Addendum to Lost Creek SP Info

["Kristin Purdy" <kristinpurdy at comcast dot net>]

I hope yesteday's post on Lost Creek State Park in Morgan County didn't entice anyone to visit, because today I learned that  technically I had trespassed and could have been cited for being there.  Apparently the park is closed from October 31 until May 1.  I asked the State Parks and Recreation Service to close the gates so people like me don't inadvertently embark upon law-breaking careers.  A visit to the road from I-84 Exit 111 to the park gates might still be worthwhile for the Wild Turkeys, Bald Eagles, or other birds I saw along that stretch.

And just to make reading this message more worthwhile in a bird-info kind of way, I'll relay another sighting I forgot to include in yesterday's post.  I watched a young male Common Goldeneye fumble and wrestle with an object that I finally concluded was a crawfish.  The goldeneye dropped it three times and quickly stuck only his head under the water and scythed around until he grabbed it again.  When the duck perceived his swimming buddy, another young male Common Goldeneye, had approached too close with avaricious intent, he flapped and paddled and wing-whistled away to a distance of 25 feet or so with the crawfish.  I had the distinct impression that the crawfish was clinging to the goldeneye instead of the other way around.  The crawfish had the duck or the duck had the crawfish only by a claw and the prospective meal seemed to hang off the side of the duck's bill.  The duck was finally inspired to choke down the crawfish when a Ring-billed Gull swooped low overhead.  Ah, survival!  The competitive world they live in defines every morsel as fast food.     

Kris