I was in Fulton County yesterday. Always looking for Western Meadowlarks and
not always successful; however, yesterday was the nicest interactions I've had
with them in about ten year! I encountered two groups, one very near where a
pair nested in 2013 and another at Open Pond. Both had at least 4-5 birds
including I think three males singing along KY 1128 and two males singing at
Open Pond.
KY 1128: I was parked before sunrise right where 10-15 were present in the late
winter of 2013; I had gotten back into the car when Ir realized I was hearing
the "chuck" note of one outside the car; I looked around and one began singing
up on the utility wire not a couple of hundred feet in front of the car! This
bird allowed me to video it (both the battery in my camera *and* the back up in
my pack were dead . . . ARGHH!) with my phone. Another and I believe a third
began singing back to the east, and the one on the wire in front of me
interacted with a couple more including a non-singing bird. I left them there
and did not return, but I believe they should linger in this area for a few
weeks yet. Also in this area was a very pretty adult darkish morph Harlan's
Hawk with mostly white tail and a pretty noticeable pale chest area. I think I
may have seen this bird in the area before.
Open Pond: I was parked right at the turn in KY 971 where it meets the "lake"
coming from Sassafras Ridge. There was *lots* of Western Meadowlark activity
here including at least two different birds singing and much chasing of each
other and additional birds along and north of the levee that splits the water
in two. The wind had picked up by then and I only recorded songs at a little
more distance, but I suspect there were likely 6-8 here. I *did* return to this
spot a couple of times later in the day and did *not*hear or see any
meadowlarks of either species. The other highlights here were a few early
shorebirds including 6-8 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Dunlin, and 2 Pectoral Sandpipers.
As Hap reported last week, there isn't much water in the Lower Bottoms although
Long Point has lots until they pull the plugs. The best water was at Open Pond
(not a single duck though), Midway Church Road and KY 94 (lots of dabblers),
and Long Point (hardly any ducks!). Lake No. 9 has filled back up but I didn't
see a single waterbird on it. The only place I saw shorebirds was Open Pond.
bpb, Louisville
================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBERS=============
When posting on BIRDKY, please close posts with
your first and last name and your address (city or county).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To post on BIRDKY, send e-mail to:
birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit the KOS website at
http://www.birdky.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit the KOS Photo Page to view photos of birds recently
sighted in Kentucky:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/kentucky_ornithological_society/pool
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To unsubscribe, send e-mail to:
birdky-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject line.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison.
E-mail: gary.ritchison@xxxxxxx
