[birdky] RPT: Access for Little Stint search
- From: "Palmer-Ball, Brainard \(EPPC OOS KNPC\)" <Brainard.Palmer-Ball@xxxxxx>
- To: "BIRDKY" <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:42:35 -0400
I have been allowed to go back to see if the Little Stint is still present.
Someone will post if it is refound.
We are under some protocol for visits. If you come, you will likely find a
closed, but unlocked gate. Please close this chain-link gate behind you. For
parking, we must remain on the paved area next to the red brick building. You
likely will have to get wet feet to see the bird well. I do not have permission
for a bunch of people; right now the county fellow has the understanding that
club and KOS members are going to be who is out there in limited numbers. It is
possible if the bird hangs around, we might be able to arrange something for
Saturday in terms of a group.
Directions to the gate: Previous directions should get anyone onto Grade Lane,
the gate is on east side of Grade Lane closer to Fern Valley Road; it is just
south of a concrete bridge/railroad tracks/and stop light at Crittenden Drive.
There is no signage marking it. Again, close the gate behind you upon entering
or leaving.
Hopefully I'll be able to post positive or negative results by mid- or late
morning.
bpb, Frankfort
________________________________
From: Lana Hays [mailto:lhays2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thu 17/08/2006 07:46
To: Palmer-Ball, Brainard (EPPC OOS KNPC)
Subject: Re: [birdky] RPT: More on Little Stint at Louisville
Brainard
Holy excrement.....what a terrific find. Hope you can get back in and find him
again.
Lana
On Aug 16, 2006, at 10:38 PM, Palmer-Ball, Brainard (EPPC OOS KNPC) wrote:
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
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