[birdky] RPT: West KY May 26-27

Last Friday, May 26th, I visited a unique habitat that occupies a small portion 
of the northwestern part of "Kentucky Bend" in far western Fulton County. It is 
a naturally maintained, early successional habitat that I have been meaning to 
inventory for more than 15 years since I first noticed it in the late 1980s. I 
had hoped that this area might harbor some breeding Painted Buntings or other 
oddity. I found no Painted Buntings, but I did see and hear a collection of 
nice birds there and on the way to and from (a six mile walk in all) including 
two Black-billed Cuckoos among hoardes of Yellow-bills (late migrants or 
breeders???), 5 Alder Flycatchers, single Yellow-bellied and Olive-sided 
Flycatchers, 2 Mourning Warblers, and a Connecticut Warbler. On the way driving 
out, I had the rarest bird of the day, a Vesper Sparrow, feeding in a dirt lane 
along a field edge. The no-till corn and soybean fields had numerous (10+ 
singing Grasshopper Sparrows) along with the normal Horned Larks.

I was able to only make a few cursory stops at other locations in western 
Fulton County but saw very little in the way of waterbirds. Lake No. 9 is 
already pretty low for this early in the season. Unfortunately, it missed the 
4-inch rain that Hickman had the night before that covered highway 94 all day 
long.

The following day I met Robert Dever for a bit of birding in western Henderson 
County. On the way I saw two tardy Wilson's Phalaropes in Union County. 
Shorebird diversity had dropped significantly in a little over a week; other 
than Semi Plovers, Semi Sands, and White-rumps, we could only find a few 
yellowlegs of both species, 1 Least Sandpiper, and a few Spottys. We did see 
and hear Alder and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers and a Philadelphia Vireo.

I worked at home in Frankfort most of the weekend, but a Swainson's Thrush was 
still singing in the yard on Monday.

bpb, Louisville

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