Sorry ... I don't have unlimited internet access at home and had to
compose this off line.
This afternoon, I found a small peep that I could only make into a Little
Stint. The bird was at a county flood retention basin that is closed to the
public. Just last week I inquired about birders being able to visit the
site, and was sort of doing another scouting trip to see the kind of
potential the place has; after all the stuff that showed up yesterday at the
Falls, I thought maybe there would have been some turnover since I first
visited the site last week and saw a pretty decent number and variety of
common shorebirds. What I found, of course, was something I may have easily
missed last week ... the strange peep.
Anyway, I lost the bird for about 45 minutes after initially seeing it
from a distance. I had a few members of the Beckham Bird Club come out and
help me relocate it. Turned out it had been sleeping on a bar farther away
and I had missed it. About 8 or 10 folks got to see it and none of us could
make it into anything other than an adult Little Stint in worn alternate
plumage using Sibley, National Geo, and the new O'Brien shorebird book. It
is very colorful, with bright orangish head and breast with a distinct white
throat and loreal area. It has very long blackish legs. Its back feathers
are worn, but relatively colorful for an adult peep at this time of year
with some remnant rufous edgings. Its bill is rather straight and slim,
somewhat reminiscent of a Baird's. Hopefully a few of us got some
identifiable video/photos of the bird. I have no ability to download the
photos I took; not sure if Mark Monroe or Ben Yandell or Eddie Huber have
ability to send any out in any way??? Maybe to Gary Ritchison for the KOS
site in the AM, guys? I have to go to bed sometime soon!
I realize that there are many folks who might like to see this bird, but I
was not able to get ahold of my contact with the county before he had left
work for the day. The club is just in the first stages of establishing some
protocol for visiting this site. I'm going to have to call the fellow first
thing in the morning and ask him if it would be OK for people to come by off
and on all day to see the bird. It is a locked and fenced in basin and I
have to work out what he is comfortable with. I am sure it is not going to
be full-time access. I'm going to have to even get permission to get out
there to look for it again in the morning. We had to wade in ankle or
slightly deeper water and some muddy spots to best view the bird today. We
left it feeding at about 8:00 p.m. EDT.
The rough location of the impoundment is west of Interstate 65 between the
Outer Loop and Fern Valley Road exits. It is north of the county landfill.
The entrance is off Grade Lane which runs parallel to I-65 a mile or so west
of it.
At this point my only alternative is to contact him first thing in the
morning and see if he will allow another visit to attempt to relocate the
bird. I can certainly post tomorrow morning if it looks promising and what
the county's ground rules will be with exact directions to the gate. Then if
the bird is relocated, I can certainly have someone post immediately of its
confirmation.
I think that is all I know for now. Stay tuned for more details tomorrow
morning.
bpb, Frankfort
