The Wonders of Birding Northwest Ohio

Since I lived in Bowling Green, Ohio when I really got into birding, Ottawa NWR, Metzger Marsh, and of course the Magee Marsh Boardwalk were some of my favorite birding locations that I visited often. Almost weekly my friends and I would head to the lake for some great birding,especially during spring and fall migration! The northwest part of Ohio, along the lakeshore is still one of my favorite places to visit, although much more infrequently now that it is such a drive from Columbus.

My mom, Ben and I made it up that way on Monday and it was quite a day! We left home at 5:30am and returned 18 hours later, absolutely exhausted but it was totally worth it! We first went to the boardwalk. In three quick hours, we turned up 53 species of birds, including 11 species of warblers! Most of the warblers were expected, but warbler migration is so exciting because they migrate at night while we're all sleeping. We wake up in the morning, and almost magically, the trees are covered with colorful warblers hopping about, feeding on any insect they can catch. What we don't get to see is the beauty of their actual migration flight. This is possible, however, with Blue Jays! Yesterday was the second time I have been able to witness a big movement of Blue Jays along Lake Erie. They migrate during the day and you can look up and watch, literally a stream of Blue Jays across the sky, nearly all day long!

I know many people don't like Blue Jays. I work in a store where our customers prefer the "small colorful" birds, and while the Blue Jay is one of the most colorful and beautifully patterned birds we have year-round in Ohio, they have somehow made many bird-feeders' "bad bird lists." We get complaints daily about the birds on these lists and often people are looking for solutions to get the birds out of the yard or away from their feeders. While I have to regularly suggest feeding options that exclude their favorite foods, or feeders that are weight sensitive so heavier birds cannot eat, it saddens me that so many miss out on the brilliance of the Blue Jay. Personally, I love having jays in my yard, yes, the smaller birds leave the feeders while the jays are there, but they're never too far away and you can still watch the little ones in the nearby trees. The jays are so smart and seemingly playful. I love to watch them interact with each other and the feeders. It is especially fun to watch them snag a whole peanut in the shell, fly across the yard and cache the nut in a tree for later. If another Blue Jay is nearby and sees where the food was cached, the first jay will re-hide its prize! I have even seen them pretend to cache a nut when another bird was watching. It would pretend to hide it in several locations before finally settling on a secret location to cache the nut. That's pretty cool, if you ask me!

But anyways, seeing multiple and sometimes large flocks of Blue Jays streaming across the sky all day long is really a sight to see! While I get really excited about watching a single species, like the migrating jays or a personal record flock of Willets (see below) the lister in me still wants to see ALL THE BIRDS!! So, as we walked along the boardwalk, I was thrilled to see so many new migrants! White-eyed Vireo, Black-and-white Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Veery, Chimney Swift... my year list total just went up and up as the sun moved higher in the sky. It seemed as though we had just started birding when my stomach started growling and we realized it was lunch time! One of the most exciting birds to find during our morning walk was a Rusty Blackbird. While their populations seem to be decreasing, this spring has been great for seeing Rusty Blackbirds across Ohio. I have been seeing quite a few, nearly every week for a while now, but my mom, however, had never seen one despite her efforts over the past few years.

By the time we left the boardwalk for lunch, I had added 13 new year birds! We had a picnic lunch on the beach and walked the estuary trail before checking the east end of the boardwalk for Fox Snakes. We were unsuccessful finding Fox Snakes but throughout the day we found several Eastern Garter Snakes, a Northern Water Snake, many Painted Turtles including a quarter-sized baby, and a few big Map Turtles! We also saw a few species of frogs, including a Bullfrog, Green Frogs and Leopard Frogs! In addition to the fascinating reptiles and amphibians, we found several types of mammals including an elderly Muskrat, Eastern Cottontails, and some White-tailed Deer.

