Beanblossom Creek Wildlife Camera Project
To protect the land in our care, we first need to understand the wildlife that depends on it. Motion-triggered wildlife cameras at Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve and other preserves along Beanblossom Creek help us monitor wildlife, guide habitat restoration, and measure the success of our conservation efforts.
Motion-triggered wildlife cameras at our nature preserves along Beanblossom Creek in Monroe County help us better understand how wildlife uses this vital habitat in our care. We set up cameras in locations we know are frequented by animals, including a beaver dam that creates a natural bridge, one of the largest beaver lodges we’ve ever seen, a fallen log in a meadow, game trails, creeks, and more. Our “Dam Cam,” “Beaver Lodge Cam,” “Squirrel Log Cam,” and many other motion-triggered wildlife cameras provide a window into the world of southern Indiana wildlife on our preserves.
Carl Ziegler Wetlands and Education Center
Construction has begun on Sycamore Land Trust’s Carl Ziegler Wetlands and Education Center in Monroe County! While we prepare the site for future visitors, our motion-triggered wildlife cameras continue to reveal the incredible diversity of life that already thrives here. Watch for river otters, bobcats, great egrets, green herons, mink, owls, foxes, and many other species that call these restored wetlands home. These cameras help us better understand this remarkable landscape and guide our efforts to protect and restore more wildlife habitat. We look forward to welcoming group classes and hikers to experience the Carl Ziegler Wetlands and Education Center beginning in spring 2027.
“If you build it, they will come”
It’s been a year since we completed construction of over 60 acres of restored wetland habitat at the Sam Shine Foundation Preserve in Monroe County, and we’ve already seen a remarkable number of species using it! We’ve already spotted great egrets, river otters, rare marsh birds, bobcats, beavers, state-endangered species like the least bittern and Kirtland’s snake, 25 species of reptiles and amphibians, and many others. Nature is thriving in this vital new habitat. Watch footage from the first year of our Shine wetlands, proving that “If you build it, they will come.”
Shine Beaver Dam
Though we completed 60 acres of new wetlands at the Sam Shine Foundation Preserve last year, we had originally planned to restore 80 acres of wetland habitat there. Before we could get started, beavers began restoring habitat in one of the areas we had targeted for wetland construction. A new beaver dam was built right in front of our motion-triggered wildlife camera, growing before our eyes. Soon new wetland-dependent species were using this area of the preserve. We modified our construction plans to allow the beavers to continue their important work. Watch new footage from the Shine Beaver Dam through the seasons, and see how many species are using this restored habitat!
Shine Log Bridge
This compilation of wildlife camera footage from our Sam Shine Foundation Preserve in Monroe County highlights our “Shine Log Bridge,” a fallen log that serves as a bridge across a drainage ditch used by many species of animals. Plus new footage and some of our favorite past moments from other cameras on the preserve: our Shine Beaver Lodge Cam, Squirrel Log Cam, Sycamore Tree Cam, Turkey Field Cam, and more.
Backyard Biology
At Cedar Crest, our office in Bloomington, we installed wildlife cameras in our backyard to help us better monitor local wildlife. We captured so much more than we expected. Flying squirrels, minks, bobcats, coyotes, red fox, red-tailed hawk, pileated woodpecker, and more. Even in this residential area, southern Indiana’s remarkable biodiversity is all around us.
“Beanblossom Creek Wildlife Camera Project”
Our “Beanblossom Creek Wildlife Camera Project” video features one hour of the best 2022 footage captured by our motion-triggered wildlife cameras set up on our nature preserves in the Beanblossom Creek Conservation Area north of Bloomington. Organized into five chapters, this educational video shares the incredible stories we captured on these cameras to educate about 40 species of local wildlife and the habitat they rely on in southern Indiana.
Chapter 1: Beanblossom Creek Wildlife Camera Project
Learn about our Beanblossom Creek Conservation Area and why we protect it.
Chapter 2: Beanblossom Bottoms: The Importance of Wetlands
At Beanblossom Bottoms Nature Preserve, a beaver dam is helping return new areas of the preserve to thriving wetland habitat. See new footage from our “Dam Cam” and “Beaver Lodge Cam” at their home nearby.
Part 1: Dam Cam
Part 2: Beaver Lodge Cam
Part 3: Through the Seasons
Chapter 3: Shaping an Ecosystem: The Story of the Shine Beaver Dam
Watch beavers build a new dam at Sam Shine Foundation Preserve and see how the dam has reshaped an ecosystem.
Part 1: The Story of the Shine Beaver Dam
Part 2: The Snack Shack
Part 3: The Shine Beaver Lodge
Chapter 4: Animal Trails
Cameras set up at game trails and other popular animal crossings helps us observe interactions between animals living in our Beanblossom Creek Conservation Area.
Part 1: Crossing Cam
Part 2: Squirrel Log Cam
Part 3: Rock Den Cam
Part 4: Deer Trail Cam
Part 5: Pond Cam
Chapter 5: First Flights
On our Bird Box Cam at Sam Shine Foundation Preserve, we watch a new generation of native tree swallows and eastern bluebirds take flight.
Part 1: Tree Swallows
Part 2: Bluebirds
Credits: Story by Ellen Bergan and Kate Hammel. Edited by Kate Hammel. “First Flights: Part 2” by Madeleine Thompson. Music by Adam Hurt. Wildlife Camera Project team: Chris Fox, Ellen Bergan, Madeleine Thompson, Ben Sebastian, Brianna Crawley, Leah Hagemeier, Sophie Hall, Kate Hammel
Bobcats on Our Preserves
“The Dam Cam”: Sycamore’s 2021 Wildlife Camera Project
“Squirrel Log Cam”
Bobcats
Warning: This video includes a bobcat carrying a dead animal. See our alternate version without prey at youtube.com/sycamorelandtrust.
