[birdky] RPT: West KY, Sep 17 2006

Myself, Matt Stickel, and Ben & Mary Yandell birded west Kentucky
yesterday in an attempt to place the September KY big day record into
its rightful rank behind only May and April as the month with the most
diverse avifauna. Three years ago, Matt, Ben, and myself tallied 123
species on a day that turned showery, cutting short our tally.

Yesterday, we were up before dawn to start at the West Kentucky WMA in
western McCracken County. From there we went to Ballard WMA through
early afternoon. Then we hit the north ends of Kentucky Lake and Lake
Barkley. Our final stop was after dark in Muhlenberg County. Our
combined species tally was 137, although the breezy day caused for a
number of "partials" as all in the group were not able to get on some of
the warblers in the waving branches. However, every species was seen or
heard by at least two of the party members. A quick review of our 2003
list from September 21st showed 17 species we didn't see yesterday,
attesting to the potential for species variety in September (if only the
days were as long as they are in June!). We only dodged rain showers a
couple of times late in the day, but the southwest breeze created
challenges at many points during the day and the cloudy evening really
put a damper on late-day birding.

Highlights were as follows:

Pre-dawn, we had all three common owls calling at our FIRST stop of the
morning! At another stop nearby just before sunrise we had all three
mimids calling at one time. Mitchell Lake yielded 12 species of
shorebirds (1 juv Am. Golden-Plover, Semi Plover, Killdeer, Greater and
Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotty and Solitary, Least and 1 juv Western;
Pectoral; 6 Stilt Sandpipers, and 1 juv Short-billed Dowitcher). That
ended up being all the shorebirds species we could find on the day,
although we had a decent variety at Eddy Creek including Semi Plover and
Stilt Sandpiper. Most of our ducks were also tallied at Ballard and
included both teal, shoveler, and a couple each of Northern Pintail and
Gadwall.  One lone juvenile Least Tern was still there, as well; it
seemed to have been left behind by all the adults. Just above the dam on
Lake Barkley were some Lesser Scaup (surely injured summerers) and a
Ruddy Duck (early arrival???).The warm day was not conducive to raptor
movement, so our list was lower than expected with one migrant Sharpie
being the only decent hawk. The only larids of interest over in the LBL
area were 3 juv. Laughing Gulls (1 on the marina roof and two on bridge
pilings below Ky Dam). Gulls and Caspian Terns are numerous on the bars
near Kuttawa and above Barkley Dam now. Passerines were present but not
in huge abundance; with persistence, a list of 21 warblers was tallied
by the group. Highlights of the warbler list included the only bird
lacking precedent ... a Blackpoll Warbler (easily the farthest west one
has ever been reported in the state in fall; Henderson Co. being the
previous westernmost). Others passerines of interest included 3
Scissor-tailed Flycatchers still below Barkley Dam, relatively tardy
Great Crested Flycatcher and Yellow-breasted Chat, a few Philly Vireos,
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a Kentucky Warbler. We ended the day with a
calling Virginia Rail in Muhlenberg County.  We considered our "worst"
misses to be Am. White Pelican (just not back yet except for the ones at
Paradise that we didn't get back east in time to find), Northern
Harrier, Cooper's and Broad-winged Hawk, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Common
Nighthawk, Wood Thrush, Pine Warbler, and Song Sparrow.

bpb, Matt, Ben & Mary
================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBERS=============
The BIRDKY Mailing List requires you to sign
your messages with first & last name, city, &
state abbreviation.
--------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, send e-mail to:
birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
--------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, send e-mail to:
birdky-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject line.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit the Kentucky Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.biology.eku.edu/kos.htm
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison, Richmond, KY
E-mail: gary.ritchison@xxxxxxx

Other related posts:

  • » [birdky] RPT: West KY, Sep 17 2006