Join us for a relaxing and fun filled morning as we explore the wetlands, ponds, and flooded farm fields of Franklin County in search of Shorebirds. By early mid-may Shorebirds migration is at its peak in Indiana and many of these shorebirds are searching for proper stopover habitats to refuel and rest. In eastern Indiana one of the major stopover habitats for shorebirds are flooded farm fields. Eastern Franklin county is full of amazing field puddles and every spring they are full of many species of shorebirds. As we go out our target species will be sandpipers, plovers, yellowlegs, snipe, avocets, stilts, dowitchers, and phalaropes. Along with our shorebirds we will also keep an eye out for waterfowl, and other water loving birds. We will talk about the importance of wet places for these birds, humans, and our local ecosystems, and how to safely observe shorebirds while ensuring that we don’t scare them away from the floddle. We will practice identifying birds by sound, watching their flight styles, looking for key colors and body sizes, and feeding methods for each species. On this field trip we will be visiting multiple flooded field sights, ponds, a flooded oak forest, and Mounds SRA beach road inlet and beach.
**IMPORTANT**
Location: Whitewater Memorial SP front office (not beyond entrance fee gate)
1418 S State Rd 101, Liberty In 47353