Beverlybaynes
Mod Squad
Three friends and I participated in the Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge Christmas Bird Count today, Jan 1 2004, in south central Indiana. And what a day we had!!
All of us drove down Wednesday evening (the refuge is 3 hours from our homes in northern Indiana). We had a fine New Year's Eve dinner at a Mexican restaurant, made all the more lively by sharing a couple of pitchers of margaritas!
We all got up early (I was staying 20 miles away at my sister's, so I was up at 4:30) and met at the local Cracker Barrel for a hearty hot breakfast to start the day. For you non-Americans, Cracker Barrel is a chain of 'country' restaurants, always situated at an interstate highway, and they serve awfully good, terribly high-cholesteral, death-defying 'Southern' food, and lots of it. And today was no exception -- all of us were served complimentary portions of Black-Eyed Peas, a 'southern' New Year's tradition. And as nice as that was, I did keep looking for the rest of the tradition . . . collard greens and moonshine . . . but somehow, they just didn't show up.
A year ago, we did this count in 36F degree weather and driving rain -- one of the most miserable days I've ever spent out in the field birding.
Today, however, dawned with a brilliant sunrise, clear skies, and a crowd twice as large as last year's. Great way to start the day!! Three of us got a Northern Cardinal as our 'year bird', the fourth got a Carolina Chickadee, all as we were leaving the nature center for our 'territory'.
We were given the north side of Richart Lake. The morning started with a drive alongside the lake, looking for a suitable place to leave the car before trekking out. And lo and behold!! SIX River Otters were playing in the open lake, beyond the skiff of ice at the edges, splashing about, tossing their fish breakfasts in the air before swallowing them down. 'Year mammal' (and a lifer mammal for one of us; three of us had seen them last year), and a nice way to start the territory.
We spent the morning trekking about our 'territory' and found some very nice birds (the list is below). Toward noon, we took a break to make a quick trip about the auto tour route in the central part of the refuge, then headed back to the center where the local wildlife society had packed in a nice hot lunch for the counters: various homemade soups, crackers, etc. The veggie soup REALLY hit the spot!!
One of the other counters was a gentleman from New Albany, a town along the Ohio River, about 45 minutes south of the refuge. He has been host to a terrifically lost bird, who has been visiting his backyard feeders daily since Dec. 10 and causing ALL kinds of excitment on IN-BIRD, the state birding chat. He was kind enough to share directions to his home, and said to go on down there (his parents were there as well, and kept urging everyone right along with him); it made no difference to him if he was home or not.
So we piled in the car and made a quick trip south. We arrived shortly after 1 p.m., and sure enough, no one was home. This fellow has been generous with any interested birder, however, and so we just followed the path now worn into his side yard around to the back and positioned ourselves in good sight of his feeders.
It took about 30 minutes, and this vagrant finally showed up to give us very brief looks, then vanished into the scrubby trees behind the feeders. We decided to wait a little longer, and about 15 minutes later . . . BINGO!! Out he came and gave us wonderful views, naked eye, binos and scope for at least 15 minutes.
What we were looking at? A GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, male, a bird about 2000 miles from his usual home in southern Arizona and New Mexico!!
B
o B
All four of us had several minutes each at the scope, watching this bird feed in the grass under the feeders, occasionally doing that distinctive skritch-skritch step of a towhee. Beautiful rusty head, wonderful white throat with black striping at the edges, and a distinctive chartreuse-y green on the flanks and tail. What a gorgeous boy!!
Within moments, three more carloads of birders from the Muscatatuck count pulled up in front of the house. We waved them on to come quickly, and EVERYONE (and there were at least a dozen of us by now) got the opportunity to see this bird in the scope. What a cooperative bird!
This is the third state record for this bird, but the first in at least 38 years, and the first to be photographed and seen by hundreds of birders. What a thrill it was to be able to include this on a count day (although he won't count for the count), and to have it so accessible to us from the refuge!
We drove back to the refuge, did a little more birding off-territory, then started heading back to northern Indiana shortly after 5 p.m. We were two cars and the drive was uneventful until we reached the southern part of Indianapolis. Immediately after I passed under the interchange for the last exit before getting on 465 which circles the city, all three lanes in front of me lit with solid brake lights for as far ahead as I could see -- with NO opportunity to get off the interstate left! It was an accident.
Fortunately, Larry and I were a couple of miles ahead of John and Lisa, so I pulled out the cell phone, and told them to get off the interstate and take an alternate route, because who knew how long we would be motionless on the highway? They were able to exit and make a detour easily. As it turned out, the delay was only about 15 minutes, the accident was cleared to the side of the road, and we resumed heading north.
Even with the delays, we pulled into John's driveway 2 hours and 55 minutes after leaving the refuge -- marvelous time (especially considering that we hit rain about 30 miles south of home)!
The day's birding was pretty terrific, too, for wintertime in Indiana. We had a total of 31 species and 404 individuals while in our count territory, while the day's total species count was 47. We had really really hoped for the Bald Eagles that are resident on the refuge, but had no luck, although others did see them.
Here's our list on-territory:
Canada Goose
American Crow
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Carolina Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
East Bluebird
Cedar Waxwing
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Pileated Woodpecker
White-crowned Sparrow
Rufous-sided Towhee
White-throated Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Blue Jay
Mallard
Red-shouldered Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Red-headed Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
American Robin
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
and to fill out the day list:
Gadwall
American Widgeon
Northern Shoveler
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Wild Turkey
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
House Sparrow
and
GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE!!
