13 April 2017

After leaving Kansas we made our way into Missouri the “Show Me” state.  Not sure what that means.  Show me what?  I will have to ask Jack, since Missouri is the state in which he was born.  For me, it is ‘show me’ the birds…

Missouri actually has a different feel to it than Kansas.  I actually like Kansas.  Can’t say much for their politics, but then I try not to talk about that in this blog.

We are camped for the night at the Schell/Osage Conservation Area.  Not a bad spot.  They have two primitive campground (north and south).  We tried the south campground first and found only one camper, but they were using a very loud generator.  We decided to check out the north campground and found, while it’s bathrooms weren’t as nice, they did have an occasional picnic table at a site.  We decided to stay here (for free) for the night — the only campers.  Tomorrow we will explore the conservation area and see what birds are around.  Here’s what we saw this evening:

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Schell/Osage Conservation Area (Missouri)

  • Canada Goose
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Great Blue Heron
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Brown Thrasher
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • American Goldfinch
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Barred Owl

And most of these birds were around the campground.

14 April 2017

Spent the morning at the Schell/Osage Conservation Area.  This conservation area was opened to the public in 1964 and contains over 1,400 acres of prairie and wetland habitat.  It is one of over 1,000 conservation areas within the state of Missouri.  Way to go Missouri!  Of course the areas are generally set aside for hunting and fishing, but bird watching and photography’s importance have been gaining ground in recent years.

Blue-winged Teal Pair

Male Blue-winged Teal (Drake)

Spotted Sandpiper

Semi-palmated Plover

Lesser Yellowleg

Pectoral Sandpiper

Red-winged Blackbird

Chipping Sparrow – sounds like a sewing machine being operated very fast

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Schell/Osage Conservation Area

  • Fish Crow
  • Blue Jay
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • American Goldfinch
  • Yellow-rumped warblers (they were everywhere)
  • Red-winged Blackbirds
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Blue-winged Teal (Jack calls them blue boys)
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Mourning Dove
  • Wood Duck
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • American Coot
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Bald Eagle
  • Barn Swallow
  • Gadwall
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Franklin’s Gull
  • Pectoral Sandpiper (around 30)
  • Semi-palmated Plover (5)
  • Lesser Yellowleg
  • Common Grackle
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Great Egret
  • White-faced Ibis
  • Wild Turkey
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Turkey Vulture

The nice surprise were the shorebirds.  I love shorebirds and we usually get these four species (Pectoral Sandpiper, Semi-palmated Plover, Lesser Yellowleg, and Spotted Sandpiper) in and near Homer.

In Homer, Alaska, the Kachemak Bay Birders conducts annual shorebird monitoring, which started April 13th this year.  Shorebirds are monitored at about 8 different locations every five days through the last week in May.  The peak of shorebird migration is generally early May.  I won’t be participating this year, so it will be nice to see as many shorebirds as I can during our trip.

After the driving the conservation area (several roads) searching for birds – or in the case of others to fish – we drove to Knob Noster State Park for the night.  We got here early and only about 5 of the 70 campsites were occupied.  Throughout the afternoon we’ve watched the sites fill up – still more than half empty by nightfall.

Tomorrow we head to Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge.  This is rated as one of the top 10 birding locations in the state.  It will be interesting to see what birds are there this time of year.  We’ve been here before, but never at this time (April).

15 April 2017

Enjoyed our 80+ mile drive through the Missouri countryside on our way from Knob Noster State Park to Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge.  The leaves have emerged on most of the trees, and the farm fields, where vegetation is present, is a beautiful verdant green.  Ah, spring time.  My favorite time of the year.

We arrived at Swan Lake around 10:30 am, but not before stopping at the Sumner City Park to photograph the large (aka huge, giant, humongous) Canada Goose statute.   They embrace the value of having a National Wildlife Refuge nearby.   As I was walking over to take the photo I noticed a lot of bright colored plastic eggs on the ground.  We later learned the Easter egg hunt was scheduled for 11:00 am that day.

At the refuge we did the short trail near the refuge visitor center.  This area produced a lot of great birds, including both the Sora (three of them out in the open feeding on vegetation or preening) and a Virginia Rail.  I’ve never seen both in the same general area before.  I almost missed the secretive Virginia Rail and only spotted it as I was pointing out a resting snake to Jack.  Luckily the snake wasn’t interested in this particular bird.

