[From Nature Notes (the journal of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society), Vol. 79, No. 7, Sept., 2006]

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MAY 2006 BIRD REPORT

By: Jim Ziebol and Yvonne Homeyer

Sightings: Early Arrival Dates:

Sightings: Eared Grebes were seen at Horseshoe Lake on 5/3 (FH) and at Riverlands on 5/7 (CA). Mick Richardson located an American Bittern at HL on 5/4. Least Bitterns were seen at LCCL on 5/8 (A&L Smith) and on 5/9 (MD). On 5/7, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron was found at Collinsville Road & Hwy. 203 (P&BJ). Two Glossy Ibises were a very good find at Indian Lake on 5/6 (SC). Common Moorhens were located in FP on 5/15 (SC) and two were seen at the Hwy. 203 exit on 5/17 (SM). Two Soras were found in the early morning at LCCL on 5/21 (DB). A Virginia Rail (JU) and an American Bittern plus 1 King Rail (D Rogles) were seen at BK Leach on 5/21. Whimbrels are becoming regular in the spring at Riverlands, and Joe Eades located 3 there on 5/17. Six Hudsonian Godwits were reported at Riverlands on 5/20 (CA, LS). The Solodars found a Red-necked Phalarope, 2 Wilson’s Phalaropes and 10 Semi-palmated Plovers on 5/2 at REDA. On 5/3, Steve Ewer and Bob Kleiger reported a Willet at Horseshoe Lake on 5/3 and a Hudsonian Godwit at REDA. Three Wilson’s Phalaropes were observed at REDA on 5/4 (J Moe, KP). On 5/9, John Solodar reported one Black Tern and 13 Caspian Terns at REDA. Fifteen Black Terns and 40 Common Terns were observed at HL on 5/16 (FH). On 5/6, 17 Forster’s Terns were seen along the north shore of HL (SM, JZ). The following terns were reported on 5/13 by David Becher: Forster’s Terns and Black Terns at HL, and Common, Black and Caspian Terns plus a Franklin’s Gull at Riverlands. An amazing 24 Least Terns were present at REDA on 5/21 (DC). Jackie Chain also observed the Least Terns, plus 36 Black Terns. On 5/26, Stilt, Semipalmated, and White-rumped Sandpipers, plus aWilson’s Phalarope and Dunlin, were found near REDA (D Becher). Mississippi Kite reports included 1 in Kirkwood on 5/2 (MAA), a pair copulating in Kirkwood on 5/2 (B&MG), 2 in University City on 5/2 (RK), one hawking insects in Cedar Hill on 5/2 (WG), one soaring with a Cooper’s Hawk over Shrewsbury on 5/11 (JZ), and one on 5/25 at Blue Grosbeak Trail (J Chain, Th. Group). Dick Coles was the lone observer of a Golden Eagle at Katy Access on 5/13. Mike Brady reported the following raptors from Castlewood on 5/3: Bald Eagle, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, and 2 Mississippi Kites. Bill Rudden observed 2 Black Vultures in Monroe County, IL on April 28 and Ron Goetz found one there on 5/23. Ron Goetz commented that he had been looking for a Black Vulture in Monroe County since 1973.

