See, do and learn about birds in 'Youth and Family Birding Day' at Indiana Dunes

Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton will host several free activities from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT May 13 for “Youth and Family Birding Day” while hundreds of bird-watching fans converge on the region for the annual Indiana Dunes Birding Festival.

Hourly bird walks, songbird and hummingbird banding, crafts, nature sketching, a bluebird house building workshop, bird games, scout birding merit badge projects, a photo ID quiz with giveaways and other activities will span the day at the state park's nature center.

Meanwhile, the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center will serve as the daily hub for the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival where you can get questions answered from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT May 12-13 and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CDT May 14. There will be vendors selling optics, art and bird-feeding equipment, along with state and regional conservation groups. Find the visitor center at 1215 N. Indiana 49, Porter, 1 mile north of Interstate 94, or call 219-395-1882.

The festival’s more than 150 field trips and workshops are mostly booked, apart from some Sunday openings that'll be available on a walk-in basis at the visitor center. But you’ll catch the buzz throughout the greater dunes region as participants take their binoculars to the trails.

Find the full schedule at indunesbirdingfestival.com.

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Birds of Poland

Park officials from three of Poland’s national parks will talk about the country’s rich habitats for nesting and migratory birds at 6 p.m. CDT May 10 at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center.

Birding by bike

At 1 p.m. CDT May 13, Beau Schaefer will discuss how he rode his gravel bikes more than 6,000 miles and identified 276 species of birds in six counties around Chicago.

Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or [email protected].

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana Dunes Birding Festival has youth family day activities