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.
Lights Out Indy (LOI) is ready to kick off our 2022 season. Looking to build on the success of 2021. What made 2021 such a great year? LOI reached out to the City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County to support our initiative. We are pleased to announce that 16 members of that legislative body agreed to support LOI. This was followed by major downtown buildings agreeing to participate in turning lights out during migration.
On March 5th, 36 birders gathered for the annual Woodcock Walk at West Park in Carmel. Promptly at 7:00 pm we began hearing “peenting” sounds coming from multiple American Woodcocks. We soon saw their amazing and unusual aerial displays directly above us. The wonderful displays went on for approximately 30 minutes. In all, we counted five American Woodcocks displaying.
Timber Doodle. Labrador Twister. Mud Snipe. Bog Sucker. No matter what you call it, the American Woodcock is such an anomaly in the bird world. But, they are so much fun to find, listen to, and watch during their springtime aerial sky dance.
February 19 a caravan formed to visit four Carmel-Clay parks. Nine birders joined leader Chuck Anderson at 9:00 am at Flowing Well Park, the starting point of the planned Great Backyard Bird Count Caravan.
Welcome to our first featured article. This month we have a submission from Jessica Helmbold, the ABAS Education Chair. This was originally going to be our February program at Holliday. Unfortunately, we canceled that gathering due to COVID concerns. However, Jessica has shared a portion of what she was going to tell us about birds and their association with Valentine's Day. Click Read More or the title to see the full article.
Nine birders gathered at Washington Park in Michigan City at 8:00 am local time on January 8. The temp was in the mid-teens and a strong wind was out of the southeast, but at least we didn’t get sandblasted. All were greeted by Eric and Tina Rosier, the field trip leaders.
We are pleased to announce the addition of Laurie Voss to the Board of Directors. Laurie will be the Recording Secretary and serve on the Executive Committee. Laurie's knowledge of birds, experience in the local birding community, and administrative skills are a welcome addition. Laurie fills an opening from Joanna Scott. Joanna just left the Board as she moves on with her life. Most of you will remember her as Joanna Woodruff. With her new husband, they will be starting a family in the next few months. We all wish Joanna the best in her new roles. We also want to thank Joanna for her almost six years of service on the Board and as our Recording Secretary.
A BIG Year; Meet our New President — Chuck Anderson; Lights Out Indy Gains Traction; County Birding Around the ABAS Service Area — Hamilton County; November Program: Bobcats of Indiana; December Program: Adventures in Bird Training; Goose Pond Field Trip; Beers with Birders at Ash & Elm; Field Trip Recaps; Local Bird Hikes
Residents throughout Indiana may again put out their feeders if they are comfortable doing so and are not observing sick or dead birds in their yards. DNR strongly encourages residents who do so to clean seed and suet feeders at least once every two weeks by scrubbing feeders with soap and water, followed by a short soak in a 10% bleach solution.