Muskrat

Before we left for the day, we stopped by Metzger Marsh after hearing a report of a number of Willets. We arrived and it wasn't hard to find them! They were calling away and there were flocks in the marsh as well as circling through the sky!! We were able to count 75, although it was difficult to get an exact number when we were counting the ones on the ground and more and more continued to fly in from several directions! There could have easily been quite a few more than 75. This is by far the most Willets I have ever seen in one place, and probably more individuals than I had ever previously seen, combined! Willets are one of my favorite shorebirds, so I was definitely excited to watch the fantastic show they were putting on!

What a great day, spent with my wonderful family! I even got to see my Bird-mom, Kimberly Kaufman, which is always enough to make any day great! In all, I added 24 year birds during our excursion!

Trip Year Birds:

• House Wren
• American Golden-Plover
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Willet
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Caspian Tern
• Purple Martin
• Barn Swallow
• Chimney Swift
• White-eyed Vireo
• Blue-headed Vireo
• Warbling Vireo
• Gray Catbird
• Veery
• Orange-crowned Warbler
• Prothonotary Warbler
• Black-and-white Warbler
• Northern Waterthrush
• Nashville Warbler
• Yellow Warbler
• Blue-winged Warbler
• Common Yellowthroat
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Join me Birding! 
The next time I'm in that corner of the state, it will be The Biggest Week in American Birding!! I am so so excited for all the wonderful birds and friends I'll be seeing! This year Ben and I will be leading three of the van field trips! If you'd like to join us, look for open seats on the Monday, May 9 trip to South Bay, the Wednesday, May 11 trip to Catawba/Marblehead, or the Thursday, May 12 trip to Erie County! I will also be heading up the BSBO Woodcock Walk on Monday May 9!! I can't wait and hope to see some of you there!

If you're in the Columbus area, join me this Saturday, April 30 at 9am at Kiwanis Riverway Park, or Saturday May 21 at Highbanks Metropark as part of the Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Hike Series!

More Cemetery Birding

Exactly one month ago, I started a new job. It was two months after my wedding day. I was happy to be married to my wonderful husband, Ben, but I didn't like my previous job. I was stressed enough over starting a new job and moving to a new city. Not even mentioning moving INTO the city from my woodsy bird-rich rural home where I had spent the majority of the last 26 years back in Lexington, Ohio; and I was worried about how the move and my own stress was affecting my 15 year old kitty, Maxine.

Well, zip past that month, back to today, and Max is very contently sleeping next to me; purring away as I type! I absolutely love my new job at Wild Birds Unlimited! It is great to be able to talk with people about birds all day long! I love being able to help them solve problems. I often get to share exciting the natural history of a variety of birds and I even get to put my IDing skills to test. It is so great to be surrounded by so many people, every single day who appreciate and love birds as much as I do! On top of that, a few weeks ago I was asked if I'd like to lead some birding/nature hikes around the Columbus area throughout the season. As much as I love seeing new birds for the first time, I think I love sharing birds with others even more, or at least just as much! I absolutely enjoy being a part of someone finding a new life bird, or better yet, one they've been trying to see and missing previously. So, needless to say, I was thrilled to be asked to lead some trips. Plus, getting paid to do my favorite activity!? Was I dreaming!? We worked together on getting the schedule set up for our WBU Nature Hike Series and it was difficult for me to choose places I'd like to lead trips because there are very few areas in Columbus that I am familiar with. I took this as an opportunity to get to know some new places. I asked my manager to choose the locations, and I'd start visiting them to become familiar with the areas.

My first trip was scheduled for today, at Green Lawn Cemetery. I wasn't sure what to expect with the weather being full sun and 70 degrees after last Saturday was snowing all day! In addition to the excellent weather, perhaps people were excited about the possibility of seeing Great-horned Owlets. And the Whip-poor-will. I found it and shared it, Kenn Kaufman mentioned it on NPR, and we excitedly talked with customers about it all week. Although we never said or implied that the bird would be around, perhaps people wanted to see it, and thought that just maybe, if they went birding with me at the location where the bird was found we could magically drum up another Eastern Whip-poor-will. Whatever the series of circumstances was, nearly SEVENTY people showed up at Green Lawn Cemetery this morning to spend the sunny morning in search of migratory birds! It was a great group and a lot of fun birding. Several people had lifer Pine Siskins, or Winter Wrens, or Eastern Towhees. We saw recently fledged Great-horned Owls, recently fledged White-breasted Nuthatches, nest-building American Robins and a variety of migrating species such as Sharp-shinned Hawks, Myrtle Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Hermit Thrushes.

