Today we made the year’s first trip to Indiana. We went to Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area, which is an old favorite, though we haven’t been there for over a year. It’s a 80-mile drive south of Chicago, through miles and miles of flat cornfields. Very dull. Very Midwest. In the past, we had luck at the area’s Salisbury Rookery, a large marsh that was often full of ducks. But when we drove by today, all the water had gone: the rookery had become a soybean field.

At least I think it was soybean. Maybe it was just wild prairie. I dunno. It was plant life anyway, and though I’m no farmer, I can certainly tell plant life from water — it’s wetter, for one — so you can trust me here. In contrast, the lake around the visitor center — dry as a bone on previous trips — was now full of water. I’m guessing that these changes were caused by the wardens playing Neptune by messing around with dikes and such.

We drove all over the area, and saw lots of different birds in different places. One drawback with a place like this is that fishermen often cruise by and scare off the waterfowl, even though they’re using quiet electric motors. But if it weren’t for the fishermen — along with the hunters — places like Willow Slough wouldn’t exist. So I’m grateful to them, even if their presence screws up my birding.

Birds on or near the water included:

PIED-BILLED GREBE
RUDDY DUCK
EASTERN PHOEBE
CANVASBACK
HORNED GREBE
WOOD DUCK
RUSTY BLACKBIRD
COMMON GRACKLE
EASTERN TOWEE
GREAT BLUE HERON
TURKEY VULTURE
TREE SWALLOW

Only Pole saw the Ruddy Duck and the Heron. (Shit happens when you share a scope.) The good news is that the rusty blackbird was a lifer for me, though I didn’t realize it until I got home and checked my list. The grackles were in a flock several hundred strong, with a few of the blackbirds in the mix. The synchronized movements of this ravenous horde were beautiful and amazing to watch. (Odd to think that this number is only a tiny sliver of the massive passenger pigeon flocks that passed this way 200 years ago.) The highlight of the day was seeing some wood ducks high in a tree. They looked so out of place, and I would have taken a picture had I remembered to bring the camera.

A very good day. Twelve new birds to the list, and a lifer for me. As a bonus, we also saw the first muskrats of the year, and heard a beautiful chorus of frogs. So in spite of all the changes, Willow Slough remains one of my favorite places to bird.