When: Saturday, Oct. 28, 10:00 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. CDT
Where: John James Audubon SP, Henderson, KY
Mark your calendars and plan to meet up with other KNPS members and friends as we head to western Kentucky for the Society’s 2023 Fall Meeting, on Oct 28th, at John James Audubon State Park, in Henderson. We will learn about and explore the old growth forests and wetland plant and animal communities in and around John James Audubon State Park and the nearby Sloughs Wildlife Management Area.
Audubon State Park was the home of the famed naturalist, ornithologist, and painter and the park museum features the largest collection of original Audubon art in the world in addition to personal artifacts about his life. The surrounding forest along the bluffs of the Ohio River is mature, almost old growth in nature with some trees more than 200 years old. Approximately half of the property has been dedicated as a State Nature Preserve. At least 61 species of trees and more than 200 wildflowers have been documented from the site. The north facing, mesic forests are dominated by American Beech, sugar maple, and American basswood whereas the more south facing slopes are dominated by sugar maple, various oaks, and tulip tree. At least 169 bird species have been observed in the park.
The 650-acre Audubon Wetlands was added to the park by the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund in 2016. The highlight is a bald eagle nest and heron rookery, as well as habitat for waterfowl and amphibians. The Friends of Audubon, a local nonprofit, has installed a wheelchair accessible boardwalk through the wetlands with plans to install more.
Sloughs WMA consists of a diverse mix of seasonally flooded grain crops and natural “moist soil” vegetation, natural marsh, seasonally flooded bottomland forest, and natural depressions or “sloughs,” that contain flooded stands of bald cypress lined with buttonbush thickets.
Schedule of Events
Morning Session, 10 a.m. – 12 noon CDT
We will meet in the Audubon Theater which is located in the John James Audubon Museum and Nature Center. The session will begin with an update from KNPS leadership on the Society’s activities in 2023 and plans for 2024. After the update, we will have two talks about the flora and fauna of the JJA wetlands and old growth forest.
10 a.m. – 11 a.m. – Welcome and KNPS Updates
11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Lea’s Bog Lichen – Kendall McDonald
Lea’s Bog lichen is a unique bottomland lichen that utilizes habitats often considered less than suitable for lichen colonization; the bark of trees along major rivers, oxbow lakes, and backwater sloughs that are frequently inundated by surges of river floodwaters. In 2017, a new population of the lichen was found at the JJA wetlands, making the state park an important conservation site for this species. Kendall McDonald, Botanist and Lichenologist at Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, will give a presentation on the rare Lea’s Bog lichen and the unique natural communities on which it relies.
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon – Pollinators and Forests – Katie Cody
Our native pollinators are vital to the success of our native plants. With pollinators on the decline worldwide, it is more important than ever to understand their life history traits and how they interact with the landscape. Although we typically think of pollinators in open grasslands and prairies, recent research is shedding light on how the forest can be a valuable part of their life cycle as well. Katie Cody, Invertebrate Biologist at Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, will give an overview of how pollinators are utilizing the forest and some common forest associates you can find in Kentucky.
Lunch, 12 noon – 1:00 p.m. CDT
12:00 noon – 1:00 p.m. – Lunch is on your own. There is no food available in the Park, though there are several restaurants outside the park boundaries. We have reserved a picnic shelter in the park for lunch so we hope that folks will bring their lunch and join the group at the shelter for a picnic lunch and fellowship with their fellow native plant enthusiasts. The shelter that we have reserved is the Sycamore Shelter, located at 37.880556, -87.556993, within walking distance of the main state park building. The picnic shelter area provides parking, covered and non-covered picnic tables, and a playground.
Walks, 1:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. CDT
After lunch we will have 3 walks to explore the native plants and plant communities in and around the Park. The first listed walk is at Sloughs WMA, which is about a 25 minute drive from John James Audubon. Because of the travel time, participants should plan on participating in just the Sloughs walk or the two walks at JJA.
Sloughs WMA – Park and Pop-in Botanical Tour – 1.5 hrs – Less than 0.25 miles (easy)
1 p.m. – 3 p.m. CDT
Join Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves botanist Vanessa Voelker on a roadside botanical tour of the wetland communities and flora of Sloughs Wildlife Management Area.
Sloughs WMA consists of a diverse mix of marsh, seasonally flooded bottomland forest, and natural depressions or “sloughs,” that contain flooded stands of bald cypress lined with buttonbush thickets. The hike will consist of “park and pop-ins” to enjoy the charming fall wetland flora. While this hike has minimal walking within the wetlands, we are advising participants to bring footwear appropriate for potential muddy and wet conditions.
Parking at Sloughs WMA is limited, so participants are encouraged to carpool the short distance from the state park to the WMA.
JJA Wetlands – Birding and Botany on the Boardwalk – 1.5 hrs – 1.5 miles (easy, ADA accessible)
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Get into birding and botany with Nour Salam, Frankfort Audubon Society President, at the John James Audubon State Park wetlands. A rocked pathway from the parking lot leads through floodplain forest to a 750-ft. boardwalk over the cypress swamp, immersing visitors into prime habitat for spotting a variety of wetland flora and fauna. Continue from the boardwalk into more forested area along the earthen path of Island Loop Trail. Flat, easy terrain of this 1.5-mile round-trip wetland walk is ADA accessible. Participants are advised to bring their own binoculars to aid in viewing wetland flora and the charismatic late fall migrant and winter resident birds of the wetland.
JJA State Park Forest – Old Growth Coastal Plain Loess Bluff Forest – 1.5 hrs – approx. 1 mile (easy-moderate)
2:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Join JJA Park Naturalist Lisa Hoffman to learn about woody plant ID in an Old Growth Coastal Plain Loess Bluff Forest within the state park. Recorded by Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves botanists in the early 2000s, this old growth mesic forest occurs in ravines and ridges on the slopes above the Ohio River Floodplain. The soil is deep loess which supports a diverse flora and trees up to 4 foot in diameter. Participants are encouraged to wear appropriate footwear for forested hiking and potential muddy conditions.
Register for the Fall Meeting
This event is open to KNPS members and friends alike. There is no cost for the event, but in order to plan effectively, we are requesting that folks pre-register for this event. If you are likely to attend, please fill out this form. Thanks, hope to see you there!