By Chuck Anderson
At 9:00 am on Saturday, April 9, 2022, 16 volunteers from ABAS, Indiana Wildlife Federation (IWF), and Teter Retreat and Organic Farm met to conduct a bird count on the property. The retreat and farm consist of 120 acres and is an outreach mission of the Noblesville First United Methodist Church. Much of the 40 varieties of mixed vegetables grown go to local food pantries, food banks, and feeding programs.
After brief introductions and donuts, we broke into three groups to fully cover the property and locate and identify as many birds as possible. The weather was not very cooperative as it was 33 degrees and windy when we started with clouds and a light mist. Nonetheless, spirits were high as we headed off to bird.
In general, the birds were quite active and our final count for the morning was 40 species with 197 individual birds seen or heard. The best birds of the day were an unexpected White-eyed Vireo, two Barred Owls communicating with each other, a single American Bald Eagle, and an early Wood Thrush.
We plan to conduct an ABAS field trip to Teter Retreat during the Fall migration so others can experience this hidden gem.