Tag: red-tailed hawk

Mother’s Day 2024: Canvassing a hawk’s nest on Indiana University’s Bloomington campus

On Valentine’s Day this year, The B Square reported the nesting activity of a pair of red-tailed hawks on Indiana University’s campus—in the big Sycamore tree above Bryan Hall.

A month later, it looked like the birds had switched things up and were setting up their household on the grounds of Monroe County’s historic courthouse.

But by the morning of Mother’s Day this year, it was evident that the hawks had chosen the same spot as last year to raise their hatchlings—on IU’s campus. Continue reading “Mother’s Day 2024: Canvassing a hawk’s nest on Indiana University’s Bloomington campus” →

Monroe County election board finishes final prep for Tuesday, May 7 primaries

These are the lanyards for Monroe County election board members: Nicole Browne, Judith Benckart, and John Fernandez.
Election Central at 7th and Madison streets is set up to process mailed-in and early in-person ballots.
Chart of the early in-person voting totals for the 2024 primary election in Monroe County.
On Monday night, a red-tailed hawk kept watch over Monroe County’s Election Central from the antenna on top of the justice center at 7th Street and College Avenue.
On Monday night, campaign yard signs at Fairview Elementary School were guarded by the Joe LaMantia’s Aristicat.
Campaign yard signs at Monroe County’s election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets.

By around 7:30 p.m. on Monday night, all but three of the 29 polling locations for Primary Election Day on May 7 had checked in with Monroe County election division staff at Election Central to confirm they were set for the next day’s voting.

Election Central is the old Johnson’s Hardware building at 7th and Madison streets.

Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Continue reading “Monroe County election board finishes final prep for Tuesday, May 7 primaries” →

Miller-Showers Park roundup: Gateway redesign, cold water rescue training, dredging, hawks, herons

Red-tailed hawk. Miller Showers Park (Jan. 21, 2024)
Bloomington firefighter, cold-water rescue training. Miller Showers Park (Jan. 21, 2024)
Great blue heron. Miller Showers Park (Jan. 21, 2024)
Red-tailed hawk. Miller Showers Park (Jan. 21, 2024)
Bloomington firefighters cold water rescue training. Miller Showers Park (Jan. 21, 2024)
Red-tailed hawk. Miller Showers Park (Jan. 21, 2024)

It’s just a nine-acre wedge, nestled between College Avenue and Walnut Street, north of 17th Street.

But over the last couple of days, Bloomington’s Miller-Showers Park has been the center of city government focus from more than one angle.

On Sunday morning at the park, the fire department conducted training for cold water rescues.

On Tuesday night, the parks department got approval from the board of park commissioners for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with city of Bloomington utilities (CBU)—for the dredging of the park’s detention ponds. The same night, the utilities service board (USB) opened bids for the dredging work.

Also on Tuesday night, the board of park commissioners approved a $42,300 change in the contract with Rundell Ernstberger Associates (REA), which is the design firm for the city gateway that generated so much controversy last year.

Continue reading “Miller-Showers Park roundup: Gateway redesign, cold water rescue training, dredging, hawks, herons” →

Thanksgiving Day Photos: Some local Bloomington birds that are not turkeys

WFHB antenna (Nov. 23, 2023)
Griffy Lake (Nov. 23, 2023)
Miller-Showers Park (Nov. 23, 2023)
Griffy Lake (Nov. 23, 2023)
Miller-Showers Park (Nov. 23, 2023)
Griffy Lake (Nov. 23, 2023)
This image was generated by AI.

The photos above were taken inside of 90 minutes on the morning of Thanksgiving Day 2023. To save future archivists one chore, that was Nov. 23, 2023.

The chronological sequence starts with a red-tailed hawk perched on the WFHB antenna just across from the 4th Street parking garage in downtown Bloomington. The photo was taken from the roof of the garage.

From there, The B Square headed north to Miller-Showers Park. The red-shouldered hawk photos were taken at Miller-Showers Park.

After Miller-Showers Park, the next stop was Griffy Lake. That’s where the photos of the woodpeckers and the great blue heron were taken.

