EAGLE SLOUGH MARCH 16th

I decided to do a little scouting for tomorrow's bird hike at Eagle Slough. It was too nice to just stay inside this morning. I found 35 species with a FOY (first of year) sighting of Brown Thrasher and a lone Winter Wren (FINALLY). I think it is very interesting that I did not see a Winter Wren during December, January or February but finally find one during a record-breaking March day. What a strange year!
Other birds of note were Fox Sparrows, Golden and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Rusty Blackbirds, Hooded Mergansers, lots of Flickers, Eastern Towhees and Brown Creepers. Spring/Summer weather continues with highs in the upper 70's to lower 80's for the next week. Good things should start showing up soon!

Why Do I Need To Leave Home To Watch Good Birds?

FEMALE PILEATED WOODPECKER

This morning as we were preparing to fix breakfast I heard a familiar song among the dozens of loud voices in our yard. It was a song not heard normally in our neighborhood but one that brings the blood pressure up whenever I hear it. It was the song of a Pileated Woodpecker. I ran to the window and sure enough, a female Pileated Woodpecker was busy excavating a nesting cavity in a Sweet gum tree in our back yard. I quickly grabbed my camera and snapped off a couple of poor photos before Mr. Pileated called and she dutifully flew off to find what he had to offer.

The Pileated Woodpecker is our largest woodpecker in Indiana and rare enough that everyone has it on their must see list each year. We have been lucky enough to have them in our backyard habitat about 3 or 4 times each year but never during nesting season. Perhaps this will be the year. In Southwestern Indiana the best place to find the nesting Pileated Woodpecker is Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve, Eagle Slough Natural Area and Howell Wetlands, on Evansville's west side. You can also find them at Burdette Park and along the new University of Southern Indiana bike trail.

Spring has sprung about 2-3 weeks early in Southwestern Indiana. We set a record for a March high temp yesterday with a high of 82 degrees. This streak of "hot" weather is forecasted to last through the end of next week! WHAT'S UP WITH THAT! More and more trees are flowering and shrubs are busting out with buds and blooms. By the time the wood warblers make their way back to the tri-state the leaves will be full and we will be hard pressed to find them. The good news is that the insect hatch is really early and the birds who layed their eggs early will have plenty of good eating for their young. We need to cross our fingers, toes and eyes to make sure it continues. A hard freeze now will be catastrophic!

EARLY SPRING BRINGS GREAT BIRDS TO PATOKA

WILSON'S SNIPE

Steve Gifford, Jim Campbell and I birded the Patoka National Wildlife Refuge in northern Gibson County, Indiana on Tuesday, March 6th. We were in search of water birds that might have come in on the heavy southern winds of the previous 3 nights. We were not disappointed. The species count for the day was 73! That was the second highest March species count in my record books. The only one that was higher was 75 but it was taken on March 31st three years ago. 73 species for an early March day is excellent.

Highlights for the day were the close encounter of the Wilson's Snipe kind (pictured above), hundreds of Pintail Ducks, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpipers and a very early American Golden Plover. We also were able to view 7 immature Bald Eagles. All-in-all a very productive and enjoyable day with two great birding friends.

Patoka National Wildlife Refuge is a collection of wetlands, fields and lowland river bottoms along the Patoka River in Southwest Indiana. During the winter months it holds thousands of ducks, geese and other water birds. It also is the only nesting area for the Interior Least Tern in the state of Indiana, at it's Cane Ridge unit in western Gibson County. For those of us who love the sight of Pintails, Wigeons, Mallards, Gadwalls, Ruddy Ducks, Wood Ducks and the dozens of other ducks and geese found in the Mississippi Flyway, Patoka National Wildlife Refuge is the place to go in the first 3 months of the year. It never disappoints, and you never know what wandering avian delight might show up or when.

CHANGES IN THE WEATHER

Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

FINALLY! I finally found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Howell Wetlands this morning during our weekly bird hike. Sapsuckers typically spend the winter in the Tri-state area but this year they were few and far between. The photo on the left was taken at our feeder in 2010 and is a male. The bird we spotted today was a juvenile female, just getting her breeding season plumage.

The other event for the day were 3 Northern Flickers trying to determine who was going to take possession of a nesting cavity. Quite the donniebrook.

With the passage of the storm front yesterday, the temperatures dropped dramatically from the 70's yesterday to the upper 20's this morning. We are hoping a significant number of early spring migrants will hunker down here until the weather warms up again. Reports of many shorebirds at Cane Ridge and Oaksville Bottoms has brought smiles to most birder's faces.