Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - UNDER CONSTRUCTION-Shorebirds at the Dairy Ponds
UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
I headed out about 5:30 or so today to go look at a life bird Piping
Plover my friend Paul had found at the shorebird spot called the "Dairy Ponds". Although
the Piping Plover was nowhere to be found when I showed up I was rewarded
with two life birds birds putting my life list up to 260. I also got a few year birds putting my year list up to 146. The Ruddy Turnstone and Sanderling were the best birds in the mix.
*Ruddy Turnstone-1 (LB 259)
*Sanderling-1 (LB 260)
Piping Plover-1 (which I did not see)
American Avocet-1 (YB)
Purple Martin-1 near home (YB)
Willet-19 (great concentrations around)
other more common assorted shorebirds
and the usual...
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Saturday, April 19, 2008 - Trip to see the Prairie-Chickens
Today I went to Buckskin Hills WMA in Nebraska as part of an Audubon Trip. While there, we searched for the Greater Prairie-Chickens that call the area home. We got there a little later than we hoped to but we were still rewarded with seeing the neat birds as well as two Trumpeter Swans on the Missourri River. Me myself saw 4 of them before it was all said and done. I saw two birds displaying which was neat, but for the most part they were just plain lazy. Later we went to a small lake and saw a few birds including Forster's Tern and Horned Grebe. We also went and looked for magpies at their known nesting site but none were found. After that we went to Powder Creek Park and saw a Broad-winged Hawk and many Swanson's Hawks flying over on the way. At the park it self there was little activity. As the morning was coming to an end I saw a Loggerhead Shrike as we were headed to lunch. After lunch we went to Ponca State Park ans saw a few of the usual birds.
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Friday, April 18, 2008 - Mini Finch Irruption
At my feeders the past few days I have noticed a good number of finches,sort of like a mini finch irruption. Pine Siskin and Purple Finch were present lately, even though I haven't seen them most of the winter. Must be northward migrants or something like that. Not much out in the cold weather today.
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Thursday, April 17, 2008 - Dunlins and Pergrine Falcons-two new birds
Hello All, I went out birding with my mom today to look for shorebirds and anything else I could find. On the way there I saw a few Swainson's Hawks flying by overhead and I also saw an Osprey as well as a few Barn Swallows but not much else was out. When my mom and I got to one of my favorite shorebird spots, I saw a few Lesser Yellowlegs and Killdeer, but not much else was there. Then a little later I saw three small shorebirds flying out over the water. When they landed in the mud on the shoreline I immediately started to scope them to find out what they were. Noticing a mottled black spot under their bodies and their long and downcurved bills, I immediately knew they were Dunlins, a new bird for me! They were so cute as they searched for food along the shoreline and probed and pecked at the mud. As I was enjoying watching the Dunlin, all of a sudden they flew off, calling as if something was wrong. On instinct I searched for what they were all fussing about. I thought it was probable a hawk flying over that they saw so I looked up and saw a Peregrine Falcon coming in, another new bird for me! As he flew around hunting, a second one joined him, but by then they were high in the sky, far away from me. I was quite happy to see two, very cool new birds in one spot just like that. It was a neat time and something I won't soon forget. Spring is here!
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Monday, April 14, 2008 - Pileated Woodpecker!
This morning I went for a pleasant walk along the creek near my house to look for birds. As I was walking along I saw all the usual suspects, but one bird there was different, very different. As I made my way into a small area of trees I saw a huge, crow sized bird fly by, that had large white and black wings. The bird was huge and right then I knew that something good had shown up in my hometown. On instinct I rushed over to see the bird and saw it fly from wherever it was perched to a different location. Then I knew it was a Pileated Woodpecker! After seeing the red crest and white and black wings I knew that's what he was. I went over and found him sitting on the side of a tree and then finially confirmed what it was. He was such a big and beautiful bird to say the least. I couldn't believe one of these would show up here in western Iowa out of there usual range and in such a small area of habitat. I stood there in awe and finially snapped out of it and as soon as I did I ran home to alert the birders of my find as well as to not scare the bird away. As soon as I got back I called every birder I could think of and e-mailed all the birders I knew. At about three o'clock the first birder arrived to see it. We then went down to the creek and I showed him where I saw the bird at. We looked and looked and couldn't find him and were starting to doub't we would see him. A second birder showed up and also helped us look. A little while after that we heard the bird call from in the trees and we spotted him flying north and then saw him fly into the trees at a cattle farm up north of where we were. Despite the effort of nine birders, the bird could not be refound after that. This bird represents the first record for the county as well as one of the very few western Iowa records. This bird was a new one for me boosting my life list up to 255, only 45 more till I get 300. Awesome bird and an awesome day!
