[birdky] West KY Birding report from Glen Lovelace
- From: HapC1@xxxxxxx
- To: birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2004 15:17:23 EDT
Hello Kentucky Birders,
During a visit with family in Mayfield, I was able to get out
birding a couple of mornings and wanted to report my sightings.
On 7/21, I explored northeast Graves County in the vicinity of Kaler
Bottoms WMA and crossings of the West Fork of Clarks River. My first stop
was on McKendree Church Rd, where I heard 2 Parulas, Acadian Flycatcher and
Red-headed Woodpecker. At the beginning of Tim Rd (at the intersection with
KY 301), there was an overgrown pasture with an occasional small bush a bit
taller than the grass on the right (south) side of the road. I initially
slowed here to check out a flock of swallows, but then heard a "tsi-lick"
coming from the field. I stopped and quickly found a Henslow's Sparrow
sitting in one of the small bushes. It sat and sang in full view for as
long as I cared to look at it. This appears to be west of the breeding
range of Henslow's shown in Sibley or Peterson, so I am not sure how locally
significant this sighting may be. While watching the sparrow, I heard a
Summer Tanager and a Mississippi Kite flew by. In all, I had 4 kite
sightings of at least 3 different birds (2 sightings further east on Tim Rd,
perhaps the same bird, and one further north on Kaler Mill Rd). I did not
realize that kites could be found "inland" away from the major rivers. Also
on Tim Rd, I heard White-Eyed Vireo, Yellow-breasted Chat and saw 2 Wood
Ducks near the river crossing and then heard Wood Thrush, Scarlet Tanager
and Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher at the Old Sandhill Cemetery. Other finds were a
singing Redstart on Old Clay Pit Rd; 2 Dickcissels at the reverse curve in
Hopewell Rd just north of the Purchase Parkway; and a Bell's Vireo behind my
in-laws house on Natchez Trace in Mayfield. 58 species in all.
On 7/23, my wife and I explored the wildlife management areas in
Ballard Co. since these are closed to public access when we usually visit at
the holidays. We began at Swan Lake WMA, where a puddle in the farm field
before the gate held numerous Great Egret, with lesser numbers of Little
Blue Herons and one each of Snowy Egret and Black-Crowned Night Heron, along
with 2 Pectoral Sandpipers, 5 Lesser Yellowlegs. 2 Least Terns made a pass
through and Cliff and Barn Swallows were about. At Swan Pond, we saw a
single DC Cormorant, an immature Bald Eagle, Warbling Vireo and Orchard
Oriole. Continuing down the same road, we found Green Heron, 2 Spotted
Sandpipers, 5 Semipalm Sands and more Pecs in Long Pond. We found numbers
of Purple Martin, Tree Swallow and Rough-Winged Swallow, but could not
locate any Banks. We also saw Red-headed Woodpecker, Wood Duck and heard a
Dickcissel.
We then proceeded to explore, turning onto the next road east of
Swan Lake (name?) that eventually connected to Fish Lake Rd through Peal
WMA. Driving along, we flushed first a Barred Owl and then a Broad-Winged
Hawk. Those roads satisfied our need for adventure, so we headed back to
the main road and proceeded to Ballard WMA. At Ballard, songbird activity
had slowed down since it was around noon and getting hot. We did find some
nice shorebirds at Mitchell Lake from the levee and from the road running
along the south shore. There were numerous Pectorals and Killdeer, 12-15
Spotteds, 8 Solitary Sandpipers, 6 Least Sandpipers and 6 Stilt Sandpipers
(from the levee only). We also had a single Mississippi Kite. 73 species
in all.
Both outings were enjoyable. I was a bit disappointed at some birds
that I could not find such as Prothonotary or Yellow-throated Warbler and
Grasshopper and Vesper Sparrow. I noticed that Indigo Buntings were
everywhere, but that Blue Grosbeak seemed scarce (they are found in roughly
equal numbers in DE). But since this was my first summertime birding outing
in Kentucky, I added 20 birds to my state list. I made the modest milestone
of 150 birds for the state, built from about one birding day a year in the
state since 1999.
Good Birding,
Glen Lovelace III
Seaford, DE
glovelace AT dol.net
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