By BARBARA
BARBIERI
People attending the Friends of Ouabache State Park’s Lunch & Learn September program were invited to study what lives in a healthy pond as they ate their own sack lunches and cookies provided by Corner Depot Catering.
The program presenter was to have been a naturalist from Fox Island but ably substituting for the program was Jody Heaston, head of volunteers for all of Indiana’s state parks. For the program she and Ouabache’s naturalist Lydia Ade collected samples of what grows in Kunkel Lake.
At all of the tables there were pans of water showcasing their findings that even included very small fish. Also found were eggs from Dragonflys and the smaller Damselflys, giant waterbugs, small cricket frogs, mud chimneys for crawdads and the chrysalises for a Monarch butterfly. (After being showcased all of the specimens were returned to Kunkel Lake.)
Heaston also shared a hand out showing the things that could be found in a pond, making note of how tolerant they would be to pollution. The finds in Kunkel Lake indicate that it is healthy.
The last Lunch & Learn for the year will be held on Oct. 10, when the topic will be Seed Collecting by Heaston. The program is free but gate fees apply.
