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Author: Peter Kasper
Sunday, June 29
It was a very dull birding day today. The usual breeding
species were all to be found in their usual spots with
little in the way of surprises. The only noteworthy finds
were a first year
Orchard Oriole by Nepese Pond and a female
Hooded Merganser on Dusaf Pond. (It has been a very good
year for
Orchard Orioles with birds being found in at five
different locations: the Big Woods, The main ring savanna,
the bison field savanna, the sparrow hedge area, and Nepese Pond.)
Thursday, June 26
I did my Grassland Breeding Bird Monitoring this morning,
there's certainly plenty of food for the insectivorous
birds in the area. Other than the bugs, the morning was
quite pleasant. Both
Grasshopper Sparrow and
Henslow's Sparrow numbers are up this year as is their distribution
at the lab. Other highlights this morning were a
Turkey Vulture,
American Kestrel,
Belted Kingfisher and a pair of
Brown Thrashers. Also, a couple of
American Crows were
heard at the edge of the Kautz Road woods. Finally, a
pair of
Orchard Orioles was seen near the Center Ring Woods, the female carrying food.
Sunday, June 22
Cuckoos were once again the highlight of today's birding.
Both species were found;
Yellow-billed in the Big Woods and
Black-billed in the center of the main ring. More interesting however, was a report of two
Ruddy Ducks on Lake Law yesterday morning.
Sunday, June 15
I have very little new to report from this weekend's
birding. A
Yellow-billed Cuckoo from the Big Woods was
somewhat unusual but apart from that only expected summer
residents were found. However, our grassland species have
undergone some significant population changes.
Grasshopper Sparrows are present in much better numbers than in the
recent past and
Henslow's Sparrows have reached a new high
count. On the other hand
Savannah Sparrow numbers are
noticeably down everywhere except at the bison field and
Sedge Wrens seem to have disappeared entirely from most of
their usual haunts.
Bobolinks also appear to have declined.
Sunday, June 8
Today we searched out the regular breeding specialties in
the sparrow hedge area and in the south Eola rd. grasslands.
We managed to locate three
Bell's Vireo territories and just
one
Sedge Wren in the sparrow hedge area. The grasslands
produced at least 20
Henslow's Sparrow territories and
several
Grasshopper Sparrow territories along with modest
numbers of
Bobolinks. Among the more unusual sightings were
a female
Northern Shoveler on Lake Law and an
American Coot on A.E.Sea.
Friday, June 6
A
Cattle Egret spent the afternoon feeding in the bison
pasture today.
Sunday, June 1
Today really felt like the beginning of summer with very
little being found in the way of migrants. The most notable
exceptions were an
Alder Flycatcher and a
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher both of which were found inside the Main Ring and
a small flock of
Ruddy Ducks on Lake Law. A number of good
summer residents were also located: A
Wood Thrush and
Scarlet Tanager were heard in the Big Woods and
Orchard Orioles were found in several locations. The only other
really noteworthy find was a
Mute Swan that has been present
on A.E.Sea for several days now.
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