HIDDEN GEMS
WORDS BY STEFFY MCCOURT
Bird watching at Cool Creek Park My middle child, George, and I started our morning early one Saturday at Cool Creek Park and Nature Center with an eclectic group of birders. Amanda Smith, superintendent of natural resources and education at Hamilton County Parks and Recreation, shared with us that initially, it was the birders — not the birds — that kept bringing her back. One of the women, Patty, in our group that morning explained that she began birding when she was semi-retired. “I finally had the time to sit on my porch and look around,” she said. She smiled at George and said, “It’s so wonderful that you are starting now!”
Most people become birders when they happen upon what is called a “spark bird.” Patty’s spark bird was a hummingbird that she observed on her patio. She said she had never seen one in the real world before, and she was amazed.
Another person in our group, Michael, shared that his spark bird was a Baltimore Oriole. He said, “I never knew that there were these amazing creatures around us all of the time.” Smith took our group on a hike through the major trails and into the lesser known side trails. Over the course of an hour we spent our time quietly looking up, listening, whispering and pointing when we found something. To someone who has never been birding before, I would describe it to be like fishing, but for birds that you aren’t going to catch. There is that same thrill of reeling a big one in, when you spot a rare bird. In a similar way, it requires patience. Cool Creek Park and Nature Center offers multiple free birding hikes every month, led by naturalists. Visit their website to learn more.
2000 E. 151st St., Carmel hamiltoncounty.in.gov/296/ Parks-and-Recreation
November 2020 I INDYSCHILD.COM
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