Friday, July 30, 2021
Today's highlight was finding a second brood of
Purple Martins in
the Dusaf Martin House. In addition, there were 5 juveniles (all on
the house together several times) and 2 pairs of adults (mostly
making feeding runs) buzzing the area. Only 5 of the 11
Osprey were
found this morning, one of which was harassing an immature
Bald Eagle over Main Ring Lake. The grasslands were noticeably quieter
this week with
Sedge Wrens and
Dickcissels most evident, plus a
couple of
Henslow's Sparrows. Other good finds were
Sandhill Cranes (heard near Dusaf), a
Spotted Sandpiper (in a drawn down moat, about
the only shorebird habitat in the Lab),
Turkey Vultures (2),
Green Herons (2), an
American Kestrel (Bison pasture), a
House Wren (carrying food) and
Cedar Waxwings (Sparrow Hedge). Dave
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Once again, the morning turned out to be all about
Ospreys. A quick
stop at Nest 2, on the east side of the Lab, just produced its lone
juvenile feeding on a fish. After several minutes it flew off with
neither adult found in the area. After a long walk in the Sparrow Hedge/Lakes Region, I wanted to check out the other Osprey Nests on
the west side of the Lab. To my surprise I found six
Osprey in the
immediate vicinity of Nest 1. Upon Nest 1 was an adult, the next
power pole contained two juveniles (I assume from Nest 1), the third
pole contained one adult and one juvenile (I'm assuming from Nest 3)
and finally several poles further down were a third adult (assumed
to be from Nest 1). Rushing to the nearby Nest 3, I found the
remaining adult and juvenile (from Nest 3) for a total of eight
westside
Ospreys. What I find most interesting is the apparent
mingling between these two
Osprey families. Upon leaving the Lab,
at the East entrance, I stopped again at Nest 2. Now there were
both adults and the lone juvenile, which gave a grand total of all
11 of the 2021 Fermi
Ospreys. Some of the other birds of note for
the morning were:
Wood Ducks,
Caspian Terns (at least 3), a
Green Heron,
Willow Flycatchers (several singing),
Great Crested Flycatchers,
Eastern Kingbirds,
Bell's Vireos (2-appeared to be a
pair),
Purple Martins (still 2 at Dusaf Pond),
Sedge Wrens,
Marsh Wrens, a
Brown Thrasher,
Henslow's Sparrows,
Eastern Meadowlark,
Baltimore Orioles (several juveniles), a
Yellow Warbler,
Indigo Buntings and
Dickcissels. Wally, while working a late assignment in
the Lab on July 19th and 20th, reported Nighthawks foraging the
skies on both evenings. Dave
Friday, July 16, 2021
Today I surveyed the status of the
Osprey for a final count for the
2021 season. By next week it may be hard to determine their status
as fledging has begun. Numbers are the same as last week: Nest 1
had 2 juveniles (1 fledged to nearby pole), Nest 2 had 1 juvenile
(on edge of nest) and Nest 3 had 2 juveniles (1 fledged to nearby
pole). This meant that the total
Osprey juveniles produced for 2021
was 5, for a total of 56 for the 13 years of
Osprey nesting in the
Lab. The remainder of the morning was spent birding several areas
around the Lab. The expected grassland birds were found were
Sedge Wrens,
Field Sparrows,
Henslow's Sparrows (3),
Eastern Meadowlarks and
Dickcissels. Other highlights included
Wood Ducks,
Pied-billed Grebes,
Yellow-billed Cuckoos (2, Sparrow Hedge and edge of Big Woods),
Caspian Terns (2-again),
Green Herons (2),
Northern Flickers,
Willow Flycatchers, a
Great Crested Flycatcher,
Eastern Kingbird,
Purple Martins,
Marsh Wrens,
Cedar Waxwings and
Indigo Buntings. Dave
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Wally's list of birds found during the 2nd week of July (9-16) included
these highlights:
Wood Duck,
Green Heron,
Turkey Vulture,
Osprey,
Cooper's Hawk,
Great Horned Owl ,
Northern Flicker,
American Kestrel,
Great Crested Flycatcher,
Eastern Kingbird,
Sedge Wren,
Marsh Wren,
Cedar Waxwing,
Eastern Towhee ,
Eastern Meadowlark,
Common Grackle,
Yellow Warbler and
Dickcissel. Dave
Thursday, July 8, 2021
A Post-Breeding survey showed these trends (only counting birds at
survey points Jun 22 to Jul 8):
Sedge Wrens (up from 15 to 22),
Henslow's Sparrows (up from 8 to 11),
Bobolink (from 0 to 1),
Eastern Meadowlarks (down from 7 to 3) and
Dickcissels (down from 23
to 11). Other interesting breeding notes included spotting a family
of 3
Cooper's Hawks (2-Ad and 1-Juv) in and around the Lake Law Pines. Also, found was an
Eastern Kingbird nest with both parents
active in the area. Other interesting birds found included: a
Pied-billed Grebe,
Caspian Terns(2), a
Green Heron,
Osprey (unfortunately Nest 2 now had only 1 juvenile while both Nest 1 and
Nest 3 still had 2 juveniles), a
Willow Flycatcher,
Bell's Vireo,
Purple Martins (still 5 around Dusaf Pond),
Sedge Wrens (4
additional),
Marsh Wrens (14), a
Brown Thrasher,
Eastern Bluebirds (3), a
Vesper Sparrow,
Savannah Sparrows (5),
Henslow's Sparrows (2
additional),
Bobolink (1 additional),
Eastern Meadowlark (3-additional) and
Dickcissel (4 additional). Donna mentioned seeing
2
Sandhill Cranes yesterday, July 7th. Dave
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Wally's first week of July (1-8) was highlighted by 2 great raptors.
First was a
Barred Owl heard in the Big Woods followed by another
sighting of one of the
Peregrine Falcons at Wilson Hall. His list of
other notable birds included
Wood Duck,
Killdeer,
Spotted Sandpiper,
Green Heron,
Turkey Vulture,
Osprey,
American Kestrel,
Eastern Wood-Pewee,
Eastern Kingbird,
Cedar Waxwing,
Eastern Meadowlark,
Common Grackle,
Yellow Warbler,
Indigo Bunting and
Dickcissel. Dave
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