What a great morning! And before the WBU walk began, Ben and I headed out bright and early to do some scouting and to bird together before Ben had to head off to our nephew's birthday party. The cool morning air was perfect for us, and the birds were quite active too! We were able to see our First of Year Pine Warbler, a beautiful male and Green-throated Warblers! We also got to see a Purple Finch and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers!

I have definitely enjoyed the first month working at my new job, and getting out with my lovely husband to explore the great birding areas Columbus has to offer has made my move to the city more enjoyable. I can't wait to see what lies ahead!

Rainy Day Birding

This week, Ben and I only had one day off together and it happened to be a day of 100% chance of rain... all day. We were excited to get out and find some warblers so we didn't let the rain slow us down! Well, it may have slowed us down a little. We relaxed inside with our kitty, Max, most of the morning and headed out just after lunch to Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. Last week we saw our first-of-year Pine Siskins, Hermit Thrush, Brown Thrashers, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, in addition to TONS of Yellow-shafted Flickers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Fox Sparrows, Eastern Towhees and other great birds! This week we were hoping for a returned warbler. I would've been happy with even a Yellow-rumped. Ben was hoping for a Pine Warbler; but we really both wanted a Yellow-throated Warbler! I drove south in the rain, wondering why I had even agreed to leave the house. It was cold, and wet and I was grumpy. I didn't want to get out and bird in the rain (even though I wanted to see the birds!) but I also knew I had to go to Green Lawn to get a better idea of the layout so I wouldn't get lost in the loops of roads during my first field trip this Saturday with Wild Birds Unlimited! I'm really excited to be able to lead bird walks as part of my new job, so I definitely don't want to get lost on my first one and I want to be well prepared and scout out some good areas and birds!

As we pulled into the cemetery's main drive, the rain slowed to a light sprinkle! I found the meeting area and the two areas I want to take people for birding on Saturday, with no problems. Yay! Then we decided to take a walk while the rain was nearly stopped. We walked along a little gravel trail and the birds were enjoying this break in the rain too! We were delighted to find American Robins and Yellow-shafted Flickers foraging all over the grassy areas and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Carolina Chickadees lining the trees! As we noticed some leaves rustling on the ground we found Fox Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, Brown Thrashers and Eastern Towhees tossing leaves to dig up some delicious bugs. "Fee-bee" called his name from a bridge and some Northern Cardinals seemed to be very upset and scolding... some sparrows? No! An Eastern Whip-poor-will!!! I jumped up and down, somehow never taking my binoculars off the bird, saying, "Oh wow, look over here! Look over here!!!" Never actually saying what I was seeing because in my excitement, I actually forgot the name of the bird, or any other bird! Ben quickly figured out where I was looking, despite my lack of describing the bird or where it was! He had thought maybe the birds were scolding a small owl, but perhaps they had noticed this life-like bump on the branch and confused it for an owl. Why else would a group of song birds be mobbing a little bird who flies around catching insects out of the moonlit skies?

