Morning at the Falls of the Ohio

George Rogers Clark site

George Rogers Clark Cabin

 I understand that it's a sign of old age when you start conversations with "I remember when..." although I suppose that's better than "I don't exactly remember..." I volunteered at the Falls of the Ohio State Park from 2003-2009, and enjoyed every minute. I learned the history of this area, the geology, the river, the birds and flowers, and much more. It's always a pleasure to go back down there and see what's going on. Some of the trees on the river bank have washed away, no surprise there.

Great Blue Heron at boat ramp

The river has been high for many months, and it shoots out from the McAlpin Dam with great strength. Thus, none of the wading birds can fish there on the fossil beds. We found herons and egrets circling around looking for a safe place to land.

Black Vultures on power tower

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

I learned to appreciate vultures while standing on the deck at the Falls of the Ohio. Dead fish would wash ashore, and the vultures took care of the mess. The Blacks found a beach ball one day and played soccer with it. They always waited until the sun was up long enough to create thermals before leaving their roosts in the morning. Smart birds.

Brown -tailed UPS bird

Of course, the biggest bird there is the UPS bird. They were on a strange landing path coming upstream from the west before turning to land in Kentucky. Very noisy birds. 

Goose Family

Apparently Canada Geese will adopt other goslings. This family had about 9, but they were two different ages and sizes. Didn't seem to matter as they paraded around at the cabin.

Osprey nest

Ever since 2003, or before maybe, there have been Ospreys nesting on the river. One of the power towers on Shippingport Island hosts cell phone transmission antennas, and the Ospreys always build their nest on it. Since the birds are protected, they stay there, but each fall the phone company tears it down. Doesn't discourage the birds though. I don't know if this is the same pair from so long ago. And I've always wondered why we don't see more of them on the river, since they are supposed to return to the area where they grew up when it's time to breed.

Groundhog

We noticed one groundhog in someone's yard as we walked down the levy (risking our lives from the bikers speeding along). One the way back the whole family was enjoying the sun and clover, with four of them visible!

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

I went for years and years without seeing a cuckoo, and now I've found them three times in about two weeks!

Cedar Waxwing

 

We heard that the serviceberry bushes at the Falls were full of berries, and drove over to look for Cedar Waxwings, which are berry eaters. They must have eaten all the ripe serviceberries yesterday, and we only saw red (unripe) berries and no birds. However, as we neared the cabin, there is a great big mulberry tree and it was full of both berries and birds, making our day! Somehow, Cedar Waxwings always look they they have been painted with water colors, their different colors blend so smoothly into each other. Then they must dip the end of their tails into a bucket of bright yellow paint.

Back to Beckley Creek

Baltimore Oriole preening

Migration season appears to be winding down, if not over. Our birder friends are not posting about finding unusual birds anymore. We haven't been to Beckley Creek Park for a few weeks, and decided to head back that way. "Should we bird or walk?" my husband asked. If we see birds, we'll bird. If not we'll walk, I replied. A month ago, we saw lots of Baltimore Orioles, but this time only one called to us, and he was busy preening, squeezing out a drop of oil and spreading it on his feathers, and zipping them back together if needed. "No time for you birders to take nice pictures. You already have those," he said.

Blue Grosbeak

It's funny how I associate certain birds with certain locations. For example, the only place I recall ever seeing a Blue Grosbeak is here at Beckley Creek. But none this year, so far...

Blue Grosbeak - immature

 At first, we thought it was an Indigo Bunting. You can see how similar they can look. But look at the extra large beak on this one-thus the name "Gros" or large beak. An adult bird would be blue all over, except for the rust on the wings. This one isn't blue on his breast yet, and seems to be an immature bird.

Indigo Bunting

The Indigo Bunting is one of my favorite blue birds...

Eastern Bluebird

Is this a good pose?

But the Eastern Bluebird is the best at posing. He never tries to hide in the leaves and is glad to turn around so the sun shines on his brilliant blue back!

