Author Archives: friendsoflimberlost

By Terri Gorney Gene Stratton-Porter’s influence is felt even today over 150 years after her birth and almost 90 years after her death. This is an enormous accomplishment for any author or naturalist to still be quoted, read and written about by contemporary writers. Her legacy has become more than her fiction writing which gave her earlyContinue reading “Gene Stratton-Porter’s Lasting Influence”

By Alexandra Forsythe What a spectacular year 2014 has been! On January 1, Limberlost hosted the Adams County Christmas Bird Count for the first time. Volunteers from 6 counties came to help record populations of Gene’s feathered friends. We saw several exciting species including Bald Eagles, the rare and elusive Short-eared Owls, Northern Harriers andContinue reading “2014: The Year in Review”

By Terri Gorney In 1904, Gene Stratton-Porter’s second book was called “Freckles” after the main character in the book. It would become one of her biggest sellers and Freckles one of her most beloved characters. It was her first book published by Doubleday, Page and Company. In a May 30, 1911, speech that Gene gaveContinue reading “Ray Boze, Gene Stratton-Porter’s stable boy, was inspiration for Freckles”

By Willy De Smet If you have been following FOL on Facebook, you may have noticed that I started photographing moths this year. It’s been a quite amazing and surprising experience. Most people think of moths as drab brown and grey “butterflies” that fly at night. Not quite accurate. There is an astonishing variety inContinue reading “What I have done with moths… (sorry Gene, I couldn’t resist)”

By Terri Gorney Gene Stratton-Porter loved the frog vocalizations in spring. In an article*, Gene wrote, “The music of spring begins down in the marsh with the frogs.” The frogs are the earliest singers and can begin in February but in May they are in a full chorus which is an amazing sound. In “FriendsContinue reading “The Northern Cricket Frogs of the Limberlost”

By Alexandra Forsythe Looking for a home blessing? Try this one: “Grant to this chimney a swallow.” If you have Chimney Swifts in your chimney, you are indeed blessed! These talented acrobats consume a tremendous number of mosquitoes, flies, flying ants and termites daily. Each Swift will eat a third of its body weight inContinue reading “Chimney Swifts”

by Alexandra Forsythe I have had the pleasure of helping to band a Red-bellied Woodpecker. Their size and the length of their beak may seem fearsome, but they are far less aggressive when being extracted from the net than a Northern Cardinal. Cardinals will grab your skin with their beak and twist it!  I wasContinue reading “Red-Bellied Woodpecker”