Henslow's sparrow (inset photo) is small, rare and difficult to see. In Indiana, it most often is heard singing on grassland planted to reclaim coal mines. An angler at Stump-Jumper pit at Chinook Fish and Wildlife Area. The former mine pit now yields sunfish, bass, crappie and catfish.

A rather uncommon bird, Henslow's sparrow, is found abundantly in southwest Indiana. There are, perhaps, as many as a few thousand over the 70 square miles of grasslands created by reclamation of coal mines.

Indiana State University researchers Dr. Steven L. Lima, Peter E. Scott and Edward Galligan show a place on Chinook Fish and Wildlife Area near Brazil where Henslow's sparrows are numerous.

They use a thermal-imaging camera to look for nests and birds, but on bright sunny days the grass heats up early, the image is useless and the sound of birdsong is used to locate the birds.

"There's one. Which direction?" says Lima when he hears the male sparrow's song. "This is a good test of high frequency hearing," he said, cocking an ear toward what sounds only like wind to some.

"Some of the guys can't hear the song very well. I wonder if this isn't a younger person's job," he said.

A chart showing sparrow research by this crew and Travis L. DeVault indicates that detection distance is best in the 70-meter range, about 230 feet.

Casting for largemouth bass at Shakamak State Park (left). Water flows out of Weber Lake at Lincoln State Park across riprap designed to change alkalinity of the acid water (right).