Recent Sightings

February 15 by Del Striegel

Birded from George Rogers Clark Cabin, Clarksville IN at 0930 to check on the eagle nest.  One adult bald eagle was standing on the nest and another adult bald eagle was perched on Goose Island (probably the mate).  Lots of gull activity around the hydrodam.  Later, drove to the Interpretive Center at the Falls, lots of ring-billed gulls on the outer fossil beds.  The Interpretive Naturalist, Alan Goldstein, stated when he arrived for work this morning there were probably 500+ gulls flying around.

Falls of the Ohio (KY), Jefferson, US-KY Feb 15, 2012 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments:     Birded from the Interpretive Center observation deck and Clark's Cabin.
11 species

Canada Goose  7
American Black Duck  2
Mallard  13
Bufflehead  5 (above railroad bridge)
Common Goldeneye  1
Double-crested Cormorant  53
Bald Eagle  2  -   Two adults.
Peregrine Falcon  1 -    adult perched on fixed weir.
Ring-billed Gull  325 -    125 at McAlpine Dam and 200 at Interpretive Center.
Herring Gull  2
Rock Pigeon  5

January 31 by Michael Autin

I have noticed over the last year or two that Black Vultures have been increasing in number in Fern Creek.  Last Fall I was driving back from somewhere at sun-up and actually saw where they were taking off from, which was a wooded creekbed between Bardstown Road and Watterson Trail on Fern Valley Road/ Hurstbourne Lane.  Last week coming home from shopping I counted up to 62 Black Vultures on the drive from Kroger back to my house on Ferndale Road, where they seem to circle directly overhead before heading to roost.  Yesterday I went outside my house and counted 66 Turkey Vultures and about 23 Black Vultures flying, wheeling, circling overhead on their way to roost.  I remember birding this area actively when I was younger from 1995-2001, and I didn't see a single Black Vulture in the area until one day I was on my way home from work in 2003.  Things change.

January 29 by Brainard Palmer-Ball

Sandhills are finally starting to accumulate at Cecilia now that they are not threatened. This afternoon, Amy Covert and I counted probably at least 2000 in various flocks in the area. There were very few at the fire station (most of these fields were in soybeans last year, which are not as attractive to the birds). There were at least three distinct groups visible from KY 86 east and west of the fire station, though, and loops to the north and south of KY 86 yielded some additional birds. No white ones.

January 24 by Tom and Colleen Becker

Holiday Inn Louisville-North Lake

Canada Goose  12
Gadwall  11
Mallard  12
Northern Shoveler  11
Ring-necked Duck  3
Bufflehead  8
Common Goldeneye  5
Hooded Merganser  9
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Great Blue Heron  1
American Coot  4
Belted Kingfisher  1

Falls of the Ohio

Comments:     Eagle appears to be on nest, short time spent observing suggests she may be on eggs. Was sitting high in nest when we arrived, turned and seemed to move things in bottom of nest??? Water flowing over fixed weir at observation deck at falls, no place for gulls to perch. We did find ~500 Ring-billed Gulls rafting in middle of river above dam at Widow's Walk ice creme shop. Due to density of raft and low light, Colleen and I were only able to separate 12 Herring Gulls.

Greater Scaup  4
Double-crested Cormorant  31
Bald Eagle  1
Ring-billed Gull  500
Herring Gull  12
Rock Pigeon  15
European Starling  2000

January 16 by Mary Yandell

Yesterday at 12:45, two interconnecting vees of Sandhills (75-100) zoomed over the house. Strong tailwinds helped them as they headed north.

January 15 by Gerald Heath

Near the Falls of the Ohio:

Canada Goose  6
Mallard  19
Greater Scaup  4     2 pair m & f
Bufflehead  10     4 male 6 female
Common Goldeneye  2     female,
Hooded Merganser  1     
Pied-billed Grebe  2
Black Vulture  1     
Red-shouldered Hawk  1     
Ring-billed Gull  25
Rock Pigeon  40     
Mourning Dove  10
Downy Woodpecker  1
Pileated Woodpecker  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  4
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Brown Creeper  4
Carolina Wren  2
Eastern Bluebird  2
American Robin  4
European Starling  86
Song Sparrow  5
Northern Cardinal  7
American Goldfinch  2
House Sparrow  20

January 14 by Eddie Huber

The Beckham Bird Field Trip on the back side of Bernheim in Nelson Co. was held on Sat. Jan 14. One, of the best views that I have seen of Golden Eagles in several years was seen.

Below is a list of birds that were seen by the group.

Distillery Lake by Boston

Canada goose-200+
Black duck-4
Mallard-10
Pintail-1
Green wing-8
Ring neck-1
Northern Harrier-1
Killdeer 8
Snipe-12

Jim Beam Lake

Canada goose-225+
Black duck- 2
Mallard-10 or so
Ring neck-1
Killdeer-8

Back Side of Bernheim and at front side of park

Red shoulder-4
Red tail-8
Golden eagle-3    probably.   (2 seen in tree together 1 flew as soon as we got there. The other stayed around went to another tree and perched, then soared above us for maybe 10-15 minutes or so all the time close to us for excellent looks. Later as we left the area and headed up the road where 1 juv. went right over our heads also very close about tree level.  It was probably 2-3 miles from where we saw the other 2 but could not say for sure it was a different one.

Kestrel-1
Black vulture-1
Rock pigeon-50+
Dove-8
Kingfisher-1
Red bellied-4
Downy-3
Hairy-1
Flicker-1
Pileated-1
Jay-10
Crow-15
Chickadee-9
Titmouse-5
c-wren-3
bluebird-28
hermit thrush-1
robin-45+
mockers-3
starling-150
yellow rump-7
towhee-4
tree sparrow-1
field-3 probably more
song-10
swamp-8
white throat-23
junco-50
cardinal-28
meadowlark-2
purple finch-1
goldfinch-125

January 6 by Pat and Jane Bell

On this wonderfully warm and sunny day in January we walked the Anchorage Trail here in Louisville. Birds were very active and we found a nice number of species. Here are the highlights of the 42 species on our list.
On or near Willow Lake we found mallards, gadwalls, and ring-necked ducks, a great blue heron, and a belted kingfisher.

Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks and both black and turkey vultures were flying over head. One yellow-bellied sapsucker, one winter wren, one hermit thrush, and several yellow-rumps were nice finds. A nice array of sparrows were seen - tree, field, song, swamp, and white-throated.

In the field behind St. Mary Academy close to Chamberlain Lane meadowlarks were singing  and one savannah sparrow hopped up on a dry stalk. A few horned larks were also present there.