4/9/2021 - 4/11/2021
Sometimes, it is just weird the way things turn out....
If you are here to look at bird pics, skip ahead. This weekend started out Friday evening. Carmen and I headed to Fort Ben to look for wildflowers. We found quite a few species, and I tried out my new lens some more. Redbud, Canadian Ginger, Flowering Dogwood, White Fawn Lilly, Squirrelcorn, Bloodroot, Sharp-lobed Hepatica, False Rue Anemone, Bristly Buttercup, and Virginia Spring Beauty were among many species that we saw.
I also got a little shooting in during the week. Common Chickweed and Common Whitlowgrass. Both are invasives.... Seems you cannot look into anything anymore without discovering it does not belong in your area.
Well, how about them birds, then? I slipped out for a little bit Friday morning. I was really hoping to find some warblers, but I did not have much luck. I did see the American Bittern that has been grabbing a lot of attention, recently. It was not overly interested in having its picture taken, though. I heard my first Louisiana Waterthrush at the park. As I drove out, I heard my first Northern Parula of the year. All in all, a bit of a slow morning.
Saturday, I headed out before the rain. I arrived at the bittern spot to find the local celebrity was putting on a bit of a show; catching and eating some pretty large tadpoles.
At one point, the bittern had caught a fairly large tadpole, but I guess they are kind of round and slippery. It popped out of his bill and disappeared. The look of disappointment on the bittern's face is a bit priceless.
Unlike the previous morning, I heard quite a few warblers. Yellow-throated were singing throughout the park, but they were pretty high up in the trees. I had several Louisiana Waterthrush and a single Pine Warbler. I also saw a few Northern Parula. One was even responsive to some pishing and allowed a quick photo before popping back up higher. Again, the morning was a bit slower than I had hoped. Next weekend will be better!
As I left, the rain set in. I went home and picked up Carmen for our road trip. A Barnacle Goose has been present in northern Indiana for a couple weeks, and I decided it was a good day to head up. Carmen went along so we could pick up pizza at one of our favorite restaurants in the area. As we drove north, we chatted and talked over random things. This is what lead into our moment of serendipity. A quick recap of the moments leading up to it goes like this-
* I asked Carmen is she needed to stop before heading on to look for the goose - she did.
* After Carmen came back to the car, I headed in, where I noticed that Green Day's cover of "I Think We're Along Now" was playing.
* I mentioned it to Carmen after getting back in the car and how I thought it was weird that Green Day was covering Tiffany.
* Carmen mentioned that Tiffany's version was a cover, too. She said it was originally a Beatles song. I questioned her on that.
* The internet swooped in to confirm that the song was originally performed by Tommy James and the Shondells.
* Carmen then noted that the only song she knew by Tommy James was, "Crimson and Clover". We both agreed that was a good song and listened to the original version. Thanks again, internet!
So, where does all this go? Well, we arrived at the goose location about 5 minutes after all of this. We found the goose, but I noted that it might be possible to see it closer from the neighborhood across the pond. So, I headed over and started winding my way through the neighborhood towards where I thought the goose would be. As I was approaching the next corner in the neighborhood, I looked up at the street name and started laughing. The next street was Crimson Clover Way. It made for a funny moment.
One serendipitous moment and an IDable goose shot later, we headed off for pizza and the long ride home. Time will tell whether this is a countable bird or not. The IRBC will have to review submitted reports and other information and try to determine if the bird is wild and lost or basically an escaped pet. It is hard to say what they will decide. It would be an ABA record for me, but not a true lifer; I have seen them in Belgium, before.
Sunday, we slept in and enjoyed a rainy morning hanging out. Hoping next week bring more and better warbler photo ops!
Thanks for reading,
Mike