Central Southern Record for the State and the First Inland
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LOON5THROU6H FALCON5 A Red-throatedLoon in Tallapoosa,AL 3Jun (TRP, CK) established the 2nd summer Central Southern record for the state and the first inland. Recordsof Pied-billed Grebes,uncommon and erratic breedersin Alabama,came from Shelby10 Jun (a pair;JG, BCG) and Mobile 8 ßFayettevitl• ©Harrison B•j•l.•eIVWR Jul (onebird; DD, CD), bothnoteworthy A Band-rumpedStorm-Petrel was watched Ft.Sm•h Hol•a Bald from shore for over three hours in the wake ß a aBendNWRa•obNWR • an• Florence•eeler i • Da•=lle.,.KANSAS .L C.... Jonesboroe . -- Water,•• /Dam of onshorewinds from Tropical Storm Cindy Huls•S•te J• HoganState.• • • J Hu•ville 6Jul in SantaRosa, FL (RAD, LD, m.ob.).An F•shHatche ß mFish Hatche• imm.Masked Booby, a speciescasual in the • DeGravLI• I Rtve•White •.•' abarm•• /ShoalsD•tur Floridapanhandle, was pickedup on the i I NWR beachat PanamaCity 2 Jun (NE), rehabili- • . dahon•ndsOa•ood•- tated, and eventuallyreleased. The first L Chk'o• record of Northern Gannet for Arkansas 1 OvedlowNWR.•Grand•Noxubee. (pendingacceptance by the state'sB.R.C.) wasof one on Bull ShoalsL., Marion25 Jul (DN, ML, RL, DL). The bird, which was L • Shreve•d • • •. • ß Monlgo• presentfor onehour, was seen successfully divingfor fishin the lake.Sand I., MS had BendS. Lm ffff • / ß Ja•son singlegannets 30 Jun and 14 Jul (SJD). There were inland records of American • Chen•dlee}•' N CraneNWR.ba• ............... ' WhitePelicans from Marshall and Marengo, AL (HH, DS, JS) as well as in Lowndes,Ok- • •.- Count., •eBaton[• • '•. I D' • • I GULFCOASTSITES: tibbeha,Leftore, and Humpreys, MS (RW, LW, TS,SJD) during the period. Also far inland at R• • , • Seashore(MS) / D= BayOuL•Batre the heightof the breedingseason were ad. Beach •Veni• • C•r- / Brown Pelicans3 Jun in St. Martin, LA (VR, Latrine Atcha•la•' • BretonIslands (•) NWR •sin Gr•d BO, DA). Neotropic Cormorantswere re- Rescue-BonnetIsle South ported17 Jul from Humphreysand Yazoo Ca•e Sp•fiway Pa• N.W.R., MS (SJD, GK, SK). One 22 Jul in GULF OF MEXICO Iberville,LA OH) wasat the extremee. edge of the•pecies' breeding range. An American Bittern 7 Jun in Cameron, June,the firstof six tropicalstorms or hur- LA, wasvery late OH). As a rarebreeder in RobertD. Purrington ricanes that made landfall in the Gulf states the Mountainregion of Alabama,a Least DepartmentofPhysics and Mexico in Juneand July Threeof the Bittern 21 Jun in Shelby(HHK) was note- six were hurricanes. Hurricane Cindy, worthy;there were also records from Nox- TulaneUniversity which made landfall in southeastern ubee,Oktibbeha, and Washington,MS total- Louisianaon 5 July,caused significant tree ing 4 birds (TS, MS, MSt), while over 20 NewOrleans, Louisiana 70118 damageand overwashed the ChandeleurIs- were in Desha,AR 25 Jun (DB, SDV). Of a landsnot longafter the peak of breedingin half-dozen records of White Ibis from ex- ([email protected])the huge tern coloniesthere. Hurricane treme n. Alabama 26 Jun-23 Jul (DJS, Dennismade landfall as a CategoD, 3 storm PDK), at leastthree could reasonably be at- near the Alabama-Floridaline on 10 July, tributed to the effectsof Hurricane Dennis; lessthan a week after Cindy,while Hurri- 40 wereseen 30 Jul inJefferson, AR (BE).Up wakeof the devastationwrought by caneEmily and TropicalStorm Gert made to 45 Plegadisibis in Mobile15 Jul (BCG) hisHurricanesreport Katrinaisbeing andwritten Rita. Virtual-inthe landfall in Mexico.Cindy and especially representeda high countfor Alabama,as ly the ennrecoastline of Louisianaand Mis- Dennisproduced interesting and important did 28+ GlossyINs the previousday and sissippi,as well asparts of Texasand Alaha- recordsalong the coastand drove many 3-4 White-facedIbis 15-17 Jul at the same ma, were damagedbeyond anything seen birdswell inland.The stormshad a largely spot(ph.; HEH, TH, TSi). TwoWhite-faced since Hurricane Camille of 1969. Entire unknown impact on birds that nest in Ibis 17 Jul at YazooN.W.R. (SJD)were also communities,even parishes, were wiped out coastal areas or on barrier islands. of interest.Two RoseateSpoonbills 21 Jun or rendereduninhabitable, the city of New kastly,some reorganization: this Region in Ft Walton Beach,FL (RAD) established Orleanswill take decadesto rebuild, and the will henceforthinclude just the statesof the 5th area record,and another 10 Jul in ChandeleurIslands, a majorbreeding area Louisiana,Arkansas, Alabama, and Missis- Oktibbeha,MS (MK) was the earliestever