An Evening with Sandhills and Saw-whets

Event Information

Explore an exciting evening with Indiana Audubon, in collaboration with the Indiana Dunes National Park. Participants will enjoy the sights and sounds of two amazing fall migration spectacles in one day. This special tour will include presentations on both Sandhill Crane migration spectacle and the elusive nocturnal migration of Northern Saw-whet Owls down the shorelines of Lake Michigan and into the Indiana Dunes area. Participants will have the opportunity to view both in one evening. After a short presentation, we will board a special bus to the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area to view the sunset arrival of thousands of cranes from their daytime feeding areas to socialize and dance before heading to their nightly roost. After sunset, the group will travel back to the Indiana Dunes to learn about and possibly view Saw-whet Owls being banded. Participants are then welcome to stay to learn more about these secretive owls as long as they’d like, weather permitting for banding.

The fall Sandhill Crane migration in NW Indiana is truly a bucket list item for any Hoosier or Midwest nature enthusiast. By this date, cranes are arriving daily to the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, with some evening counts in excess of 20,000 birds! At the same time, the secretive migration of Saw-whet Owls is winding down, with the last few owls being captured and banded in the Indiana Dunes area.

The evenings tour will begin at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, located at 1215 N SR. 49 in Chesterton, IN. The Visitor Center is located approximately 2 miles south of the Indiana Dunes State Park. Meet inside the Visitor Center auditorium at 2 pm CST (Chicago Time). The bus drive to Jasper-Pulaski FWA is approximately 45 minutes. We will return by 6 pm for the owl portion of the program. Registration is required and limited, and includes the presentations, guiding by IAS Executive Director, Brad Bumgardner, an Indiana Dunes National Park Ranger, and light snacks and drinks, with a donation going towards bird research in the Indiana Dunes area. The cost is $35 per person. A $5 discount is available to Indiana Audubon members. For questions, email Brad Bumgardner at bbumgardner@indianaaudubon.org.