This morning I drove to the north of Lafayette, Indiana to try to see a Snowy Owl that has been present for the last couple of weeks. Wouldn't you know that it apparently flew away early this morning about three hours before I got there. Very unusual for a Snowy Owl to be in the Lower 48 States during the summer.
On the way I stopped at a wetland in Lebanon, Indiana where I got two new state birds: STILT SANDPIPER (Indiana state bird number 218, year bird number 200) and BAIRD'S SANDPIPER (Indiana state bird number 219, year bird number 201).
On the way back from dipping on the owl, I stopped at a botanical garden in Lafayette where I got BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE (Indiana state bird number 220) at a feeder. Black-capped Chickadee was not a year bird, as I saw one in Illinois earlier this spring. Black-capped Chickadee is one of the commonest birds in the eastern United States; however, it took me more than a year to find one in Indiana, since I live in the southern part of the state, which is outside of its range, and this was the first opportunity I had to look for one in northern Indiana since I moved here a little over a year ago.
Posted by Birdingdave at August 1, 2004 10:25 PM