[wisb] Pearl Rd, Spring Green shorebirds, Western Meadowlark this morning
- From: Chris West <little_blue_birdie@xxxxxxx>
- To: "[Wisb]" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2011 12:01:24 -0500
Hey everyone,
I had to be in Madison today and stopped by Pearl Rd in Sauk County on my way
down.
The water is down from what it was last week and is shallow enough to provide
good shorebird habitat. There were about 150 shorebirds total with the
majority being Pectoral Sandpipers. There were a couple Dunlin in the back
corner and several Greater Yellowlegs in the deeper water. Also present were
both Teal, Wigeon and Shovelers.
Near Peck Marsh, I heard a Western Meadowlark singing from the north side of
County JJ. Farther down, near Big Hollow Rd, I heard another meadowlark. This
one was singing an Eastern Meadowlark pattern, but with the lower, rich,
warbley quality of Western Meadowlark. My best guess is a Western that had
learned Eastern Meadowlark song. Just goes to show how careful you have to be
with Meadowlark ID.
On another note, I met the farmer who owns the field on Pearl Rd.
Understandably, he mentioned he'd "rather grow crops than birds." He also
mentioned that he was meeting with some DNR people to discuss putting in a
drainage ditch. He mentioned that around 10,000 acres drains from the hills
into that section of the river flood plain and got stuck there due to the
highway creating a dam. The drainage ditch they would install would run from
County G, down under highway 14 and would allow the water to drain to the
river. He thought that they would begin construction of this within the next
month, so get out there and enjoy the shorebirds while the water lasts!
Happy Birding! --Chris W, Richland County (currently sitting in a coffee shop
on the east side of Madison.) Interpretive Naturalist Mississippi Explorer
Cruises
http://mississippiexplorer.com/
http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/
http://www.nabirding.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/swallowtailphoto
"The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first
material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the
composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no
more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be
again."
(From William Beebe's "The Bird: Its Form and Function," 1906)
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- » [wisb] Pearl Rd, Spring Green shorebirds, Western Meadowlark this morning - Chris West
