WINDING UP JANUARY

With only a couple of days remaining in January, I thought I would review the month. Don't think it will be a monthly thing. It is just that I have had an outstanding month with a total of 90 species found during the month. That is the highest January in my birding history. Most of the success can be attributed to the HUGE influx of waterfowl we have currently at Cane Ridge National Wildlife Refuge and Tern Bar Slough Fish and Wildlife Area in western Gibson County.
We also have had good success with perching birds at Eagle Slough Natural Area and Howell Wetlands in Vanderburgh County.
Cane Ridge and the surrounding area is by far the winner when it comes to birding right now. Three times this month I have had a 50 species + day. Total species count for the area through today (Sunday, January 29th) is 65. The only common waterfowl/waterbird I have missed this month is the Blue-winged Teal and that is not unusual. I typically do not find that bird until the early parts of March.
The real draw for the area is the large number of Bald and Golden Eagles. Today I found 9 Bald Eagles (2 adults and 7 juveniles) and 2 GOLDEN EAGLES. I have been told there may be as many as 4 Goldies in the area, but it is difficult to determine species with so many immature Bald Eagles flying in the same area. The two I got glasses on this morning were both perched and easy to ID.
Yesterday (Saturday, Janaury 28th) was a good day at Eagle Slough. We had 8 people join us for the monthly bird hike there. We tallied 22 species but the highlight was good looks at Golden-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers. (first for the year) We are also starting to see larger number of northern visitors since there has been more snow in the northern areas of the country.
It will be tough for February to eclipse January but we won't stop trying. I have at least two trips to Cane Ridge planned and at least one trip at the end of February to Goose Pond.