[birdky] RPT: Sandhill Cranes and raptors, 7-8 Feb 2008

As Mark Monroe posted yesterday, the Cecilia Sandhill Cranes for the most part 
dodged a bullet from Mother Nature Tuesday night. The EF2 tornado that passed 
just northwest of town grazed the southern edge of their main roosting pond 
north of KY 86. In about 45 minutes of walking adjacent pastures, I inspected 
15-20 dead cranes strewn about randomly. One limping bird was on the far side 
of the pond and probably can't fly. I talked with Lucia Beeler, who lives along 
South Black Branch Road south of KY 86 and she told me that a local rehabber 
had taken in two birds, one of which had died. She also got a call from a local 
farmer who had said he would bring her a bird he was going to "get out of a 
barbed wire fence." There were still in excess of 1000 cranes in the vicinity, 
most in two large flocks, one off Bethlehem Academy Road and the other along 
South Black Branch Road; a couple of small groups were *very* close to Tabb 
Road. Mark reported that I saw a Whooping Crane with one group; I was talking 
with one of the local farmers and noted a white crane among Sandhills; however, 
while we were chatting and before I could retrieve my scope from the truck, the 
bird picked up and disappeared when I was turned in another direction. I must 
admit that with the distance, I can't say for sure that it was not an albino 
Sandhill like the one that has been seen a couple of times up in the Ewing 
Bottoms, IN, but it was snow white, not slightly dingy like that bird. On my 
way farther west later in the afternoon, I encountered a few more flocks of 
northbound cranes over Grayson and Butler counties. At dusk I heard my first 
timber-doodles of the spring in Butler County. 

Today I was completing some bird surveys for the Ky Dept of Fish and Wildlife 
Resources in Butler and Christian counties. Highlights of the day included a 
LeConte's Sparrow in nearly the same exact spot where I had one on the same 
survey last year; a mature Bald Eagle; and vocalizations of another passing 
flock of cranes. Courtship is in the air, with Horned Larks singing and paired, 
Red-shoulders hollering everywhere, and Killdeer twittering along gravel 
driveways.

When I got done, I made a swing by the East Volunteer Mine in Hopkins County. 
My hour-long route around the mine yielded the following raptor totals: 15 
Northern Harriers; 1 Cooper's Hawk; 13 Red-tailed Hawks; 3 Rough-legged Hawks 
(all light morph, two adults and one juv); and 9 American Kestrels, as well as 
15 Brewer's Blackbirds. I finished off the day with a Merlin on the Riverqueen 
Unit of Peabody WMA

This afternoon I twice crossed the path of the EF3 Greenville/Powderly tornado 
... its path crosses the Western Ky Parkway just west and north of the Central 
City interchange. The devastation visible from the KY 189 bypass just a couple 
of miles south of where we had last spring's KOS meeting is remarkable.




bpb, Frankfort

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