Sunday, November 25, 2012

Finished Birding Kentucky

   After intentionally sleeping late, we packed the car and had breakfast. It was great birding this weekend, but it was time to take the backroads of Tennessee down to Memphis town.

   Berry and I always debate what might be considered the "Bird of the Day" and even the "Bird of the Trip", if we spot a truly rare oddity. Nominations for the "Bird of the Trip" include the mysterious gray Swamp Sparrow, the busy little Ovenbird, the yellow American Goldfinch, and the woodland acrobat White Breasted Nuthatch.

   The award goes to the Yellow Crowned Night Heron that we saw on the roof of the marina in Kuttawa, Kentucky. This is normally a secretive bird, which forages in shallow water late at night, yet we saw it in broad daylight and scoped it easily. The photo yesterday did not do it justice. Thanks to all the birds who entered, but did not win.

"Bird of the Trip"

   Home sweet home and glad to be there. Kentucky was beautiful. Berry and I would like to go back there some day.

Robert and Berry

photo courtesy of wikipedia

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Still Birding Kentucky

   We woke up early and it was freezing cold outside. No precipitation, but frigid and unwelcoming. There were several basketball teams staying in the hotel. I made a waffle for breakfast, then hot coffee paved the way to reach our car. Brrrr. It was cold.

   Berry spotted our first Black Vulture of the trip, on our way to the Peabody Wildlife Management Area. And a superb looking bird it was. Jet black with white fingers on its wingtips. Majestic as it soared. We had only seen Turkey Vultures before this.

   The Peabody Wildlife Management Area has hundreds of cattail-rimmed tailing ponds, swampland reclaimed from previously concluded mining operations. We saw huge flocks of Red Winged Blackbirds, swirling above the reeds. Robert found a Swamp Sparrow near the water. And a beautiful Red Shouldered Hawk swooped down and away from us. It was busy, birdwatching there.

   They do not want hunters to shoot Wild Turkey in Kentucky. Please don't. And if you do, there is a fine of $500 in the state of Kentucky. $500 for shooting a Wild Turkey.

DON'T SHOOT A WILD TURKEY

   This really is "coal country" and we saw plenty of gigantic coal trucks traveling in convoys, enormous mining operations with trains carrying away the coal and the smokestacks of a very large power plant receiving shipments of coal. When the harsh wind and bitter cold of the Peabody swamps got to be too much, we found a small cafe and had coffee and did a crossword puzzle to get warm.

   We often drive down country roads and non-descript side roads in search of birds. Once we skirted along the side of an Army Small-Arms Firing Range and found an Ovenbird in the underbrush. Some local fellow was driving covered wagons drawn by mules along the road. We heard the tapping of a Hairy Woodpecker, then followed him as he went slowly up the tree. In that same part of the forest I saw a Yellow Rumped Warbler.

   The cadence of wildlife venues (swamp - forest - shooting range ) did not facilitate us eating a sit-down lunch in a civilized restaurant. So Berry and I got fried chicken, an apple, almonds and drinks at a grocery store and toted them into the woods. This was a stroke of genius, because we stopped briefly between birds, in front of a handsome cattail-framed bog, and ate lunch in the car.

   Here is a list of all the birds we saw today.

   Making our way south past the Cumberland River, we birded the northern part of the Land-Between-the-Lakes. This is a large peninsula surrounded by two large lakes. Starting at the shoreline there at Kuttawa, we saw the American Coots. These were the first birds willing to swim in the very cold water since we got to Kentucky. It is appreciably warmer in Kuttawa than in the coal filled mountains around Bowling Green. The town of Kuttawa has a nice stand of hardwood trees, so we saw the American Goldfinch nibbling gumballs on a gumball tree. House Finches were playing in the dirt. A Hairy Woodpecker and a Red Bellied Woodpecker both tapped on the trees in front of us. A wonderful White Breasted Nuthatch climbed up and down the trunk.

   In the harbor there at Kuttawa there is a large heron rookery. November is between the breeding seasons, but we did identify both the Great Blue Heron and the Yellow Crowned Night Heron. Ring Billed Gulls patrolled the open water. I photographed one Yellow Crowned Night Heron on the roof of the marina.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

   Our final stop of the day was at an Elk and Bison Preserve. This entailed a short car tour allowing us to see and photograph wild elk and bison. There were supposed to be 43 elk and 70 bison in the preserve. The very large elk were in small pockets of two or three. The bison formed a large herd, when we saw them. Very impressive. You had to stay inside your car for safety.

Elk
Bison
Robert and Berry

photos courtesy of bshelton, rfowler

Friday, November 23, 2012

Birding Central Kentucky

   After feasting Thanksgiving with family and friends, Berry and I are birding the coal hills and lakes of central Kentucky. We drove north of Nashville on I-65 and it started raining. That was actually conducive to birding because the rain seems to fix the birds in place. They hunker down in the trees and bushes till it stops raining.

   We turned east on Highway 100 and immediately started battling huge coal trucks on the little highway. We saw Eastern Bluebirds on the electricity lines. These we call "America's Bird" because they are red, white and blue, yet in the wintery blow and steady rain, they looked drab and weathered. American Kestrels and Mourning Doves rested on the phone lines while it sprinkled.

   The culture of the people changed when we went across the border into Kentucky. Coal is big here. I saw a bumper sticker, "If you don't like coal, don't use electricity." The Shakers, a small religious sect of Charismatic Christians are established here. We also started seeing large blue stars, called "Barnstars" painted on the front of the houses here. These are decorative and can mean good luck in the German community here. We made several photos of such stars.

Blue Star
Star of Sticks

   We travelled past Scottsville to the Barren River Lake State Park. There were fishermen in boats on the lake, but it was very cold. Berry and I parked in the parking lot at the Marina. We aimed the spotting scope at the edge of the lot and suddenly there were a variety of birds.

   There were two Pied Billed Grebes swimming and diving in the freezing cold water. Temperatures will drop to 26 degrees F this evening. The Pine Warblers, Tufted Titmice, and Carolina Wren were huddling in the warm cozy underbrush, out of the water and out of the wind coming from the lake. It was two different bird strategies contrasted nicely for us. We however got quickly wind-blown and fled to the diner for coffee and heat.

Pine Warbler

   Berry and I think all the people in Kentucky are very nice. One patient boater waited for us to get off the ramp. Even the state prisoners in orange jumpsuits on work detail, raking leaves in the sun in the State Park with their armed guard watching, waved at us and smiled pleasantly. What a charming birding spot with happy prisoners. And cynical us, we had just joked about there being a fictional place called "Crystal Meth Cafe" in the last small town.

   After lunch we travelled to the Mammoth Springs Cave State Park. We did not go spelunking. We were there for the birds. Birds do not live in caves. But when we went across the Green River on a two-car ferry, we saw this small cave with bars across the entrance to keep people's curiosity from getting them in trouble.

Small Caged Cave

   In the late afternoon we drove to Nortin River Dam, then headed south to the lovely college town of Bowling Green, where we shared a pizza. We are exhausted but this has been a great day of birding.

Robert and Berry

photos courtesy of bshelton, naturefriendmagazine, rfowler