Brant in Hammond, IN

On Saturday, September 17, Carrie and I drove up to St. Anne's, IL for a little boy's third birthday party. It was the birthday party of Preston Watford, son of Justin and Allison Watford. We left the party during lunch so that we could stick to our diet, and we ate at a nearby Subway.

Then we drove a little over an hour to Hammond, IN to look for a Brant, which had been reported by Marion Miller on Facebook. The Brant was found by an Indiana birder, but Marion had chased it and reported her sighting on her own page.

When we arrived at the parking area that was plotted on the map on ebird, we were on the wrong side of the golf course from where Marion had seen the bird. She had seen it on the West side of the golf course, but we were parked on the East side. However, there was a paved nature trail from the parking area that took you West between the fenced in golf course and Lake George. We decided to walk to the other side of the golf course on the path instead of driving back around. As we walked the path, we saw two lone scopes sitting on the path, which indicated that the birders had walked off the path to observe something on the lake. I looked at the lake through the vegetation and immediately saw the Brant swimming with four Canada Geese.

Carrie and I were able to get great looks at the bird while talking with the other birders. It was an easy lifer for both of us, and it's a good thing we did not get back in the car and try to drive to the other side, or we might have had a hard time finding the bird.











I did not realize that this goose species was so small until I actually saw this one with the Canada Geese. It was also interesting to compare the gray feathers on this bird to the browner feathers on the wings of the Canada Geese.