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Author: Peter Kasper
Sunday, July 29
Near perfect conditions for early morning birding greeted us today
until it warmed up a little later. One of the ongoing highlights
continues to be the shorebird habitat. The Sea of Evanescence being
the hotspot with sightings of
Killdeer,
Spotted Sandpipers,
Solitary Sandpipers,
Lesser Yellowlegs,
Pectoral Sandpipers,
Least Sandpipers,
Semipalmated Sandpipers,
Stilt Sandpipers, and
Short-billed Dowitchers. We figured there was easily more shorebirds
here
today than the total shorebirds seen over the last several years
throughout the Lab. One of the strangest finds of the morning was a
singing
Henslow's Sparrow just east of A.E. Sea. Other highlights in
the Sparrow Hedge area were a
Pied-billed Grebe,
Caspian Tern,
Chimney Swift, singing
Willow Flycatchers,
Marsh Wrens, and a couple
Baltimore Orioles. The Switchgrass plots were still alive with
numerous singing
Sedge Wrens and several singing
Henslow's Sparrows.
The inside of the Ring produced two new year birds, a singing
Yellow-breasted Chat and a calling
Red-headed Woodpecker. The most
consistent bird of the summer, a
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, was
again perched upon its favorite dead tree on the west side of the
Big Woods. Finally, the two young
Ospreys have fledged and were
perched on a dead tree a couple of hundred yards from the nest with
the parents nearby. Dave
Tuesday, July 10
Today produced another beautiful morning for birding at Fermi. Winds picked up late in the morning but not enough to affect the birds.
The numbers of
Lesser Yellowlegs,
Least Sandpipers, and
Killdeer remain about the same, with most of the birds at the Sea of
Evanescence. Unfortunately this area is almost without water and
without rain it will probably not be too effective as a shorebird
habitat for long. Not to worry too much as A.E Sea should improve
for the shorebirds. Among the few shorebirds on A.E. Sea were three
Short-billed Dowitchers and a couple of
Caspian Terns. Another
Bald Eagle was in the A.E. Sea area; this one was an adult. This morning's post-breeding grassland survey showed an increase in
Sedge Wrens,
Henslow's Sparrows, and
Dickcissels but a drop in
Bobolinks.
The most interesting aspect of the survey was the large
concentration of grassland birds at one location inside the Main Ring. There was a large group of about 75 birds including mostly
Dickcissels,
Bobolinks, and
Red-winged Blackbirds with a few
Eastern Meadowlarks all apparently feeding on mature Compass Plant Seeds.
Even though most of the northern portion of the Inner Ring had
compass plants these birds were concentrated in just one small area.
Great Horned Owls have been tough to locate after the nesting season
but I did manage to locate one of the immature birds from nest one.
Dave
Sunday, July 8
We were greeted with extremely pleasant conditions for this
morning's birding, a welcome relief after our recent heat wave. The numbers of shorebirds has greatly increased but, the variety has
remained the same. For example The Sea of Evanescense had about 12
Lesser Yellowlegs, about 50
Least Sandpipers, and whole lot of
Killdeer. A new
Bald Eagle, this was a 2nd year bird, was patrolling
the Lakes area; we spotted it several times on our walk. Other birds
of interest in the Hedge/Lakes area were a
Baltimore Oriole,
Bell's Vireo (still singing),
Caspian Tern (three by A.E. Sea), and a
couple of fly-by
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. The Big Woods gave up a
Scarlet Tanager and the summer resident
Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
Dave
Thursday, July 5
Miserable, that best describes this morning's conditions at Fermi.
With extremely high temperatures and humidity and little wind,
luckily the birds were less affected than I was. Four
Caspian Terns and a couple of
Lesser Yellowlegs were found along A.E. Sea's shoreline. About a half dozen
Sedge Wrens (this is their only
location in the Lab) and several
Henslow's Sparrows were singing in
the Switchgrass plots.
Henslow's Sparrows were also found along
North Eola Rd, South Eola Rd, and Road B. Many of the grasslands
still had good numbers of singing
Dickcissels and small number of
Eastern Meadowlarks. Only one
Bobolink was seen, an immature flushed
along North Eola Rd. An adult
Cooper's Hawk was seen flying into the
Garden Club nest area but no young hawks were seen or heard. The Female
Osprey was again shielding the chicks with her outstretched
wings. As last year, the presence of a
Red-tailed Hawk perched on
the favorite roosting tree of the Swenson Road Kestrel family
signaled their movement from the nest area. I found a couple of
American Kestrels in the North Roads area while Roads and Grounds found at least three earlier in the week. The question which family
group are they from? The male
Ruby-throated Hummingbird is still
near its favorite perch on the west side of the Big Woods. Dave
Sunday, July 1
Hot, muggy, no wind and partly sunny; not the best of conditions for
a morning of birding at the Lab. Still some interesting sightings
were to be had, starting with the first shorebirds of the fall
migration. Several
Least Sandpipers and
Lesser Yellowlegs were found
among growing numbers of both
Killdeer and
Spotted Sandpipers on
both A.E. Sea and the Sea of Evanescence. Some other birds of
interest in the Lakes/Sparrow Hedge area were: a
Black-crowned Night-Heron (landing along the Sea of Evanescence), a
Ring-necked Pheasant (calling from west of Lake Law), a
Caspian Tern (patrolling
the lakes), a
Bell's Vireo (singing in the western Hedge area) and a
Bank Swallow (among the typical
Tree,
Barn and
Northern Rough-winged Swallows).
The grasslands become more quiet with each visit, but a highlight in
the Switchgrass plots were several singing
Sedge Wrens. Finally, the
Cooper's Hawks have fledged their nest in the Garden Club but could
be heard calling from a nearby tree. Dave
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