Early Spring at Ouabache State Park

The last couple of weeks have provided so many interesting sights at Ouabache State Park that I couldn't resist sharing them here.

On March 5, about five o'clock in the evening, a pod of about 16 American White Pelicans floated majestically over our heads and settled on the park's Kunkel Lake. We had never seen pelicans in northeast Indiana, although I understand they do make appearances in the area during their spring migration. They stayed clustered together as a tight group, and the Canada geese that consider the lake their own didn't seem to know what to make of this invasion. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera; and my cell phone wasn't up to the low-light challenge and the zoom required for decent pictures of the pelicans. But I'll post two pictures here anyway. If you can't see the birds clearly...well, use your imagination.

During today's visit to the park, a Pileated Woodpecker stayed in one place long enough to provide a rare opportunity to get some photos and even a video.

When we reached our usual parking spot by the lake, we were astounded by a deafening chorus of frogs croaking. At first, we thought it must be tree frogs making all the noise; but, in the end, we discovered that the entire chorus was originating from an area where recent rains had left puddles of water. Following is a still photo of one frog and a video of the "chorus."

We have also been seeing some Ring-necked Ducks on the lake this spring. Here are a couple of images as well as a video. The video includes a small skirmish between two of the male ducks.

And, lastly, Indiana's state bird, the Northern Cardinal, male and female.