The visitor center was supposed to open at noon, but no one showed up to open the doors.  Also the nearby restrooms were locked.  What really disappointed me was the lack of a refuge brochure or bird list outside the visitor center for visitors to take when the center is closed.  I always like to know what birds I might see while at the refuge.

They do have roads running through the refuge and I guess you could call the main route an auto tour route.  We took the main road and was stopped after several miles due to high water.  In fact, much of the refuge was under water.  We’ve been to Swan Lake NWR several times in the past, but have never seen this amount of water.  At this junction there were a lot (several hundred) of shorebirds feeding – Greater Yellowleg, Lesser Yellowleg, Pectoral Sandpiper, Dowitcher sp., one Hudsonian Godwit, Killdeer, and American Golden Plover.  We spent some time checking out the shorebirds, naturally.

We then turned around and entered from a different direction onto the refuge, hoping to see more of the refuge.  We did.  However, ,about a mile onto this road (from the Hunter’s Headquarters Building) we came across a sign letting us know the road was closed in 3.5 -miles.  I knew right where the road would be closed as there is a low area where water from Silver Lake is allowed to spill over a dam/road structure.  It was indeed under water.

When we stopped before turning around, I did see an Eastern Yellowbellied Racer (i.e., snake) in the water with only its head sticking up out of the water.  We later saw another one just off the roadway.

As we were stopped along a dike road, a car pulled up along side of us and asked if we were from Homer Alaska.  We responded yes.  The passenger mentioned he had gone on a tour with Wilderness Adventures and they visited Homer.  We asked if he went with Aaron Lang (the owner of Wilderness Birding Adventures) and he said yes and then complimented Aaron.  He told us to tell Aaron hi from the guy from Missouri.  So Aaron, have you had many clients from Missouri?  If not, then you may remember the person who stopped us.

On the way back we spotted a single Snow Goose.  The goose looked as though its right wing had been injured.  If so, I suspect it will soon become prey for the Bald Eagles that call Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge home.

Swan Lake

Pond near the visitor center

Trail near the visitor center

Sora …

… stretching its wing

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Eastern Phoebe – we’ve seen lots of Phoebes

This area is generally dry – lots of high water on the refuge this spring

American Golden Plover

Muskrat

Roadkill – Turtle. I think people intentionally run these animals over. It’s not like they move quickly so you can’t avoid them. But why? Heartless people.

Again, water where there usually isn’t any

A single Snow Goose on Silver Lake within the refuge. Right wing looks injured. Most likely future dinner for one of the Bald Eagles living within the refuge.

I think this is an Eastern Yellowbellied Racer

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Swan Lake National Wildlife Area

  • American Robin
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • American Coot
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Blue Jay
  • Song Sparrow
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Red-headed Woodpecker
  • Sora
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • Virginia Rail
  • Brown Thrasher
  • Marsh Wren
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Mourning Dove
  • Eastern Meadowlark
  • Bald Eagle
  • American White Pelican
  • Canada Goose
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Greater Yellowleg
  • Lesser Yellowleg
  • Pectoral Sandpiper
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Hudsonian Godwit
  • Dowitcher sp.
  • American Golden Plover
  • Killdeer
  • Forester’s Tern
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Bonaparte’s Gull
  • Tree Swallow
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Snow Goose
  • Common Grackle
  • Spotted Sandpiper

In addition to the birds, we also saw the Eastern Yellowbellied Racer (snake), several Muskrats, and a dead turtle.  We found it dead in the center of the road going to the refuge headquarters.  I’m sure some idiot intentionally ran it over.  Why?  Does it make them feel powerful?  I think it makes them a coward.

Tonight we are staying at Pershing State Park, just 11 miles north of the refuge.  This place is a great place to bird and we are hoping tomorrow will be worthwhile.

16 April 2017

Rained about ½ inch last night.  One of the tent campers was gone in the morning.  Maybe the rain was too much for them, or maybe they moved to higher ground.

For the past several days I’ve been hearing a Northern Parula – a warbler.  This species song sounds to me like a zipper being pulled up quickly.  A song I haven’t forgotten.  Only problem is, I haven’t been able to find the singer.  One nice thing about these warblers is they spend their time in the bottom or the middle part of the tree canopy so you don’t have to crane your neck (warbler neck) so high to try and find them.

