Bald Knob NWR 4/9/2011

Karen Holliday and I made the second in a series of trips to BKNWR Saturday.   In a previous post I explained the survey and so won’t do so again.  This time the temperature was warmer and much windier, gusting to about 20MPH.   The total numbers of birds were down from last week, but hopefully that will turn around soon.   In the 3.5 hours we were there, we saw 43 species of bird including the following first of season birds (for me at least):  Peregrine Falcon, Black-necked Stilt, Willet, and Prothonotary Warbler. Outside of the survey, I also saw first of season Green Heron and Chimney Swift.

Bald Knob NWR 4/2/2011

Karen Holliday and I birded BKNWR Saturday as part of a shorebird monitoring program for national Audubon.  Our challenge was to count everything, especially shorebirds, that was using a predetermined 200+ acre area in the national wildlife refuge.  We arrived at our area at 8:55 and spent the next three hours scanning the area.  The weather was great, sunny, not too hot not too cold, not too windy.  The place wasn’t as birdy as it was two weeks ago when we had determined the area of the survey but still we got 40 species including breeding plumage Bonaparte’s Gull (a rarity for me since they are about to leave) and a first of season Semipalmated Sandpiper. The shore birds seen were American Golden-Plover, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Wilson’s Snipe, and the aforementioned Semipalmated Sandpiper.

We then drove down to Saul’s Fish Farm to get another look at the Long-tailed Duck that Karen had identified there last week. That day one week ago it had been 45 degrees and a constant wind and  inconstant drizzle.  This day it was an order of magnitude nicer, if you could measure nice weather. The duck was there, plus a smattering of other ducks and shorebirds plus 7 first of season Baird’s Sandpiper.

Shorebirds March 26, 2011

Karen Holliday, David Ray, Allan Mueller and I went shorebird searching on Saturday.  The weather was less than ideal, mid 40s F with an almost constant drizzle all days long.  Being out in the prairie added wind as well so we all wondered what we were thinking.

We started with Treadway Minnow Farm north of Carlyle and saw hundreds of Ruddy Duck, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Pectoral Sandpiper, with lesser number of Long-billed Dowitcher and American Golden-Plover plus first of season Tree Swallows and Least Sandpiper.

We then travelled to Saul’s spotting a Solitary Sandpiper at a pond along the way. By this time my shoes and socked were soaked and we all huddling around the car’s heater when we could.

Once at Saul’s we found three or more ponds that were freshly drained making good shorebird habitat.  They did not disappoint although for the most part we had the same Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper, and Long-billed Dowitcher that we had been seeing elsewhere. The highlight of the day occurred at the end near the primary entrance to Saul’s when Karen spotted a Long-tailed Duck.  We all got good looks at it through the scope and decided it was most likely a first winter male.  Unless I was mistaken, this was a state bird for both Karen and Allan.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Share