I got up this morning at 4:30am. It's 9:30pm now, and about 350 miles later. I'm going to bed soon, a happy birder!!
o o o
All of us drove down Wednesday evening (the refuge is 3 hours from our homes in northern Indiana). We had a fine New Year's Eve dinner at a Mexican restaurant, made all the more lively by sharing a couple of pitchers of margaritas!
We all got up early (I was staying 20 miles away at my sister's, so I was up at 4:30) and met at the local Cracker Barrel for a hearty hot breakfast to start the day. For you non-Americans, Cracker Barrel is a chain of 'country' restaurants, always situated at an interstate highway, and they serve awfully good, terribly high-cholesteral, death-defying 'Southern' food, and lots of it. And today was no exception -- all of us were served complimentary portions of Black-Eyed Peas, a 'southern' New Year's tradition. And as nice as that was, I did keep looking for the rest of the tradition . . . collard greens and moonshine . . . but somehow, they just didn't show up.
A year ago, we did this count in 36F degree weather and driving rain -- one of the most miserable days I've ever spent out in the field birding.
Today, however, dawned with a brilliant sunrise, clear skies, and a crowd twice as large as last year's. Great way to start the day!! Three of us got a Northern Cardinal as our 'year bird', the fourth got a Carolina Chickadee, all as we were leaving the nature center for our 'territory'.
We were given the north side of Richart Lake. The morning started with a drive alongside the lake, looking for a suitable place to leave the car before trekking out. And lo and behold!! SIX River Otters were playing in the open lake, beyond the skiff of ice at the edges, splashing about, tossing their fish breakfasts in the air before swallowing them down. 'Year mammal' (and a lifer mammal for one of us; three of us had seen them last year), and a nice way to start the territory.
We spent the morning trekking about our 'territory' and found some very nice birds (the list is below). Toward noon, we took a break to make a quick trip about the auto tour route in the central part of the refuge, then headed back to the center where the local wildlife society had packed in a nice hot lunch for the counters: various homemade soups, crackers, etc. The veggie soup REALLY hit the spot!!
One of the other counters was a gentleman from New Albany, a town along the Ohio River, about 45 minutes south of the refuge. He has been host to a terrifically lost bird, who has been visiting his backyard feeders daily since Dec. 10 and causing ALL kinds of excitment on IN-BIRD, the state birding chat. He was kind enough to share directions to his home, and said to go on down there (his parents were there as well, and kept urging everyone right along with him); it made no difference to him if he was home or not.
So we piled in the car and made a quick trip south. We arrived shortly after 1 p.m., and sure enough, no one was home. This fellow has been generous with any interested birder, however, and so we just followed the path now worn into his side yard around to the back and positioned ourselves in good sight of his feeders.
It took about 30 minutes, and this vagrant finally showed up to give us very brief looks, then vanished into the scrubby trees behind the feeders. We decided to wait a little longer, and about 15 minutes later . . . BINGO!! Out he came and gave us wonderful views, naked eye, binos and scope for at least 15 minutes.
What we were looking at? A GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, male, a bird about 2000 miles from his usual home in southern Arizona and New Mexico!!
B
o B All four of us had several minutes each at the scope, watching this bird feed in the grass under the feeders, occasionally doing that distinctive skritch-skritch step of a towhee. Beautiful rusty head, wonderful white throat with black striping at the edges, and a distinctive chartreuse-y green on the flanks and tail. What a gorgeous boy!!
Within moments, three more carloads of birders from the Muscatatuck count pulled up in front of the house. We waved them on to come quickly, and EVERYONE (and there were at least a dozen of us by now) got the opportunity to see this bird in the scope. What a cooperative bird!
This is the third state record for this bird, but the first in at least 38 years, and the first to be photographed and seen by hundreds of birders. What a thrill it was to be able to include this on a count day (although he won't count for the count), and to have it so accessible to us from the refuge!
We drove back to the refuge, did a little more birding off-territory, then started heading back to northern Indiana shortly after 5 p.m. We were two cars and the drive was uneventful until we reached the southern part of Indianapolis. Immediately after I passed under the interchange for the last exit before getting on 465 which circles the city, all three lanes in front of me lit with solid brake lights for as far ahead as I could see -- with NO opportunity to get off the interstate left! It was an accident.
Fortunately, Larry and I were a couple of miles ahead of John and Lisa, so I pulled out the cell phone, and told them to get off the interstate and take an alternate route, because who knew how long we would be motionless on the highway? They were able to exit and make a detour easily. As it turned out, the delay was only about 15 minutes, the accident was cleared to the side of the road, and we resumed heading north.
Even with the delays, we pulled into John's driveway 2 hours and 55 minutes after leaving the refuge -- marvelous time (especially considering that we hit rain about 30 miles south of home)!
The day's birding was pretty terrific, too, for wintertime in Indiana. We had a total of 31 species and 404 individuals while in our count territory, while the day's total species count was 47. We had really really hoped for the Bald Eagles that are resident on the refuge, but had no luck, although others did see them.
Here's our list on-territory:
Canada Goose
American Crow
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Carolina Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
East Bluebird
Cedar Waxwing
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Pileated Woodpecker
White-crowned Sparrow
Rufous-sided Towhee
White-throated Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Blue Jay
Mallard
Red-shouldered Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Red-headed Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
American Robin
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
and to fill out the day list:
Gadwall
American Widgeon
Northern Shoveler
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Wild Turkey
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
House Sparrow
and
GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE!!
I got up this morning at 4:30am. It's 9:30pm now, and about 350 miles later. I'm going to bed soon, a happy birder!!
o
o o
