APRIL 9, 2011 AUDUBON FIELD TRIP REPORT - TERRE HAUTE AREA

Twenty-four participants took part in today's field trip sponsored by the Indiana Audubon and Wabash Valley Audubon Society.  Rain and thunder coincided with the 7:30 start time which made for difficult birding until the skies cleared around noon.  We did manage a flyover Caspian Tern at Wabashiki before moving on to Universal Mine.  Car-birding in the downpour we located eleven Black-necked Stilts standing in the shallow portion of a pond on Brouillettes Creek Road in Universal Mine.  A Least Sandpiper was also seen here.  Our quest for a first record Smith's Longspur north of Sandford in Vigo County was not successful.  A rattle call of one Longspur species was heard, but never positively identified.  In the warm afternoon sun we had good numbers of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs in the riverbottoms south of Terre Haute.  A lone Sandhill Crane was sighted flying northward.  We had a difficult time adding warbler species, but managed a few in the city parks later in the day.  Including the Longspurs species we had 92 species total.  Thanks to Alan Bruner and Peter Scott for leading the trip and to all of those that drove the distance on this very rainy morning.  The following is the full ebird report:

Location:     Wabashiki, Universal Mine, River Bottoms south of Terre Haute at Kennett and Arbuckle Roads. Dobbs Park, Highland Lawn Cemetery, NE Vigo Co.
Number of species:     92

Canada Goose     26
Wood Duck     8
Gadwall     11
American Black Duck     2
Mallard     16
Blue-winged Teal     66
Northern Shoveler     23
Green-winged Teal     12
Redhead     1
Ring-necked Duck     6
Lesser Scaup     7
Bufflehead     6
Common Goldeneye     5
Hooded Merganser     12
Ruddy Duck     2
Ring-necked Pheasant     5 (four at Universal and one north of Sanford)
Wild Turkey     1
Common Loon     1
Pied-billed Grebe     13
Double-crested Cormorant     32
Great Blue Heron     9
Turkey Vulture     18
Bald Eagle     5
Sharp-shinned Hawk     1 (Nick Brown at Highland Lawn Cemetery)
Cooper's Hawk     1
Red-shouldered Hawk     1
Red-tailed Hawk     3
American Kestrel     1
American Coot     80
Sandhill Crane     1
Killdeer     19
Black-necked Stilt     11 (Universal Mine)
Greater Yellowlegs     70 (conservative count, the majority of Yellowlegs
species were seen at Kennett Road)
Lesser Yellowlegs     30
Least Sandpiper     1 (Universal Mine)
Wilson's Snipe     91
Caspian Tern     1 (flyover at Wabashiki)
Rock Pigeon     13
Mourning Dove     8
Great Horned Owl     1 (Wabashiki)
Belted Kingfisher     1
Red-headed Woodpecker     1 (Wabashiki)
Red-bellied Woodpecker     2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     2 (NE Vigo Co)
Downy Woodpecker     2
Hairy Woodpecker     2
Northern Flicker     1
Eastern Phoebe     1
White-eyed Vireo     1
Blue Jay     3
American Crow     15
Horned Lark     23
Northern Rough-winged Swallow     6
Purple Martin     7
Tree Swallow     35
Barn Swallow     5
Carolina Chickadee     2
Tufted Titmouse     3
White-breasted Nuthatch     1
Brown Creeper     1 (NE Vigo Co)
Carolina Wren     3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     3
Golden-crowned Kinglet     2 (Dobbs Park)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     3 (Dobbs Park)
Eastern Bluebird     2
American Robin     38
Gray Catbird     1 (Dobbs Park)
Northern Mockingbird     2
Brown Thrasher     4
European Starling     36
Cedar Waxwing     2
Northern Parula     1 (Nick Brown at Highland Lawn Cemetery)
Yellow-rumped Warbler     3
Yellow-throated Warbler     2
Eastern Towhee     5
Chipping Sparrow     2
Field Sparrow     7
Vesper Sparrow     2 (Seen by Alan Bruner at Universal)
Savannah Sparrow     35
Grasshopper Sparrow     1 (Heard only at Arbuckle Road)
Song Sparrow     5
Swamp Sparrow     2
Dark-eyed Junco     2
Northern Cardinal     4
Red-winged Blackbird     68
Eastern Meadowlark     32
Rusty Blackbird     1
Common Grackle     75
Brown-headed Cowbird     14
American Goldfinch     1 (Dobbs Park)
House Sparrow     10