Birding in Hamilton County

Birding in Hamilton County
By John Troth

Good birding can be found throughout Hamilton County. This article will highlight a few of the parks, with comments about habitat, examples of birds that may be seen and seasonal recommendations. As always, seeing a target species may require more than one visit, especially for the less common birds! Species noted are birds you can reasonably hope to find each year.

Winter

Beginning early in the year, in the winter months, overwintering and migrating waterfowl can be found on the reservoirs as well as many smaller lakes. Geist Waterfront Park in Fishers and adjacent areas across Olio Road can be excellent for ducks including the scaup species, Buffleheads, Redheads and Canvasbacks, to name a few. Just north of Noblesville, Morse Park is also a good location to check for these species. Migrating Common Loons, the merganser species and both Horned and Pied-billed Grebes may also be present. In late winter, Tundra Swans and American White Pelicans may also stopover as they travel north. Another winter highlight can be sighting a Short-eared Owl hunting in very late afternoon over the grassy strips at the Sheridan Airport, often not appearing until near or even after sunset. The airport area can also be checked for Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs and American Kestrels.

Sightings of resident owls are always a treat and may occur in any of the mentioned parks. In recent years, as dusk approaches, an Eastern Screech-Owl can sometimes be seen in a cavity entrance near the Woodland Garden in Central Park. Great Horned Owls have been nesting in Flowing Well Park and may be seen on their high daytime perches in late winter and early spring. Barred Owls perched near the wooded trails in West Park and Ritchey Woods Nature Preserve in Fishers may be most easily seen before trees have fully leafed out.

Spring

In spring and again in autumn, migrating wetland birds can be seen around bodies of water in several parks, especially when low water levels expose wet lake margins as habitat. Ponds to visit include those in Central and West Parks, and in Coxhall Gardens. Birds to look for include Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers, Wilson’s Snipe and Swamp Sparrows. West Park’s pond habitat is also a place to watch for migrating Soras and Virginia Rails, species that require patience to see as they forage in and out of the cattails at the pond margins. Each year, several birders see additional migrating shorebirds in seasonally wet low areas in farm fields in the northern part of the county.

From late April through May, warblers and vireos take center stage as they stop over on their way north or arrive for the summer. Hamilton County parks are not the famed “warbler traps”, but with a few spring visits many migrating birds can be tallied! Cool Creek Park, on the border of Carmel and Westfield, is a wooded site that is a favorite of many local birders during warbler migration. The area of the park around the north parking lot is a suggested starting point. Bird walks in Cool Creek Park are scheduled weekly. Other wooded parks around the county known for sightings of warblers and other small birds during migration include Hazel Landing Park, Central Park and West Park in Carmel, Strawtown Koteewi Park just east of Cicero, and Ritchey Woods. The swamp area in Ritchey Woods is good habitat in which to see the waterthrush species, Swainson’s Thrushes, Ovenbirds and Swamp Sparrows. On good stopover days, small migrant birds may be seen in all our parks, busily searching from branch to branch for the food needed to fuel their continued migration.

Summer

In summer, after migration, Hamilton County parks are home to many bird species that nest and raise their young locally. In early summer, these birds are active throughout the day foraging out from their nests to bring back the insects needed to raise their young. To watch birds that include fruit in their diet, a mulberry or Amelanchier (serviceberry) tree with ripe fruit can be a great place to watch foraging birds. This past spring, a mulberry tree at the edge of the water in Geist Park was almost continuously visited by a mix of species that included Baltimore Orioles, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Cedar Waxwings, Blue Jays, Common Grackles, American Robins, and of course European Starlings. As a bonus, a colony of nesting Cliff Swallows flew in and out from the underside of the nearby highway bridge at the east end of the park.

There are of course many added species to look for in all our parks. In recent summers, examples have included Willow Flycatchers in Ritchey Woods and Central Park, Yellow-billed Cuckoos in River Heritage and Hazel Landing Parks, Orchard Orioles in Hazel Landing Park, Eastern Meadowlarks at Strawtown-Koteewi, Northern Mockingbirds and Brown Thrashers in Coxhall Gardens, Green Herons in Hazel Landing and Central Parks and in late summer the Spotted Sandpipers along the White River in Hazel Landing Park.

Fall

From late August through the fall months, the species seen in spring going north can be found again as they go south, again making stopovers in our public parks. Warblers and vireos are sought after sightings through September, although colors of many are more subdued than in the spring. In October and November, Soras, Wilson’s Snipe and an occasional Virginia Rail may be found again along the water edges in West and Central Parks.

October is also the month for sparrows. In addition to the Song, Field, and Chipping Sparrows present year-round, October arrivals are Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows, followed in numbers by White-crowned, American Tree and Fox Sparrows, the latter two arriving in late October and into November. These sparrows often forage down low, in leaf litter or in brushy shrubs and drying wildflowers (or at your feeder!). Central and West Parks are good locations to check. Less common sparrow migrants are Lincoln’s Sparrows, also down low, and Swamp Sparrows, the latter foraging along the lake margins in Central and West Parks. To complete the annual cycle of arriving migrants, duck and other waterfowl species arrive from fall through early winter. These can sometimes be seen in large numbers on Geist and Morse reservoirs, but in smaller numbers may spend time on many of our smaller lakes and ponds whether in parks or neighborhoods throughout the county.

I’ve listed a few that easily come to mind from my own birding, but Hamilton County has many excellent birders that would cite their own favorites. As always, the birding lists posted on eBird are a great way to stay up to date on current species and locations.