Spring Serenade

Horned Grebe

Today I re-learned a basic fact. In the "Middle of the Lake" means just that. No matter which side of the Long Run Park Lake I stood on this evening, I could not get a closer photo of these Horned Grebe which chose the lake as their night's stopover while migrating north. Sigh. They looked better in the scope, but were busy preening, or just napping as the sun set. This is the first time I've ever seen them with the males in breeding plumage, and it was pretty exciting.

Louisville's newest park is called The Parklands of Floyds Fork, and will eventually connect five parks including hiking and biking trails, playgrounds, and restored wetlands, along many miles of Floyd's Fork. The Fork itself is 62 miles long, not quite enough to be classified as a river, but a wonderful place to canoe and explore. The eastern part of Jefferson County is quickly being overrun by development, and this park will help to save some of it at least.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to drop by the Parklands, hoping to hear Woodcocks peenting. Nope, no Woodcocks tonight, but the marshes had plenty of frogs and waterfowl. So close your eyes and just enjoy the sounds of spring!

Meadowlark Morning

A friend went to Long Run Park yesterday, and posted beautiful photos of a Wood Duck pair he found, so this morning Dick and I headed for eastern Jefferson County in the bright spring sunshine to look for Wood Ducks. Although we scanned every inch of shoreline, particularly the small protected coves, we did not find any Wood Ducks. All our hours of listening to bird calls on tape came into good use though, since all the birds were singing loudly!

I love the sound of Meadowlarks, and they were everywhere this morning. One flew across the road before us, so we got out and played their call on my phone app to see if we could get a good look at him. He dashed out of the grass, over our heads, and into a tall tree where he could get a good look around for competitors.

 We casually walked his way, still playing the call from time to time. He eyed us from above, and eventually flew down, circled once, then dropped back into the grass. No fooling this guy! He knew exactly where that sound was coming from. Once he was sure we were no threat he got back down to whatever business was on hand for this morning. It was a real thrill for us to see him gleaming in the sun though!

Lots of other birds were enjoying the sunshine too. We saw more Blue Jays than any other bird I think, both calling "Jay Jay" and chasing each other around. I don't remember seeing so many of them at once, and thought they might be migrating, but the field guide said they are year-round residents in Kentucky. Someone had put a pile of dog food kibble on the ground and both Jays and Red-bellied Woodpeckers were taking advantage of the gift.

Cardinals chipped back and forth...

...while Grackles gave us the evil eye from overhead...

...and Red-winged Blackbirds called from almost every branch it seemed.

A pair of Red-shouldered Hawks circled each other, calling "Keer Keer", followed by a silent but majestic young Red-tailed Hawk up among the Turkey and Black Vultures.

Then a very unusual bird caught our attention. Instead of a "mottled" duck, this looked like a "model" duck - otherwise known as a model airplane with pontoons. The engine was quiet enough to not disturb the birds and we had fun watching it fly around. Tomorrow the temperatures should drop again, so I'm glad we got out there while the gettin' was good!

March Lions and Lambs

Witchhazel

The word 'March' comes from the Roman 'Martius'. This was originally the first month of the Roman calendar and was named after Mars, the god of war.  March was the beginning of our calendar year. We changed to the 'New Style' or 'Gregorian calendar in 1752, and it is only since then when we the year began on 1st January. The Anglo-Saxons called the month Hlyd monath which means Stormy month, or Hraed monath which means Rugged month.

Song Sparrow

Well, the ancients certainly knew what they were talking about when they named this month, didn't they? On Tuesday, it's sunny and warm, Wednesday morning is blustery, rainy and cold. On Tuesday, Beckham Bird Club has a wonderful hike at Bernheim Forest with our guest, Greg Miller, of "The Big Year" fame. He's a regular guy, very nice, with a rough history. Greg says he now gives speeches about a contest he didn't win, and a book he didn't write, which was made into a movie he didn't star in. He did serve as the avian consultant for the movie though, and got to meet all the cast. The casting director did a great job with Jack Black taking Greg's part. Black nailed Greg's mannerisms right on. He was most touched by a letter from a man who started birding with his son after they watched The Big Year together, because Jack Black was in it.

Eastern Bluebird

By the next morning, winter had returned, and a few of us braved the elements to join Thor Hanson, our evening speaker and author of a terrific book about Feathers:the Evolution of a Natural Miracle. Following feathers from the dinosaurs to ladies' hats, he was a delightful speaker at our annual dinner, and endured the unpleasant weather the next morning in good spirits. If you are interested in birds, I recommend his book.

Red Maple Blossoms

The sunshine gleams so bright and warm,
The sky is blue and clear.
I run outdoors without a coat,
And spring is almost here.
Then before I know it,
Small clouds have blown together,
Till the sun just can't get through them,
And again, it's mitten weather.

