Blown Away at Lye Creek Burn
On April 7, eleven adventurous birders joined ABAS recording secretary, Laurie Voss for a fun day at the Lye Creek Prairie Burn. “The Burn” provides great habitat for field birds and waterfowl, especially in the spring. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the calls of the Ring-necked Pheasant and shortly after that we heard some Northern Bobwhites calling. Unfortunately, those birds did not give us any visuals.
The day was quite windy with strong gusts, so the birds were generally staying low. However, the feeder area, which is protected, allowed for nice views of Field Sparrows, a Tree Sparrow, several White-crowned Sparrows, and the plentiful and vociferous Song Sparrows. Near the feeders was also a Winter Wren who was skulking in the reeds.
We trekked down the new path made by Shari McCollough- the new owner of The Burn- that goes to the water area. Unfortunately, there were no waterfowl that day. We noticed some dark clouds coming our way so felt we needed to get to the “Smith’s Longspur Area” across the road.
We had no luck finding any Smith’s there but we did get some nice looks at Vesper Sparrows and Savannah Sparrows. Since most birders had come to see the Smith’s, the adventure continued much further down the road to Roachdale, Indiana where Smith’s had been seen the week before.
Shortly after we arrived at the spot, we heard the rattle of the Smith’s and then saw some fly up and move out of sight to the east. We chased them and heard them again in a field about a quarter of a mile away. They continued their disappearing act in the corn stubbles. While there, we scanned the “floodle” in the area and picked up Pectoral Sandpipers and an American Pipit. After two hours of chasing the flock of about 22 Smith’s Longspurs, all participants got good looks at them. With target birds found, and high fives around, it was a successful day.