[birdky] RPT: West KY -- Nov 9, 2003 -- long

From: Brainard.Palmer-Ball@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 21:00:12 -0500
Mark Monroe, Matt Stickel, Ben Yandell and I did a November big day on
Sunday, November 9th.  About a week ago when I began thinking about a
November effort, I figured 100 species would be a piece of cake in the first
part of the month. However, I sat down and listed out the probable species
list and it came up to a paltry 93 and I realized our work would be cut out
for us.

We decided to run a route similar to one we'd done on a couple of other days
earlier this fall, going from the Sinclair Unit of Peabody WMA in Muhlenberg
County, west to the northern end of Land Between the Lakes and the
dams/lakes.  Our day of birding essentially began about 4:30 a.m. CST near
Sinclair.  Immediate responses to a tape from a late Sora and THREE Virginia
Rails at one spot was a nice start!  All three common owls were heard as
well.  As dawn approached, two fly-by American Woodcocks warmed the morning
and it's seemingly frigid east breeze (about mid-January a similar wind will
probably feel balmy).  At Sinclair, we focused on sparrows and came away
with 13 spp (including E. Towhee and D-e Junco) highlighted by at least a
couple of lingering Henslow's, 4 Le Conte's, a Lincoln's, 2 Fox and 4
Vespers.  Raptors included 3 Cooper's and a light morph Rough-legged.
Several Tree Swallows, 2 lingering Sedge Wrens, and a few flyby American
Pipits were nice additions to the list. Waterbirds in and around the
Paradise Plant included single Common Loon and Horned Grebe, Dunlin, Least
Sandpipers, and 3 species of gulls (including 50 Bonys).  Matt spied a
distant flock of circling waterbirds that turned out to be about 45 Sandhill
Cranes for a nice addition we figured we were going to be too far west to
enjoy.  In addition, all seven woodpeckers and several other woodland
specialties, including a season's first Red-breasted Nuthatch for all four
of us, fell into place.  We stayed at Peabody a lot longer than I had hoped
we would, but by 11:00 CST we stood at a relatively impressive 73 species.  

At this point we headed west for a first stop at the Eddy Creek embayment of
Lake Barkley. Here we added the first of many American White Pelicans, as
well as Great Egrets and Wilson's Snipe.  We also spent quite a bit of time
with the first-winter gull that I posted about earlier today . . . I wish I
had a quarter for the number of times we flip-flopped on what we thought
this "little" gull was.  Thirty hours later I'm still confused, but if Bonys
regularly hybridized with Little Gulls, I think I might have a notion :o) 

A few additional stops along Lake Barkley added Bald Eagle (an "on task"
Mark Monroe is unbeatable as far as finding target soaring specks in the
sky) and a single Forster's Tern (Boyd's Landing).  We did not keep close
track of our pelican total, but at day's end we figured 400 was probably
conservative; wavy skeins of pelicans certainly are hard not to watch and
enjoy as they float by in an afternoon sun. A single juvenile Black-crowned
Night-Heron was still at its post at Barkley Dam but unusual gulls avoided
detection all afternoon.  Most of several thousand diving ducks on northern
Lake Barkley were not real visible because of the radiation waves and a
brisk east wind, but we were able to add a few species to our list by
scanning the closer individuals; most were Lesser Scaup with a good
sprinkling of Bufflehead and a few Cans and Ring-necks.  As we left Lake
Barkley, our list stood at 95, but with the late afternoon sun waning into a
relatively thick layer of clouds we figured 100 was out of reach. Some Wood
Ducks on a roadside slough buoyed our spirts temporarily, but a north end of
Kentucky Lake devoid of almost any birds in early November is enough to tame
any birder's mood.  Choices from that point were few, but we decided to try
Jonathan Creek before dark.  When we arrived, dabbling ducks -- largely
absent from our day's list -- were aplenty and a flurry of scoping activity
yielded additions of Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, and American
Black Duck, as well as a group of Ruddys in deeper water, that rounded out
our day's tally at the Century mark . . . WHEW!  We hung around until
darkness took control, but additional shorebirds were not seen or heard, and
despite our best efforts at birding waterfowl by silhouette, we couldn't dig
out an American Wigeon or Northern Pintail.

BPB
brainard.palmer-ball AT mail.state.ky.us
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[birdky] RPT: West KY -- Nov 9, 2003 -- long

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