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[From Nature Notes (the journal of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society), Vol. 79, No. 4, Apr., 2006] FEBRUARY 2006 BIRD REPORTBy: Jim Ziebol and Yvonne HomeyerIntroduction: Now that the landbird migration is underway, it’s time to protect the birds from window strikes. Dr. Daniel Klemm was recently interviewed on National Public Radio. He stated that a billion birds die each from building strikes. A very simple solution is to put masking tape in the form of an X in the middle of any glass window or door. Although birds cannot detect a glass barrier, they can see the tape. The following three books, all published in 2005, may be of interest to you. 1) The Devil’s Teeth is the story of the Farallon Islands, located about 30 miles west of San Francisco, and the hundreds of thousands of seabirds, including gulls, alcids, and petrels that breed there. It’s also the story of an acclaimed ornithologist, Dr. Peter Pyle, the author of The Field Identification of North American Birds, the bird bander’s bible. It’s also the story of “the sisters”, gigantic female great white sharks that come to the Farallons in the fall to feed on juvenile elephant seals and sea lions. 2) The Grail Bird by Tim Gallagher recounts the search of two determined men for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. It tells the history of the species from the 1800s to the last confirmed sighting in the 1940s. This book is also about believability. In 1955, ornithologist John Terres saw a pair of Ivory-bills in Florida and he chose not to report them because he didn’t want the criticism and the ridicule of his contemporaries. 3) The National Geographic Complete Guide to North American Birds. This is one of the best reference books to appear in many years. It contains the illustrations from the original NatGeo field guide, as well as many photographs. There is at least a half-page of text for each species. This book is well worth taking a look at. Sightings: By the weekend of 2/25-26, as many as 40 Pelicans were being seen at REDA (m. ob.). On 2/26, Kent Lannert led a Sunday trip to Baldwin Lake, where the group found several Ross’s Geese, 6 Loggerhead Shrikes and 2 Short-eared Owls. Mick Richardson reported a flock of 24 Sandhill Cranes flying over Horseshoe Lake on 2/28. This is probably the largest number ever seen at one time in the St. Louis area. Blue-winged Teal were seen at Creve Coeur Lake on 2/23 (Dan Curran) and 3 at REDA on 2/25 (D Becher, Sat. Group). On 2/12, Black Duck and Red-breasted Mergansers were observed at HL (FH). A pair of Wood Ducks and several Greater White-fronted Geese were found at HL on 2/15 (JZ). On the weekend of 2/25-26, Dan Kassebaum recorded 4 goose species and 19 duck species at CL. A Snipe was found at Baldwin Lake on 2/18 (MT). On 2/18, 25 Bonaparte’s Gulls were counted at Baldwin Lake (MT, T Berger). The first Franklin’s Gull of the year was found at REDA on 2/6 (DR). A third-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull was observed at REDA on 2/12 (MT, Sunday Group). A Glaucous Gull appeared at REDA on 2/28 (JU). Loy Barber found a second-winter Thayer’s Gull for the Saturday Group on 2/25. A Red-shouldered Hawk and an adult Cooper’s Hawk were found at BCA on 2/4 (J Chain, Saturday Group). A beautiful adult Red-shouldered Hawk was seen on Lewis Road on 2/11 (JZ). Jack Cowan re-found the Harlan’s Hawk at Katy Access on 2/6. Eric Schuette spotted a Rough-legged Hawk on the border of Lincoln and Pike Counties on 2/19. Merlin sightings included 1 at REDA on 2/5 (MT), 1 at REDA on 2/8 (CA), 1 at HL on 2/12 (FH), and 1 in FP on 2/27 (SM). By 2/26, 2 Great Horned Owls were being seen in TGP (DC). Dan Kassebaum located a Saw-whet Owl at CL on 2/4. On 2/3, at Calvary and Bellefontaine Cemeteries, Sherry McCowan and Jim Ziebol observed 2 Sapsuckers, 6 Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Cooper’s Hawk, 6 Red-tailed Hawks and a Kestrel. Two Red-breasted Nuthatches were found in FP on 2/9 (SM). A Brown Thrasher was seen at the Mo. Botanical Garden on 2/5 during the Winter Backyard Bird Festival (SM, JU). Another Brown Thrasher was reported on 2/12 at MTC (SM). A Gray Catbird was found at BCA on 2/26 (DR). On 2/26, a Pine Warbler was heard on Allenton Road behind Six Flags (MB). A flock of 60 Yellow-rumped Warblers was present at HL on 2/27 (JZ). A Yellow-throated Warbler, confirmed by Joe Pinnell, wintered at the Florissant home of Mike Hill. On 2/23, 6 Swamp and 10 Song Sparrows were observed in FP (SM). On 2/5, Clarence Zacher reported a Field Sparrow in FP. About 30 American Tree Sparrows were found at REDA on 2/24 (SM, JZ). Mike Brady reported 2 Harris’s Sparrows at Little Creve Coeur Lake on 2/26. The Saturday Group, led by David Becher, found 15 Purple Finch and Harris’s, Swamp, Field, White-throated, and White-crowned Sparrow at BCA on 2/11. A Lapland Longspur was observed along Confluence Road on 2/4 (J Chain, Saturday Group) and one was also seen there on 2/12 (MT, J Moe). About 100 Great-tailed Grackles and 40 Rusty Blackbirds were still present at Seeburger/Dwyer/Church Roads on 2/12 (SM). A typical day at REDA on 2/12 included 500 Snow Geese, 103 Trumpeter Swans, 14 species of ducks, 40 Pelicans, 2 Great-blue Herons, 25 Bald Eagles, 3 Harriers, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Kestrels, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 Carolina Wrens, and 1 Lapland Longspur (MT, Sunday Group). A typical day for Debbie Trowbridge at BCA and Katy Access on 2/5 included 1 Horned Lark, Western Meadowlarks, Towhee, 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 2 White-throated Sparrows, 5 Purple Finch, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Carolina Wrens, many Chickadees and Titmice, 2 Red-shouldered Hawks, Song Sparrow, 2 Cackling Geese and many Cardinals, Robin and Starlings. Backyard Birds: Connie Alwood had two Great Horned Owls in his Ferguson yard. Clarence Zacher saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on 2/24 at his home. Dick Coles had 2 Pine Siskins at his home on 2/18. Contributors: Connie Alwood, David Becher, Torrey Berger, Mike Brady, Jackie Chain, Dick Coles, Dan Curran, Frank Holmes, Yvonne Homeyer, Kent Lannert, Jim & Charlene Malone, Sherry McCowan, Jeannie Moe, Mick Richardson, David Rogles, Eric Schuette, John & Nancy Solodar, Margy Terpstra, Josh Uffman, and Jim Ziebol. An asterisk means “documented”. Please submit sightings by the last day of the month to Jim Ziebolor 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. |