Chuck's Birding Report #77

31 August - 06 September 2021

Dear fellow flock of birders,

Again this past week the Canada Goldenrod and Saw-tooth Sunflower are the dominant showy yellow flowers in Curtis Prairie. Both the Sunflowers and Big Bluestem Grasses love to hang over the paths. Walking the paths involves a lot of movements to the right and left as if skiing a slalom course. Some recent new plants blooming are some lavender colored Asters, white flowered Snakeroot and in the woods some American Jumpseed with leaves near the base and a single stem of tiny white flowers starting above the leaves and extending to the tip of the stem.

My report on the birds is short this week because I was gone for several days.

Warblers are still arriving but the numbers are not great and they are quite scattered. I often see singles and maybe several together but nothing spectacular like a huge wave. Keep looking for them, they are out there. They are very difficult for me to photograph so I don’t have many photos to show you. They move quickly and there are so many leaves for them to hide behind.

I mentioned last week that the Barn Swallows that had nested under the eaves of the Visitor Center and produced a good number of offspring had left the Arboretum. I found it interesting that after the Barn Swallows left the number of Chimney Swifts have progressively increased. They mostly fly over Curtis Prairie scooping up insects with their large open mouths. I don’t know if there is any correlation between the decrease of Barn Swallows and the increase in Chimney Swifts or if it’s just a coincidence but it is interesting since they are both insect eaters.

This time of year large numbers of Chimney Swifts often gather around large chimneys like the one at Cherokee Middle School. Just after the sun goes down they will begin to gather around the chimney and start circling the top opening of the chimney. And then all of a sudden they start diving into the chimney to attach to the inside of the chimney and roost there for the night. Several years ago I took a photo of the swifts circling and entering the chimney. There were several hundred that year. The photo is included. Sometimes the numbers reach a 1000. This year the numbers are way down. The other night we watched only a few gather and fly down the chimney.  Chimney Swift numbers around the U.S. are way down.

As I mentioned last week the Common Nighthawks are migrating through right now. I’ve been seeing them flying overhead between 7:30 and 8:00pm at a nearby park.  Today as we returned from up north I saw about 50 flying over the 90/94 interstate just south of where the two interstates come together. They were all flying and swooping high over the road I assume finding lots of insects to eat. It was quite a sight. My wife “suggested” I keep my eyes on the highway.  Included are two photos of a Common Nighthawk. The first is a photo of a flying Common Nighthawk taken by a  wonderful birder and a great photographer, Kenny Younger. The second photo is of a perched Common Nighthawk that I took. I hope all of you go out and try to see the nighthawks fly over around sundown.

I’ve included several other photos:

One is of a House Wren I came across on West Curtis Prairie. It had a lot to say to me and it was not kind.

Another is a photo of a pair of Northern Flickers feeding near the roadside. How are the two different?

I still see Great Blue Herons flying over the Arboretum. The photo shows the Great Blue Heron and how it flies with its neck in an S-shaped curve.

My last photo is of a flock of American White Pelicans which occasionally flies over the Arboretum.

That’s my short bird report for the past week.

Good health to all of you and good birding too,

Chuck