Eagles nest returns, plus new platforms with views at other parks

The view is improving at a few natural haunts. New platforms have arisen for a good chill-out time in New Buffalo and South Bend, and a city trail has finally reopened. But eagles are also busy reclaiming a nest.

Eagles nest

The bald eagles have started to rebuild their nest in the exact same nook of a sycamore tree at St. Patrick’s County Park in South Bend, where the nest had totally collapsed this summer. That’s a lucky break for the University of Notre Dame, which had just installed a new camera a year ago, hovering over the nest.

So now, you can watch the two adult eagles add more sticks through the live “eagle cam” that Notre Dame has been running since 2017.

Brett Peters, who manages the camera as assistant director of Notre Dame’s Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility at the park, said it’s typical for eagles to rebuild nests in the same general area, though there wasn’t any guarantee they’d return to the same tree. Neither he nor the park had planned anything to encourage them.

The nest rebuild began in early October, though, Peters says, it took a while to anchor the first few sticks because, he says, “They kept falling out.”

Progress has picked up a lot over the last two weeks. This good little start is still a long way from the original mammoth nest that you could easily see when the leaves were down. That had actually been a red-tailed hawk nest that the eagles took over in 2015, where they have hatched eggs and raised eaglets every year since then.

This year, the nest began to collapse in June. One of the three young eagles fell from it because of lack of room in late June, and wildlife rehabilitators nursed the bird back to health. All three young eagles left the nest in late summer, on schedule.

July 2022:Juvenile eagle returns to St. Pat's park after rehab from fall

By late February, the eagles tend to lay their eggs. Always avoid approaching the nest, which could discourage the eagles from staying or tending to their young. The best viewing — and safest distance — is from Notre Dame’s educational pavilion on its LEEF site, on the east side of the park’s main drive. A sign points to the pavilion from the park trail along the north end of the LEEF site.

New Buffalo dune walk

New Buffalo has rebuilt its wooden dune walk, which had closed in recent years because it was sagging so badly. Since September, visitors have been strolling along its steps, perching on benches and taking in views of the Lake Michigan surf, beach and harbor.

It has a similar layout as before, though city officials say it is bigger and safer than the prior one. Mayor John Humphrey points out a second walkway that was added that’s accessible to people with disabilities. From the beach parking lot, you either can climb a series of steps into the dune walk’s higher platforms or follow a gently sloped ramp to a lower viewing pad.

The city did a ribbon cutting on Oct. 8, but there’s an element yet to come.

New Buffalo resident Mary Rose Roberts has donated a bench, which was artfully designed and built — with graceful planks of wood and earthy supports — by Eric Trowbridge, a designer and maker of cabinetry and furniture in Elkhart who spends weekends in New Buffalo. The bench, Roberts says, is in memory of the late city manager, Dave Richards, who died in December 2020 from COVID-19.

She notes, “Eric and I have a connection to multiple sclerosis, a progressive debilitating disease, so having it placed on an ADA dune walk where people of all abilities can enjoy our beautiful lakefront has a special meaning to both of us."

City officials had hoped to install the bench this fall, but, like the dune walk itself, it has taken longer than anticipated to create a dedication plaque, current City Manager Darwin Watson says. He expects the installation next spring.

Lydick Bog platform

A new wildlife viewing platform was completed this fall along the trail at Lydick Bog Nature Preserve in South Bend.

The deck, with two benches, looks out from woods upon a pond where you can often see waterfowl. No, that’s not the bog itself.

Doug Botka, stewardship ecologist for the Shirley Heinze Land Trust, which owns and manages the site, says he recently spied a pied-billed grebe and great blue heron by the pond. Raptors have been known to snag fish, though, for humans, fishing is prohibited in the state-dedicated preserve.

A Shirley Heinze board member had donated the money to build the platform, intended for observing birds, Botka says. It’s also a scenic spot to sit and drink in the calming views — one that the trust has wanted to build for some years.

The new platform is along the main dirt trail before you reach the loop trail. Note: It isn’t in the direction of the bog and wetland boardwalks. Lydick Bog is open from dawn to dusk daily at 25898 U.S. 20, west of the St. Joseph County Valley Parkway.

East Bank Trail

South Bend fully reopened its East Bank Trail on Tuesday. A city spokeswoman says that came with the final inspection of the iron beam that was recently replaced under the trail’s bridge over Leeper Avenue, which had been damaged a year ago after a contractor’s truck ran into it. The bridge has been closed for the past year.

Woods and water

∎ Galien River views: The Harbor Country Hikers will hike at 2 p.m. Nov. 5 through Galien River County Park in New Buffalo. County parks’ naturalist Derek Pelc will lead the group for a slow, one-mile hike taking about 1.5 hours. The park, which features an observation platform in the tree canopy and a marsh and river boardwalk, is at 17424 Red Arrow Highway, just north of U.S. 12.

∎ Final hay rides: Enjoy free hay rides from 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 5 at Bendix Woods County Park, 56960 Timothy Road in New Carlisle, thanks to the Family Passport to Play program. Or bring your dog for the Tail Waggin’ Hayride from 2 to 4 p.m. Nov. 6; cost is $5 plus a pet-related donation for Pets Connect! Dogs may come in costume but must be on a 6-foot leash. Both events will include a campfire, hot cocoa and S’mores.

∎ Marsh hike: An Indiana Dunes National Park ranger will lead hikes from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Central time Nov. 5 and 19 on the Great Marsh Trail, an important resting spot for migrating birds in Beverly Shores, just west of Michigan City. The trail’s parking lot is on Broadway, north of U.S. 12 and just north of the fire department at 500 S. Broadway.

∎ Dunes anniversary: Indiana Dunes National Park will mark its 56th anniversary at 1 p.m. CDT Nov. 5 at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center with an hour-long talk about the fight to preserve the dunes by regional historian Kenneth Schoon, followed by a viewing of the documentary “Shifting Sands” from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Several of Schoon’s books are for sale in the center, which is at 1215 N. Indiana 49 in Porter.

∎ Walleye stocking: Indiana Department of Natural Resources reports that it’s stocking nearly 70,000 walleye fingerlings in 14 northern Indiana lakes this fall. Averaging 4 to seven inches long, the fish are expected to reach adult length of about 14 inches after two years and 16 inches after three years. They were grown at the Fawn River State Fish Hatchery northwest of Angola, Ind. Among other lakes, the fish are being stocked at Simonton Lake in Elkhart County, Lake Maxinkuckee in Marshall County, Pine and Stone lakes in LaPorte County, Winona and Dewart lakes in Kosciusko county, Adams and Pretty and Wall lakes in LaGrange County, and Wolf Lake in Lake County. Details are at wildlife.IN.gov/fishing/walleye-fishing.

∎ Steelhead: The winter-run steelhead have started to arrive in the St. Joe River below the Twin Branch dam in Mishawaka, according to the Indiana DNR’s Oct. 28 fishing report, while the trout and salmon arrivals are “dwindling fast.”

Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Bald eagles rebuild St. Pat's nest as new park platform views open