[From Nature Notes (the journal of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society), Vol. 78, No. 3, March, 2005]

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JANUARY 2005 BIRD REPORT

By: Jim Ziebol and Yvonne Homeyer

Introduction: We may have missed some e-mail reports due to the fact that Yvonne’s e-mail was not working for several weeks. The problem has now been fixed. We apologize if we failed to include your sightings. You may re-send them to Yvonne for inclusion in the next newsletter.

Last month, several people named their best birds of 2004. For Jim Ziebol, the best birds were the thousands of breeding birds that will be saved by the 1.8 million dollars from the Holcim settlement funds. I want to personally express my thanks to Ted Heisel, Diane Albright, Kathy Andria, Yvonne Homeyer and especially Maxine Lipeles and Beth Martin of the Environmental Law Clinic.

The September 2004 issue of National Geographic contains a major three-part article on global warming (Geo-signs, Time-signs and Eco-signs). A key conclusion is that the web of life is unraveling. In some instances, the natural cycles of some interdependent creatures have fallen out of sync (for example, certain species of birds are breeding earlier but the insects they eat have not readjusted their cycle.) Pestiferous insects are moving north, devastating the spruce forests in Canada and Alaska. We urge anyone interested in global warming to check this issue out of your public library.

Sightings: Two Horned Grebes were observed at REDA on 1/1 (JU). Pied-billed Grebes were seen most of the month in FP (SM) and all month at HL (FH). Another Tundra Swan appeared at REDA on 1/15 (DR). As many as 6 Mute Swans were present all months at HL (m. ob.). On 1/17, 6 Greater Scaup were found at HL on the Granite City Steel ponds (JZ) and 2 Greater Scaup were seen on the Illinois side at REDA (FH). Mike Thelen found 2 Oldsquaw at REDA on 1/8. The first Wood Duck reported for the year, along with 2 Black Ducks and 2 Green-winged Teal, were seen on the Illinois side of REDA on 1/23 (FH). A Bonaparte’s Gull was found at HL on 1/8 (FH). Without a doubt the bird of the month was an adult Mew Gull at CL on 1/16 (DK). Gull sights at REDA included a first-winter Great Black-back on 1/15 (DR), an adult Glaucous on 1/18 (DR), and 2 Thayer’s, an Iceland and a Glaucous Gull on 1/21 (CM). Lesser Black-backed Gulls were sighted at REDA on 1/22 (MT) and at HL on 1/15 and 1/25 (FH). A first-winter Thayer’s was seen on and off all month at HL (FH). On 1/24, Mike Thelen reported a third-winter Glaucous Gull at REDA and this beautiful bird was later seen at HL on 1/28 (JZ). As of 1/15 at HL, 6,000-10,000 gulls were present on any given day, 99% of which were Ring-billed Gulls.

