[From Nature Notes (the journal of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society), Vol. 79, No. 5, May, 2006]

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MARCH 2006 BIRD REPORT

By: Jim Ziebol and Yvonne Homeyer

Sightings: Early Arrival Dates:

The first Common Loon was found at REDA on 3/16 (CA). Good counts of Horned Grebes included 25 at HL on 3/25 (J Chain, Th. Group) and 25 at REDA on 3/29 (JU). A thousand Pelicans were present near Winfield Dam on 3/19 (MT). More than 700 Cormorants were counted moving north on the evening of 3/30 in Lemay (JZ). All of the regularly occurring herons and egrets, except Green Heron, arrived in March: 3/12, Great Egret and Black-crowned Night Heron, HL (FH); 3/29, Little Blue Heron, HL (FH), 3/31 Snowy Egret, Hwy. 111 (FH); and 3/31, Cattle Egret, near the Borrow Pit (SC). On 3/14, 40 Great Egrets were seen in the Cahokia Canal marshes along Hwy. 70 (JZ). On 3/17, Dottie Herwig located a small heronry at Castlewood containing 8 to 10 Great Blue Herons. Shawn Clubb spotted 17 Sandhill Cranes flying over HL on 3/19. About 300 Snow Geese were seen in flight over St. Louis County on 3/1 (AM). On 3/19, Mike Thelen counted 200+ Green-winged Teal at Winfield Dam and Sandy Slough, and 50 Blue-winged Teal at BK Leach. A male and female Hooded Merganser, a Green-winged Teal and a few Gadwall were present in FP on 3/1 (SM). The 95 Buffleheads seen at HL on 3/29 was a high number. On 3/25, Josh Uffman estimated 1,000 Scaup species and 500 Ruddy Ducks at REDA. Woodcock sightings included 1 near the Jack Van pool in TGP on 3/2 (J Chain, Th. Group), 3 at Spanish Lake Park on 3/10 (KP), 1 at Lafayette Park on 3/11 (SM), 1 at TGP on 3/14 (JZ), and 10 displaying at BCA on 3/11 (MT). Snipe was seen in very good numbers, with 31 at the Hwy. 143 marsh on 3/18 (CA), 60 in Lincoln County on 3/19 (MT), and 50 at Two Rivers NWR on 3/19 (EA). A very beautiful immature female N. Goshawk was filmed near Indian Lake on 3/6 (JZ). Another immature N. Goshawk was located at BK Leach on 3/18 (JU). On 3/11, the Saturday Group encountered Cooper’s Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk at the Blue Grosbeak Trail (D Becher). Krider’s Red-tails were moving the week of 3/20, with sightings on 3/20 at HL (JZ), 3/22 at Emmenegger Park (AM), 3/24 at BK Leach (SM), and 3/27 at Keeteman Rd. (MM). While leading a group for SLAS, Mike Thelen spotted a male Merlin with blue-gray upperparts at HL. Other birds seen that day included Franklin’s Gull, 25 Bonaparte’s, 1 Herring Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed (MT, PB). Steve Vogel reported a Ring-necked Pheasant on 3/22 at Sandy Creek, Jefferson County. On 3/2 at TGP, 2 of the Great Horned owlets were seen in the nest and one was located on the ground (MJ), and on 3/12, the Thursday Group saw both of the adult owls and the all 3 owlets (J Chain). The best bird of the day for the Saturday Group on 3/11 was a Short-eared Owl at Katy Access ( D Becher). Then, a week later, Mike Thelen found 7 Short-eared Owls at BK Leach on 3/19. On 3/19, a trip to the Monroe Co. Levee area produced 2 Eurasian Collared Doves and 3 male N. Harriers (SM, JZ).