Eastern Whip-poor-will in Columbus, Ohio 4.11.16

We never made it beyond the bridge before I spotted the Whip-poor-will, so we barely noticed when the rain started picking up again, until the wind started lowing the water droplets onto our scope, binoculars and phones (since we had to other cameras with us!) Then we  were stuck. Under the bridge with nothing to look at besides the cutest little bird, perched up on a branch like he was a part of it. Every so often he would sway as though the wind were blowing him around like a leaf... keeping up his disguise even though the rest of the birds were out of sight, seeking shelter from the downpour. While we were waiting under the bridge for the rain to let up, I posted my exciting find on Facebook. I had used my new cell phone to take a picture through Ben's scope and I was very pleased with the results! More than just a diagnostic photo, I had a nice portrait of this bird in his habitat! Within minutes, I had several local friends asking where we were and if we'd help them find the bird! We were just standing around waiting on the rain anyway so we agreed to stay until they could arrive. We stayed, the bird stayed, and several friends were able to add an Eastern Whip-poor-will to their lists of county or state birds or to their lists of birds seen at all! This was a new county and year bird for me, but a more exciting achievement, this is the first Eastern Whip-poor-will I have ever found on my own!! The others I have seen before were spotted by someone else, and others would either point it out to me, or I would at least know the general area to look for it. I've always wanted to find one and now I'll never forget this one!!

A very wet Eastern Whip-poor-will

Ben and I walked back to my car, deciding what to do next. We were excited about the whip and still hadn't seen any warblers so we determined that a trip south was in order. Rain or no rain, we were heading to Clear Creek Metropark in Hocking County! We thought the rain might not be as bad further south but as we headed the hour south, the rain never let up. By that time, we had three hours until sunset and we had driven all that way we made the decision to "go for it!" Ben picked a trail that he wanted to hike and we made a plan. You can either hike the Hemlock trail from the road in, and have to turn around, or you could take another trail to it, hike the Hemlock trail, and loop back to the car. I suggested the loop so we wouldn't have to backtrack and Ben agreed. Little did we know that the starting trail and Hemlock trail were quite narrow and steep, uphill, and downhill and uphill and uphill some more. All during a steady, heavy rain. These were absolutely beautiful trails with the wet weather enhancing the contrast between the wintery brown trees and the lively, green, spring wildflowers blooming on the hillsides. The fog sat low in the hills over the meandering steams and the flute-like songs of a Hermit Thrush echoed across the trail. We had very few birds (and still no warblers) during our two-hour hike, but the scenery made up for it! Before our hike ended, we caught a glimpse of a Pileated Woodpecker flying in the distance. From under a piece of fallen bark, a tiny species of shrew ran and as we looked for it again, we saw a Red-backed Salamander!

The end of our hike at Clear Creek Metropark

In all it was a lovely rainy day exploring central Ohio with my husband! I am still very excited about the Whip-poor-will, and after seeing this eBird map of this year's sightings, you can probably see why! 

Map from 2016 eBird.org data, copied by J. Muller

That's my bird! The lone red dot in the middle of Ohio!! Poor bird is probably wondering WHY it decided to make the trek to Ohio on such a cold rainy weekend, but at least the weather is warmer today! Hopefully it has a safe journey to wherever it is heading this spring!

"Leaning Lena" on the way out of Clear Creek Metropark

If you are interested in joining me this Saturday, April 16 at Green Lawn Cemetery, please meet at the Huntington Chapel at 9am. If you follow the main road in, and take a right at the first fork in the road, Huntington Chapel is the biggest building you can see right in the middle. 

For more information regarding the 2016 WBU Nature Hike Series, visit our website, here. Keep your eye out for more dates being added soon, including a hike in May at Clear Creek Metropark! 

June Birding in Ohio: Places to Visit

Summer is generally not my favorite season. I prefer cooler weather, and maybe I like summer less because there aren't as many ducks right down the road as there are during the other seasons! Either way, there are definitely some fun things that I enjoy in the summer! (Like swimming in a lake!) There are also some interesting locations in this part of Ohio to explore in the summer.

Here are some short descriptions and bird lists from some of the nearby places I have been birding in June...

