2016 Birds in Review

2016 was a quite good year for birding in Kansas. The year started out strong for us, with a great showing of gulls at our local hotspots.

Half-a-dozen species of gulls.

Spring migration was fairly good, and we found a number of uncommon species such as this Veery.



May brought in many more migrants including this Piping Plover at Quivira NWR which had been banded in North Dakota the summer before.



Our annual Quivira big day, on May 14th, was a great success with a total of 141 species including the Lark Bunting above and the Olive-sided Flycatcher below.  
 


The end of May brought a pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks to some lucky birders in Newton. Andrew and his dad chased it after a fairly slow morning at Cheney reservoir and got some great looks and photos, (below)




While unsuccessfully chasing a  Red Phalarope at Quivira, Andrew, Anthony and I found this snazzy Laughing Gull, our first in Kansas.



Just a few days later, on Memorial Day, I ran across this Brown Pelican at a family picnic at Kingman SFL. Luckily it stayed around for a couple weeks and many people were able to get great views of this Gulf Coast rarity.



We didn't find much else until mid-August when a weather system brought in a great assortment of western rarities. In one day we found a Western Wood-Pewee, a Lesser Goldfinch, and a Black-chinned Hummingbird, all quite rare birds for this area.










The rest of Fall migration was fairly slow until the end of October, when several Mountain Bluebirds and a couple Townsend's Solitaires showed up.



 Only around for a few hours, these bluebirds were certainly accommodating.



This Townsend's Solitaire was almost as accommodating when it appeared at Andrew's house.



The year finished strong with a few good trips to Cheney reservoir and our local gull spots. This Thayer's Gull showed well with several other species on the last day of the year.



Overall, it was a great year. I can't wait to see what this year brings!