I got a break from farm work due to the predicted rain over the weekend. I got
up *very* early Sunday morning to drive down to Livingston County for my last
BBS route. I usually do this route on a week day because most of it is so rural
that traffic is not an issue. I think it may be the first time I've ever run it
on a Sunday. BBS participants imagine this . . . the *first* car passed at Stop
31 and by the end of Stop 50, only *two* additional ones had gone by! Of course
there were plenty of other noises including barges on the Ohio River that can
disrupt hearing birds for two or three stops. Nothing spectacular this year,
although I did hear a Fish Crow. The Osprey nest that has been present on the
big power line tower near Bayou was not present for the first time since the
late 1980s. Have no idea if it blew out during the March 3rd wind storm or if
they have moved down closer to Smithland Dam (there is a nest there at the
hydro plant now).
Something I don't think I'd ever noticed before . . . non bird related . . .
everyone knows that little plant that grows in our yards, English plantain
(Plantago lanceolata)? It's the green weed that has 12-18" tall stems with
flower structures at the end that as kids we "shot" each other with. Well I had
never noticed how abundant that plant is along roadsides, but at *every* stop I
made along the rural roads, there were bees of all types buzzing around them
nectaring. I'd hear buzzing, look down, and sure enough they were flying around
the small whitish flowers. I know it's introduced, but I think it only grows in
open places so is not really considered a nuisance. Interesting nonetheless.
On Monday, I planned to bird down in western Fulton County just to see if an
Anhinga, Mottled Duck, or other oddity could be blundered into. My first stop
of the morning was the Long Point Unit of Reelfoot NWR where I just wanted to
see if I could hear a Swainson's Warbler. This is the road where a Limpkin was
found along Running Slough on the last day of April and was seen again 4 May.
Several of us looked for the bird on the 6th of May without luck, and I didn't
really expect there was any chance of seeing it so I wasn't really even looking
for it. Fulton County had a big rain overnight Sat-Sun, and when I arrived
Running Slough was bank full with muddy water. I drove as far as the TN state
line w/o hearing a Swainson's, so I turned around. On my way out I was still
driving quite slowly, listening to song, when I saw what I thought was a hen
turkey walking down the road in front of me. I decided to stop and take a look
thru my binocs only to find that the turkey was THE LIMPKIN! I guess with
nowhere to feed along the slough next to the road, it was walking along picking
up land snails that were on the move. Some pics of the Limpkin (including phone
shot of essentially my initial look as it turned around to see what I was) on
this eBird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S142057473
Birding is always a mixed bag of luck . . . it giveth (a surprise Limpkin) and
it taketh away (Steve Tyson and his white wader) . . . you just have to be
grateful for the good days and take things however they get presented to you .
. . and the more you are out there looking, the more luck you're going to have,
both good and bad . . . .
bpb, Louisville
