Bird Photos
We hope our members will share their photos of birding trips, whether from the back yard or some exotic location.
Northern Saw Whet Owl
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At the family farm here in Louisville, Mark Monroe and I have been banding Northern Saw-whet Owls. Since October 24th in five nights of netting, we've caught 9 birds with probably some additional birds heard. The migration has been sort of slow to develop this year; according the the owls' long term pattern of movements over the years, it was supposed to be a banner year, but there have not been a lot of immature birds and we're thinking it might be one of those years when a lot of birds are stopping to winter just to our north.
Parasitic and Long-Tailed Jaegers
by Brainard Palmer-Ball
The recent appearance of not one, but TWO, jaegers at Barren River Lake in south-central Kentucky, allowed an unparalleled opportunity to study these rare birds in Kentucky. David Roemer first found the birds on September 10, 2011 and both lingered for several days, often allowing leisurely approach by boat and extended viewing opportunities from as close as 20-30 feet!
Jaeger identification is one of the most challenging field dilemmas in North America. TYPICALLY, jaegers are on the move and out over expansive areas of open water. Also, at least in Kentucky, we’ve never had more than a single bird observed at a time, so comparisons of size and shape have been impossible. The overall similarity in plumages of especially juvenile birds (the ones most likely to occur inland during their fall migration), as well as the spectrum of “color morphs” from light to dark, all make the ID problematic from most distances.
Interestingly, however, close up views as were obtained from very close range by boat with these two birds afford one the opportunity to study a number of characters that are virtually impossible to see at longer distances.
More photos and info can be found on the KOS website at http://www.biology.eku.edu/kos/jaegers.htm.
Judy Galitzine took the Bald Eagle picture with her camera looking through a telescope at the Falls of the Ohio.