Big Day: May 9

For the last two years, Barry Jones, the public relations person for Quivira, has let us come along with him on the second or third Saturday in May to do the North American Migration Count.  We try to get as many species as we can in one day.

This year Dad drove Joseph, Anthony, Michael, Bryant and I up there early so as to be there at first light.  It was a very overcast morning, and when we met up with Barry it was still quite dark, so we decided to head up to the rail field first thing.  We stopped to listen along the way, and when it got light enough we stopped at a grove to pick up some passerines.  We found an Eastern Wood-Peewee, several Swainson's Thrushes, and a singing Tennessee Warbler among other more common birds.  We stopped along NE 170th street to check out shorebirds and found a lot of the common shorebirds and managed to see a Short-billed Dowitcher, a pair of Sanderling, and two Ruddy Turnstones, all good birds.

Short-billed Dowitcher: photo by Andrew

We continued toward the Rail field and Barry started playing rail calls on his ipod.  At the second stop we heard two Virginia Rails, but we never got any Soras to respond. We continued to a spot where there are reliable Barred Owls.  Barry can do an amazing vocal impression of a Barred Owl and in three tries he got them to respond.  One even flew into the tree right above us!

There is a Prairie Dog town up north of the Big Salt Marsh that has had Burrowing Owls in the past, so we decided to check it.  We picked up many common birds, but never saw the owls.  It had started to drizzle by then, which was a little discouraging, but we thought that maybe it would force the migrating birds down.  We hadn't done much woodland birding yet, so we thought we should tromp into some of the groves and see if there were any birds in there.  The first one was the Bur Oak Grove and the soaking grass soon transferred its moisture to our pants and shoes.  But at least there were swarms of Mosquitoes there to provide some excitement.  The grove also turned out to be swarming with birds, and Anthony managed to pick out a Philadelphia Vireo, a lifer for Bryant, Anthony and Michael!  There were many other new birds to add to the list, including Blackpoll Warbler and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  When we got out of the grove we had 109 species and it was only about 10:30.  We made a brief stop at the Catalpa Grove, but there wasn't much activity, so we went to the Deadhorse Grove after a short look around.  Deadhorse turned out to be hopping with birds, and we soon found another Blackpoll Warbler.  We were working our way along an old shelter belt when Joseph yelled "Chuck-will's-Widow!"  We looked over and sure enough, a Chuck was flying away rapidly.  Wow!

Chuck-wills-Widow; photo by Bryant

As the cameramen were photographing the Chuck, Barry and I heard a strange song, and when we found it we were surprised to see a gorgeous male Magnolia Warbler!  The cameramen quickly abandoned the Chuck and raced our way.  On the way out, we flushed a second Chuck.

By then it was about lunch time, so we headed back the Environmental Education Classroom to eat lunch/ dry our soaking socks.  On the way back we picked up a Black-headed Grosbeak and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  After lunch we had to put our wet socks back on (the dryer did almost nothing) and headed out.

After lunch, we really hit the wetlands hard and had good success, largely due to  the fact that we could go back into the restricted areas.  We found several Willets and Hudsonian Godwits to add, and also found a lone Piping Plover.

Piping Plover: photo by Andrew

There was a large flock of Ibis sitting near the road that we stopped to check for Glossy.  Sure enough, I soon spotted a lone Glossy among the White-faced.  This is probably one of the most overlooked birds in Kansas because of their similarity to White-faced Ibis.  It was one of my main nemesis birds and I was glad to finally see one.

Glossy Ibis: photo by Andrew

We quickly went around the Wildlife drive because Barry had to leave soon.  We saw several Forster's Terns flying around and two Least Terns on a sandbar in the Big Salt Marsh.  At our last stop on the loop, Bryant found three Dunlin out with the hundreds of Wilson's Phalaropes.  Our last new bird on the refuge was a Belted Kingfisher at a spillway on the way out, giving us 140 for the day!

We went by some puddles and marshes on the way out, going out of the way to find some stakeout birds. Our last bird of the day was a Cooper's Hawk, giving Bryant and me 154 species.  Joseph finished with 153 and Anthony finished with 151.  This broke last years record of 146 birds!  Maybe next year we'll get even more!  One can always hope.

Andrew

May 5: Quivira and Elsewhere

We hitched a ride to Quivira today with our birding friends Jay and Verna Miller.  It's Verna's birthday and the excursion was Jay's present to her.  They were kind enough to let us go along, and the birding was amazing.

We arrived at about 6:30 and hit the Big Salt Marsh first.  It yielded its usual suspects.  A total of twenty-two species of shorebirds swarmed the flats. Highlights were three Long-billed Curlews, two Snowy Plovers on their nests, a Piping Plover, a Sanderling, a large flock of Willet, eleven Hudsonian Godwits, and more than a dozen Semipalmated Plovers.  The Snowy Plovers put on a show for us as they tried in vain to lead the van off the road and away from their nests (if you can call them that) with a fake broken wing tactic.  I also spotted a Northern Waterthrush near the hay barn on Hay Barn Road north of the marsh, but it flitted back out of sight before the other members of the party could glimpse it.

A Snowy Plover nest which consists of a shallow depression in the gravel: photo by Bryant

A Snowy Plover incubating its eggs: photo by Andrew

This Solitary Sandpiper sat still long enough for us to stop and snap a few pictures before it flew: photo by Andrew

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This Turkey Vulture, if not a gorgeous bird, was considerate enough to let us get decent pictures of it: photo by Andrew

We spotted this Long-billed Curlew along the Wildlife Drive: photo by Bryant

Apparently the Snowy Plover (flying) was somewhat annoyed by the presence of its close relative, the Piping Plover: photo by Bryant

I managed to capture this photo of an active Sanderling as it scurried back and forth along the shoreline: photo by Bryant

As we worked our way toward the south end of the refuge,  we picked up a few more notable birds, including a Black Tern and vibrant male Rose-breasted Grosbeak- both year birds for Andrew and me.  I also snapped a few pics of this beautiful Forster's Tern as it flew past.  By the time we left Quivira, we had tallied 104 species.

Forster's Tern: photo by Bryant

On our way home, we stopped at a few places along the way and picked up a few birds for our day list, as well as two for our year list: Blue Grosbeak and Western Sandpiper.  

Western Sandpiper: photo by Andrew

This Eastern Kingbird posed on the fence, giving us great picture opportunities: photo by Bryant

When we got home, Andrew and I birded around our place and in Irish Creek to add a few species to our day lists.  We found an excellent variety of migrants, most notably Blackpoll and Wilson's Warblers (which were year birds).  My final day bird, a White-throated Sparrow, put me at 129 species.  That's my third day over 100 within a span of three weeks!  This is certainly the time of year to be out!

Bryant