by Jack Spaulding
Outdoors WriterThese are the good old days for viewing wildlife varietyNature always amazes me with its resilience, and its ability to adapt to changing conditions. Some people may long for the “good old days” and the viewing opportunities in an era of assumed wildlife abundance.
You sometimes hear people say they were born 50 or 100 years late.
I realize I might be living in a time when wildlife viewing in Indiana is better than it was 100 years ago.
In the lifetimes of my grandfather and my father, they never heard the call of a wild turkey or saw an eagle here in Indiana. My grandfather never saw a native whitetail deer in Indiana. Deer were killed out in the late 1890s in Indiana and weren’t reintroduced in southern Indiana until the 1930s.
During Grandpa’s lifetime, the deer herd didn’t have time to expand as far north as Rush County. Besides never seeing an Indiana deer, my grandfather didn’t see a beaver or a peregrine falcon in Indiana.
Fortunately, I have seen deer, eagles, beavers, peregrine falcons and wild turkeys in Indiana. Just recently, I added another amazing creature to my life list of Indiana wildlife.
Back in August, I was involved in plumbing project when my wife came in from the yard and said she saw a white bird splash down in the pond. Taking a needed break and leaving my plumbing duties, I went to check it out.
As I approached the pond, I heard what I thought was the faint, receding cry of a redtail hawk. Looking over the pond and the surrounding vicinity, I could only find a tiny kingfisher perched in a nearby tree. Thinking it was probably a goose landing in the pond, I went back to my plumbing chores.
Later, I found I was wrong about the assumed goose and the sound I thought to be a redtail hawk.
Coming home from work one day during the second week of October, I was met at the door by my wife. She said our neighbors, Jack and Linda Baker, called saying they had an osprey on the river next to their house.
I was excited to hear the news. The only other time I have seen an osprey up close was at Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee when my good friend and professional fisherman Billy Blakley introduced me to a nesting pair raising its chicks in the top of a cypress snag.
Still, I was a little doubtful an osprey would ever consider using Big Flatrock River as a hunting ground, so we jumped in the truck to head to the Bakers’ deck overlooking the river.
As soon as I got out of the truck, I heard the osprey’s long, melodious, high-pitched whistle … the same sound I wrongly second-guessed back in August as being a redtail hawk. Sure enough, there boldly perched in a tall ash tree downstream on the opposite shore was a mature osprey.
We sat down and watched in awe as the bird constantly turned its head back and forth, scanning the river for signs of a fish. The bird’s white chest and black wings highlighted the crested head. Looking somewhat like the bird version of a punk rocker with a black, highlighted Mohawk, we kept our eyes glued to the visiting “fish eagle.”
As we watched, the bird suddenly shifted on its perch and dove from the tree and slammed into the water. I was amazed to see the bird almost totally disappear. Flapping to the surface of the river, the bird appeared to leap from the water and lift off with the ease and grace of a ballet dancer. The great bird missed its intended prey and soared back to the ash tree to wait for another attempt.
Like most good things … seeing the osprey on Big Flatrock River was the end result of the hard work of others … namely, our state’s wildlife biologists working with a reintroduction program intended to bring osprey back to Indiana.
In 2002, the Indiana Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program began a plan for osprey restoration and management. In 2003, DNR biologists began by releasing 75 osprey chicks into suitable habitat throughout the state. State Wildlife Grants helped pay for the cost of the reintroduction including construction of nesting platforms and the monitoring of released chicks.
Simply put, the program “took off.” By 2005, our state was home to five known nesting pairs of osprey, and subsequent Indiana populations have continued to rise.
Seeing the osprey on that beautiful fall evening was memorable, but what made it a special moment was the osprey’s perch was directly across from what was once my grandfather’s farm.
till next time,
Jack Spaulding is a state outdoors writer and a consumer of RushShelby Energy from Milroy.
Readers with questions or comments can write to him in care of Electric Consumer, P.O. Box 24517, Indianapolis, IN 46224; or e-mail at outdoors@cnz.com.