[birdky] Sounds of spring

From: Brainard.Palmer-Ball@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 18:43:47 -0400
I've always been one tuned into the sounds of birds about as much as their
sights, so while out and about the past couple of weeks, I have enjoyed a
few things I seldom encounter, as well as a new tune or two!

In late March, I got to hear for only the third time now the song of a Blue
Jay (all in late March or early April).  This one, like one I heard last
spring, was sitting in small trees at the edge of a wetland . . . could
there be something to that scenario?  It was late morning again and the song
again contained primarily muted but distinguishable imitations of the calls
of Northern Flicker, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and American Goldfinch, with
various jay notes thrown in for good measure.  This one sang longer than the
other two, going on for more than five minutes, sitting quietly in the low
cover.  When it awakened from it's singing state, various typical raucous
jay notes took over.

At this same site, and once at my family's place in eastern Jefferson County
earlier in the spring, I heard another jay imitating a Cooper's Hawk,
something that I think I recall hearing in the past a few times, but not for
sure.  These guys are well-known for their imitations of Red-shouldered
Hawks, of course, but I've also heard them do Red-tails and an occasional
Broad-winged.

During the same visit to west Kentucky, I got to hear a Winter Wren for the
first time in a couple of years.  This beautiful song can be heard on nice
days in winter, but is most often heard as local winterers prepare to head
north in early spring (or perhaps from migrants that are stopping in on
their way north).  This one appeared to be performing for a second and was
at first almost drowned out by a chorus of nearly 100 Rusty Blackbirds,
another favorite song of mine.

One evening I was out west of Paducah conducting some nocturnal voice
surveys for a rare KY frog (the Crawfish Frog).  It was dusk, some minutes
after sunset, and I was near the southern end of the Paducah airport.
Crawfish frogs had just started to call and a couple of American Woodcocks
were peenting away.  Twice within a minute or so I also distinctly heard the
"winnowing" courtship call of a Wilson's Snipe, something I've only heard in
eastern Canada during the breeding season and certainly never in KY.  This
strange sound was certainly a surprise to experience "at home" in KY!

While conducting three nights of frog surveys in Ballard and McCracken
counties, I was heartened to hear no less than 9 Great Horned Owls, most on
one particularly calm night.  The West Nile Virus scourge of the late summer
of 2002 certainly reduced the population significantly, but there is
apparently at least a decent number of birds still here to breed.  In
addition to the calls of adults, I heard the distinctive screechy notes of
small young begging from their nests at three different locations somewhere
in the distant darkness.

bpb, Louisville
brainard.palmer-ball@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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[birdky] Sounds of spring

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