FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] Flycatchers and others 19 June 2002

[David Roemer <dlroemer@xxxxxxxxx>]

Joanie and I spent a couple of hours this morning
watching and photographing the Scissor-tailed
Flycatchers, and several other observers also stopped
by to enjoy them. Although we scanned the area almost
continuously, we only saw two adults today. The young
have grown noticeably since Monday morning, and have
lost some of their downy feathers. They are quite
large now, but their wing feathers still need a few
more days of development before they will be able to
fly. My guess is that they will remain in the nest 2-4
days unless they start pushing each other out. 

I was able to see five begging mouths today on one
occasion, and they are being fed some cicadas. They
are also being fed a bright green Katydid/grasshopper
quite regularly. I was able to obtain a few photos
where the wings and part of a cicada are sticking out
of a nestlings mouth. In another, a parent is holding
a cicada above the nest and the cicadas red eyes can
be seen in the photo. We also heard a few remaining
cicadas scattered in the area today.

Interestingly, Joanie spotted another nest on a brace
on the opposite end of the cross member on the same
pole. It doesn't look quite a large as the occupied
one, but there does appear to be some lining material
visible above the rim of the nest. A dummy nest may be
an explanation for this.

A local gentleman who works in the area told me that
he saw Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in the same area
late last summer!

Although we were fairly close to the birds, and they
certainly don't seem to mind, I wasn't able to hear
the clicking sound mentioned in earlier posts.
Although flycatchers make that sound when their
mandibles snap together, it is also possible that
Scissor-taileds make a clicking sound when they snap
their tail feathers together. I was hoping to hear and
see this today. 

A few birds of interest were present this afternoon at
Morgan's Pond in Christian County. A gorgeous
Black-bellied Plover set a new late spring date for
the species in Kentucky. A pair of White-rumped
Sandpipers tied a late spring date aside from one bird
that lingered at McElroy Lake until 20 July 1998. At
least a dozen Ruddy Ducks and one coot were also
present.

Dave

 



 

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