FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] Minor Clark Fish Hatchery - Dunlin

[Lana Hays <lhays2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think the Dunlin knew this was there last chance to fly in and be  
counted.  It was the last time that I could check as next week I'm  
shooting the State CC meet and the following weekend I'm leaving for  
a week in New Mexico.
Mike Wright was already at the fish hatchery when I got there.  It  
looked promising as I'd seen some Killdeer.  Mike went up by the big  
ponds and I was still searching the smaller ones when he came back  
and told me he thought there were 2 Dunlin on the middle pond.  I  
checked and he was right but they were too far away to get any  
shots.  I thought I'd search for some sparrows and then see if the  
Dunlin would try out one of the smaller ponds.  My bonus was while I  
was looking for sparrows, I just happened to look up and there was a  
Barred Owl in a tree.  I've occasionally seen them before but never  
ticked it off my life list because all I ever saw was a silhouette  
flying away.   I got a really nice, nearly full frame shot.  When I  
came back around the Dunlin were on pond #39.  Along with the  
Killdeer, they flew back and forth between pond #41 and #39.   I  
never saw anything but they were spooked many times.
This year  Minor Clark fish hatchery had 20 species of shorebirds  
from July until today.   I can't tell you how tickled I was to get  
the Dunlin to make it an even 20.   I've birded there for 4 years and  
had seen Dunlin in the previous 3 years but I was beginning to have  
my doubts for this year until today.
Some of the birds seen today:
American Goldfinch
Eastern Bluebirds
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1)
Eastern Phoebe
Pileated Woodpeckers
Barred Owl
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Pied-billed Grebe
Ring-necked Duck
Hooded Merganser
Song sparrow
White-throated sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Field sparrow
Swamp sparrow
Dunlin (2)
Killdeer

I've added some pictures of the Dunlin, Barred Owl, Great Egret,  
Eastern Bluebird, and American Goldfinch to the "What's New" page.
www.lanahays.com

Lana Hays
Walton, KY
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