Yellow-breasted Chat

Yellow-breasted Chat

The Chat is a warbler, although you would hardly believe it to look at him. Much larger than most of them, and Chat must be short for "chatter." The sun had been ducking in and out of the clouds all morning, but this Chat must have ordered the sun just for me to take photos of him.

Lichens on tree

Lichens on tree

You might this this is the tropical jungles by all the different varieties of lichens growing on the trees. It looks like tree lettuce! I joked that a lichenologist (not knowing the scientific name) would have a great time studying just this one tree. Just looked it up, and they are called lichenologists! Ha!

Red-shouldered Hawk couple

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawks are always recognizable by their call - a loud keer, keeer, keeeer, that just goes on and on. The larger bird is the female, as with all raptors.

Turtles basking in the sun

There are other animals besides birds at the park, of course, and we spotted 10-12 turtles basking in the sun on the banks of Floyds Fork, which winds through the park. Can't tell which species these are, but the one on the right has a different smooth shell.

Willow Flycatcher

Flycatchers are some of the toughest birds to identify, because most of them look just alike. Even eBird has a category for generic flycatcher, and the field guide says you can't tell them apart unless you hear them. This little guy was perched out in the open in the wetlands, singing away "fitz-brew" instead of the burry "fee-bee-o" of the Alder Flycatcher. We played the "fitz-brew" song back and he answered us. Confirmation! Even if he's not in a willow tree.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Across the river, a large brown bird flew into a tree- a Yellow-billed Cuckoo! I go for years without seeing one, and now I found them twice in about a week. This one, however, started flipping its tail up and down. Was it giving me the bird? Was it trying to entice a mate to come in? Yep, it was the mate. Before I could get aimed and focused, another Cuckoo landed on top of her for a short while then flew off. Love on the river bank!

Now, Blogger says that the "legacy" version of the software will be going away in June, why don't I take a look at the new version. I did, and it will take a while to find the things I am looking for. Others have posted the same questions. Why do they think they have to change things, just to make them look different? Sigh. I'll try to keep calm.

Lake Trashmore

Black-crowned Night Heron

Our friend Pam from the Beckham Birding Club, is a professional photographer and a great birder. Last year she made a presentation to the club about a place behind a shopping center that I'd never heard of, and had wonderful photos to go with it. So yesterday, we decided to check it out. The South Beargrass Creek Retention Basin is purportedly run by MSD, and is bordered by rows of apartment buildings on one side and big shopping centers on the other side. Not an enticing place for birds, yo think. The South Branch has been completely channelized, and runs in straight lines, often through open concrete viaducts. This basin has a surprising amount of water, but I could never find a place where water flowed into it. Anyway, for a trashy lake, it had some pretty nice birds, including 3 Black-crowned Night Herons. I used to see them all the time at the Falls of the Ohio, and they nested in a residential area near U of L for a while, but eBird lists them as infrequent. 

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

 Two Great Blue Herons and a Great Egret were the largest birds, flying from one end of the lake to the other as we walked along. You can see why I call it Lake Trashmore. I don't understand why people would dump stolen grocery carts and garbage cans in the lake, or how they ever got to it with their loot. The birds just ignored it.

Canada Goose Family

Goose teenagers with chinstrap

Gander showing his displeasure at our presence

 There was a large population of Canada Geese, taking walks with their families or just chatting with the neighbors in the lake. This gander was definitely defending his family, so we gladly stayed 6 feet away from him, wondering if that would be enough.

 

For some reason, about 30 geese on the lake when we arrived decided it was time to leave, so they did. I hope it wasn't something we said.

Crooked Necked Goose

We thought this one was just being threatening, but as he walked away, we saw that his neck was crooked all the time. 

Red-winged Blackbird - "go away!"

