[birdky] RPT: Western/southern Hardin County shorebirds

From: "Palmer-Ball, Brainard (EEC)" <Brainard.Palmer-Ball@xxxxxx>
To: "BIRDKY" <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 13 May 2011 10:08:34 -0400
It was really funny that John Brunjes posted yesterday about all the water 
around Cecilia. We had noticed how many karst ponds in the area were flooded 
the previous week and said to ourselves we should look at them when they 
started receding. John's post came in to BIRDKY while we were on our way down 
there!
 
Yesterday, Eddie Huber, Richard Healy, and myself drove around in search of 
shorebirds on these ponds. Most of the ponds around Cecilia have not dropped 
hardly at all with many local roads still closed by water in low spots. We 
didn't see many shorebirds, although 3 Short-billed Dowitchers were seen 
perched on top of a wooden fence that was sticking out of the water of one 
pond! We then went south of the Western Kentucky Parkway towards Sonora where 
I've seen ponds in past wet years; here they had not received quite as much 
rain and pools were receding (although KY 84 remains closed west of Sonora). 
Most of the birds were on one good pond, but we tallied the following in areas 
west of Sonora: at least 150-175 Semipalmated Plovers, Killdeer, ca. 150 Lesser 
Yellowlegs; 5-10 Greater Yellowlegs; 20-25+ Spotties; 10-12 Solitaries; perhaps 
75-100 Least Sandpipers; 15-20 Semipalmated Sandpipers; 1 Pectoral Sandpiper, 5 
Dunlin; and 2+7 Short-billed Dowitchers. Because the ponds came up so late, few 
waterfowl were seen, but single pairs of Blue-winged Teal were seen on two 
bodies of water.
 
On our way south, Eddie & I checked the Melco Flood Retention Basin and had 2 
Black-bellied  Plovers among some more common species of shorebirds.
 
Yesterday morning, while working on the roof of one of our barns, I saw/heard 
SIX flocks of migrant Cedar Waxwings headed north in less than 45 minutes of 
time. I guess I had never thought about it before, but they must be diurnal 
migrants; each flock consisted of from 12-35 birds and was headed almost due 
north at 100-200 feet or so in altitude. This morning I had a flock of 35-40 
pass right over the house headed the same way.
 
bpb, Louisville
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[birdky] RPT: Western/southern Hardin County shorebirds

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