After breakfast we walked the Locust Creek Boardwalk and Riparian Trail within the park.  This boardwalk trail has been very productive bird-wise for us in the past.  It did not disappoint this time.  To get to the trail you cross a bridge over Locust Creek.  And what do you think I heard near the bridge – you got it, the Northern Parula and this time I was able to find it.  Hooray!!!  A beautiful male warbler sporting Easter colors.

We walked the short (less than 1-mile) boardwalk trail and enjoyed the sights and sounds of bird life.  At the end of the trail a guy in a pickup truck pulls up and asked if we were from Alaska.  We said yes, and he proceeded to tell us about about all the Alaska reality shows he watches.  We get that a lot.  Personally we’ve yet to watch a single one.  Of course we don’t have TV reception (by choice).  He told us to say hi to the Kilchers from The Last Frontier.

While walking on the trail we were surprised at the number of Wood Ducks we flushed off trees.  I even captured a photograph of a male drake on a tree limb.  Beautiful, fancy ducks.

Carolina Wren

Lots of interesting fungus in the park

The boardwalk trail

Fungus covered tree

Yes, a Wood Duck on a tree limb

Eastern Phoebe

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Pershing State Park:

  • Wood Duck
  • Northern Parula
  • American Goldfinch
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • American Robin
  • Blue Jay
  • Canada Goose
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Mourning Dove
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Carolina Wren
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Brown Thrasher
  • Hermit’s Thrush
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Red-headed Woodpecker
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Orange-crowned Warbler

We then drove to the Poosey Conservation Area, near Jamesport to see what birds might be out and about.  Nothing new except for Cedar Waxwings.  We did see signs saying all trails closed from 17 April to 7 May for turkey hunting.  We had planned to come back to bird this area, but with turkey hunting going on, I think we will pass.

Eastern Bluebird

Poosey Conservation Area – bottomland forest habitat

Helmeted Guineafowl – for a minute there I thought I was back in Africa

We plan to spend the next several days visiting with Jack’s brother and wife in Jamesport, Missouri.  This is a small community with lots of Amish in the neighborhood (largest Amish Community in the state).  You can hear the clip clopping of horse hooves and see a slow moving vehicle symbol moving up and down the road in the pitch black night.

17 April 2017

A day of catch up with emails, write my blog, and do laundry.

18 April 2017

Spent the day checking out the Amish Stores around the area and a little birding at Crowder State Park.

Crowder State Park consists of 1,912 acres in the rolling green hills in Northern Missouri, with 17-miles of trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding.  Birding too.  Crowder is a great place to bird.  We’ve birded here in the past when we’ve come back to Missouri to visit Jack’s family.   Today we took the Riparian Trail – a 2-mile loop trail.  Lots of great habitat, but seeing as it was mid-afternoon, not so many birds.

Crowder Lake

Crowder Lake – view from the earthen dam

Lots of rolling hills

I like the signs for trails at Missouri Parks and Conservation Areas – the bottom sign lets you know what type of obstacles you might encounter

And this sign is very important – we’ve encountered a lot of ticks so far

Riparian Trail

Wild Blue Phlox

Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly

Hermit’s Thrush

May Apple plant

House Finch at a feeder in Jamesport

Purple Martin Condos at the Sherwood Quilt Store

I guess the purpose of this plastic Purple Martin is to attract other martins

Purple Martin

A fixer upper in Missouri

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Crowder State Park

  • Great Blue Heron
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Canada Goose
  • Turkey Vulture
  • American Robin
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Northern Parula
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Hermit’s Thrush
  • Downy Woodpecker

19 April 2017

Another lazy day catching up on my blog (takes awhile to go through all my photos and select and edit the one’s I want to include in my posts, and I don’t even use a fancy program like PhotoShop).

We also drove around the countryside in search of birds.  Nothing new seen, but we did finally hear a Northern Bobwhite, with its distinctive call “Bob White”.

20 April 2017

We got up at the crack of dawn and headed to Squaw Creek (now known as Loess Bluffs) National Wildlife Refuge.  The refuge was established in 1935 and  includes 7,440 acres of wetlands, grasslands, and forests along the eastern edge of the Missouri River floodplain.   Of the 7,440 acres, 3,400 acres are wetlands.

