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Author: Peter Kasper
Tuesday, June 26
Today was another very pleasant mid- to late-morning of birding at
Fermi, with warm, sunny conditions and a mild breeze. Going by the
south end of Dusaf Pond, there once again was a large group of more
than 20
Cedar Waxwings acting as swallows. The drought conditions of
the
area should provide a good venue for the upcoming fall shorebird
migration.
A.E. Sea is one of the leading bodies of water with exposed
shoreline.
Already many
Killdeer were using the area of A.E Sea near the Lake Law outflow today.
A.E. Sea also had a good number of swallows along the western shore.
Interestingly, most of these were
Northern Rough-winged Swallows (which typically are a minority species in this area of the Lab).
The lowering level of the Sea of Evanescence provided foraging for
at least 47
Great Blue Herons, several
Great Egrets and more
Killdeer. A
Sedge Wren was seen carrying either nest material or
food in the Switchgrass plots. The wren dropped into the grass,
deposited the item, flew back up and started singing before I could
determine the identity of the item. The Swenson Rd.
American Kestrels are still in the area of the nest box. The female
Osprey was in the
nest using her outstretched wings to shield the two chicks from the
sun. Then the male
Osprey arrived with a fish and the family
immediately went into breakfast mode. Some other interesting
sightings were an
Orchard Oriole (in the Hedge area), a
Caspian Tern (flying along the Main Ring Moat), a
Cooper's Hawk (flying over Main Ring Woods), a
Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a
Scarlet Tanager (both
along the west edge of the Big Woods). Dave
Sunday, June 24
Denis brought his class to the Lab this morning and helped fill some
gaps for the week with a
Black-crowned Night-Heron (at Kidney Pond),
an
Eastern Phoebe (in the Garden Club) and an
Orchard Oriole (on the
eastern edge of Main Ring Woods). In addition, they spotted the
first
Caspian Tern of the year (over Lake Law). Dave
Saturday, June 23
Conditions were quite nice for the early morning start of my
breeding bird survey but became less pleasant as the morning wore
on. Luckily, the mostly cloudy conditions still kept it bearable. No
Grasshopper Sparrows were found and the number of
Henslow's Sparrows was down from earlier in the month. On a positive note the first
Sedge Wren was found in the Switchgrass plots. Interestingly,
Sedge Wrens first showed up about this same time last year. The
American Kestrels from the Swenson Road nest box still are in that area while
the Sparrow Hedge nest box family has relocated (where?). The
Cooper's Hawk chicks are getting bigger and all three were perched calmly on
the north rim of the nest. Ma
Osprey was patiently feeding her two
young while Pa apparently had "gone fishing". Some other interesting
sightings started with a
Black-billed Cuckoo inside the Main Ring.
Several individual
Cedar Waxwings were found early then, on my way
out, over a dozen were continually hawking insects over Dusaf Pond;
it was a feeding frenzy. A couple of
Great Horned Owls were flushed
from one of the nest sites. Dave
Saturday, June 16
A mild breeze and mostly cloudy conditions created a pleasant
morning of birding today. Most of the expected birds were found in
the Sparrow Hedge area with
Brown Thrashers still one of the
predominate singers. The
Bald Eagle was back atop its perch along
A.E. Sea by Owl's Nest Woods. Also found were a
Baltimore Oriole and
a singing
Bell's Vireo near the western end of the Hedge. The young
Coopers Hawks in the Garden Club nest appeared fine but more subdued
than last week. The male
American Kestrel was atop the Swenson Road nest box then flew, empty handed, to a nearby tree. As he landed I
could hear the young kestrels start begging from the same tree;
sorry kids "no breakfast for you!"
Henslow's Sparrows were heard
along North Eola Rd. From a distance I could see young alongside the
Female
Osprey in the nest. Later, as I approached the nest area the
female was seen
flying away. While setting up my scope the female returned with a
fairly large branch and started to carefully place the branch in the
nest structure. At this point the largest of the young birds picked
up one end and tried to assist her in her task. Seeing his efforts
were not of much help he grabbed another smaller branch and started
positioning it. This was a real cool experience. Dave
Sunday, June 10
As the temperatures rose the increasing winds kept the morning's
birding conditions bearable. The wood ticks were quite active; I
came home with five of the little buggers. The
American Kestrel family from the Sparrow Hedge nest box appears to have moved to
another location but it hasn't been confirmed yet. The
White-eyed Vireo was again calling near the eastern end of the Hedge and a
Bell's Vireo was heard across from the Hedge near its western end.
It's been a banner year for
Brown Thrashers; they were singing in
all areas of the Hedge. In addition, a thrasher family of five birds
was flushed from a small group of bushes near the kestrel nest box.
The Big Woods produced a
Scarlet Tanager while its northwestern edge
again produced an
Orchard Oriole and a
Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
There were three, very active, young
Cooper's Hawks in the Garden Club nest. One of the adult
Osprey was seen flying toward the nest
with a fish. The adult female
American Kestrel flew near the Swenson Road nest box with a small rodent and landed in a bush where she was
immediately attacked by one of the young kestrels for its breakfast.
Some of the other birds of note for the morning were
Green Heron,
Black-crowned Night-Heron,
Spotted Sandpiper,
Warbling Vireo,
Horned Lark,
Henslow's Sparrow and
Vesper Sparrow. Dave
Thursday, June 7
This morning was beautiful for a grassland bird survey and the
numbers were about average compared to the last two years. The two
notable exceptions were the number of
Henslow's Sparrows (up
slightly)and the number of
Dickcissels (up slightly from last year
but over three times the number seen in the four preceding years).
This is interesting since the
Henslow's Sparrows were extremely late
in arriving this year. I should add the total lack of
Sedge Wrens during this survey was of concern. In addition, none have been found
at Fermi yet this year. They were very late last year but, at least
some wrens were in by this time. There were other breeding birds of
interest
starting with the
American Kestrels. The Swenson Road nest box had
two young birds atop the nest box with the female patrolling nearby.
The nest box east of the Sparrow Hedge had both adults near the box
but no young were seen. Peter did see some young on Sunday. The
Cooper's Hawk nest near the Garden Club was still active with the
female standing on the rim. I could not spot any young due to the
nest location and the female's position.
Spotted Sandpipers appear
to have nested inside the Main Injector in their usual location. A
pair of
Ring-necked Pheasants was found along South Eola Road. Two final birds of note were a
Bald Eagle in the trees of Owl's Nest Woods along A.E. Sea (Peter also had this bird on Sunday in the same
location) and a
Black-crowned Night-Heron spotted by Bob near Nepese marsh yesterday. Dave
Tuesday, June 5
A beautiful morning of birding with moderate temperatures and winds
started out at the Sparrow Hedge. The highlight there was a very
actively singing
White-eyed Vireo at the edge of Owl Nest Woods. A
possible second vireo was singing later further west along the
Hedge. Both male and female
American Kestrels were perched together
atop a tall tree approx. 75 yards west of the nest box. The only
other birds of mention here were a number of
Marsh Wrens along the
Lake Law shoreline. This year
Marsh Wrens are well distributed
throughout the Lab's wetlands. The Switchgrass fields, west of the
Lake Law pines, produced a food-carrying
Savannah Sparrow along with
Dickcissels,
Bobolinks and
Eastern Meadowlarks. A couple of
Henslow's Sparrows were found along North Eola Road. East Wilson Street produced a
Cooper's Hawk,
Cedar Waxwings,
Horned Larks, a
Vesper Sparrow and several
Indigo Buntings at the eastern end. Dave
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