[From Nature Notes (the journal of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society), Vol. 79, No. 6, June, 2006]

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APRIL 2006 BIRD REPORT

By: Jim Ziebol and Yvonne Homeyer

Sightings: Early Arrival Dates:

Introduction: We would like to thank the managers at Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary for managing the water levels so well for the shorebirds. We also want to thank John Karel at Tower Grove Park for filling the Jack Van Benthuysen Pond.

Sightings: The Thursday Group found a breeding plumaged Common Loon at BCA on 4/6 (J Chain). Frank Holmes reported 9 Yellow-crowned Night Heron nests in Wilson Park, Granite City during April. On 4/23, John Uffman found 2 American Bitterns at CC. A total of 78 Snowy Egrets were seen around HL on 4/30 (FH). A trip to Monroe County on 4/2 yielded 150 Pelicans, 12 Fish Crows, 3 Vesper Sparrows and little else (JZ). Two Sandhill Cranes were found at BK Leach on 4/11 (D Rogles). Mike Thelen visited REDA on 4/1 and reported 23 Greater White-fronted Geese and 3 Ross’s Geese. A total of approximately700 Blue-winged Teal was seen along Confluence Road on 4/22 (B Rowe). By far the best birds of the month were a pair of Cinnamon Teal at Eagle Park on 4/8 (P&BJ), which stayed about two weeks. An amazing flock of about 2,000 Am. Golden Plovers was seen at the Ketteman Rd. sod farms on 4/1 (T Borman, D Rogles). On 4/23, a total of 4 Piping Plovers were present at REDA (J&CM). Two Black-necked Stilts made a brief stop at REDA on 4/28 (JE). Avocet sightings included 38 at REDA on 4/25 (JU), 32 at REDA on 4/26 (IH), and 2 at Two Rivers on 4/28 (D Rogles). Seven Marbled Godwits were located at Lincoln Shields on 4/27 (Gene Sands, Brent Schindewolf). Willet sightings included 57 at REDA on 4/25 (D Rogles), 2 at REDA on 4/26 (IH), and 4 at HL on 4/30 (J Moe, FH). Upland Sandpipers were observed at CC on 4/23 (JU), 4 at the Old Monroe sod farms on 4/23 (D Rogles), and 1 at the Blue Grosbeak Trail on 4/27 (D Rogles). On 4/8, Bill Rowe reported 100 Bonaparte’s Gulls at Lincoln Shields. Josh Uffman found an adult Little Gull and a Lesser Black-backed Gull at REDA on 4/12. On 4/28, 4 Caspian Terns and 1 Forster’s Tern were seen at Lincoln Shields (M Richardson). On 4/26 at REDA, 10 species of shorebirds were present, including 18 Avocets, 3 Baird’s, 2 Dunlin and a Piping Plover (SM, JZ). Bill Rowe visited REDA on 4/22 and found 200 Lesser Yellowlegs, 15-20 Greater Yellowlegs, 100 Pectorals, 2 Am. Golden Plovers, 3 Dunlin, 2 Long-billed Dowitchers, Killdeer and a few Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers. On 4/29 at Swan Lake, Ian Hunt reported Sanderling, 5 Wilson’s Phalaropes, both Dowitcher species, Semipalmated Plover, Dunlin and Black Terns.

On 4/23, the Bald Eagle nest on Peruque Road had 3 eaglets (CM) and the nest on Hwy. 143 had 1 eaglet (J Chain). Ospreys were seen at Busch on 4/9 (D Curran), at HL on 4/17 (IH), and at Simpson County Park on 4/18 (MB). On 4/9, David Becher watched a pair of immature Cooper’s Hawks building a nest near the Gaddy Bird Garden in TGP. A kettle of 10 Broad-winged Hawks, plus a Sharp-shin and 2 Cooper’s, were seen at Blue Grosbeak Trail on 4/23 (B Rowe). A Red-tailed Hawk nest in FP contained 2 young on 4/1 (SM). A Prairie Falcon was a very good find in TGP on 4/27 (D Coles, J Chain). That same day, the Thursday Group observed the entire Great Horned Owl family (2 adults and 3 owlets) in TGP. Two Turkeys were observed at Lindbergh & Hwy. 40 on 4/3 (CZ) and on 4/26, several Turkeys were displaying at Bellefontaine Cemetery (SM, JZ). On 4/17, Ian Hunt found 4 Red-headed Woodpeckers and a Rusty Blackbird in TGP. Two Bluebirds were seen in TGP on 4/20 (T Bailey, m. ob.). Four Wood Thrush and several orioles were seen at Big Muddy on 4/29 (P&BJ).

