Quivira Big Day, 2016

May 14th dawned not-so-bright and very chilly on six birders at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge--we were taking part in the annual "Global Big Day" with Barry Jones. We started out at about 6:00 A.M. and slowly collected some of the more common species.The weather for this count was definitely less than ideal, overcast and about 39 F, and we had rather low hopes of beating last years record of 154 species.

 The first good bird of the day was this Olive-sided Flycatcher, not counting the Yellow-breasted Chat and Bewick's Wren that refused to cross the road into Stafford County where we needed them.

 This Tree Swallow teed up nicely beside the road.

 We found a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in the middle of house construction. Here, the female is just leaving after making a few changes to the structure.

The male wasn't super impressed that we were hanging around and kept scolding at us.

This Eastern Kingbird in the same grove was quite tame, and let me get some nice pics.

After birding a few woodlots, it was time to head to the Big Salt Marsh at the north end the refuge. Here we cleaned up on a lot of shorebirds and waterfowl, including several Sanderling, Dunlin and most of the rest of the "peeps" around right now.

We came upon this American Bittern standing stock-still in the ditch. It was under the impression that it was invisible and slowly backed into the grass.

This Red-headed Woodpecker popped up while we were watching several Bobolinks at the Black Rail field

 A couple of Black-bellied Plovers were a nice addition to the list, and two Whimbrel a bit later were even nicer.

We then hit a couple more woodlots, finding a few more species including Eastern Wood Pewee, American Redstart and Swainson's Thrush.

We also found this caterpillar, I think that it is probably a Variegated Fritillary cat, but I'm not 100% sure on that

The Catalpa Grove

One last swing by the Big Salt Marsh and a nearby Prairie Dog town netted us two Burrowing Owls, a couple Short-billed Dowitchers and a Belted Kingfisher.

Burrowing Owls have got to have about the weirdest flight style of any bird, it's an exaggerated, swooping bounce.

Wilson's Phalarope

We left the refuge with 129 species, below last year but not too bad. We stopped at a few of our regular spots back home to clean up on a few common species we had missed earlier.

This Lark Bunting was a very nice surprise.

This Western Meadowlark sang from a nearby fence post.

Killdeer

I finished the day with 141 species, not bad for this year and enough to have me finish in the top 100 birders for the day in the United States, although just barely, at #98. Anthony also had 141, but Andrew missed out on a few species we saw later and finished up with 136.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable day, and we're definitely looking forward to next year!

Joseph

Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira on June 1

Last weekend, our uncle Bill from North Carolina stopped by our area to visit family.  Bill is rarely in this area without making a run to Quivira sometime during his stay, and he's usually obliging enough to take his eager nephews along.  At about 5:45 Monday morning, we (Bill, Andrew, Joseph, and I) piled into Bill's minivan and headed to Quivira and nearby Cheyenne Bottoms for a morning of birding.

We headed straight through the Big Salt Marsh to the rail fields at the north-west end of the refuge.  We hopped out of the car to listen and before long, a Black Rail began calling not far away.  With that year bird acquired for Joseph and Bill, we headed back around the Wildlife Drive.  We were surprised to flush a flock of eight Black-crowned Night-herons from among the cattails, but that was the most unusual sighting.

Things began to pick up some when we revisited the road (NE 170th St.) we had passed over quickly on our way to the rail field.  A variety of shorebirds, forced onto the road because of the high water, gave us great looks.  The highlights were eight Sanderling, three of which were in alternate plumage, and a Ruddy Turnstone.

Alternate plumage Sanderling: photo by Andrew

Ruddy Turnstone: photo by Bryant

Having scanned the Big Salt Marsh at Quivira, it was time to head to Cheyenne Bottoms.  We stopped briefly at the Visitor's Center and then headed out into the marsh.  The east side produced very little, and it was only when we got around to the west side that the birds started being more cooperative.  We were driving along scanning the marsh, when Andrew yelled, "Neotropic Cormorant."  As soon as the van stopped, we all piled out and took a look.  Sure enough, a small cormorant with a long tail was flying away.  Some of us even saw the white line on the edge of the gular patch; certainly a Neotropic.  They nested there last year and appear to be staying the summer this year as well.  Lifer for Bill and a year bird for Andrew and me!

Neotropic Cormorant: photo by Bryant

This Forster's Tern came waltzing by, giving us good picture opportunities: photo by Andrew

A short while later, a small heron-like bird perched on the cattails caught our attention.  The Least Bittern stayed put long enough for us to get pictures.  Another year bird for Andrew, Bill, and me!

Least Bittern: photo by Andrew

Strength in numbers!  Three pairs of Canada Geese and their goslings joined forces.  I'm not quite sure why, but they probably had a reason: photo by Bryant

A closeup of some of the geese: photo by Bryant

We finished our run of the marsh and were on our way out, when Andrew stopped us.  He thought he had a Western Grebe.  As it turned out, it was not just one Western Grebe, but nine!  This was a lifer for Bill and a year bird for Andrew and me.  One pair even treated us to their unique mating dance, in which they run on top of the water with their necks arched!  What a fascinating sight, and also a very unusual one for Kansas.

A pair of Western Grebes: photo by Bryant

What a great day of birding with Uncle Bill!

Bryant