Missbirders,
Ah, the delights of shorebird season...
Today I birded portions of the south and central Delta (roughly east of Hwy
49E between Yazoo City and Grenada) explicitly looking for shorebird
habitat and had some good results. Fourteen species of shorebird in all,
with molting adults the theme today. A few highlights:
At dawn I checked a small pond/wetland just west of Hwy 7 within a mile of
the county line after entering eastern Leflore Co. A scattering of
shorebirds occupied the muddy shoreline including a SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
while multiple small groups of 5-10 WOOD STORKS and SPOONBILLS were moving
overhead. The Spoonbills were particularly striking in the dawn light.
I revisited the catfish farm in Yazoo Co where I found good habitat on July
11 and predictably encountered less habitat, as much of the mud had dried
in the recent hot weather, but still plenty of birds with good diversity on
the remaining pools. The most notable additions were a BUFF-BREASTED
SANDPIPER and a handful of STILT SANDPIPERS.
Exploring northward I checked the ponds on the north side of Hwy 82 on CR
136 west of Greenwood. These have largely been converted to row crops.
Continuing north through miles of catfish ponds, I noted a lot of dirt work
going on to convert catfish ponds to row crops, on the order of dozens of
ponds. I did not encounter any more drained ponds with mud (though many
ponds are drained and in bare dirt after land-forming) until Fisackerly
Rd/CR 527. On the south side of Fisackerly on CR 123 one pond was being
filled, apparently having been dry earlier this morning or yesterday. Two
dozen LEAST TERNS were roosting on the high points and about 35 peeps were
around. Three BLACK TERNS were hunting over the surrounding ponds.
Slightly further west on Fisackerly in the set of ponds nearest the
intersection with Hwy 49E, I came upon five ponds that have been recently
drained and are currently excellent habitat. These held good numbers of
birds including SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS (6) and the only AMERICAN AVOCETS for
the day. At least one pond was still a few inches too deep yet for
shorebirds... promising for later in the month.
As I mentioned above, most shorebirds were adults in some stage of prebasic
molt. The only juveniles I saw were LESA and they were very few, though I
did not get a count of them.
A NOTE ON ACCESS TO CATFISH PONDS:
I obtained prior permission from the landowner to visit the Yazoo Co farm,
but generally explore freely on catfish farms unless there is explicit
posting to stay off the levees. About half the time I encounter an
employee/manager who will ask what I'm up to. Invariably, they have been
content to let me look for birds (and some will help me find appropriate
habitat) as long as I am respectful of the property and stay out of the way
of the farm crews - which I do assiduously. I share the locations of
shorebird spots on this list because I know how much time is "wasted" just
searching for good birding spots, but also with the assumption (and hope)
that this same courtesy to landowners will be observed by others. Please be
particularly cautious/conservative when exploring soon after rain as
considerable damage can be done to farm roads in wet conditions.
eBird List for Yazoo Co.:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24461619
A few photos, mostly for looking at feather edges:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/123863674@N04/
Good birding,
JR
Oxford
