Birding Eagle Creek Park: Watery Wednesday

It is always nice to spend a morning at Eagle Creek Park in central Indiana during migration as I am not usually home during May or September. Rob and I arrived early to pretty clear skies but very quickly the clouds rolled in blanketing the sky. Warblers and other migrant passerines are usually more concentrated at sunrise when they feed in the areas warmed by the sun. The bugs start moving around earlier in the sun so the birds take advantage of the easier prey. Unfortunately when it is cloudy you can't take advantage of this behavior.

The clouds about to cover the sun.

Our first bird was a Snowy Egret which is a pretty unusual bird for Eagle Creek. I had found this bird about a week ago so knew it was around. We then headed to the marina for the expected warbler show. It took a while to find anything at all. Our first flock contained only three species of warblers. As we were driving out of the marina area we noticed a few other Eagle Creek birders had found a flock. This flock was much better and we had Blackburnian and Cape May in the mix.

Do you see the Geese?

We decided to go check the north end mudflats for shorebirds at this point. We, along with a couple other birders, hiked to the north end and found many shorebirds but little diversity. We were able to study many at somewhat close range including two cooperative Stilt Sandpipers. A Bald Eagle and two Black Terns were also fun to watch.


If you are ever in the central Indiana area during migration be sure to stop by Eagle Creek Park. It is excellent for warbler migration in May and September and sometimes has lots of waterfowl and shorebirds.

Check out more great Watery Wednesday posts here.