Northern Indiana - Fall
Jo and Charlotte, from our club, bought a lakefront field trip
lead by Kate and I at an auction earlier this year. What
possessed them to spend more than a buck on us is beyond me, but
we finally were able to put a date together to pay off the debt.
Saturday, the 16th was that day.
Lakefront birding is perfect for these ladies. For the most
part, when you bird the lakefront, you pull your car up to the
spot closest to the lake in the parking lot, get out your scope
and then look. Then you get back in the car and move on. There
is not much walking which is perfect for one lady with artificial
knees and a bad back and another lady with a heart condition.
Not to mention a just barely overweight guy who likes his
Twinkies.
Originally, we figured we'd start downtown and then work our way
up to Montrose, Northwestern University and points north. But
the Chicago hotline was reporting much more interesting things in
northern Indiana, so we picked up our guests and headed south
instead of north.
Our first stop was Marquette Park which is at the east end of
Gary and right along the beach at almost exactly the southernmost
point of Lake Michigan. It is ideal for fall and winter ducking
since you can pull your car literally right up to where you set
up your scope. In addition, there is a shelter where you can
hide from the wind on a high spot that gives you a pretty above
average view.
The first bird we saw was a GOLDENEYE. Then another. Then
another. Ok, what else can we find? Way out in the distance,
we
saw a loon. But what kind? It dived a lot and kept moving east,
away from us. We walked along the beach but it was a losing
battle. Don't ever try to keep up with a diving and traveling
loon.
Another field trip showed up and it looked like an artillery
battery with all the scopes. As they were scanning, another loon
showed up...waaaayyyyy out there. I put the scope on it and
zoomed way out to 60 power. Let's see....white neck with a clean
line separating the nape from the front...tiny bill...a RED-THROATED LOON.
"Quick, Kate,
have a look. Did you get it? Ok."
High-fives were raised to celebrate a lifer.
Meanwhile, the rest of a group was trying to find a Western Grebe
that was riding out there at "the limits of conjecture," to quote
Pete Dunne. We never found it and, frankly, nobody else "got"
it.
They did tell us about another location to check out...Michigan
City Harbor. They had seen some pretty interesting things.
So
we headed further east.
When we arrived at the harbor, I could see the breakwater that we
had been told had all the birds around it. Unfortunately, it
looked like about a 1/4 mile walk out to the lighthouse that
provided the best view of the breakwater. Our guests were
willing, so we struck out on our trek. I walked a little ahead
to see if there was anything out there so that I could save them
a walk. When I arrived, there was another fellow with a scope
and I asked him if he'd seen anything.
He said there was a SNOWY OWL out there but he challenged me to
find it. Ha Ha...little did he know how well I could find
snowys. I set up the scope, began my pan and found it almost
instantly. He whined a little about how long it took him to find
it and how little time it took me.
He then pointed out a shorebird that he could not dope out. I
got a glimpse of it before it flew out of view. It kinda looked
like a red phalarope, but....
Then OLDSQUAW, a COMMON LOON, a GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL, HORNED
GREBE, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT and BUFFLEHEAD all made
appearances.
Some walkers came out and we showed them terrific views of the
very cooperative Snowy. Its always fun to see civilians get
excited about birds. And a beautiful Snow Owl can accomplish
that very nicely.
All this time, we were trying to relocate the Red Phalarope. But
no luck. A distant feeling of peckishness forced us to abandon
the site in search of lunch. I told the guy that was staying
that he should keep an eye out for the Red Phalarope. It was
bound to show up when we left and he'd owe us all a beer.
We had a slow walk back and by the time we got back to the car,
he was on our heels. "Hey, I guess I owe you that beer."
Arrrggghhhhh. |
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