Beehunter Marsh, Indiana |
It's a real test of a bird sanctuary to see what cool birds are around in the middle of the day in the middle of June on a 90 degree day.
A real test of the people silly enough to try it, too.
Our expectations for bird watching were low.
Beehunter was quiet. We didn't walk far enough to where we'd seen the bald eagle before, but we did see some geese.
The girls said that geese were boring. K2 wanted ducks. You know how she loves her ducks.
Lily was only going to be impressed by something spectacular, like the whooping cranes we saw there a couple of years ago.
So we got back in the car and drove on to Goose Pond.
Egrets and great blue heron, Goose Pond, Indiana |
That's the power of clay.
We pulled off Hwy 59, to watch for birds.
Herons |
A. Lot.
Black necked stilt and egret, 6/17/2012, Goose Pond, Indiana |
Black necked stilta are pretty common - on the other side of the Mississippi River.
As in, woo-hoo! This is a spectacular bird sighting. Very rare for Indiana.
In the middle of the day.
In the middle of June.
When it's 90 degrees outside.
And a stiff breeze is blowing.
We'd never seen anything like it and had forgotten the bird books [of course!], so we had to look it up when we got home that evening.
Lily figured out what it was and she was, indeed, impressed.
Black necked stilt, 6/17/2012, Goose Pond, Indiana |
I can definitely recommend Goose Pond NWR as a fabulous birding site, even at the most unlikely times and seasons. You never know what you're going to see there.
Egrets and black necked stilt, 6/17/2012, Goose Pond, Indiana |