Overland Park, KS: 
Today I helped Mike Stoakes with the Wild Bird Center bird walk to Nelson Island that is on the Kansas River. This year temperatures were in the 50's with a little chill in the wind. Last year on this walk on the same weekend it was 82- What a difference a year can make! We had 15 or so brave souls join us to see what we could make of one of the slowest bird winters I have seen. It is always nice to see a few new birder faces on the walk and hopefully people learned a little bit about the art of birding. Matt Gearheart met us in the parking lot when we arrived with everyone else and had accrued quite the list just from the parking lot with some early migrants including Wood Duck and Killdeer. Giving the island and creek a thorough look through we did manage to pull some goodies and were even treated to a singing Brown Creeper. Personally I am not sure I have heard a Brown Creeper sing it's full song before. The song had a warbler quality to it and now it is apparent to me why it is a song bird.
Today I helped Mike Stoakes with the Wild Bird Center bird walk to Nelson Island that is on the Kansas River. This year temperatures were in the 50's with a little chill in the wind. Last year on this walk on the same weekend it was 82- What a difference a year can make! We had 15 or so brave souls join us to see what we could make of one of the slowest bird winters I have seen. It is always nice to see a few new birder faces on the walk and hopefully people learned a little bit about the art of birding. Matt Gearheart met us in the parking lot when we arrived with everyone else and had accrued quite the list just from the parking lot with some early migrants including Wood Duck and Killdeer. Giving the island and creek a thorough look through we did manage to pull some goodies and were even treated to a singing Brown Creeper. Personally I am not sure I have heard a Brown Creeper sing it's full song before. The song had a warbler quality to it and now it is apparent to me why it is a song bird. 
Common Goldeneye
While birding near the Waste Water Treatment Plant near the trail a Red-shouldered hawk circled overhead before a crow dive-bombed the hawk and chased it away. Suddenly Matt pulled a Glaucous Gull out of the hundreds if not thousands of gulls overhead. What a beautiful bird, all white and no black in the primary feathers,, separating it from other gulls. This was a new Johnson County bird for me and not an easy one to add by any means. Next we drove around to the top of the Plant and scoped the many ducks and gulls that were in grass near the ponds. Out of the gulls I spotted a Franklin's Gull in breeding plumage, a full black head! Feeling good about the gulls we decided to finish off the trip at the near by Shawnee Mission Park where there was a Great Horned Owl on a nest. What a fun day of slogging around and getting a brief glimpse of the impending migration to come. Good Birding.
Belted Kingfisher Landing
Cliff Swallow Mud Nests
An Owl Pellet - Maybe a Blue Jay?
Cool photo of the Kingfisher flaring before coming to perch!
ReplyDeleteI am curious about the shoulder patches on this bird. I have never noticed it on a Kingfisher, maybe I just haven't looked hard enough. Sibley's Guide to Birds East doesn't show a white patch on the shoulder. Share info if you have it.
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