[From Nature Notes (the journal of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society), Vol. 73, No. 10, Dec., 2001] OCTOBER BIRD REPORTBy: Jim Ziebol and Yvonne HomeyerSIGHTINGS: Ten Horned Grebes were seen at REDA on 10/28 (CM, CA). Common Loon sightings included one at HL on 10/21 (JM), one at HL on 10/25 (Th. Group), and 30 at CL on 10/27 (DK). Two thousand White Pelicans were estimated at 2Rivers on 10/7 (JM) and Bill Rowe estimated as many as 3,000 there on 10/14. Jeannie Moe observed 200 + White Pelicans soaring over Hwys. 94 and I-70 early in the month. On 10/14, 500 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Black-crowned Night Herons, and 75 Great Egrets were found at HL (FH, YH). Torrey Berger found 50 White-fronted Geese at HL on 10/24. A Brant was observed at CL, Parking Lot #3, on 10/19 (K Mc, photo Al Seppi). An Avocet was a good find at REDA on 10/24 (Claudia Spener). Shorebird sightings included 30 Least, 15 Long-billed Dowitchers and 61 Stilt Sandpipers at 2Rivers on 10/14 (BR & class). Tom Bormann reported 24 Franklin's Gulls at CL on 10/20. Several Bonaparte's were seen with 2 Dunlin at REDA on 10/27 (DB). Twelve Herring Gulls were reported at REDA on 10/14 (BR). Mary Ann Auer found the first Lesser Black-backed Gull of the fall on 10/21 at CL. Tern sightings included 2 Forsters's at HL on 10/14 (FH), a Forster's at HL on 10/25 (Th. Group), and 2 Caspian Terns on 10/27 at CL (DK). On 10/14, Bill Rowe reported 6 Sharp-shinned and 3 Cooper's Hawks at Pere Marquette, while several Bald Eagles were sighted in the area. Frank Holmes and Yvonne Homeyer had a close encounter with a Cooper's Hawk near HL on 10/14 and on 10/30, Rose Ann Bodman found one in TGP. The Thursday Group reported 2 Broad-winged Hawks at BCA on 10/4. Ospreys were sighted at Little Creve Coeur Marsh on 10/18 (Dottie Herwig) and one was seen at Winfield Dam on 10/20 (MT). A perched tundrius Peregrine Falcon was being harassed by a Kestrel on 10/4 along the Levee Road (JZ). A Peregrine was sighted, perched and in flight, at the Univ. Club Tower on 10/23 (RK). Merlins were seen on the Levee Road on 10/4 (JZ), at CL on 10/6 (T Bo) and at Little Creve Coeur Marsh on 10/27 (T Be). Twelve N. Bobwhite were seen in TGP on 10/30 (RAB) and 24 were found, along with a Cooper's Hawk, on 10/28 at Little Creve Coeur Marsh (MT). A flock of over 2,000 Chimney Swifts were soaring in the City on 10/5 (Jim Mohrmann). On 10/7 Anne McCormack found a good hummingbird at her Kirkwood home - a female Rufous (G&TB). It was still making daily appearances at the end of the month. A Red-shafted Flicker was a very good find near Winfield Dam on 10/20 (DC, MT). A singing Blue-headed Vireo was seen along with 6 woodpecker species at Lone Elk Park on 10/6 (DB) and Bill Rowe reported 3 Blue-headed Vireos near REDA on 10/7. Approximately 500 Rough-winged and Barn Swallows were seen at HL on 10/14 (FH, YH). Bill Rowe estimated as many as 10,000 Tree Swallows at REDA on 10/7. Doug Willis reported 3 House, a Sedge and a Marsh Wren from Little Creve Coeur Marsh on 10/15 and Jim Mohrmann found a Marsh Wren at TGP on 10/5. Anne McCormack reported a Red-breasted Nuthatch at Meramec Comm. College on 10/28. A male Black-throated Blue Warbler was seen at CL on 10/7 (DK). A Connecticut Warbler was found at FP on 10/6 (Jerry Farmer). A fall sighting is rare in St. Louis. David Kennell saw a Louisiana Waterthrush at his home in University City on the late date of 10/6. Numbers of Orange-crowned, Tennessee, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers were seen in the latter half of the month by many observers. The Thursday Group found Am. Tree and Swamp Sparrows at BCA on 10/4. The fall's first report of a Sharp-tailed Sparrow was from Hazlet State Park on 10/6 (KL). For the second year in a row, a Harris's Sparrow has made an appearance along Bend Road at HL on 10/21 (JM). Last winter, one stayed for several months. Torrey Berger found 9 species of sparrows, including LeConte's, at Little Creve Coeur Marsh on 10/27. On 10/20 & 21, Dan Kassebaum found Pipits, Siskins and a few Brewer's Blackbirds at CL. Derek Dreimeyer reported Summer Tanager and Golden-crowned Kinglet at TGP on 10/2. A good day at TGP occurred on 10/6, with sightings of 12 warbler species including Cape May, Bay-breasted, Redstart, plus Least Flycatcher, 20 Goldencrowned Kinglets, and both tanagers (BR). COMMENTS: Good backyard birds at Wilma Kennell's home in University City included Chestnut-sided Warbler, Swainson's Thrush, and Winter Wren on 10/1 and two Red-breasted Nuthatches on 10/29. Dianne Cunningham also had a Red-breasted Nuthatch at a peanut feeder on 10/31. Phil Ziebol watched a Cooper's Hawk canopy-feeding while being harassed by crows on a Blockbuster parking lot in south St. Louis on 10/28. Dennis Bozzay found a southern Flying Squirrel in his Crestwood yard on 10/27. CONTRIBUTORS: Connie Alwood, Mary Ann Auer, George & Terry Barker, Paul Bauer, David Becher, Torrey Berger, Rose Ann Bodman, Tom Bormann, Dennis Bozzay, Dick Coles, Jean Cook, Dottie Herwig, Frank Holmes, Yvonne Homeyer, Ian Hunt, Dan Kassebaum, Wilma Kennell, Randy Korotev, Kent Lannert, Jim & Charlene Malone, Anne McCormack, Keith McMullen, Jeannie Moe, Jim Mohrmann, Bill Rowe, Claudia Spener, Mike Thelen, Jim Ziebol, many observers. An asterisk means "documented". ABBREVIATIONS: Busch Conservation Area = BCA; Carlyle Lake = CL; Forest Park = FP; Horseshoe Lake = HL; Lost Valley Trail = LVT; Marais Temps Clair = MTC; Riverlands = REDA; Tower Grove Park = TGP; Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge = 2Rivers. |