300th Species of the Year

With spring migration well under way in southern Indiana and the warblers moving through, I found my 300th species of the year. I couldn't ask for a much better bird at 300 than a singing Nashville Warbler. Right after the Nashville I found an Eared Grebe in transitional plumage a few hundred yards off the shore of Paynetown SRA. Eared Grebes are a fairly rare bird in Indiana so it was a great way to start off the day.

Black Vulture-There have been 2 Black Vultures soaring about Paynetown lately.

I hadn't taken much of a hike in Paynetown SRA this spring so I headed that way. I was hoping for warblers but the best birds turned out to be vireos. I was able to see my first Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos of the year. I then drove across the causeway to Cutright SRA. There weren't too many birds but I was able to watch my first Eastern Kingbird of the year.

Northern Flicker-A common Indiana woodpecker, most are much more skittish than this.

I decided to go looking for rails at this point. The best area for rails in the area are two large wetlands at the end of Friendship Road. I had no luck on the rails but I was able to find a LeConte's Sparrow. I had never had one of these sparrows in Indiana during spring migration and it was my first ever for Monroe County.