These photos are a good reminder that not every great bird is a turkey, not even on Thanksgiving Day.

For people who earn a livelihood writing the news,  Thanksgiving Day is also a good reminder to say thank you to the folks who keep us in business: Thank you, readers!

Below are more photos, including some that were taken on the day before Thanksgiving.

Continue reading “Thanksgiving Day Photos: Some local Bloomington birds that are not turkeys” →

Photos: From a hawk’s nest, Happy Mother’s Day!

Red-tailed hawk’s nest with fledgling. Sycamore tree above Bryan Hall, Indiana University Bloomington campus (May 14, 2023)
Red-tailed hawk’s nest with fledgling. Sycamore tree above Bryan Hall, Indiana University Bloomington campus (May 14, 2023)

At least one fledgling is visible in the red-tailed hawk’s nest in the Sycamore Tree above Bryan Hall on Indiana University’s campus. These photos were taken on Sunday, May 14, 2023.

The nest is visible from the sidewalk on the west side of Indiana Avenue  in front of BuffaLouie’s and Starbucks.

The coincidence with Mother’s Day seemed like a sign from the universe that the photos should be shared with a wider audience. There are a few more photos below.

Continue reading “Photos: From a hawk’s nest, Happy Mother’s Day!” →

Christmas Photos: Not a partridge, not a pear tree

On a Christmas Day visit to Lake Monroe and some Bloomington area parks, The B Square did not observe a single partridge in a pear tree. Some other lesser birds were nonetheless spotted. More photos below. Continue reading “Christmas Photos: Not a partridge, not a pear tree” →

Thanksgiving week Bloomington turkeys—in disguise

Red-tailed hawk downtown Bloomington (Nov. 23, 2022)
Great blue heron on Indiana University campus (Nov. 22, 2022)
American bald eagle at Griffy Lake (Nov. 24, 2022)
Cartoon panel from https://bsquarebulletin.com/2022/11/24/2022-happy-thanksgiving-bloomington/

A full week of Thanksgiving break at Indiana University means the campus and all of downtown Bloomington has been a lot quieter the last few days. One benefit: more wildlife. Continue reading “Thanksgiving week Bloomington turkeys—in disguise” →

Photos: Red-tailed hawk at Switchyard Park

Arrows point to places in the photographs where the red-tailed hawk perched. It would then lift off, swoop around, then return to alight on one of those three places: (1) lamp post (2) main stage (3) tree branch. The image is from Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

On Friday, a B Square visit to Bloomington’s Switchyard Park to investigate possible evidence of beavers did not confirm that any of the busy, broad-tailed rodents had taken up residence there. But a red-tailed hawk was hunting from a series of alternating perches—on the main stage, a nearby lamp post and a tree near the bridge that leads to Walnut Street. Continue reading “Photos: Red-tailed hawk at Switchyard Park” →

Photos | Bloomington resident wildlife update from move-in week: red-tailed hawk, great egret

If they weren’t already in town, Indiana University students arrived this week in Bloomington to start the fall term next Monday.

On Thursday morning, if any them looked skyward in the downtown area, they might have seen a red-tailed hawk perched on top of the Monroe County courthouse. It flew off eastward a couple of blocks and landed on the steeple of the First Presbyterian Church at 6th and Lincoln streets. From there it made a short jump to a tree on the Monroe County Public Library side of the intersection, then crossed 6th Street and landed in a tree next to the big pink house on the north side of the street. It flew off eastward in the direction of campus.

On Thursday evening, any of the students who moved in to the big complexes on North Walnut Street, could have spotted a great egret fishing the waters of the southernmost detention pond of Miller-Showers Park. The big white bird waded the southwest corner for a while, working its way towards the sculpture—a piece by Dale Enochs called “Axis.” It then flew to the east side of the pond where it found some more fish to snack on.

More photos below. (Click on any image for a bigger version.)

Continue reading “Photos | Bloomington resident wildlife update from move-in week: red-tailed hawk, great egret” →