At REDA, Mike Thelen counted 45 Bald Eagles on 1/8, and 25 on 1/22. On 1/12, the temperature reached 65 degrees at 9:30 a.m. and 2 Bald Eagles, a Red-tailed Hawk and an accipter species were obviously taking advantage of the thermals to migrate. A new Bald Eagle’s nest is under construction near Alton (JC, Th. Group, FH). Tom Bailey reported a Bald Eagle feeding in FP on 1/19. A Harlan’s Hawk has wintered on Sand Prairie Lane near HL since 1999 (FH). On 1/21, Jackie Chain and the Thursday Group observed a light-phase Rough-legged Hawk on Hwy. 94. On 1/16, a Peregrine Falcon was seen capturing a black bird along Hwy. 111 (JZ). On 1/22 at REDA, Mike Thelen found 25 Bald Eagles, a Sharp-shinned Hawk and 4 N. Harriers. Towards dusk on 1/18, 2 male N. Harriers, a Red-shouldered Hawk and 15 Bobwhites were seen at HL (FH). John Loomis found 3 Ring-necked Pheasants at HL on 1/17. Two Great Horned Owls were observed in TGP on 1/31 (MR). On 1/8 in the CL area, Kraig and Mark Paradise (assisted by DK) located 2 Saw-whet, 5 Long-eared and 2 Short-eared Owls. A snow storm in mid-January produced nice flocks of Horned Larks on Confluence Road and Bischoff Road. A Fish Crow was heard calling in Calvary Cemetery on 1/26 (KP). On 1/8, in a park in Elsah, IL, Jeannie Moe and Kraig Paradise observed a Hermit Thrush. A Loggerhead Shrike was seen on Hwy. 50 near CL on 1/18 (CA, TBo). Brown Thrashers were found on the Orchard Farm Christmas Count on 1/1 (RK) and at the Olin Nature Reserve on 1/23 (FH). A female Oregon Junco was seen in TGP on 1/6 and 1/7 (SM). Swamp Sparrows were present in FP on 1/1 and a Field Sparrow was seen there on 1/6 (SM). Some cooperative Savannah Sparrows were videotaped at close range along Bischoff Road on 1/16 (JZ). Savannah Sparrows were also being seen on Confluence Road all during January (CA). On 1/1, 7 Fox Sparrows were found in TGP (SM). On 1/1, 2 Lapland Longspurs and 20 Horned Larks were seen on Confluence Road (JU). Up to 250 Lapland Longspurs were found on Bischoff Road on 1/16 (SM, JZ). Connie Alwood also found a large flock of Lapland Longspurs on Confluence Road on 1/18. By mid-January, Western Meadowlarks were being seen and heard at the Katy Trail Access (CM, m. ob.). Another Western Meadowlark was reported at REDA on 1/16 (MT). A remarkable 225 Great-tailed Grackles were found in the Orchard Farm area on 1/1 (P&BJ, TP). Great-tailed Grackles were also seen on Mo. Bottoms Road near Hwy. 370 (CA). On 1/15, several Brewer’s Blackbirds were observed along Bischoff Road (SM, JZ). Dan Kassebaum reported Common Redpoll and Loggerhead Shrike at CL on 1/16. On 1/15, the Thursday Group observed 5 Purple Finch at Rockwoods and on 1/17, 12 were found at HL (JZ).

A typical day for the Thursday Group on 1/20 included Pine Siskins, Goldfinch, Junco, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Mockingbird, Downy Woodpecker, Cardinal and Cooper’s Hawk at Connie Alwood’s house. They also saw Canada Goose, Gadwall, Mallard, 3 N. Pintail, Canvasback, Ring-necked Ducks, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, large numbers of Common Mergansers, Ruddy Duck, 1 Green-winged Teal, 2 Am. Pelicans, Great Blue Heron, many Bald Eagles, Song, White-crowned and Savannah Sparrows, Ring-billed and Herring Gull, Meadowlarks, American Tree and ETS, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Flicker, Crow, Horned Larks, and Carolina Wren at Riverlands.

Back-yard Sightings: During December and January, Jack Harris had both Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks monitoring his feeders. Connie Alwood’s highest count for Pine Siskins was 19 on Jan. 4. He also had a female Purple Finch on 1/6. Sherry McCowan had back yard visits from an immature Cooper’s Hawk on 1/15 and an adult on 1/19. A possible hybrid Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser was found at REDA on 1/16 (MT). Mark Peters heard a Winter Wren at his Jefferson County home in early January. Clarence Zacher reported House Finch and Sapsucker in Richmond Heights in mid-January and a N. Harrier at Clayton and Price Roads on 1/19.

Contributors: Connie Alwood, David Becher, Torrey Berger, Tom Bormann, Jackie Chain, Frank Holmes, Yvonne Homeyer, Paul & Barbara Johnson, Dan Kassebaum, John Loomis, Sherry McCowan, Jim & Charlene Malone, Jeannie Moe, Kraig Paradise, Mark Peters, Tom Parmeter, Mick Richardson, Dave Rogles, Mike Thelen, Josh Uffman, and Jim Ziebol. An asterisk means “documented”. Please submit sightings by the last day of the month to Yvonne Homeyer (homeyer@earthlink.net).

Abbreviations: Busch Conservation/Wildlife Area, BCA; Carlyle Lake, CL; Clarence Cannon, CC; Forest Park, FP; Horseshoe Lake, HL; Little Creve Coeur Lake, LCCL, Lost Valley Trail, LVT; Marais Temps Clair, MTC; Riverlands, REDA; Shaw Nature Reserve, SNR; Tower Grove Park, TGP.

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