FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] RPT: Nesting waterbirds

["Palmer-Ball, Brainard (EPPC OOS KNPC)" <Brainard.Palmer-Ball@xxxxxx>]

I had a very productive day yesterday, July 6, searching for evidence of
waterbird nesting in Henderson and Union counties.

Least Terns are nesting at the Peabody Camp #9 prep plant slurry pond in
Union County for the first time. Some 15+ birds are there with at least a
few incubating, and I saw one chick running around. This site is about 10
miles from the Ohio River!  Nesting at this location has some unique
threats, but at least the river won't be coming up and inundating nests
and/or chicks!

At the Camp #11 site nearby, the water level in the main impoundment has
been kept high, precluding use by any shorebirds, but the marsh birds have
found conditions to their liking. Prior to yesterday, I had never confirmed
Pied-billed Grebes nesting there, but there are no less than SIX family
groups scattered about. It is hard to keep up with individual units, but I
think one pair had six young. I was exposed to a sound that I don't remember
hearing before ... begging calls of the young grebes, which were somewhat
reminiscent of the tweets of a distant Solitary Sandpiper repeated over and
over again. There was also a Common Moorhen family consisting of 2 parents
and 6 downy chicks, and I found a moorhen nest containing five eggs.  In
addition, there were juv. Least Bitterns calling at two places and I saw a
few adults including one that was giving a distress call when I came near to
its young. 

Lastly, at the Horseshoe Road slough (nearly dry now) in western Henderson
County, I was finally able to find young Spotted Sandpipers. The chicks were
hard to keep up with, especially because of the wildly defensive behavior of
the attending females. However, after sitting down in the soybeans and
allowing everything to calm down, I observed two females in apparently
adjacent territories attending to two chicks and three smaller chicks,
respectively.  The bobbing tails of the chicks is very comical to watch;
they spent a great deal of time working within the grass and weeds above the
mudflat rather than down in the open along the shoreline. This strategy must
result in more being eaten by snakes than turtles and hawks!

Returning shorebirds observed were limited to a few Least Sandpipers at most
sites visited and a single Greater Yellowlegs in Union Co.

bpb, Louisville
================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBERS==============

The BIRDKY Mailing List requires you to sign 
your messages with first & last name, city, & 
state abbreviation.
--------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, send e-mail to:
birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
-------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send e-mail to:
birdky-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject line.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
Visit the Kentucky Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.biology.eku.edu/kos.htm
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison, Richmond, KY
E-mail: gary.ritchison@xxxxxxx