This refuge offers a 10-mile Wild Goose Interpretive Auto Tour.  There is also a 2.5-mile Mallard Marsh Auxiliary Loop. There are also several hiking trails on the refuge.  We drove both loop roads.

Refuge Map

Loess Bluffs NWR is one of my top 10 refuges and it did not disappoint.  We saw a total of 63 different species, with three First of Year (FOY) species: Solitary Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper, and Palm Warbler.  The Palm Warblers (two of them) were a surprise.  They are only occasionally seen at the refuge.  We felt fortunate to catch a glimpse (and a bad photo) of them.

Of those 63 species, we saw 36 species while driving the  Mallard Marsh Auxillary Loop.  We’ve driven part of this road in previous visits, but not the entire road.  We will now drive all of it during any future visits.

Lots of tangled branches for a bird to hide

Male American Goldfinch

Wood Duck nest box

Prime Wood Duck habitat. The Blue-winged Teal like it too.

Turkey Vulture

(Jeremiah was a) Bullfrog

Palm Warbler

Solitary Sandpiper

There are actually two snakes here – one large and one small

Bald Eagle Nest in the tree – with a nesting Bald Eagle

Occupied Bald Eagle Nest

Barn Swallow

Belted Kingfisher

Wood Duck

Pair of Wood Ducks and a Male Wood Duck.  They are usually very skittish so was surprised they didn’t flush when we stopped to check them out.

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Loess Bluff National Wildlife Refuge

  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Killdeer
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Greater Yellowleg
  • Lesser Yellowleg
  • American Wigeon
  • Great Blue Heron
  • American Robin
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • American Goldfinch
  • Mourning Dove
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Wood Duck
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Lincoln Sparrow
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Tree Swallow
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  • American Coot
  • Barred Owl
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Great Egret
  • Common Grackle
  • Northern Flicker
  • Harris’s Sparrow
  • Canada Goose
  • Bald Eagle
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Sora
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Dunlin
  • Pectoral Sandpiper
  • Dowitcher sp (most likely Long-billed Dowitcher)
  • Mallard
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Palm Warbler
  • House Wren
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • European Starling
  • Solitary Sandpiper
  • Brown Thrasher
  • American Avocet
  • Gadwall
  • Snow Goose
  • Song Sparrow
  • Barn Swallow
  • American White Pelican
  • Snowy Egret
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Great-tailed Grackle
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Baird’s Sandpiper
  • Semi-palmated Plover
  • Franklin’s Gull

We spent a total of 7 hours driving the refuge roads.  What a glorious day of birding.

Tonight we are camping at the nearby Big Lake State Park.  Surprisingly the basic campsites (no electricity) are located along the lake shore.  There are 76 sites (both electric and basic), but tonight,  only three other campers.  We enjoyed listening to the very numerous American Robins and other birds singing.

21 April 2017

Woke up to cold weather ( low 40s) and winds around 5-10 mph.  Brrrrrr.  Heard a Great Horned Owl calling in the early morning, and a Northern Bobwhite with its call of “Bob White”.  Very distinctive.  Then the American Robins started their singing – so melodical.

Park of the state park is a wetland area and we birded the wetland prior to heading back to Jamesport.  Surprisingly we had a total of 25 species at the park today.

Lark Sparrow

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Big Lake State Park

  • Great Horned Owl
  • Northern Bobwhite
  • American Robin
  • European Starling
  • Common Grackle
  • Canada Goose
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Tree Swallow
  • Blue Jay
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Mourning Dove
  • American Goldfinch
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Snow Goose (one with a broken wing)
  • Killdeer
  • Great Blue Heron
  • American White Pelican
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Great Egret
  • Blue winged Teal
  • American Coot
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Lark Sparrow

22 April 2017

Earth Day.  No planned ‘March for Science’ in the little community of Jamesport, Missouri.  Maybe I should have made a sign and put it up in the yard.  I am a believer in Climate Change.  Saying it isn’t so, isn’t going to change the consequences of it happening.  I don’t care how wealthy you are, eventually even the wealthy won’t be able to buy clean air or clean water if it doesn’t exist.  We need to protect our environment.  We need to find a way to co-exist – have jobs and a clean environment.  Our future generations are dependent upon it.  We all are.