Golden-winged Warblers and Blackpolls were seen at FP on 4/27 (BB). On 4/5, an Orange-crowned Warbler was seen in FP (SM). Hundreds of Yellow-rumped Warblers were present in TGP on 4/15 (CA, D Rogles). As many as 12 singing Yellow-throated Warblers were heard and seen at CSP on 4/9 (BB, RW). On 4/27, the Thursday Group found a Prairie Warblers in TGP (D Coles, J Chain). On 4/22, Randy Korotev repeatedly heard a Swainson’s Warbler at the wet area near Valley Drive in FP. On 4/15, Ron Goetz found 9 species of warblers at Young C.A. A female Spotted Towhee was photographed at BCA on 4/16 (D Bozzay). On 4/1, the Saturday Group found 2 LeConte’s Sparrows near HL (D Becher) and on 4/23, another LeConte’s was present at BCA (B Rowe). A Henslow’s Sparrow was a good find at LVT on 4/8 (D Becher, Saturday Group). On 4/12, 10-15 Henslow’s Sparrows were reported at Robertsville SP, along with a Blue-winged Warbler (WG). Two Purple Finches were located in TGP on 4/13 (J Chain, Th. Group). A flock of 31 Chipping Sparrows followed Sherry McCowan around Lafayette Park on 4/13. By 4/24, several hundred White-throated Sparrows were present in TGP (J Chain). On 4/22, the Saturday Group visited Columbia Bottoms and found Grasshopper Sparrow, Warbling Vireo and Baltimore Oriole (J Chain). Connie Alwood re-found the male Yellow-headed Blackbird on 4/24 (originally spotted by David Becher on 4/19) and on 4/25, two female Yellow-headed Blackbirds were found on Walker Island (IH). On 4/30, the Sunday Group, led by Bob Bailey and David Garcia in TGP, found 15 warbler species, including 3 Hooded, Kentucky, 2 Worm-eating, both tanagers, and 4 species of flycatchers. Also on 4/30, Randy Korotev reported 12 species of warblers in FP, including a singing Yellow Warbler. The yellow eastern race of Palm Warbler was seen in TGP on 4/30 (IH).

A typical day at Lost Valley Trail on 4/20 produced Blue-winged Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Cerulean Warbler, Ovenbird, Worm-eating Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Red-eyed Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Broad-winged, Red-shouldered, Red-tailed and Cooper’s Hawks, and Swamp Sparrow (PL). A typical day in Forest Park on 4/28 included 21 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 20 Nashville Warblers, 8 Tennessee Warblers, 4 Blue-winged Warblers, 2 Chestnut-sided Warblers, 2 Palm Warblers, 2 Wood Thrush, 2 Indigo Buntings, 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ovenbird, N. Parula, Black-throated Green, and Blackpoll (RK). Conspicuous by their absence on 4/28 were any flycatchers, vireos, grosbeaks, tanagers, orioles and Swainson’s Thrush.

Backyard Birds: Wilma Kennell had an albino Grackle on 4/8. Clarence Zacher saw a Golden-crowned Kinglet on 4/14 and a House Wren on 4/23. Margy Terpstra reported Black-throated Green on 4/19, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Common Yellowthroat and Ruby-throated Hummingbid on 4/24, Nashville and Blackpolls on 4/26, and a Blue-headed Vireo on 4/27. Jack Harris’s winter bird watch record, compiled weekly, included several Cooper’s Hawks, a Sharp-shin, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks and many Yellow-rumped Warblers. He had more sightings of Hairy Woodpecker than N. Flicker which illustrates the pattern of the Flicker’s major decline in the eastern US.

Contributors: Gail Ahumada, Connie Alwood, Mary Anne Auer, Nick Barber, Bob Bailey, Tom Bailey, Paul Bauer, David Becher, Torrey Berger, Rose Ann Bodman, Tom Bormann, Dennis Bozzay, Mike Brady, Sharon Bunch, Jackie Chain, Shawn Clubb, Dick Coles, Dan Curran, Joe Eades, Steve Ewer, David Garcia, Wally George, Ron Goetz, Steve Griffaw, Frank Holmes, Yvonne Homeyer, Ian Hunt, Les Jenkins, Margaret Johnson, Dan Kassebaum, Bob Kleiger, Randy Korotev, Vivian Liddell, Pat Lueders Jurek Majka, Jim & Charlene Malone, Anne McCormack, Sherry McCowan, Mark Mittelman, Jeannie Moe, Mark Peters, Mick Richardson, David Rabenau, David Rogles, Bill Rowe, Eric Schuette, John & Nancy Solodar, Claudia Spener, Margy Terpstra, Mike Thelen, Josh Uffman, Rad Widmer, Clarence Zacher, 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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