On 5/9, Sherry McCowan found 2 Western Kingbirds in Soulard at 2nd and Barton. Tom Bailey observed an Olive-sided Flycatcher in Blackburn Park on 5/6. On 5/21, 2 Alder Flycatchers were present at BK Leach (JU) and 1 was located in TGP (D Becher). A late Ruby-crowned Kinglet was seen in TGP on 5/5 (MT). Another Ruby-crowned Kinglet was seen on 5/19 at REDA, along with 2 Gadwalls and 2 Shovelers (SM). Nick Barber observed about 200 Chimney Swifts entering an old smokestack in Shrewsbury on 5/2. Two Philadelphia Vireos, several Gray-cheeked Thrush, and a Veery added up to a good day at CSP on 5/15 (MB). The best bird of the day on a SLAS field trip to SNR on 5/13 was a female Black-throated Blue, plus as many as 7 singing Prairie Warblers (MT, CA). Late warblers at TGP on 5/22 included a Palm and a Yellow-rumped (SM). Joe Pennell observed several Golden-winged Warblers, Blackpolls and Chestnut-sided Warblers in TGP on 5/1. Oporornis Warblers were scarce this spring, with a Mourning in TGP on 5/28 (M Richardson) and a Connecticut in Carondelet Park on 5/12 (JZ). A rare spring Sharp-tailed Sparrow, along with a Henslow’s and a Marsh Wren, were seen at BCA on 5/15 (D Rogles). On 5/5, Charlene Malone located 2 Henslow’s Sparrows and a Blue Grosbeak in BCA. A Grasshopper Sparrow was a good find at Tyson on 5/8 (NB). Loy Barber found a Clay-colored Sparrow, along with a Black-bellied Plover, at REDA/Confluence State Park on 5/2 (DB). On 5/31, Shawn Clubb found 3 Lark Sparrows at the Weldon Spring Katy Access. The Painted Bunting at Katy Access was first seen on 5/9 (D Rogles). Steven Wren reported a Blue Grosbeak on Blue Grosbeak Trail on 5/8. Rad Widmer counted 50 Bobolinks and 2 Upland Sandpipers at Columbia Bottoms on 5/6. Sherry McCowan found 2 flocks of Bobolinks, with as many as 20 males, at Steppig and Merrimac Roads in Monroe County on 5/16. High counts of warbler species included 22 species seen at SNR on 5/2 (including a Mourning Warbler) (WG) and 15 species in Shrewsbury and in Blackburn Park on 5/3 (NB). While leading a trip for SLAS at LVT and Blue Grosbeak Trail on 5/6, Josh Uffman reported 9 warbler species, 3 vireo species, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Bell’s Vireo, and 15 Bobolinks.

A typical day at Blackburn Park on 5/2 included Great-crested Flycatcher, Pewee, Red-eyed Vireo, 2 Swainson’s Thrush, 1 Gray-cheeked Thrush, 1 N. Parula, 1 Tennessee, 2 Nashville, a Black-throated Green, 10 Yellow-rumps, 5 Palm, and 1 Black-and-white Warbler (NB). A typical day in TGP on 5/16 included 1 Veery, 1 Mourning Warbler, 1 Wilson’s Warbler, 1 Lincoln’s Sparrow, 1 Swainson’s Thrush, 3 Catbirds, 3 Ovenbirds, a Blackburnian Warbler, 9 Redstarts, a Louisiana Waterthrush, a Common Yellowthroat, 1 Nashville, 3 Magnolia Warblers, and 7 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (SC).

Backyard Birds & Miscellaneous: Wally George got a yard record with a Mississippi Kite on 5/3, and he saw a Pine Siskin on 5/13. Mike Brady had a Whip-poor-will on 5/5. On 5/7, Margy Terpstra had 41 species at her Kirkwood home, including Bay-breasted, Golden-winged, Black-and-white, Redstart, Summer Tanager, and Gray-cheeked Thrush. Other good birds at her home included Golden-winged on 5/4, a Kentucky on 5/15, Mourning Warbler on 5/16, Black-billed Cuckoo on 5/21, Hooded Warbler on 5/20, and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher on 5/21 and 5/22. Shawn Clubb reported a Wood Duck with 7 ducklings and a Mallard with 6 ducklings on 5/9. A pair of Screech Owls fledged 4 young at Josh Uffman’s Ferguson home. Ron Goetz’s best yard birds this spring were Philadelphia Vireo and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. On 5/6, 3 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks visited Jack Harris’s feeder. Since several people reported non-bird animals this month, I am including a mink seen at Indian Lake on 5/26 (Bill Rudden), an otter at HL on 5/30 (M Richardson), and on 5/30, a magnificent adult Broad-headed Skink at Weldon Spring Katy Access (JZ, SM).

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, Mary Dueren, Joe Eades, Steve Ewer, Bob & Martha Gaddy, 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).

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; World Bird Sanctuary, WBS.

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