On 3/26, the best bird of the day for the Sunday group was a Loggerhead Shrike at REDA (T Berger). Three Phoebes, 2 Pine Warblers and a Red-breasted Nuthatch were seen on 3/1 near Rockwoods (CM). Gail Ahumada reported a Red-breasted Nuthatch in TGP on 3/15. The first Pipit of the year was seen at Two Rivers NWR on 3/18 (EA). On 3/21, 120 Pipits were present on Bischoff/Bruns Roads (FH) and another Pipit was located at REDA on 3/22 (LJ). Also on 3/21, on Bischoff/Bruns, 7 Snipe, 60 Kildeer, 15 Song Sparrows, 2 Savannahs and a Vesper Sparrow were observed (JZ). The Rocky Mountain race of Hermit Thrush, C. G. auduboni, was located at CSP by Mike Brady; this bird is more olive and gray than a typical eastern Hermit Thrush, and the spotting is much more extensive underneath. A Gray Catbird was seen near Marshall and Hanley Roads on 3/10 (JZ). A Brown Thrasher was observed in FP on 3/13 (SM) and one was located at HL on 3/14 (JZ). On 3/6, the Thursday Group reported 2 Pine Warblers at #2 Memorial Forest off old Manchester Road (J Chain). Mark Paradise observed a Vesper Sparrow at Little Creve Coeur on 3/31. On 3/2, Linda Yust found the Harris’s Sparrow at BCA, Lake 6, along with Rusty Blackbirds. Another Harris’s Sparrow was seen on 3/12 at BK Leach (JU). Fifteen Brewer’s Blackbirds were reported at BK Leach on 3/12 (JU). The Thursday Group located Brewer’s and Rusty Blackbirds and 50 Great-tailed Grackles at Church/Seeberger on 3/16 (J Chain). Mike Thelen found 20 Rusty Blackbirds on 3/ 4 at BCA. The Sunday group on 3/12, led by Frank Holmes and Jim Ziebol, found 240 Rusty Blackbirds, 2 Great Egrets, 2 Black-crowned Night Herons, and 115 Greater White-fronted Geese at HL.

Backyard Birds: Margy Terpstra has posted daily reports on MoBirds of the development of the Great Horned owlet in her yard. Kraig Paradise reported Carolina Wren and 2 Cedar Waxwings at his home on 3/24. Sherry McCowan had an Oregon Junco on 3/19 in Soulard. An American Tree Sparrow was spotted by Connie Alwood on 3/22 in Ferguson, and in the woods behind his yard, he watched a Great Horned Owl and a Red-tailed Hawk fighting over a mouse that one had caught. Margie Richardson has had a Red-breasted Nuthatch visiting her yard all winter, and an occasional pair of Cooper’s Hawks. Another Red-breasted Nuthatch has wintered in Pat Lueders’ yard. Jeannie Moe had a Pine Siskin in St. Charles on 3/7. When a group working on the prairie at Hwy. 40 and Lindbergh disturbed 3 voles, a Red-tailed Hawk swooped down three times to snatch each one, completely oblivious to the people (Kraig Paradise).

Contributors: Gail Ahumada, Edna Alexander, Connie Alwood, Nick Barber, Paul Bauer, David Becher, Torrey Berger, Rose Ann Bodman, Dennis Bozzay, Mike Brady, Chris Brown, Jackie Chain, Shawn Clubb, Dick Coles, Dan Curran, Joe Eades, Pat Harrison, Dottie Herwig, Frank Holmes, Yvonne Homeyer, Les Jenkins, Margaret Johnson, John Loomis, Jim & Charlene Malone, Anne McCormack, Sherry McCowan, Mark Mittelman, Jeannie Moe, Kraig Paradise, Mark Paradise, Mark Peters, Mick Richardson, David Rogles, Eric Schuette, Scott Schuette, John & Nancy Solodar, Margy Terpstra, Josh Uffman, Steve Vogel, and Jim Ziebol. An asterisk means “documented”. Please submit sightings by the last day of the month to Jim Ziebol or Yvonne Homeyer (homeyer@earthlink.net).

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