Indianapolis
- Nicholas Turner
- Mar 30, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 31
26th - 29th March 2023
Sunday 26th March: Eagle Creek Park is the largest park in Indianapolis, containing a very large lake and miles of paths to walk, both within the woods and outside. The Park is a 30 minute drive from downtown Indianapolis and so this was going to be my go to place for a couple of days. At this time of the year Indianapolis is very much still in winter with spring still a few weeks away.
On the lake I found a wide range of water birds including Caspian Tern, Ring-billed Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, Slavonian Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Northern Diver, Red-breasted Merganser, American Coot, American White Pelican, Eurasian Teal and Song Sparrow.
Around the lake were Killdeer, Red-winged Blackbird, Tree Swallow, Red-winged Blackbird, Turkey Vulture, American Crow and Mourning Dove.
Close to the parking lot were a series of bird feeders and bird tables which attracted many species including Blue Jay, White-throated Sparrow, House Finch, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal and American Robin.
Just to the west of Eagle Creek Park there was a small lake, Manor Lake, with a large number of different ducks including Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Black-necked Grebe, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser and Redhead.
Tuesday 28th March: On the Tuesday I stayed local and walked from the hotel to the White River State Park in Indianapolis. Highlights here were Eastern Phoebe, Great Blue Heron, American Robin, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Chipping Sparrow, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Common Starling, Common Grackle and Carolina Wren.
Wednesday 29th March: A return visit to Eagle Creek Park proved to be very worthwhile with an excellent view of an immature Bald Eagle flying over the lake. Other new sightings were Red-bellied Woodpecker on the bird feeder and Blue-winged Teal on the lake. Also new were a Belted Kingfisher, American Goldfinch, Ruddy Duck, Brown Thrasher and Northern Pintail.
The next day we took a flight from Indianapolis to Miami where suddenly we would be transformed into warm and sunny spring weather.
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