Last weekend I combined two fun outdoor activities with good birding friends; the outcome was definitely fun. Sunday I biked and birded the Heart of Ohio Trail, and on Monday I kayaked and birded Clearfork Reservoir. I had never biked the Heart of Ohio Trail, in Knox County. My friend Gary and I rode 21 miles starting in Mt. Vernon. During our ride, we were able to see or hear 70 species of birds! The trail was not crowded, although that could be because of the rain, but it also seemed to have pretty decent habitat for a variety of birds. I definitely recommend checking it out if you are looking for a place to bike/bird in Central Ohio. We had to have heard at least 30 Indigo Buntings along the way! They seem to be holding territories all along the trail. Some other great birds we saw were Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, four species of Vireos, Northern Parulas, Hooded Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, Cliff Swallows, a Scarlet Tanager, Northern Mockingbird, Wood Thrush, two Yellow-billed Cuckoos, and maybe my favorite was the Black Vulture that we saw picking at some food along the edge of a road we passed! They were all great birds though, so it is hard to choose which to list without typing out all 70! If you'd like to see our full tip list, check out our eBird list, where you can also see which had young and how many were out singing that day:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18866800

Last Monday, I birded from the water with my friend. We met at the Clearfork Reservoir boat launch and set out to explore the tributary and shores along the west end of the reservoir. We saw some great birds and even saw a few dragonflies, turtles and small mammals. Clearfork is a nice, calm area to kayak and the habitat is great along the edges! I always see lots of interesting critters. If you like to bird by county, you have to be careful on the reservoir and surrounding property because it switches back and forth between Morrow and Richland counties in several spots! A few of the highlight species were young Cliff Swallows in nests under a bridge, an Ovenbird singing, and spectacular views of Prothonotary Warblers! Here are the two lists from out kayaking trip:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18898964
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18899328

While there is a lot of shoreline that can only be accessed from the water, there are some great picnic areas along the reservoir that yield some pretty cool birds too, so don't miss out on birding the reservoir if you don't have a kayak or other small watercraft! My favorite area in the summer is Picnic Area #3, the one closest to the marina and the only one in Morrow County. Just the other day I heard several Yellow-throated Warblers while training dogs with a friend.

The trails at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary are also a great place to look for breeding birds! Earlier this month, I went out with Gary to conduct a breeding bird survey and while it was raining part of the morning we still had a great diversity of birds! Blue-winged Warblers and Louisiana Waterthrush may have been my favorites that day! We had quite a few different woodpeckers, vireos, and flycatchers, 10 species of warblers, Scarlet Tanagers, Swamp Sparrows and more! Before we left, there was even a Broad-winged Hawk showing off near the driveway! Check out what we saw:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18807779

A few weeks ago, I visited Brown's Lake Bog with my mom and her friend Jan. It is a beautiful place to visit, even if you aren't interested in birds. The boardwalk runs from the parking lot through the woods and out into the open bog leading to one of the few kettle lakes remaining in Ohio. In the woods, you may be lucky enough to see a White-eyed Vireo showing off, but you will definitely see lots of Gray Catbirds! Once you make it out into the bog, look closely at the incredible plants growing out there. My favorites are the carnivorous Sundew and Pitcher Plants! I recommend bringing your bug spray and a camera if you choose to stop by Brown's Lake Bog this summer! Here's my list of birds from the bog:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18722602

Drosera (Sundew) is one of my favorite carnivorous plants!

If you are in Ohio and looking for something to do next June, be sure to check out the Time & Optics birding event in early June, where this year, I saw my lifer Blue Grosbeak! Also, don't miss Greater Mohican Audubon Society's Bobolinks and Butterflies event at Byers Woods in late June! This year, Gary Cowell, Tim Leslie and I guided two hour-and-a-half long bird walks around Byers Woods. We were able to spot Bobolinks for nearly everyone on both walks to see and we also saw some other fun birds! I know on the second walk, several people had some good views of an Indigo Bunting singing away! Here are the birds seen during the event:

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!

Heading to Guatemala!

In about 6 hours, I will be boarding a plane to Guatemala! I'll try to update if possible from there, but if not, be sure to check back for lots of photos and stories of my adventures after April 2nd!!

Guatemala, 2013

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