djimbe wrote: Fri Mar 20, 2026 9:47 am the Sandhill Cranes are moving back north for the summer and they congregate in the corn and bean fields near my house. I take farm roads to get back and forth from Michigan City and you can see dozens of them right near the road as you drive by. Bigger than a Great Blue Heron by a whole bunch, they are.

There's also been a Snowy Owl hanging out by the Culvers near the tollway in town. Been seen multiple days in the past 2 weeks and there is often a small crowd at the edge of the Culver's parking lot taking pictures.

we've seen & heard some Sandhills around S.Bend recently. i love them so.
emily thinks we may have seen a Whooping Crane over the weekend at Spicer Lake Nature Preserve. i didn't get a good look, but it was a big'n.
a couple eagle sightings recently, always a thrill!
the lil birbs were so happy after the rain today

I have an engineer on my team that got into Falconry. I bet her a cheesecake she wouldn't be doing it in 6 months. A year and a half later she got that cheesecake.
Given that you trap the bird in the wild, I don't think I morally agree with Falcrony. Apparently they live far longer in captivity than in the wild, but there's something sinister about it. The Red-Tailed hawk she caught had a fungal infection which she cured, so in her case, I think she saved the hawk and she's morally neutral - probably not going to hell for this anyway. She brought it into the office; god damn what a creature. Birds.