April 24. Muscatatuck NWR
I arrived in Seymour, Indiana late afternoon and went directly to Muscatatuck which is several miles east of town. There was a fair amount of traffic on the interior roads with fishermen and Friday night birders and wildlife viewers. The visitor center was closed so I began to refamilarize myself with the refuge. The same cooperative prothonotary warbler was at the bridge and he immediately attacked my mirrors and windshield. This bird apparently has been entertaining birders for three years now in the same spot. You simply park near the bridge and he will find you. I pity the poor birders who have waded through swamps to view a prothonotary when all they had to do was park by this bridge. The Redbud are in full bloom along with a number of other flowering shrubs. Hopefully the birds will cooperate and move into the more colorful trees and shrubs. The prothonotary, however, seems more interested in attacking my truck than in posing in the redbud.
I returned to Seymour and found a convenient WalMart. I pulled into the east end of the lot and backed into a spot with a fence and shrub border. Probably the most "wild and natural" WalMart spot I have ever camped at. Upon setting up I discovered I had no power. Either a bad battery or the charger is not working. I debated on buying a new battery in WalMart but then decided I didn't really need it just to sleep.
April 25, Seymour
Temperature have been in the high 80's although it cooled off enough for sleeping last night. I got to Muscatatuck almost an hour before sunrise and found the mechanical gate (which is suppose to open at sunrise-close automatically at sunset) was open. It was windy for this early in the morning and that is going to create some problems for photography. I listened for the dawn chorus and heard about ten species. A yellow-throated warbler was singing high over the visitor center and I decided to try for him first but after almost an hour he was not in any mood to come down lower from the tree canopy. I decided to move onto a "sure thing" which was the attack bird, bridge loving, prothonotary warbler. Dependable as ever, he appeared, but again was more interested in the truck than posing nicely but I managed a couple shots. I moved on to the main road and worked several large flowering trees for prairie warbler. During that time a black-billed cuckoo made its appearance along with a white-eyed vireo. I bagged the vireo but not the cuckoo.
I drove back to Seymour after lunch and got a cheap room at the AllState ($35). The shower felt good. I downloaded and sorted images and then returned to the refuge. I tried for a henslow's sparrow I had heard by the overflow visitor center parking lot but never got a good look at him. The wind is strong, making sharp images almost impossible. I returned to the hotel.
April 26.
I returned to the refuge again at sunrise and worked the "bridge prothonotary" and several prairie warblers. I explored some other parts of the sanctuary and found some wet wooded areas and a few small lakes which seem to be quite popular with the fishermen. I worked a brushline at the edge of a grassy area and found several ticks on me along with a pair of yellow-breasted chats and a blue-winged warbler, but did not get any images. At noon I left and headed for Brown County State Park.
The State Park was a zoo. It seemed as if there were several thousand people using the place. There was also a series of bike races through the park which kept you on your toes. They charge a $7 entry fee and then the camping on top of that. The park is huge, however, and the campground is blocked off from the rest of the traffic and action. It is built on large ridges, so that the back of most campsites are on the edge of huge valleys giving great views. In fact the park has fantastic vistas whereever you drive. They let the campers stay until 5 pm, at least on Sundays, and after that I had a large segment of the park completely to myself. The redbuds are in full bloom. I tried for hooded warbler, baltimore oriole, gnatcatchers, and yellow-throated warblers without success until sundown. I have power tonight so the dead battery won't be a problem.
April 27.
Warm and windy. Nothing cooperative at my campsite so I packed up and begin exploring. I found a great spot with many redbud and begin to see what was around. A very cooperative worm-eating warbler finally appeared. I have not been able to get good images at migrant traps in the past so that was great. On the way out I heard a Kentucky warbler singing and it turned out be very photogenic. The Kentucky and worm-eating warbler were my two southern target species so
I left Brown Co very happy. Still very windy and warm but a front is going to be moving through so I thought I would drive up to Crane Creek, Ohio for some possible early migrants that might wait out the bad weather on the shores of Lake Erie. I got to Maumee SP too late for photography so I spent the rest of the evening editing.
April 28.
Starting to rain. I walk the boardwalk at Crane Creek in rain gear. There were three other birders there. A few warblers, some northern waterthrush, but too much rain for photography. I decide to begin heading home with a stop at Gull Lake and Allegan SGA. I had just gotten to Gull Lake when I got a call to head for Spectrum ER. Thankfully everything was under control when I got there.
Edie felt like doing something after the hospital experience so we headed to Fennville and ate at a mexican restaurant there. Edie found it by asking a young man on a crotch rocket at the gas station (Edie takes her job as restaurant chooser very seriously!). Apparently the restaurant has been a fixture there for many years but moved into a brand new facility four times as big a couple years ago. I hadn't expected much but it was great-authentic mexican with the different salsas brought to the table and a huge menu. They have a small mexican grocery store in one corner. After eating we toured several of the back roads in Allegan SGA. The dogwood are not in bloom yet and few of the migrating birds either were quiet or had not yet returned.
