Eddie Huber, the Yandells, and myself birded the Sinclair Unit of Peabody WMA
for most of the day hoping to relocate the Northern Shrike, but we came up
empty despite much scanning by two parties. We DID find TWO Loggerhead Shrikes
in various portions of the Unit during the day.
I wanted to correct an error in my post from a couple of days ago ... the
scattered flocks of American Goldfinches were mostly along the S3 loop, not the
"S2 loop" ... it is S3, not S2 that loops around with both ends meeting S2. I
have always gotten these roads confused and continue to do so ....
Besides the two Loggerhead Shrikes we really didn't see too much today despite
the wonderful weather. We shared the WMA in peace and harmony with at least a
couple of dozen opening day deer hunters. There were small flocks of Horned
Larks and American Pipits passing over much of the day; on a few occasions
single Lapland Longspurs were also heard and Mary got to see one on the ground
near the junction of S1 and S2. We also heard a few Purple Finches and one Pine
Siskin. Raptors were not in great abundance relative to typical Sinclair
standards and no Short-eared Owls were seen at dusk. Only one possible brief
look was had at something that resembled a Western Meadowlark.
bpb, Frankfort
