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[From Nature Notes (the journal of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society), Vol. 79, No. 7, Sep., 2007] MAY 2007 BIRD REPORTBy: Jim Ziebol and Yvonne HomeyerEarly Arrival Dates: 5/05, Dickcissel, Confluence Park, BR Sightings: Four hundred Pelicans were observed on 5/1 at HL (FH). John Solodar reported a Yellow-crowned Night Heron in FP on 5/9 and Rose Ann Bodman saw 2 there on 5/21. Frank Holmes reported 9 Yellow-crowned Night Heron nests in Wilson Park, Granite City. Good birds for 5/14 at BK Leach included American and Least Bittern, Sora, and Lark Sparrow (P&BJ). A pair of Hooded Mergansers were seen at HL on 5/2 (FH) and 3 females were observed at Indian Lake on 5/19 (DBecher, Saturday Group). The Saturday Group also found a Common Moorhen at HL that day. On 5/5, Jackie Chain found a Virginia Rail in TGP; this is only the third one seen there since the early 1990s. Dave Rogles reported 14 species of shorebirds at Riverlands on 5/2, including 3 Avocets, 5 Black-necked Stilts, Black-bellied Plover, and 50 Dowitcher species. Ten Sanderlings, a very high number for the St. Louis area, were seen at Winfield Dam on 5/15 (BS). Two Black-bellied Plovers and an American Golden Plover were located at Riverlands on 5/28 (DR). Laughing Gulls were seen on 5/2 at Riverlands (JU, DR), one at HL on 5/16 (FH), and 3 at Riverlands on 5/21 (JE). Two Herring Gulls and 10+ Caspian Terns were reported at Riverlands on 5/2 (DR). A dark-mantled gull was seen at Riverlands on 5/4 and was thought to be a Lesser Black-backed by Frank Holmes but this bird was not identified on 5/5 by Dave Rogles and Tom Bormann. This third-winter gull was indeed a puzzle. On 5/26, a Least Tern was reported at Riverlands (DR, TB). Shawn Clubb found 12 Black Terns at HL on 5/16. Good numbers of Forster’s Tern included 10 at HL on 5/3 (FH) and 23 at HL on 5/5 (FH, YH). The first Common Terns were reported at HL on 5/4 (MP, JMoorman). On 5/15, Scott Schuette found 300 Black Terns and 3 Common Terns at Winfield Dam, and Frank Holmes found 132 Black Terns at HL on 5/16. Clarence Zacher reported 2 Turkey Vultures in FP on 5/13. An Osprey being mobbed by crows and 3 Mississippi Kites were seen near Big Bend and Berry Road on 5/7 (PL). On 5/13, 2 Mississippi Kites were perched in tall oaks in Brentwood (YH) and on 5/15, 2 were seen at CSP (MB). The first Black-billed Cuckoo of the year was seen at TGP on 5/6 by Margaret Johnson. Sherry McCowan checked out Walker Island, HL, on 5/13, where she encountered Black-billed Cuckoo, Prothonotary Warbler, Cape May, Lincoln’s Sparrow and 6 Blackpolls. Four Nighthawks were seen at McCausland and Clayton on 5/7 (JChain). Good birds seen at TGP by the Thursday Group on 5/17 included Red-headed Woodpecker, Redstart, and Magnolia Warblers (JChain). Mike Thelen found an Olive-sided Flycatcher at TGP on 5/24. Alder Flycatchers were reported at HL on 5/5 (FH), at the Weldon Spring/Katy Trail on 5/11 (CM) and at HL on 5/20 (FH). Rad Widmer reported a Prairie Warbler at Blue Grosbeak Trail on 5/3.
It was a good year for Hooded Warblers, with multiple sightings, including
1 near Alton on 5/5 (SC), 1 at SNR on 5/20 (DB), 1 at CSP on 5/29 (MB),
and 1 at Tyson on 5/31 (NB). A Canada Warbler seen at Confluence Park
on 5/5 was somewhat early (BR). Two Mourning Warblers were observed at
CSP on 5/8 (MB). Others were reported at Weldon Spring/Katy Trail on
5/12 (YH), at TGP on 5/13 (JP), and BCA on 5/13 (JMoe). A Mourning Warbler,
along with a Connecticut Warbler, were found in TGP on 5/21 (MR). Sherry
McCowan visited Lafayette Park on 5/4 where she found Veery, Indigo Bunting
and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The Saturday Group was at CSP on 5/5 and found
6 Baltimore Orioles, 5 Scarlet Tanagers, and a perched juvenile Bald
Eagle being harassed by 2 Red-shouldered Hawks (MB). On 5/8, 3 Grasshopper
Sparrows were observed at Confluence Park (JChain). A Spotted Towhee
was found in TGP on 5/21 (MT, JP). The first Painted Bunting in the St.
Louis area was a female seen on 5/28 at the usual spot at Weldon Spring/Katy
Trail (DR). On the SLAS field trip to Columbia Bottoms on 5/19, participants
found several Great-tailed Grackles, Peregrine Falcon, Grasshopper Sparrow
and Blue Grosbeaks (MT, CA). Back Yard Birds: Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and an Indigo Bunting visited Linda Virga’s feeder in early May. Linda also saw a Pewee and a hummingbird on 5/14. On 5/5, Margy Terpstra photographed a male Cerulean Warbler in her yard, one of 50 species present that day. A Mississippi Kite was a new species for Wally George in Cedar Hill; he also saw a male Spotted Towhee. A Blackburnian Warbler was a good yard bird for Jane Walker on 5/23. On 5/7, Ron Goetz observed 6 Indigo Buntings simultaneously in his yard. A late report for April: a Pine Siskin at Wally George’s home on 4/30. Contributors: Connie Alwood, Loy Barber, Nick Barber, Paul Bauer, David Becher, Rose Ann Bodman, Torrey Berger, Tom Bormann, Mike Brady, Jackie Chain, Shawn Clubb, Joe Eades, Tom Fuller, David Garcia, Wally George, Jim Hickner, Frank Holmes, Yvonne Homeyer, Margaret Johnson, Paul & Barbara Johnson, Dan Kassebaum, Randy Korotev, Vivian Liddell, Pat Lueders, Jurik Majka, Jim & Charlene Malone, Sherry McCowan, Jeannie Moe, Kraig Paradise, Mark Paradise, Mark Peters, Joe Pinnell, Mick Richardson, David Rogles, Bill Rowe, Bruce Schuette, John Solodar, Mike Thelen, Josh Uffman, Lorrie Vit, Rad Widmer, Clarence Zacher, Jim Ziebol. Abbreviations: BCA, Busch Conservation Area; CC, Clarence Cannon NWR; CL, Carlyle Lake; CSP, Castlewood State Park; CB, Columbia Bottoms; FP, Forest Park; HL, Horseshoe Lake; LP, Lafayette Park; LCCL, Little Creve Coeur Lake; MTC, Marais Temps Clair; RMBS, Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary, SNR, Shaw Nature Reserve, TGP, Tower Grove Park. |