As it is every year, the news in Evansville in was a mix of the interesting, the tragic and stuff that left you scratching your head. That included everything from tragic deaths and strong storms to the sudden appearance of bizarre creatures and mysterious airplanes and campers. In all, those stories and others drew almost 15 million page views on courierpress.
What does a tropical bird have in common with an armadillo? Not much. But in late spring, a brown booby made an appearance at Spring Mill State Park, while numerous armadillos popped up along Evansville highways. The brown booby doesn't usually go much further north than the Caribbean. And while armadillos are becoming more prevalent in the region, it's still an odd sight. In , an armadillo was spotted skulking through the Reitz Bowl just hours before a Panthers football game.
And their numbers have steadily grown in Southern Illinois over the last few years. Severe weather isn't unusual in the Evansville area, but it's rare to have it at the same time people are eating breakfast.
That happened April 2, when two rounds of severe weather rolled through the region between 5 a. The storms spawned at least 12 tornados in the Tri-State area, according to the National Weather Service, including EF-2 storms with winds that reached mph. Thirty years ago this year, Indiana nature officials oversaw the reintroduction of peregrine falcons in Indiana, including the release of 15 of the birds from a rooftop in Downtown Evansville.
With names such as River Ace and Phoenix, the release drew a lot of fanfare. While peregrines are well established in Indiana now, none are currently known to be nesting in Evansville, said Allysin Gillet, state ornithologist at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
