July 31, 2010

We closed up shop for the season this morning at Macedonia. Today's captures consisted of 3 birds- a Red-eyed Vireo, Indigo Bunting, and Eastern Wood-Pewee. However, while setting up nets at 0550, I did hear two species of owls- Eastern Screech-Owl and Barred Owl.

July 30, 2010

This morning we made our last visit to Tilley Bottoms, removing all of our equipment (net poles, rebar, and ropes) from the site after we finished banding (despite a brief downpour). It was pretty quiet bird wise, we only ended up with 15 birds. Of interest was an early migrant ALDER FLYCATCHER. This species is painstakingly difficult to differentiate from the very similar Willow Flycatcher, even in hand. There is a broad range of overlap in almost all measurements, and many individuals cannot be identified past "Triall's" Flycatcher. However, after taking enough measurements to satisty even the most anal of scientists, I was able to confidently identify the bird as an Alder Flycatcher, a species that has just begun the annual southward migration from its canadian breeding grounds in the past week. I also got a new Missouri state bird today- a flyover Cooper's Hawk that I caught out of the corner of my eye while extracting the Yellow-breasted Chat.

Bunting, Indigo 4
Cardinal, Northern 2
Chat, Yellow-breasted 1
Flycatcher, Alder 1
Hummingbird, Ruby-throated 1
Vireo, White-eyed 5
Warbler, Blue-winged 1

July 28, 2010

Shorebird migration seems to now be in full swing here in Missouri. Karen and I visited two locations in the western part of the state today; Four Rivers Conservation Area and Schell-Osage Conservation Area. We found several nice-sized flocks of shorebids, containing 24+ Stilt Sandpipers, several Least Sandpipers, good numbers of both yellowlegs species, a couple of Semipalmated Plovers and Long-billed Dowitchers, and a couple possible Pectoral Sandpipers. There were also lots of Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers around, as well as the ever-present Killdeer. At Four Rivers Conservation Area, we were treated to distant looks at a flock of 200+ American White Pelicans on an impoundment. We also had a Northern Harrier, Bell's Vireo, and several Scissor-tailed Flycatchers here. At Schell-Osage, while driving along one of the gravel roads, we stumble upon a photogenic Yellow-crowned Night-Heron feeding in short marsh grass just off the road shoulder. It was good to see today that fall migration is going strong, look forward to more birding soon!