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Wednesday, April 9, 2008 - Scott's Oriole Encounter-First for Iowa
The Scott's Oriole, a bird of the southwest, showed up in Iowa this week and became the first seen in Iowa. The bird was first found April 7 at a feeder in Emmet Co by Mary, a regular bird-feeder watcher. After hearing about the sighting of the bird I started to get exited and really wanted to go see this rare bird. The next day I got permission to go to see the bird from Mary, and I headed up with Paul and Jerry (two birding friends) to see it the bird. We headed up to see the bird immediately and hurried there as quickly as possible, to get there before it got to dark. When we got there, it didn't take long to find the bird. He was at the feeder, but when we pulled up he flew off, giving us an unfulfilling look. Later the bird showed up at the feeder and posed for some pictures. He came to the feeder a few times, never straying far from the feeder when he left. Below is the picture I took of The Scott's Oriole, a new life bird for me.
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Saturday, April 5, 2008 - Ames Swans
Today I was in Ames, IA and saw a few birds there and on the way there. The best birds of the day were the two Trumpeter Swans I saw at a small pond to the west of Ames. At first I didn't know what they were because I couldn't stop to ID them so I posted about them on the list-serv. I got a few replies that said that the pond they were on was a rearing pond for swans, but the birds were wild. Supposively they killed off the fish in the pond and removed the captive ones. When they went back to put the captive swans in, two wild ones moved in.
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Friday, April 4, 2008 - More Woodbury County Arrivals
Hello Birders, more migrants have shown up here in western Iowa. Last night I went around the oxbows and wetlands in the area and saw a few neat birds including a beatiful first of the year Great Egret. This morning by the creek in town I found a Wilson's Snipe. He flew in from the north, circled around a few times, and landed in a semi-moist alfalfa field across the street from my house. I went over to find him and couldn't relocate it. I also picked up an Eastern Phoebe on a short bike ride on the rock roads near town. Late this afternoon I picked up Eastern Meadowlark at a private residence in the outskirts of Sioux City. Later my dad and I saw a life bird American Woodcock at Sioux City Prairie as well as a Savannah Sparrow and a few bats. I now have 105 year birds as well as 253 life birds. Spring is here!
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Thursday, April 3, 2008 - Woodbury County Arrivals
The past few days in Woodbury County has brought some new birds into the area. The first Tree Swallows and both species of kinglets of the year were seen today and sparrows are moving in, with at least 8 Fox Sparrowsby the creek near my house. Pelicans were seen soaring over Sioux City on the 2nd. With the latest push of new migrants, my year list is now at the century mark!
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Saturday, March 29, 2008 - Gavin's Point Dam Birding
Today, I went on a trip with the Loess Hills Audubon Society to Gavin's Point Dam near Yankton, SD. Although it was rather windy out a few good birds were still around. I wasparticularly happy to be going on this trip because I was taking along a new and young birder with us. We saw many birds especially on Lake Yankton below the dam. We saw at least 300 Red-breasted Mergansers, 1 Common Loon, 3 Eared Grebe, 4-5 Double-crested Cormorant, 2 Great Blue Herons,1 Lesser Yellowlegs, and an assortment of other water birds while scoping the area. We then went to the powerhouse on the dam to look for gulls. When we got there we didn't see much, only a few Ring-billed and Herring Gulls we around. After that we decided to go to lunch. We had lunch at a privately owned cabin on the lake, which an Audubon member owns. We saw a few birds on the feeder at the cabin including Red-breasted Nuthatch and Purple Finch. I went out and got to see the nuthatch up close, which was also neat. To conclude our day of birding, we scoped the main lake from the tall cliffs that are at the edge of the lake. We saw few birds with Common Loon and Belted Kingfisher being the most interesting. After we were done there we headed for home and talked on the way home about the birds we saw.
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