FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] RPT: West Ky September 21, 2003 -- long

[Brainard.Palmer-Ball@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Apologies to those who would like to be able to glean concise, informative
location information for birds from the following post . . . it is intended
for modest entertainment value only -- bpb

Ben Yandell, Matt Stickel and I spent Sunday birding on a Big Day from
before sunrise to after "sunset" [not that we could have told . . . see
"disgustion" below] in western Kentucky. We ended the day wishing two things
. . . 1) that the Earth's day lasted longer than 24 hours so that when 1/2
of it was lit by the sun we'd have a few more hours to bird and 2) that
weather forecasting was as reliable as the likelihood of running into a
Great Blue Heron at Kentucky Dam these days!  

We began the day about an hour before sunrise near the Sinclair WMA in
Muhlenberg County with cool, near-calm conditions.  A few toots and grunts
from a rail tape elicited calls from at least 2 Soras and 2 Virginia Rails
to start us off in the right direction!  Great Horned Owls were calling up a
storm and continued to about sunrise on Sinclair.  A chorus of airborn
Catharus thrushes was the most conspicuous sound in the predawn period . . .
mostly Swainson's, but a Gray-cheeked or two were also heard. A five-minute
period at dawn was utilized by two lingering Whip-poor-wills to proclaim
that they were still on territory, and a few of the other local birds chose
to make their presence known with songs and calls including a
Yellow-breasted Chat, Northern Bobwhites, and Eastern Towhees.  Birds were
somewhat hard to come by in the early morning, but a family group of Prairie
Warblers, a gobbling Wild Turkey (we wondered how much they do this during
the fall??), a small flock of flyover Bobolinks, a family of Blue Grosbeaks,
and a wayward Pine Warbler were welcomed additions to our list. Two
Henslow's Sparrows were seen, a seemingly full-grown juvenile in really
crisp plumage and a nearby adult, chipping in earnest with a big green
caterpillar in it's bill. It took us until mid-morning to feel like we had
sampled the birds of the WMA well, and by then the thickening cirrus clouds
were beginning to make us wonder a bit about conditions later in this day
that had been proclaimed by all accounts the evening before to be rain free.


The Paradise ash basin hosted two lingering Green Herons and eight spp of
shorebirds including a Greater Yellowlegs, two Stilt Sandpipers and four
Baird's Sandpipers. We left Muhlenberg County with about 75 species on the
day.

On the drive towards LBL, the thickening cirrus layer began to completely
obscure the sun and we started getting the funny feeling that we might not
see the sun again. Down at Lake Barkley  most of the usual waterbirds were
present but no shorebirds could be added to the day list. On our way to the
Eddy Creek embayment, we encountered the best bird of the day -- a really
late Orchard Oriole (what looked like a clean young bird in female-type
plumage).   At Eddy Creek, swallows (three spp) and waders were numerous,
and a flyby Merlin attracted a swarm of swallows that pursued it out east on
its way to who knows where.  Above Barkley Dam we added some new fall
arrivals including American Coots, Pied-billed Grebes and an American
Wigeon. By about 2:00 p.m., the question of whether we would see the sun
again was replaced with "how long is it going to be before the rains
arrive." #&@&?!*$%@

The Land Between the Lakes area wasn't reached until mid-afternoon, but
forest passerines were decent and we added a number of migrants and
lingering residents including Cape May and Yellow warblers, Warbling Vireo
and Baltimore Oriole.  In the midst of scratching the surface of our best
flock of warblers on the day, the rains (that had been completely unexpected
at the day's beginning) commenced. A couple of short interludes suckered us
back into the woods, but it settled in for good within a half-hour.  As we
grumbled and grumbled up to Kentucky Dam, our list stood at about 110
species with many potentials if the weather would improve. Another short
pause in the rain allowed us to see a Common Loon and three Hooded
Mergansers off the dam, but nothing else different could be found.  

As we headed to Jonathan Creek, we still had the slimest of hopes that a
sunny sunset would surprise us as heavy rain subsided to a steady but
lighter variety.  At Jonathan Creek, however, a combination of rain, fog and
recent waterfowl hunting had most of the waterbirds that were there up on
the bay north of Pirate's Cove and essentially nothing on the main flats.
In about an hour, we were only able to add four new birds, two of them
surprises in the form of a Nashville Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warbler in a
small flock of  warblers along the lakeshore.  As the last light of day
filtered through the rain clouds, we headed back north to end the day with a
very cooperative pair of Barred Owls near Kentucky Dam Village.

The day list tallied out at 123, with all but six shared by all three of us.
Not a bad list for a "partly sunny" day.

bpb, Louisville
brainard.palmer-ball AT mail.state.ky.us
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