[From Nature Notes (the journal of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society), Vol. 73, No. 5, May, 2001]

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MARCH BIRD REPORT

Introduction: This observation applies equally well to birds: “In addition to the practical arguments for the preservation of butterflies, there are clearly aesthetic and moral reasons to insist that butterflies survive. As people become ever more conscious to their environment, they may come to see that all biological entities have intrinsic value and are worthy of protection. Many years ago, the Greeks equated butterflies with the souls of people, using the Greek word psyche for both. One does not have to believe in Greek mythology to know that in a world without butterflies, the souls of all people would be greatly diminished.” Jeffrey Glassberg, Butterflies through Binoculars: the East.

Early arrival dates:

2/25 - Pine Warbler
2/25 - Brown Thrasher
3/1 - Fox Sparrow
3/3 - Lesser Yellowlegs
3/9 - Am. Pipits
3/10 - Tree Swallow
3/11 - Snipe
3/11 - Long-billed Dowitcher
3/11 - Bonaparte’s Gull
3/12 - Hermit Thrush
3/14 - Greater Yellowlegs
3/16 - Brewer’s Blackbirds
3/18 - Purple Martin
3/21 - Merlin
3/22 - Yellow-crowned Night Heron
3/23 - Great Egret
3/24 - Pectoral Sandpiper
3/25 - Barn & Rough-winged Swallow
3/27 - Cattle Egret
3/28 - Little Blue Heron
3/28 - Snowy Egret
3/29 - Louisiana Waterthrush.

Sightings: On 3/29, a Common Loon was observed at HL (KM). Two Horned Grebes were present at REDA on 3/10 (MT). Jeannie Moe found 16 Double-crested Cormorants on Mueller Road on 3/24. A Neotropic Cormorant was located at REDA on 3/11 by the Johnsons. Yellow-crowned Night Herons were found near HL on 3/22 (FH). Jim Ziebol found Little Blue Herons on Collinsville Rd. on 3/28. Two Great Egrets were observed at Sauget Marsh on 3/23 (KM). Cattle Egrets were seen on 3/27 near Fairmont City (CM, KM). On 3/28, Snowy Egrets and Little Blue Herons were found at Frank Holten Park (KM). A large flock (3500+) of White Pelicans occupied HL from 3/16 to 3/23. [FH, D Bz, KM, JZ (video), MT]. Mike Thelen saw 2 Ross’s Geese at REDA on 3/10. Approximately 50,000 Snow Geese were present at MTNWR on 3/ 4 (HW, m. ob.). On 3/1, a flock containing 57 Wood Ducks was seen along Levee Road (JZ). Dennis Bozzay found 2000+ Shovelers near HL on 3/18. Three large groups of Lesser Scaup were sighted: 1000 on 3/10 at REDA (J Mo), 1200 on 3/11 at HL (FH), and 8000 on 3/28 at CL (DK). Large gatherings of 3000 Ruddy Ducks were seen at HL on 3/23 (FH) and 4000 Ruddy Ducks were at CL on 3/28 (DK). The HL numbers were very high for that location. Dan Kassebaum also reported 10,000 Red-breasted Mergansers at CL on 3/28.

Lesser Yellowlegs were reported on 3/3 at REDA (CA) and on 3/11 near Alton (FH). Charlene Malone found Greater Yellowlegs on Powers Road on 3/14 and John Solodar observed several at REDA on 3/29. Lesser Golden Plover were sighted several places: 4 were seen at REDA on 3/2 (J&CM), 6 were seen on 3/26 (CA) and 19 were seen at REDA on 3/29 (T Be). Torrey Berger found a Long-billed Dowitcher at REDA on 3/11. Pectoral Sandpipers were observed at REDA on 3/24 (J Mo) and 50+ were seen there on 3/29 (JS). Snipe were sighted on 3/11 near HL (JZ, YH), 4 were found on 3/18 at HL (D Bz & KC), 150 were seen on 3/23 at CL (KM), and 1 on 3/29 at REDA (JS).

