Heron, Etc. at the Portage Lakefront & Riverwalk
✍️ • 🕑 • Series: Go West, Young Lad • Tags: dunes • bird photography • rivers • National Parks • Indiana Dunes National Park • Places: Portage Lakefront
![Image On Where-Is-Steve](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9090153.900x1200.jpg)
Indiana Dunes National Park isn’t just home to the titular dunes. It’s also home to wetlands which serve as a habitat for numerous local species.
One of these areas is the “Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk”. Quoth the official copy:
It’s an easy location to watch for migrating birds in the spring and summer […] Visitors can enjoy easy access to the lakefront and trails that highlight dune succession.
So, how could I not want to go?
![Image On Where-Is-Steve](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9090247.262x350.jpg)
The Trails
If you read that quote a little more closely, you might notice something odd… it’s access to the lakefront and trails.
![Image On Where-Is-Steve](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/Portage-Lakefront-and-Riverwalk-Trail-2020.1200x622.jpg)
Trail Information | ||
---|---|---|
Name | Portage Lakefront Riverwalk Trail | |
Type | loop | |
Location | Indiana Dunes National Park | |
State | IN | |
Country | USA | |
Miles | 0.8 | |
Check out the trails index for information on more trails! |
The redevelopment of the site, formerly used by a steel corporation as settling ponds for industrial byproduct and a sewage treatment facility, is a successful model of brownfield reclamation.
![This former industrial site is right next door... to an active steel mill.](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9090691.233x350.jpg)
So, on the one hand, it’s really cool to get to view bird species at a former industrial site. On the other hand, even though this patch of land has been reclaimed & preserved, it still feels not unlike an industrial wasteland.
Couple that with the fact that the river boardwalk was abruptly closed partway through, and I certainly cannot recommend the area as an enjoyable walk.
As a place for birding, though, it is indeed pretty good, as promised.
![Some seabirds soar!](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9090140.233x350.jpg)
The Birds
At first, I was pretty darned disappointed with my choice of visitor center. I managed to do the entire non-riverfront portion of the walk with barely any birds in sight, other than seabirds and this one (field sparrow?) inside a bush.
![Image On Where-Is-Steve](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9091160.233x350.jpg)
But, once I walked so far south I was off the map, and turned around, things started looking up. Really up.
First off, I got to see some sort of yellow bird, a warbler I guess. I have some slightly blurry shorts of this little one in flight. 😊
![Image On Where-Is-Steve](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9090793.233x350.jpg)
![Bird in flight!](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9090894.800x1200.jpg)
![Bird in flight!](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9090897.800x1200.jpg)
![Bird in flight!](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9090899.800x1200.jpg)
Next off were a few birds that I’m used to seeing around Pennsylvania, though perhaps not with idyllic blue skies and great lighting.
A boring ol mourning dove…
…and a downy woodpecker, who for some reason, seemed to be engaged in pecking the twig upon which it perched.
![Perhaps the inspiration for Jeff Bezos's famous 'Your Move, Mr. Pecker' Medium post.... No, that's absolutely not even possible.](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9091499.1200x800.jpg)
But after that, I got to see a heron, just chilling in a tree. Preening. Completely unaware how ridiculous it looks to me.
![Image On Where-Is-Steve](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9091936.233x350.jpg)
![Image On Where-Is-Steve](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9091619.262x350.jpg)
![Image On Where-Is-Steve](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9091614.262x350.jpg)
From there I strolled back to the car, and I couldn’t resist snapping one last bird photo before I departed.
![Image On Where-Is-Steve](https://whereissteve.blob.core.windows.net/images/go-west-young-lad/indiana/X9091970.233x350.jpg)
Next, I was off to cross two states… and then have lunch.
This post was part of a series:
Thanks for reading!
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