I have been remiss about plugging this one, the 2026 iteration of the Spring Nature Safari that we - the Midwest Native Plant Society - launched last year. It takes place from May 1-3, and is based at the Shawnee State Park lodge, in the heart of the 70,000-acre Shawnee State Forest. All the details are RIGHT HERE.
There is possibly no better place to be in mid-spring in the Midwest than Shawnee. Floral diversity abounds, including pink and yellow lady's-slippers among the scads of abundant, more common wildflowers, and their ranks are spiced by major rarities such as early stoneroot (Collinsonia verticillata) and smooth phlox (Phlox glaberrima).
Warblers and other breeding birds are rich in numbers. Of the former, 16 species breed locally, and in early May their ranks will be augmented by other migrant species. Last year, a Swainson's warbler spent a month and a half or so on territory in the southern reaches of the forest, and with luck that bird may appear again this year. It was in an area with a fairly extensive stand of giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea), a huge bamboo-like native grass that forms the habitat most breeding Swainson's warblers are associated with. It's an interesting site and I will probably take my field trip groups here for a visit.
We've also got great speakers and will feature some nocturnal work for those interested. Amphibians and snakes (and other reptiles) can be interesting, especially on nocturnal forays. And I'm sure we'll have a moth sheet or few up. This group of insects can be mind-numbingly good. Shawnee supports about 1,000 native plant species, and probably all of them play host to moths, and some plant species such as oaks host huge numbers of moths.
Anyway, we'd love to see you there, and again, GO HERE for registration and other info about the Spring Safari.
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