Tom Schilke and I joined forces for a Mitchell County outing (one of the three counties in Iowa where I had ZERO birds). Weather: Sunny, nice and cool, but a bit windy at times Start time 6:45AM End time: 8:15PM First Bird: House Sparrow Last Bird: Common Nighthawk
Mitchell county has had some massive road damage due to flooding. Roads closed and bridges destroyed in a number of areas. Water levels have receded very quickly but lost of standing water and flooded lowlands. Unable to enter Osage from the west. It will be awhile before farmers are able to plant or do other field work. Another incredibly strange day! ZIP/NADA/ZERO categories Grebes Pelican Cormorants Gulls and Terns (not even a Black Tern) Owls Shrikes ONE Specie category Shorebird (Spotted Sandpiper) That really hurts when trying for a big day. Nice birds: American Bittern Red-shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk Sandhills Crane (Thanks Paul Herzel) Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (wet woodlands) Palm Warbler--kind of unexpected Seen: All regular swallows All Woodpeckers (except Yellow-bellied Sapsucker) 17 species warblers (not as good as Shane but respectable) Misses of expected birds Pied-billed Grebe (are you KIDDING me!!!) Barred Owl (maybe heard but not repeated as would be expected) Marsh Wren Sedge Wren OVENBIRD--where are they?? Eastern Towhee (they have been everywhere until the last two days) Clay-colored Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark Incredible numbers of Least Flycathers, American Redstarts, Boblinks. I spent most of the day mumbling about the birds that I thought we should be seeing and weren't. Tom kept reminding me that we had a lot of daylight left. So what was the final count already!!! Quit talking (typing) and get on with it. 107 species (Tom and I each had 106 species) Tom had a Morning Warbler and I had the only Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Truly a wonderful county to bird and visit. Good night all--or Good morning to those of you who have already gone to bed. Howard County--tomorrow!!! God Bless, Paul Roisen Sioux City, IA Woodbury County 712-276-0371(H) 712-301-2817(C) --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
