Had the day off today on account of the 4th of July holiday, so I decided to check out the Gibson Power Plant for Least Terns. Gibson Power Plant is in southwest Indiana along the Wabash River, about a two hour's drive from where I live. This is the only place in the state of Indiana where Least Terns nest, and marks the northernmost limit of their range in the Ohio/Wabash river valleys.
Within a few minutes after arriving at the power plant, I saw a tern flying above a high berm behind which is located one of the cooling lakes at the plant. It went out of sight below the level of the berm before I could rule out Forster's Tern. The cooling lake is where the terns breed, and is off limits behind a tall fence, so I had to wait along the side of the road before I could see it again. The next time it flew up, I was able to get it in my binoculars and confirm that it was a LEAST TERN (Indiana state bird number 213, year bird number 195). In all, I saw about five individuals, many of which were carrying small fish in their bills, presumably for young at the nesting area.
Feeling lucky for having found the tern so quickly, I checked out some of the small, brush-lined ponds near the plant to see if anything interesting was around. I got lucky again when I found a juvenile YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON (Indiana state bird number 214, year bird number 196).
Not a bad morning's birding.
Posted by Birdingdave at July 6, 2004 12:03 AM