I visited the sinkholes near Leighton this afternoon. Best location was Gnat Pond. Large numbers of waders (see below). Best birds were a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck and 8 White Ibis. From all ponds, I had 10 species of shorebirds and seven species of waterfowl...not bad for July. Here's some counts from the area:
The numbers are in the following order: Gnat, Marthaler, a flooded field on 6th Street, The Sinks, Wheeler Dam. Wheeler Dam totals for Great Blue Heron, Great Egret and Cattle Egret are estimates, all others are counts.
Great Blue Heron 8,2,0,4,20. Total 34
Great Egret 794,14 6,122,100 Total 1036
Snowy Egret 72,1,8 5,16 Total 102
Little Blue Heron 93,1,0,4,3 Total 101
Cattle Egret 6,8,27,5,30 Total 76
Green Heron 1,0,0,0,0 Total 1
White Ibis 8,0,0,0,0 Total 8
Only 38 of the Little Blue Herons were immature, all at Gnat Pond.
Shorebirds included Killdeer, Stilt Sandpiper (Marthaler), Least, Pectoral and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Dowitcher sp. (too distant at Marthaler), Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.
Waterfowl included Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Canada Goose, Blue-winged Teal, Mallard, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck and Lesser Scaup..
Unfortunately, the only tropical storm waif were 2 adult Black Terns at Wheeler Dam.
Damien Simbeck
Killen AL
Sent from my smart phone. You can teach an old dog new tricks.
Date: 7/12/19 2:41 pm From: 'Gregory J. Harber' <gharber...> [albirds] <albirds-noreply...> Subject: [ALBIRDS] Brown Booby, Lake Logan Martin
Hello All-
A quick report. This afternoon the staff at the Birmingham Audubon Society received a report, with an accompanying photo, of an immature Brown Booby reported from a private residence on Lake Logan Martin, south of Pell City (on the Coosa River well south of I-20). No doubt this was a storm-driven bird this far inland. Might be worth your time to visit some nearby bodies of water for other species not normally found away from the coast. As always, though, monitor the weather conditions in your area and don't drive in treacherous conditions or flooded roadways.
------------------------------------ Posted by: "Gregory J. Harber" <gharber...> ------------------------------------
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Date: 7/6/19 8:02 pm From: 'Gregory J. Harber' <gharber...> [albirds] <albirds-noreply...> Subject: [ALBIRDS] Chelsea Park Limpkin continues, 7-6-19
Hello All-
I was curious as to whether the Limpkin still continues at Chelsea Park and indeed I found and photographed it there early this evening, about 7:15. It was walking and feeding along the shoreline, well in the open.
Does anyone know the status of the Limpkin that had been reported at Ebenezer Swamp? After seeing a photo of the Limpkin photographed on the Cahaba River last week I am convinced there are at three Limpkins in the Birmingham area - which is almost unheard of.
------------------------------------ Posted by: "Gregory J. Harber" <gharber...> ------------------------------------
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Just a quick note that I prepaid for our pelagic boat trip back in May so the August 10 pelagic trip is set on the calendar. We'll leave out of Orange Beach in the morning (probably 6 or 630 am) on August 10 and be out until that evening. I'll send out a detailed note with meeting time and place to participants in the next couple of weeks, but I just wanted make sure everyone knew that the trip is on. We still have room for more participants if anyone who has not contacted me wants to go. I'll collect payment for the trip at the dock based on how many people show up.
Geoff Hill
I got a request from a Ph.D candidate at Boise State University, who is studying the link between the attributes of individual birders in the US and the type and intensity of bird conservation action they take. Results will be used to improve public policies for bird conservation. He sent a link to a survey:
"Participation is voluntary, no personally identifiable information will be collected, and all responses will be kept confidential. This study is for educational purposes only and involves no foreseeable serious risks. Data will be accessible only to me and my advisory committee and will be used to produce scholarly and popular publications on the topic. If there are any questions that make you uncomfortable or that you would prefer not to answer, just skip over those. You may discontinue the survey at any time. This survey will require 10-12 minutes of your time."
There is contact information with the survey, if you have any questions. Hope you'll consider participating; I did and it doesn't take long.
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