A Day of Firsts

Yesterday was an awesome day!! In the morning I received an email forwarded from a new friend/birder I met during my first week here in Indiana. We met at a prairie burn that we both helped with and them met again at the South Bend/Elkhart Audubon Society meeting. Anyway, the email informed me of two rare birds in Michigan. One was a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck... a very cool bird, and definitely a good bird for the area but 1, it wouldn't be a life bird, 2, it wouldn't be a new year or even new month bird, and 3, even though I don't have the bird in the United States, I am not all that concerned with my Michigan list. (If it would have been in Ohio I would have considered going for it!) The second bird though, would be a life bird for me, so I decided to chase that one!!

Here's the thing... I may be 25, but several circumstances have kept me from getting my driver's license up until this past Tuesday morning, and until yesterday, I haven't driven in a car alone. I originally set up a plan to meet part way and carpool but then I was reminded that I had a class to attend that evening in Michigan and I had to drive to that already and the bird was only ~30 minutes from where I needed to end up. So I was somewhat thrown into making the full drive alone.

I quickly gathered my binoculars, scope, shorebird guide, and notebook, I made sure I had the right location and that I figured out how to use the GPS on my new phone before I got into the car and I gathered my notes for my class and set off on my first adventure with my new license.

I'm sure it is no surprise to anyone who knows me even slightly that my first drive alone would be an hour away to chase a rare bird! I was off to see a Snowy Plover on the beach of Lake Michigan! Excitedly, I drove up, easily found the beach, grabbed my binoculars and hopped out of the car to see the bird. I had just talked to my friend who I was meeting there, and the bird had been on the beach, easy to see. I was hopeful. When I found my friend, he wasn't looking at the bird... he was walking towards me and informed me that the bird along with the Sanderling it had been hanging out with had just flown further down the beach.

Luckily, it wasn't long before a little shorebird flew in near us. We got on it and sure enough... Snowy Plover!! a male in full breeding plumage!!! It was fantastic! I was so excited, I could hardly stand still. I just drove alone for the first time, visiting Lake Michigan for the first time, to see a LIFE BIRD, Snowy Plover!!!

Unfortunately, in my excitement and nervousness leaving, I totally forgot to pack my camera into the car! It wasn't until I was standing on the beach in Michigan that I realized I was missing it. I was only slightly disappointed, because I know I'll never forget this bird, even without a photo. I was able to get this shot of the location with my phone though! You'll just have to take my word that there is in fact a rare Snowy Plover standing on the beach!

Spring Migration is Upon Us!

It may still seem like winter out there, but the birds have already begun their annual spring migration back north to their breeding grounds! I had an awesome weekend witnessing some early spring migration!

You may not know that my current job is working as an intern for local photographer, David FitzSimmons. This past weekend, he was leading a bird photography workshop in Linton, Indiana, and invited me to go along to help identify and point out birds to the groups he was leading. If you haven't heard of Dave, you should definitely check out his amazing photography in his Curious Critters book series, that he wrote and published! They are wonderful books for children to learn about and begin to appreciate nature and wildlife while having fun and reading! I have given copies of Curious Critters Volume One to two of my nephews and they both absolutely love it!! If you live in Ohio, specifically, central Ohio, you should consider going to the ODNR Wildlife Diversity conference THIS Wednesday in Columbus!! Dave is the Keynote speaker, and I will be there too!

Goose Pond Wildlife Area, located in Linton, Indiana

Anyway, back to the weekend: On Friday morning, we left Ohio and headed southwest to Linton to get some scouting done, and good thing we did! Birding on Friday evening was SPECTACULAR!! The field location for the workshop was Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area, which is an integral stopover site for birds migrating in the Mississippi Flyway. Evidence of migration was everywhere and Dave and I estimated nearly 20,000 Sandhill Cranes on Friday evening!

Sandhill Cranes in the morning fog

Throughout the weekend, we also estimated around 5,000 Snow Geese, several thousand Greater White-fronted Geese and Canada Geese, at least a thousand individuals in mixed flocks of blackbirds, including Red-winged Blackbids, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Common Grackles, and European Starlings. I even saw and heard some early migrating individuals: a tree swallow, field sparrows, and several American Woodcocks, American White Pelicans, and Killdeer, to name a few.

Snow Geese

We spent the majority of Saturday and Sunday in the field sharing this wonderful experience with nearly 50 other people! The best part of the trip was being able to share my knowledge of birds with all of the people. The photographers came with various experience levels but across the board, nearly all were interested in, but knew very little about birds. I was able to point out life birds to many of the folks who were then able to document their finds with their images!

Sandhill Cranes forage in fields before continuing their migration north.

It was a blast seeing the excitement from photographers seeing their first Northern Pintails and American Wigeons through my scope and hearing their interest when I explained things such as how Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls inhabit the same areas and nearly fill the same niche other than the time of day that they are active. One of the most exciting events was when we had one of the small groups watching an easily accessible Bald Eagle nest. The nest could be clearly seen from the roadside without disturbing the pair who seemed to be sitting on eggs. While I had the sitting eagle in my scope for everyone to easily see her, three migrating Bald Eagles circled above. The eagle in the nest began calling incessantly; warning the migrating birds that this was HER territory and that they should keep moving. While she warned the intruders, her mate flew in to preen in a nearby tree. This was a great treat for the photographers to witness this behavior and gain a better understanding of the eagles' interactions!

A Bald Eagle sitting on eggs

We tallied 59 species of birds for the weekend at Goose Pond and even had a chance to observe a highly endangered species, which was absolutely incredible and also a life bird for me! If you ever find yourself in Linton, Indiana or Goose Pond, I recommend stopping by Monical's Pizza Restaurant in Linton. Their specialty is their thin crust pizza, and it is some of the best pizza I have ever had (and I love pizza and eat it frequently, but I'm picky!) It was so good that after having it on Friday, we decided to go back for more on Sunday before heading out of Linton!

Sandhill Cranes