FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] Ol'Coot's shorebird reports

[HapC1@xxxxxxx]

For those of you who do not read TN birds and have an interest in KY 
shorebirds I thought I would copy Jeff Wilson's posts as dated below.  He has 
been 
watching the KY Black-necked Stilts and their nest sites this summer.
Hap
July 5, 2004
The largest and most diverse shorebirds were found in Fulton Co. KY, late in 
the afternoon. There were 67 Black-necked Stilts total with 49 in one 
location. Most of the birds were unmatched males with a few couples sprinkled 
in. In 
the 4 locations I located 4 nests for sure and suspected a couple of more by 
some behavior witnessed. A lot of the birds were resting and laying on the 
ground and could have looked like they were nesting but they were not. One of 
the 
nests that I had located before had been flooded out and two of the eggs were 
left scattered. On the good side, one nest has hatched young, I only saw one 
but the parents were widely separated which might mean more. This nest is 
remote 
from the main colony.

Other shorebirds located were;1 American Golden-Plover in basic plumage w/ 
photos (Hap Chambers and I had 3 a few years back about the same time and 
location in the same plumage), 16 Lesser Yellowlegs, 3 Least Sandpipers and 2 
Pectoral Sandpipers w/ photos (these two were loners at two different 
locations). 
The last find before I had to start the almost 3 hour ride home at 6:30 was a 
full breeding plumaged Black Tern (ph) sitting on the flats.

July 11, 2004

At three locations in KY, I had 9 Black-necked Stilts, down as I expected 
from the huge number of last week. There are 2 nests at one location as I 
watched 
for over an hour to see nest tending change overs. I suspected a third nest 
but no luck before I had to move on. A pair looked like they were just 
hanging 
out at another location, while a single flew over at another. I checked for 
the adults with young but their wet hole had dried and evidently they had led 
their charges away. I had 3 Pectoral and 5 Least to round out the list. I 
also 
counted over 200 Cliff Swallows feeding and perching over a field of flooded 
out corn stubble.

July 18, 2004

Late, in Fulton Co. KY, I watched in fascination as Cliff Swallows flew in 
from every direction until one field was almost covered. There was only an 
occasional swallow of the other species but all were recorded. I tried to 
photograph the congregation but the distance prevented doing the numbers 
justice. I've 
seen larger numbers of Tree Swallows collect on the river later in the year 
but this was the largest number of Cliffs I've ever seen at one time, bar 
none. 
An estimate of 3,000 was about as close as I could come after blocking off 
sections two or three times. Occasionally they would boil up into the blue 
sky 
and reminded me of the huge flocks of Lapland Longspurs seen in north 
Mississippi during the winter. This was group small compared to the huge 
roosts or 
hundreds of thousands I've seen in Mexico and on the Mississippi, Louisiana 
Gulf 
Coast but for around here it was a spectacle.

In another field a pair of Black-necked Stilts held close to a nest hidden in 
a field. Both were photographed through the scope with their necks stuck 
above the vegetation during a change of nest duties. This nest will hatch 
this 
week.




Good Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA


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