[birdky] RPT: Misc observations ....
- From: "Palmer-Ball, Brainard (EPPC OOS KNPC)" <Brainard.Palmer-Ball@xxxxxx>
- To: "BIRDKY" <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:43:39 -0400
The past week I've noted several things of interest (at least to me :o)
....
Last Sunday morning, March 23rd, after being absent all winter, there
was a male Eastern Towhee singing away in the back yard of my mom's home
in Jefferson County. At least some of our local wintering birds must
have bugged out last fall when the winter food supply looked bleak.
Also present in the yard that morning was a Pine Siskin that sat in the
top of a sugar maple tree for about 20 minutes, singing away in between
dining on the emerging flower buds.
That afternoon, I had a flock of at least 20 Vesper Sparrows along the
margins of one of our fields.
Last Saturday, March 22nd, while driving along a rural road near Lake
Barkley, Matt, Eddie and I came across a very nice mixed flock of
passerines all piled into a single flowering American Elm tree. Elm
flowers and fruits are among the earliest new food sources that become
available in early spring, and the collection of birds in this one tree
suggested that there wasn't much else around for them to eat!
Nearby to this site, several Red-headed Woodpeckers continue in the
wooded area adjacent to the Eureka Campground next to Lake Barkley. Last
spring this was one of the few areas where the trees were not completely
burned back by the April freeze, and the supply of acorns and/or hickory
nuts was apparently sufficient to provide food for the woodpeckers
through the entire winter.
bpb, Frankfort
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