Salamonie Reservoir Field Trip
Saturday, April 26, 2008

Thirteen participants in Stockbridge Audubon Society's field trip to Salamonie Reservoir met 23 participants in the Salamonie Birding Extravaganza for a morning in Salamonie River State Forest (I took the Extravaganza group separately from the Stockbridge group for most of the morning). Stockbridge members then continued around the reservoir in the afternoon. In spite of high winds all day, and cold and clouds in the morning, we had an unexpectedly good day, tallying a combined group total of 100 species even, including 17 warblers. FOS means first of season.

Best bird was a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW feeding on a driveway on the north side of Division Road, Huntington County, less than a mile east of the Wabash Co. line. This is the fifth northeast Indiana record of the species since our modern records began in the 1960s, and the first April record. Other migrants:

Double-crested Cormorant 12
Green Heron 2
Sora 1
Am. Coot 6
Solitary Sandpiper 3
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Dunlin 1 FOS
Chimney Swift 6
Least Flycatcher 1 FOS
E. Phoebe 2
E. Kingbird 1 FOS
Vireo: White-eyed 2, Blue-headed 3, Yellow-throated 1 FOS, Warbling 3,
Red-eyed 1 FOS
Swallow: Tree, N. Rough-winged, Barn
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
House Wren 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6 or more
Veery 1
Swainson's Thrush 2
Hermit Thrush 2
Wood Thrush 1 FOS
Gray Catbird 6 fos
N. Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 2
Warblers:
. Tennessee 2 FOS
. Nashville 5
. N. Parula 3
. Yellow 3
. Yellow-rumped 25 or so
. Black-throated Green 2
. Yellow-throated 3
. Pine 1
. Prairie 1
. Palm 4
. Cerulean 1 FOS
. Black and White 2
. Ovenbird 1
. Louisiana Waterthrush 4
. Kentucky 1 FOS
. Common Yellowthroat 1 FOS
. Hooded 1 FOS
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 4
Baltimore Oriole 3
Purple Finch 3
Pine Siskin 6

- - Jim Haw

Wabash Co. ACRES preserves
Sat, Apr 19, 2008

Mother Nature gave us intermittent showers but otherwise a pleasant day for the joint field trip of Stockbridge Audubon Society and ACRES Land Trust to two ACRES properties, Kokiwanee Preserve (K below) and Hathaway Preserve at Ross Run (R below), both in Wabash County. The rain probably held down the number of participants; we had only ten for the morning at Kokiwanee, with seven
staying into the afternoon for Ross Run.

We recorded 57 species for the day, including seven new arrivals for the
year. Highlights:

Chimney Swift 1 at Huntington enroute, 1 R; FOS
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2 K
Pileated Woodpecker 1 on Division Rd., Wabash Co.; 1 K
Eastern Phoebe 1 K, 1 R
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow 1 Salamonie dam; FOS
House Wren 1 K
Winter Wren 1 R
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 K
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6 or so K, 1 R
Northern Parula 1 Salamonie R. State Forest (heard from K), 1 R; my FOS
Yellow Warbler 1 Huntington enroute; FOS
Yellow-throated Warbler 1 SR State Forest (heard from K); 3 R; FOS
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6+ K, 4+ R
Palm Warbler 1 R; FOS
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER 1 R; FOS, NE IN's earliest by one day
Louisiana Waterthrush 1 Division Rd. Wabash Co, 3 K, 1 R

A seven-warbler day! Finally things are starting to happen.

- - Jim Haw

Cedarville Reservoir Bird Trip
Saturday, April 12

The Sunday afternoon Stockbridge Audubon Society field trip (13 people on a raw, nasty day) ended up at Cedarville Reservoir, Allen Co., instead of Hurshtown as scheduled due to unexpected complications. There were few birds, but one of some note:
Canada Goose
Mallard
N. Shoveler 1
Ruddy Duck 1
Double-crested Cormorant 15
Turkey Vulture 3
Tree Swallow 15-20
N. Rough-winged Swallow 2 or more
Bank Swallow 1, FOS; earliest spring date for NE Indiana is Apr. 12, so this bird is just one day off a record
Barn Swallow 2 or more

- - Jim Haw

Little River Wetlands Eagle Marsh Bird Trip
Saturday, April 12

The weather was nasty--low 40s, high winds, and intermittent rain showers. But still, seventeen people showed up for Stockbridge Audubon Society/Little River Wetlands Project's joint field trip to Eagle Marsh. In spite of the weather, we recorded at least 37 species on the Eagle Marsh property:
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall 8
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal 100 or so
N. Shoveler 20
Green-winged Teal 15
Redhead 1
Ring-necked Duck 60
Pied-billed Grebe 8
Horned Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Am. Coot 100
Killdeer 3
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4
N. Flicker
Blue Jay
Tree Swallow
N. Rough-winged Swallow 1
Am. Robin
Brown Thrasher 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
E. Towhee 1
Field Sparrow 1
Vesper Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow
N. Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
E. Meadowlark
Brown-headed Cowbird

- - Jim Haw

Cedar Swamp Wetland Conservation Area Bird Trip
Saturday, April 5

Thirteen birders joined Stockbridge Audubon Society's field trip to Cedar Swamp Wetland Conservation Area, Steuben Co, on the first sunny, warm, real spring morning of the year here. We found 50 species at Cedar Swamp, including our first Great Egret of the year. There were seventeen species of ducks, geese, and swans:
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
Am. Wigeon
Am. Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
N. Shoveler
N. Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser

Also found were Pied-billed Grebe, Am. Coot, Sandhill Crane, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Fox Sparrow.

- - Jim Haw

Field Trip Report
Sat. March 22 - Kankakee FWA; leave at 7:00 a.m. EDT return 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Leaders: Jim Haw, Ed Powers

The morning was not conducive to birding in Fort Wayne, with light snow, and freezing rain overnight leaving roads deceptively slick in spots, and a cold, piercing wind blowing. Nevertheless, seven hardy birders showed up in the predawn hours for Stockbridge Audubon Society's first "spring" field trip, to Kankakee FWA. We spent most of the day there, then did a quick check of Kingsbury marsh. The day's total was 62 species.

Highlight was the previously reported Whooping Crane at Kankakee, which put on a good show for us on the west side of 300W north of Toto Rd. We recorded a total of 23 species of ducks, geese, and swans (22 species at Kankakee plus Common Merganser added at Kingsbury), many species in large numbers, plus Pied-billed and Horned Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants, Am. Coots, and
Sandhill Cranes, all at Kankakee. The more unusual waterfowl included 7 Gr. White-fronted Geese at jct. 8 and 39; about 25 Snow Geese on the NW side of Kankakee; 4 Tundra Swans west of Kankakee HQ and about 20 more in the NW part of the area. Land bird highlights at Kankakee were two Bald Eagles, about 10 Tree Swallows, and a flock of Rusty Blackbirds.
- - Jim Haw