Date: 4/24/24 7:40 pm From: Doug & Nina Harr <dnharr...> Subject: [ia-bird] Great open country birding in west-central Iowa
Birding mostly through Greene, Guthrie & Dallas Counties today turned up a lot of open country and wetland birds. Dunbar Slough was loaded with *Yellow-headed Blackbirds *(FOY)*. *On the east side of Dunbar Slough's *Hunter* Tract were a few *Savannah Sparrows* (FOY) and several* Vesper Sparrows. *Best found there was a* Buff-breasted Sandpiper* (FOY) in pasture near the road.
Approaching Bay's Branch central area from Hwy 4 later, the *Osprey* nest I saw a couple of weeks ago was busy--mom on the nest and dad bringing her a fish to eat. Then, along a road near Kuehn Conservation Area in SW Dallas County, I found *Lark Sparrows* (FOY). With lots of other things sited in mostly open landscapes, I ended up with my biggest 1-day species list of the year.
