kankakee Sands wasn’t. It wasn’t a prairie, it wasn’t a home for a herd of 100+ bison, it wasn’t managed with fire and it wasn’t visited by families and friends. It simply wasn’t. But today, it is! This very December marks the 25th year that the Indiana Chapter ofContinue reading “Cheers to Twenty-five!”

By Alyssa Nyberg Imagine driving a tractor trailer from Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota to Kankakee Sands—that’s a whopping 1056 miles–with 10 bison on board. What a long, white-knuckle, 17-hour drive that would be! On Thursday, October 21, ten bison did indeed make that long trip from South Dakota to Kankakee Sands. AContinue reading “10 Bison, 1056 Miles, 3 Good Reasons Why”