Sunrise and sunset are close to twelves hours apart today, and the birds and plants seem to know that spring is here, and willing to take a chance on the weather. The early bloomers are out, and bees are looking for them. I, on the other hand, go out whenever the sun shines, and wrap up in my favorite blanket on days like today, when it is going to rain/sleet/snow once AGAIN! But I'm more than ready to have it be spring every day!

Unusual Birds

Red-necked Grebe

This winter is setting a record, for me at least, when it comes to unusual birds in Kentucky. I've found five life birds (including the Long-tail Duck Ta-Da!) in all this cold weather. Normally I have to travel someplace warm and far away to find new life birds in January and February, but this year they have all been close to home. Today I added the Red-necked Grebe to my list. Birders have been finding them all over Kentucky in the last week or two, and I've never even heard of them before.

Red-necked Grebe and Canada Goose

They are large, compared to other grebes, and here is one posing next to a Canada Goose for comparison. Most of them seem to be in non-breeding plumage, just gray with a little white on the cheek.

Grebe Diving

At least today I didn't have to risk my safety on icy roads. As much as I love my Prius, I found that it does not do well on icy, slippery roads. Today's challenge was simply finding the bird each time it emerge from a dive, and trying no to cuss every time it dove out of sight just as I focused on it. Sigh. 

Red Necked Phalarope

 Somehow the Ohio River is a magnet for lost birds. We have a nice normally unfrozen river easily viewed from any altitude. Last year we had a Red Necked Phalarope...

Western Grebe

...and a Western Grebe show up. When hurricanes blow on the east coast, we keep an eye out for unusual birds, such as a pair of young Black Baked Gulls who landed at the Falls of the Ohio, and refused to move unless a fisherman got within about 3 feet. American Pelicans don't belong here, but several have started stopping in at the Falls each spring and fall. When the river isn't in flood, the Falls provide a safe dry place to land and recuperate from long perilous flights. It's certainly easier and cheaper to just drive to Indiana to see rare birds than to go to the other end of the country!

Happy Duck Dance!

Long-tailed Duck

Are there birders out there who go it absolutely alone? If so, they must be very, very good, or very, very frustrated. If it weren't for my birder friends, and their postings of bird findings on the BirdKY email list, I would have a hard time finding many cool birds. Yesterday, one of them posted about birds at a location I've not been to before, which ends up being about an hour up the Ohio River from Louisville. So this morning, I stopped for coffee, and headed upstream.

Bald Eagle Nest

I ran into him when I arrived, and he was amazed. "Where did all the gulls go?" We did find the Red-necked Grebes, but did not get a good picture of the female which was the only close bird. I stopped at the restaurant to use the Ladies' Room, still wearing my binoculars. A man at the bar asked if I'd seen the Bald Eagle that sometimes perches in a sycamore tree by the marina across the road. I thought that would be a good place for one too, but no, he hadn't shown up today. It's always interesting that binoculars or a spotting scope can prompt complete strangers to start conversations about birds. Even though they usually are not birders themselves, their interactions with birds seem to be important to them. However, as I started back towards Louisville, taking a scenic road along the river west of Carollton, KY, I did see a large blob of sticks in a bare tree. Fortunately, there was no traffic as I slowed to a crawl. OMG! There's a white blob in the dark blob! It's an Eagle nest, and she's sitting on it!  I parked in the middle of the next small road, and carefully ran across to take some photos of her. A quick email to Kentucky's avian biologist in Frankfort confirmed that they know about this nest. It would have been cool though, to find a new one.

Common Merganser

After winding along more rural roads, I finally arrived at Reformatory Lake. The last time I went there, everything was frozen and covered with snow. Hundreds of geese stood on the ice, or swam in the small open pools. Today, very little snow is left, and the geese honked constantly as they grazed in fields on the other side. The Common Mergansers still swam around though. I have seen all three mergansers this winter - Hooded, Red-breasted, and Common. A hat-trick for me!

Common Goldeneye

Back at the Ohio River, and apprehensively watching the traffic standing in line to cross the bridge on I-65, I found my friend, Eddie the Birder. He counted 16-18 Long-tail Ducks waay out in the middle of the river, and again, I shook my head, unable to confidently identify them. This Common Golden-eye was no problem though. Have you noticed how most of the winter ducks, etc., are combinations of black, white and gray?

Eddie advised me to go upstream a bit to the Big Four Bridge. This bridge carried trains for many years, and has recently been converted to a pedestrian bridge, with great success to my surprise. Anyway, Eddie said he's seen some of these much sought after ducks close to the Indiana shore, just under the bridge. OK, I'll give it a try.

Indeed, how could anyone be a birder without the help of other birders? At last, with the help of my friends, I dance the Happy Duck Dance, and publish my photos of this rare (around here anyway) duck. When I got home, an email was waiting from another friend to go see the Woodcocks' mating display. Thank goodness it's tomorrow evening!