Friday Night Campout

I camped at Perry Lake on Friday night with an old college buddy.  Between beers and recounting old college stories, I watched and listened for new species.   I was rewarded with a Bonaparte’s Gull, Spotted Sandpiper, and a Cricket Frog.  The next morning started with a hunt for morel mushrooms.  No mushrooms were found, but I did hear a singing Northern Parula and saw Cliff Swallows.  The best find of the morning was a calling Fish Crow, which is not normally seen this far North.  Saturday afternoon and Sunday were spent searching around my yard and Shawnee State Fishing Lake.  I found some very interesting insects as well as Lark and Vesper Sparrows, a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and an Upland Sandpiper.  This brings by year total to 202 species.      

A Black Moth (Grapevine Epimenis) is usually found in woodlands and likes to use grapevines as a host plant.  I found three of these feeding on my flowering Aristocrat Pear tree.   

Surf Scoter - Nailed it!

A Surf Scoter was identified yesterday at Lone Star Lake in Douglas County.  Luckily, it was still there today.  This species is a black-and-white seaduck common on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts in winter.  It is a rare bird in Kansas.  As a bonus, there were Northern Rough-winged Swallows flying around at the lake, which I also added to my year list.

Surf Scoter - poor lighting and distance, but I got a photo.

Journey to the Bottoms

I travelled to Central Kansas Saturday in search of new species.  My primary target were Whooping Cranes that have been reported there this week.  I searched the fields around Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira NWR, and unfortunately, found no cranes.  The south winds must have convinced them to move north.   However, the area did not disappoint for other species.  I found fifteen duck species with the best being a drake Cinnamon Teal at Quivira.  I also found first-of-year (FOY) species which included Barn Swallows, Long-billed Dowitchers, Marbled Godwit, Eared Grebe, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and Snowy Plovers.  On Sunday, I ventured to Perry Lake and found FOY Chipping Sparrows, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Red-headed Woodpeckers.  Upon returning home, I was greeted by a singing Louisiana Waterthrush on the creek behind my house.  It was a great week-end to be outside.

A Black-crowned Night-Heron getting some morning sun at Cheyenne Bottoms.

 

A Black-necked Stilt also seen at Cheyenne Bottoms.

March Big Day

Jim Malcom and I did a Shawnee County big day for March on Saturday.  We finished the day with 87 bird species.  As a bonus, Jim’s quick eye spotted a Mourning Cloak butterfly in Felker Park.  The day started at Shawnee State Fishing Lake where we found 15 Greater Prairie Chickens, a Merlin, 5 Baird’s Sandpipers, and a bunch of Song and Fox Sparrows.  We moved on to Shawnee Lake where the best find were two Horned Grebes.    A Great-tailed Grackle was heard calling at Iwig’s Dairy. We finished at Colbenz Marsh where we found two Greater Yellowlegs, four Wilson’s Snipe and an American Pipit.  For the week-end, I gained 10 new species, bringing my total to 156.

I found this Great Horned Owl sitting on a nest not far from my house on Sunday.

March Madness

First things first, my daughter was married this past Saturday.  The wedding and bride were beautiful, and she married a great guy.  Congratulations to both of you, and may you have many happy years together.  Now, back to chasing species.  Despite much time devoted to wedding preparation, I was able to sneak out occasionally over the past several weeks and chase new species.  As the spring migration floodgates slowly start to trickle in, I found most of the expected March migrants – such as Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Eastern Phoebe, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, and American Woodcock.   On the mammal front, I added Red Fox, Common Raccoon and American Beaver.  On a one warm rainy day, the Boreal Chorus Frogs commenced their spring serenades at Baker Wetlands.  Between occasional cold fronts and snow showers, spring is starting make its appearance; waking up insects and prompting territorial behavior in all manner of creatures.  My year total is now 145 species.    

Redhead duck (wonder why they call it that?) seen at John Redmond Reservoir.

 

A Great Egret, living up to its name, at John Redmond Reservoir.

 

First Reptile for the Year

On a trip to central Kansas to visit family on Saturday, I added Common Grackle and Ring-necked Pheasant.  On the way home, a quick stop at Waconda State Park in Mitchell County yielded a very hungry and photogenic Virginia Opossum.  Monday morning, I found six Greater Prairie Chickens at Shawnee State Fishing Lake.  Later that day while doing work in the yard, I saw a skink sunning itself on a rock wall.  I believe it was a Five-lined Skink.  This brings my year total to 130 species.

Greater Prairie Chickens in the middle of a field South-west of Shawnee State Fishing Lake.

A Five-lined Skink enjoying the sun on Monday morning at my house.

 

Virginia opossum at Waconda State Park. Check out that pink nose. 

This Week’s Wanderings

I was able to make several quick trips to area lakes this week.  I saw a Long-tailed Duck at Wyandotte Lake and a Lesser Black-backed Gull at Clinton Lake.  Both are excellent finds for Kansas.  On Sunday, a lone male Purple Finch made a quick visit at my feeders.  He didn’t even stick around long enough for a photo.  Other birds added this week were Northern Shoveler and Ruddy Duck.  On the mammal front, I found a Least Shrew under an overturned wheel barrel in my yard. Least Shrews rarely live more than one year and their only defense is venomous saliva, so get let one bite you.

Lesser Black-backed Gull at Clinton Lake.  I know, not a good photo.  The bird was 100 yards away and it was a cloudy day.