Photo: Roger Hedge smiles beside a mountain pond in Colorado with evergreens, wildflowers, and snowy peaks in the background. Courtesy of Roger Hedge.
BY ROGER HEDGE
Tell us a little about yourself. Family? Where do you live and work?
I live in Lebanon, Boone County. I have two daughters, Sarah and Katie, with my wife, Michelle.
I retired from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Nature Preserves, in 2021. I worked with the Indiana Natural Heritage Data Center within Nature Preserves, where we inventoried the state for high-quality natural communities and rare species, particularly plants, although we also surveyed other species including birds.
Since retirement, I’ve done some botanical fieldwork as a consultant and worked with the Friesner Herbarium at Butler University. A fun personal project I’ve recently started is collecting vascular plants that are county records for Boone County. I also enjoy being a guide for the annual Indiana Dunes Birding Festival and the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
What got you interested in birds and birding?
My internship through Ball State University was my first exposure to birds and birding. I spent the spring of 1977 at Fernwood Nature Center in Niles, Michigan, where I began learning birds and woodland wildflowers.
Afterwards, I worked as a seasonal naturalist in the Indiana DNR Division of State Parks before getting a full-time position at Spring Mill State Park. During this period, I participated in spring May Day counts and then began making annual treks to Point Pelee National Park for spring warbler migration.
Several years later I began conducting and compiling Indiana Audubon summer bird counts, primarily in Boone County. Nearly 30 years of conducting and compiling these counts was invaluable in learning which species summered and nested in central Indiana.
I have also participated in Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) in Indiana for many years and have compiled the Jamestown CBC for 41 years.
Favorite nature preserve? Or favorite experience, such as a day in the field that stands out?
Pine Hills Nature Preserve at Shades State Park is probably my favorite nature preserve. I say that partly because during my early years I worked as a naturalist at Shades, and I visited and led hikes there early on in my career.
Picking a favorite experience is just as difficult, but being part of the discovery of the state’s first climbing fern (Lygodium palmatum) record in southeast Indiana stands out. So does finding the long-extirpated short-beaked beaksedge (Rhynchospora nitens) in northwest Indiana.
When you lead bird walks for IAS, do you find yourself also pointing out plants along the way? How do you balance those two passions in the field?
It’s not easy, especially during songbird migration. Of course, if it’s a bird hike, I focus on the birds. But if there’s a lull in bird activity, I talk about nearby plants. After all, without plants, we don’t have birds.
What changes have you seen in Indiana landscapes since the early 80s that most affect birds and plants alike?
Wow, the questions just keep getting harder!
We’ve certainly lost more land to development, which has resulted in habitat loss. One impact that is particularly noticeable to me is that of non-native invasive plant species. Several non-native exotics are present in Indiana now that weren’t known to occur in the state back then. They can wreak havoc on our remaining natural areas, outcompeting native plants, impacting native insects, which detrimentally affect our native birds.
On the positive side, we have a lot more state nature preserves today—over 300—and the public is much more aware of environmental problems such as habitat loss and impacts of non-native species. And there are a lot more birders today who support environmental causes and care about our natural environment.
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