Several reports of Laughing Gull came from different areas: on 3/9 at HL (DB), on 3/11 at CL with a few Bonaparte’s (DK), on 3/19 at Frank Holten SP (KM), and on 3/29 at HL (G&TB). Bonaparte’s were also seen on 3/2 at HL (FH). March 4 was the last reported sighting of the first-winter Glaucous Gull at REDA (m. ob.). A Sharp-shinned Hawk was spotted on Mueller Road on 3/24 (J Mo). During the week of 3/18, Tom Parmeter saw several Sharpies and a Cooper’s Hawk in his neighborhood and on 3/25 Mike Thelen saw a Cooper’s Hawk on Olive Blvd. west of 270. A Red-shouldered Hawk was observed at Shaw Nat. Pres. on 3/10 (P&BJ) and Jeannie Moe found a nest there on 3/28. The Levee Road on 3/18 produced 2 Harlan’s Hawks, 1 Western Red-tailed, and a Cooper’s Hawk (JZ, YH). Viola Buchholtz found 2 Krider’s Red-taileds at REDA on 3/17. A Merlin was observed on 3/21 by Dave Hoehne along Darst Road and on 3/24 in Jersey Co. (HW). Jim Ziebol and Dennis Bozzay found 12 Bald Eagles (one of which was albinistic), 4 Harriers (2 of which were males), Harlan’s Hawk and Great Horned Owl along the Levee Road on 3/16. An Osprey appeared at MTNWR on 3/31 (IM).

Three Short-eared Owls were sighted on 3/18 on Bend Road/HL (D Bz, KC). On 3/31 Jeannie Moe and Jean Cook observed a red-phase Screech Owl at Portage de Sioux Pond. Tom Parmeter located Great Horned Owls near his home on 3/29 (TP). Red-headed Woodpeckers were observed at Shaw Nat. Pres. on 3/10 (P&BJ). A Loggerhead Shrike was found on the Levee Road on 3/24 (T Be). On 3/10, Tree Swallows were found throughout the area. Purple Martins were seen on 3/18 at the Levee Road (YH) and at BCA on 3/25 along with Tree, Barn and Rough-winged Swallows (YH, J&CM). Torrey Berger found a Red-breasted Nuthatch at his home on 3/11. American Pipits were heard at REDA on 3/9 (MT), 4 were seen at HL on 3/11 (JZ, YH) and 100 were found at REDA on 3/17 (DB, VB).

Irene Mondhink found a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on 3/31 at Gilbert Lake. Tom Bormann observed 6 Pine Warblers and a Golden-crowned Kinglet at Hawn SP on 3/9. A Pine Warbler was heard singing at Rockwoods on 3/20 (CM). On the same date, Charlene Malone also had a Louisiana Waterthrush there. A Harris’ Sparrow was located at BCA on 3/3 (Sandra Walters). A flock of 5 Harris’s Sparrows was seen at the Blue Grosbeak Trail/Weldon Spring CA on 3/31 (RW), a number reminiscent of the 1960s at BCA. Early in the month, Savannah Sparrows were being seen at Little Creve Coeur Marsh: on 3/2 (P&BJ) and again on 3/6 (G&TB). The sighting of a Clay-colored Sparrow at BCA (J&CM) was notable for its early date of 3/24, which is more one month earlier than any date previously reported. Keith McMullen saw Vesper Sparrows in St. Clair Co. on 3/29. A Swamp Sparrow was found at LVT on 3/31 (G&TB). Rusty Blackbirds were seen on 3/2 at BCA and on 3/11 at HL (P&BJ) and on 3/17 along Mueller Road (J Mo). Frank Holmes reported both Brewer’s and Rusties at Bruns & Bischoff Rd. on 3/10. Towhees, Fox Sparrows and Juncos were numerous in TGP on 3/25 (Samantha Moore & John Emery).

Comments: Please report all sightings of Cerulean Warbler to Jim Ziebol or Yvonne Homeyer. Twenty-six environmental groups have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to have this bird listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A pair of young Cooper’s Hawks (first adult plumage) has returned to the same nest site in TGP as last year. This demonstrates that birds are faithful to a breeding location. If the hawks are not disturbed, we should see them for many years to come.

A Snow Bunting in breeding plumage was sighted on 3/21 at Mastodon State Park. This could be the same bird, also in breeding plumage, seen there in February. Wilma Kennell observed a Purple Finch at her home on 3/22 and an orange variant House Finch on 3/17. Tom Parmeter found Woodcock at Busch on 2/11 and Fish Crows in Bellefontaine Park. A Spotted Towhee was seen at Jack Harris’s feeder in late March.

Abbreviations: Busch Conservation Area = BCA; Carlyle Lake = CL; Horseshoe Lake = HL; Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge = MTNWR; Marais Temps Clair = MTC; Riverlands = REDA; Tower Grove Park = TGP.

Contributors: George & Terry Barker, David Becher, Torrey Berger, Tom Bormann, Dennis Bozzay, Viola Buchholtz, Ken Cohen, Jean Cook, Frank Holmes, Yvonne Homeyer, Paul & Barbara Johnson, Dan Kassebaum, Jim & Charlene Malone, Keith McMullen, Jeannie Moe, Irene Mondhink, Tom Parmeter, John Solodar, Mike Thelen, Rad Widmar, Helen Wuestenfeld, Jim Ziebol, many observers. An asterisk means “documented.”

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