Went to check out Dunn Ranch, a Nature Conservancy property, to check out our route as we would be arriving tomorrow morning in the dark.  The ranch has a herd of bison, and our timing was good — they were congregated near the road.  We watched the bison for a while, fascinated by their behavior.  Along our prairie route,  we saw 18 different bird species, although nothing notable.  When we got to the parking area we could see the bird blind we would be using tomorrow.  There were some large-sized birds near the blind, which we suspected were the prairie-chickens, but even with our scope we couldn’t see the birds very well – wind, haze.   Looking forward to watching the Greater Prairie Chickens on their lek tomorrow.

… Where the Buffalo (Bison) roam

This Turkey Vulture was cleaning its bill on the roof top

No hiking within the Bison enclosure

Bird Species Seen or Heard on Dunn Ranch

  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Eastern Meadowlark
  • American Robin
  • Merlin
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Barn Swallow
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Northern Flicker
  • Field Sparrow
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Northern Harrier
  • Killdeer
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Song Sparrow
  • American Goldfinch

23 April 2017

I woke at 2:00 a.m. and couldn’t go back to sleep.  We left our hotel at around 4:30 am to head to the Dunn Ranch where we are scheduled to see Greater Prairie Chickens on their lek.   A lek is where the males perform their mating ritual booming in hopes of attracting a female for mating purposes.  To hear this ritual go to: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Greater_Prairie-Chicken/sounds.  There are a number of great videos on You Tube you can watch to see this mating ritual.

After arriving at the Dunn Ranch we walked about 1/2 mile to a viewing blind in the dark.  In the blind we sat and waited for the prairie chickens to come to the lek.  The males arrive about 45 minutes prior to sunrise and start their booming, and defending their territory.  We saw 18 birds total, of which 15 were males.

The Missouri Conservation Department and The Nature Conservancy offer these viewing opportunities from 30 March to 24 April.  We had to pre-register for the “free” viewing.  In mid March we called and learned that most of the time slots were already filled.  Wow, this is a popular event.

The viewing blind only has six windows up front.  We had seven people in our group so we had to take turns at the window.  Even though someone had to sit in the back, they were still able to see out and watch the display (as long as the photographers didn’t block their view).

I wasn’t sure how many birds we would see since we went the second to the last day the viewings were offered.  The leader mentioned that on April 21 there were only 12 prairie chickens on the lek.  Fifteen hopeful males strutted their stuff at the lek with only three females.  I’m wondering if there were only three females present because the rest of the females had already mated.  I did notice a male who kept booming and strutting madly next to a female.  Several times she would squat down, but the male ignored her and kept booming. I think he lost his opportunity to mate in those instances – too busy strutting his stuff; full of hormones.   For the most part, the females pretty much ignored the males.

At one point a Northern Harrier (raptor) came in and swooped down on the prairie chickens.  The birds would duck, but didn’t run for cover.

This was a very enjoyable experience and one I would recommend to everyone, whether you are a bird watcher or not.  These birds have experienced sharp declines in past years and efforts are underway to protect their habitat and increase their numbers.  Our leader said the ranch started with under 20 birds and there are now over 80 prairie chickens on Dunn Ranch.  Thank you TNC (The Nature Conservancy).

I also saw two male Ring-necked Pheasants squaring off defending their territory or fighting over a female – not sure which.

As we were leaving the ranch I did see our first (FOY – First of Year) Upland Sandpiper.  The bird was alongside the road and it flushed as we got close, flying up onto a fence post – one of their favorite perches.  I love these birds.

The Lek grounds

Viewing blind

Male Greater Prairie Chicken

The inflated air sac is what causes the “booming” sound

Defending their territory

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Dunn Ranch – The Nature Conservancy:

  • Greater Prairie Chicken
  • Horned Lark
  • Red-necked Pheasant
  • Killdeer
  • Harris’s Sparrow
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Eastern Meadowlark
  • Northern Bobwhite
  • Upland Sandpiper
  • Northern Harrier
  • American Goldfinch
  • Barn Swallow

If you ever plan to come to Missouri to bird check out the “Great Missouri Birding Trail”, which formally takes flight in May:  http://greatmissouribirdingtrail.com/Wordpress/

What’s up next?  We continue our journey to Ohio and the Biggest Week in Birding.  We plan to visit relatives and a few national wildlife refuges along the way. 

Until then …

It’s A Great Day to Bird