I arrived in Seymour, Indiana late afternoon and went directly to Muscatatuck which is several miles east of town. There was a fair amount of traffic on the interior roads with fishermen and Friday night birders and wildlife viewers. The visitor center was closed so I began to refamilarize myself with the refuge. The same cooperative prothonotary warbler was at the bridge and he immediately attacked my mirrors and windshield. This bird apparently has been entertaining birders for three years now in the same spot. You simply park near the bridge and he will find you. I pity the poor birders who have waded through swamps to view a prothonotary when all they had to do was park by this bridge. The Redbud are in full bloom along with a number of other flowering shrubs. Hopefully the birds will cooperate and move into the more colorful trees and shrubs. The prothonotary, however, seems more interested in attacking my truck than in posing in the redbud.
I returned to Seymour and found a convenient WalMart. I pulled into the east end of the lot and backed into a spot with a fence and shrub border. Probably the most "wild and natural" WalMart spot I have ever camped at. Upon setting up I discovered I had no power. Either a bad battery or the charger is not working. I debated on buying a new battery in WalMart but then decided I didn't really need it just to sleep.
April 25, Seymour
Temperature have been in the high 80's although it cooled off enough for sleeping last night. I got to Muscatatuck almost an hour before sunrise and found the mechanical gate (which is suppose to open at sunrise-close automatically at sunset) was open. It was windy for this early in the morning and that is going to create some problems for photography. I listened for the dawn chorus and heard about ten species. A yellow-throated warbler was singing high over the visitor center and I decided to try for him first but after almost an hour he was not in any mood to come down lower from the tree canopy. I decided to move onto a "sure thing" which was the attack bird, bridge loving, prothonotary warbler. Dependable as ever, he appeared, but again was more interested in the truck than posing nicely but I managed a couple shots. I moved on to the main road and worked several large flowering trees for prairie warbler. During that time a black-billed cuckoo made its appearance along with a white-eyed vireo. I bagged the vireo but not the cuckoo.
I drove back to Seymour after lunch and got a cheap room at the AllState ($35). The shower felt good. I downloaded and sorted images and then returned to the refuge. I tried for a henslow's sparrow I had heard by the overflow visitor center parking lot but never got a good look at him. The wind is strong, making sharp images almost impossible. I returned to the hotel.
April 26.
I returned to the refuge again at sunrise and worked the "bridge prothonotary" and several prairie warblers. I explored some other parts of the sanctuary and found some wet wooded areas and a few small lakes which seem to be quite popular with the fishermen. I worked a brushline at the edge of a grassy area and found several ticks on me along with a pair of yellow-breasted chats and a blue-winged warbler, but did not get any images. At noon I left and headed for Brown County State Park.
The State Park was a zoo. It seemed as if there were several thousand people using the place. There was also a series of bike races through the park which kept you on your toes. They charge a $7 entry fee and then the camping on top of that. The park is huge, however, and the campground is blocked off from the rest of the traffic and action. It is built on large ridges, so that the back of most campsites are on the edge of huge valleys giving great views. In fact the park has fantastic vistas whereever you drive. They let the campers stay until 5 pm, at least on Sundays, and after that I had a large segment of the park completely to myself. The redbuds are in full bloom. I tried for hooded warbler, baltimore oriole, gnatcatchers, and yellow-throated warblers without success until sundown. I have power tonight so the dead battery won't be a problem.
April 27.
Warm and windy. Nothing cooperative at my campsite so I packed up and begin exploring. I found a great spot with many redbud and begin to see what was around. A very cooperative worm-eating warbler finally appeared. I have not been able to get good images at migrant traps in the past so that was great. On the way out I heard a Kentucky warbler singing and it turned out be very photogenic. The Kentucky and worm-eating warbler were my two southern target species so
I left Brown Co very happy. Still very windy and warm but a front is going to be moving through so I thought I would drive up to Crane Creek, Ohio for some possible early migrants that might wait out the bad weather on the shores of Lake Erie. I got to Maumee SP too late for photography so I spent the rest of the evening editing.April 28.
Starting to rain. I walk the boardwalk at Crane Creek in rain gear. There were three other birders there. A few warblers, some northern waterthrush, but too much rain for photography. I decide to begin heading home with a stop at Gull Lake and Allegan SGA. I had just gotten to Gull Lake when I got a call to head for Spectrum ER. Thankfully everything was under control when I got there.
Edie felt like doing something after the hospital experience so we headed to Fennville and ate at a mexican restaurant there. Edie found it by asking a young man on a crotch rocket at the gas station (Edie takes her job as restaurant chooser very seriously!). Apparently the restaurant has been a fixture there for many years but moved into a brand new facility four times as big a couple years ago. I hadn't expected much but it was great-authentic mexican with the different salsas brought to the table and a huge menu. They have a small mexican grocery store in one corner. After eating we toured several of the back roads in Allegan SGA. The dogwood are not in bloom yet and few of the migrating birds either were quiet or had not yet returned.
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