I (along with my friend John) spent some time today at Goose Pond, FWA in Linton, IN, and as always, I left pleased and happy that I went. The Fish and Wildlife Area is managed by the State DNR and has to be one of the best places to bird in Indiana. GPFWA is an 8,000 acre restored wetland area that hosts an enormous amount of wildlife - especially birds! Recently, Goose Pond recorded Indiana's first Roseate Spoonbill! I gained one (potentially 2) lifers during my visit - Blue Grosbeak! I have not confirmed the other just yet, it's either an American Bittern or Black-crowned Night Heron. We'll see what the professionals have to say! Nonetheless, the Blue Grosbeak brought my World Life List to 403 and my Indiana Life List to 187! Through today I have seen 284 species of birds in 2009, 136 species in Indiana. I would love to hit 200 species this year in Indiana. Time is running out!
Anyway, here are some pictures from my day at Goose Pond FWA. Enjoy!
Indigo Bunting, a very, very young Indigo Bunting... My friend found this cute/ ugly little bird as we were being scolded very violently by an extremely hyper female. We knew instantly we were near her nest as she put on quiet a show for us! We took a few pictures and let them be.
Indigo Bunting... the proud parent that DID NOT appreciate our presence today!
Field Sparrow... one of only two Sparrows for the day. We saw several but I am very cautious with Sparrows at this stage of my birding hobby. They are in and out of the grass, I just never feel like I get a good look.
Monarch Caterpillar... Always a treat to see. This one here is on a Milkweed plant which is where Monarchs typically lay their eggs. Of course you can see a large number of Aphids as well - unfortunately!
Monarch... there was lots of Milkweed and lots of Monarchs. Awesome!
Green Heron... not the best picture but it's the best I could get today. I am not sure how many of these we seen today but they were present in mass. There was also a large number of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons.
1 comment:
Sounds like you had a great day at GP. Send the pic of the bittern/night-heron sometime for me to take a look at!
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