Bird Report for Weekend

Mike Gempp reports:

There's really not much shorebird activity over the last week or so, and since the Moorhen has flown the coop, there's not much to see on the Discovery Trail. The water level is low, but it hasn't helped the birding. Just a few highlights from Memorial Day to now:

Mill Creek:
Peregrines often hunt from a stoop, but this one came in flying horizontally low and stealthily and ambushed a few Lesser Yellowlegs that were sitting on a cedar stump. I had scanned the stumps beforehand and saw nothing but sea gulls, but the falcon had better eyesight than me. The birds did not see it coming either, and didn't even have time to scatter. One was seized instantly and carried off westward in the general direction of the RT. 3 bridge.

I saw a Snapping Turtle actively digging out a nest, and also saw some other freshly turned ground along the trail in several other places. I marked the nest site, though I will not disturb it. I just want to watch and see what happens.

Disposal Road:
Eastern Kingbird, Yellow Warbler.

Clay Ave:
Cedar Waxwing.

DeKorte Park:
Look for a Blue Grosbeak near the entrance to The Disc. Trail, where I saw one early Wednesday evening.

There are lots of biting flies and no-see-ums happy to drink your blood, so don't go anywhere this time of year without repellent. I've spent the last week with itchy legs.

(Thanks, Mike!)

4 thoughts on “Bird Report for Weekend

  1. julie mccall

    Oooh… that could be exciting (for me, at least). Mike, are you sure it’s a Blue Grosbeak, and not an Indigo Bunting? I haven’t been to DeKorte in a few weeks, but there had been an Indigo Bunting pair hanging out between the entrance to the park and the entrance to the MDT.
    I may have to head down there after work! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Mike G.

    Julie, if you saw an Indigo Bunting in the same area, that is probably what I saw too, since I still do have some trouble telling the two apart. I looked them up when I got home, and it seemed structured like a Grosbeak: the bird had a narrowish, cigar-shaped body and wasn’t as rounded as the Bunting looks in Sibley’s. But it was very busy little fellow, I only had a few brief looks at it mostly from the back, and didn’t hear any calls. So I’d have to say my ID is tentative. There never seems to be an experienced birder around when I need one. 😉

    Reply

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