Bird Alert - January 9, 2008

Reports of Sandhill Cranes, Geese and the Golden Eagle again.

 

Lawhon Road in west Jefferson County has been the central axis of bird activity recently.  John Park reports that up to about 300 Sandhill Cranes were feeding in a plowed field on Lawhon Road on the western edge of the community of New Bethel on January 7th and 8th.  This is about 5 miles east along Lawhon Road from South China Road.  This seems likely to be a feeding area, with the birds roosting elsewhere at night.

 

Further west, there are large flocks of Snow Geese, with some Ross's mixed in, and small flocks of Greater White-fronted, Cackling Geese and Canada Geese.  They cannot be relied on the be in any given place.  Earlier, they were feeding in the flooded fields on South China Road/South Broadway, on the southern edge of China.  More recently, they seem to have been feeding just north of Lawhon Road, both east and west of South China Road.  Last Sunday (January 6th), they flew in to roost – probably 7500 geese – north of McDermand Road and east of FM365, perhaps 1/2 mile east of FM365, but in areas where they were a good distance from any public road.

 

John Park reports seeing the Golden Eagle in the late afternoon of January 8th north of Lawhon Road about 1/4 mile east of South China Road. It was in the general vicinity of a large flock of geese.  This is almost exactly the same location where it was seen on December 31st.

 

The flooded field on South China on the southern edge of China still has lots of Long-billed Curlews and the flock of about 200Northern Pintails was still around on January 6th.  There are also Greater Yellowlegs, Dowitchers and other wading birds there.

 

John A. Whittle