Red shoulders

Dive bomber

 Lots of Red-winged Blackbirds were on the nest, and the males chased each other everywhere. It is pretty impressive to see these big red headlights coming at you. I guess we were a little to close to the nest of one bird, who actually flew circles around us until we walked away. Poor guy, maybe next time they will nest farther away from the road.

Killdeer and grocery cart

 At one end of the lake, there were rocks and shallow pools of water. This would be perfect for Killdeers, I thought, and sure enough, we found one and heard another. Again, they didn't seem to mind the trash.

Mystery Flycatcher

Flycatchers placed themselves around the lake, belting out "which beer?" as loud as they could. I asked the birders group and they thought it might be an Olive-sided Flycatcher. They all look the same to me. Wow, this is my 15th blog post in the month of May. I've never done that before! With the COVID quarantine, going outside to walk (or bird) is about all you can do when cabin fever hits. And Spring has lasted longer than usual. Today summer moves in though, with temps in the high 80's and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. Well, we knew it wouldn't last.

Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Along the Salt River

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

White spots on bottom of tail

Dick has a friend from Bernheim who suggested we try a little town park in Shepherdsville, KY, right along the Salt River. He says his sister found some Yellow-billed Cuckoos there. I found the little park to be very pleasant. The Salt River, like all rivers around here, was running high, but the park was well maintained. As I walked along the trees growing by the river, I called for the cuckoo, but got no response. A few minutes later, however, a large brown bird circled around and landed above me, give me the eye -"You lookin' for me?" AllAboutBirds reports that they breed all over the eastern United States, and I think this was a breeding pair, since I heard another of them in the background. If you can't get a full view, look for the underside of the tail for big white spots. Much more instructive than the undertail you get from a warbler!

Purple Martin

Purple Martin

It's funny how we get into ruts when identifying birds. If it's dark blue and swooping around, I automatically say "Barn Swallow" and most of the time that would be correct. However, when I started to add this bird just now, I dawned on me that this bird has a face that is entirely dark, no rust on its face at all. In fact, it is a Purple Martin taking a rest from chasing bugs over the river, although there were plenty of Barn swallows around. Yeah, I'll change my eBird report! Native Americans hung up empty gourds for the Purple Martin before Europeans arrived in North America. Purple Martins in eastern North America now nest almost exclusively in birdhouses, but those in the West use mostly natural cavities.

Blackpoll Warbler

What else can I find that is exciting in this little park? Oh, there's a bird with a black cap. At first, it looks like a Chickadee, then I see the black and white stripes down the sides.

Blackpoll Warbler

Is it? Could it be a Blackpoll Warbler? Yes! It favors conifers in northern forests, especially stunted spruce at higher elevations for breeding, and is known for its exceptional migration over the Atlantic Ocean. They can travel from the East Coast of U.S. to South America in one nonstop flight of about 3 days! I wonder if the Blackpolls nesting in central Canada travel to the east coast before migrating over the ocean, or if they take the land route.

Carolina Chickadee

Well, this is a productive trip. Some little Chickadees are chasing each other, but one perches and ruffles its feathers and begs for food, apparently a fledgling following mama around.

Eastern Woods Pewee

As you walk along the forest edge, you will constantly hear a little bird calling "Pee-a-wee!" But rarely do they come down for a look. This little guy got really brave and came to let me have what for, shouting at the top of its lungs! Note that it is a pretty non-descript, plain gray bird. If it weren't calling, I wouldn't have known what it was. In fact, until I looked it up, I didn't realize it is a flycatcher, and most of them look alike.

Eastern Phoebe

Another flycatcher is the Eastern Phoebe, who calls out a raspy "Fee-Beee." It likes to nest near human habitation, so if you have to make a choice in the field, that can help. But watch for that constant tail bobbing characteristic of the Phoebe.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Earlier in the morning, I noticed a couple of smaller birds chasing a Red-Shouldered Hawk.  As I walked back to the car, I found both hawks in the air, showing off their beautiful soaring ability. 34 species on this trip to a small town park! A good day! And I got gas for cheaper at Kroger's there.