Photo: An Upland Sandpiper photographed by Robin Janson.
BY INDIANA AUDUBON STAFF
To commemorate our 125th anniversary, we challenged you to seek out 125 bird species in 2023 and submit your sightings via our online form to get a free anniversary logo sticker. Here are some of the entries we got, highlighting favorite species and noteworthy memories.
“Piping Plover was such a fun surprise to have in a farm field!” —Jennifer McQuade
Photo: Piping Plover by Ryan Sanderson.
“Hearing Whip-poor-will at Eagle Creek Park.” —Robin Janson
“The Cinnamon Teal near Demotte. I had seen the reports and stopped to look … I searched the distant flocks of ducks and shorebirds over and over for about an hour and finally drove back out to the main road. I had seen some ducks land in another fluddle, and when I pulled off the side of the road and looked for that bit of water, I saw the male Cinnamon Teal!” —Cathy Myer
“Mourning Warbler who sat out on a limb and sang at my one of my local birding hotspots.” —Gail Shetler
“After three years of looking, I finally found a Northern Saw-whet Owl.” —Kurt Emmert
“Getting a great view of Purple Finches illuminated by the sun, at a nearby preserve in Steuben
County.” —Bruce Matasick
Photo: Purple Finch by Jason Jablonski.
“[Eastern] Screech Owl. I am 8, and I was able to call back and forth with in our back yard.” —Piper Gerlach
“Bell’s Vireo. [I] had one on my property [from] 2016-2018. Hadn’t seen or heard one since then.” —Julie Bruner
“Upland Sandpiper as my 300th species in Indiana.” —Frederick Ruckersfeldt
“Ruff, [a] long-awaited lifer!” —Angela Archer
“Magnolia Warbler at the State Park trail 10 during [the Indiana] Dunes Birding Festival.” —Denise Gardiner
“It was a special encounter when I discovered a Least Bittern among the cattails in the lake next to my home. I had just thought again how the habitat was so perfect for one and there it was!” —Joni James
“Finding the Ruff in Hancock County in May and sharing the find on social media so many other birders got to see the bird that day!” —Jenny Young
“Limpkin at Striebel Pond in Michigan City, 9/9.” —Cynthia Powers
This story originally ran in the December 2023–January 2024 print edition of The Cardinal.