in for colonialwaterbirds, are essentially gone, sippi. Florida'swesternmost reaches will the areaby two weeks.Another 15 Jul in reducedto mere shoalsby Katrina. In- join the restof thatstate in the new Florida Washington,LA (KS) was notable,and as evitably,some observations in this report, or Region,covering the entirestate. Bob and manyas 44 wereseen 17 Jul in Sunflower, data presentedhere, may have been ren- Lucy Duncanwill continuetheir work as MS (SJD,GK, SK). Recordsof WoodStorks deredmoot by thelater storms. editorsof the CentralSouthern region, so includedup to 50 at NoxubeeN.W.R., MS Tropicalactivity in theGulf of Mexicobe- autumn observations should be sent to 16 Jun+ (TS, DR, m.ob.), 300+ in Iberville, ganwith TropicalStorm Arlene, which went them for inclusion in what will be a memo- LA 22Jul OH), and500+ in Dallas/Perry,AL ashoreon the Florida panhandleon 11 rableFall Migrationseasonal report. 19Jul (TRP).One seendisplaying 25 Jun in 608 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS Coffee,AL (DMW, CW) wasthought likely Horn I., MS (SJD)were probably "summer- Walton Beach,FL (RAD, CB) was the first to be nesting. ing," SnowyPlovers 30 Jun (3) and 14 Jul arearecord for Jun.Single hasic-plumaged Black-belliedWhistling-Ducks continued (4) on Horn I. and on the latter date on E. Dunfin 30 Jun at Horn I. and 14 Jul on E. to makenews in the Region,highlighted by Ship I., MS (11) were probablybreeding ShipI., MS(SJD) were evidently summering, 11 on 15Jun at Ft. Walton Beach(RAD) for birds(SJD). A WilsongPlover survey carried a distinctly unusual occurrence.A Stilt the3rd area record, plus two 17 Jul sightings out on Louisianabeaches found 759 pairs Sandpiper5 Jul at Ft. WaltonBeach (RAD, by Dinsmore:4 in Leftoreand three pairs at (fideR. Demay). CB)was the earliest ever by sixdays for nw. YazooN.W.R., MS. Theycontinue to neston A groupof 30 SemipalmatedPlovers 19 Florida.A WilsongPhalarope 5 Junin Ben- BayouSauvage N.W.R. in e. New Orleans. Jun at Port Fourchon, LA (RDP) was un- ton,AR (MM1)was unusually late. SingleFulvous Whistling-Ducks were seen precedentedfor the"hiatus" period between Therewere four inland reports of storm- 25 Jun and 23 Jul in Desha,AR (DB, SDV). migrations.The onlyPiping Plovers report- drivenLaughing Gulls 11-12 Jul in Wilcox, Therewere severalreports of summering edwere on HornI. (one)and E. ShipI. (3) Henry,Lee, and Colbert,AL (EB, MB, PM, waterfowl, most of which are difficult to 14Jul by Dinsmore,2 far inlandin RedRiv- SJD,GDJ, DGJ, LFG), followinglandfall of evaluate without information on whether er, LA 16 Jul (NM, JM, DB), and another27 Dennis;an earlier 22 Jun recordin Clarke, the birdswere capable of flight.Of special Jul in Prairie,AR (KN). AmericanOyster- AL (HHK,TK) wasnot obviouslystorm-re- interest,however, was a pair of Mottled catchers nested this season on both Horn lated.Another was seen in 27Jul Prairie,AR Duckswith 9 youngi Jun in Desha,AR andE. ShipIs. (SJD).There were records of (KN). A Ring-billedGull 27 Jul in Prairie, (KN, LDN), the firstnesting record for the AR (KN) wasdefinitely out of season.Dins- state.As many as 38 werenoted there in late more noted a basic-plumagedad. Lesser Jul (KN, DB). Black-backedGull 14Jul on E. ShipI., MS. Reportsof Swallow-tailedKites included Rooftop-nestingof Gull-billedTerns has a the first known hatchingof eggsin been much reduced in the New Orleans Arkansassince the 1940s, i Jun at White area,whether through human interference River N.W..R.(KN, LDN, DB), thoughthe (suchas a changein roofingmaterials, as nestlingswere later founddead, probably seen in Florida construction)or other caus- theresult of owl predation.The peak of 44 es;this summer, there was a smallcolony on in Autauga,AL 30 Jul (GJH)was notewor- a Metairie,LA shoppingcenter. Dinsmore thy,and Jennifer Coulsong ongoing studies found19 nests30 Jun on SandI., MS. Per- in the Atchafalayaand PearlRiver Basins hapsthe most interesting bird of theseason yieldedthe following numbers: 59 individu- was a probablebasic-plumaged ad. Sand- als 19Jul in theAtchafalaya (JOC, PS), 156 wich Ternx ElegantTern hybridin a tern thenext day in thePearl River basin, LA/MS colony30 Jun on SandI., MS (SJD);also (JOC, PS, ICF), and 177 in the samebasin here were 30,000+ ad. Sandwich Terns and 28Jul(JOC, PS, ZL). An ad.Bald Eagle 9 & 18,246 nests,plus 5000+ ad. RoyalTerns 11Jul in Oktibbeha,AR (TS)was unexpect- with 2927 nests. Royal Terns 11 Jul in ed in viewof theirusual May-Sep absence. Wilcox(GDJ, DGJ) and Henry, AL (EB,MB) While a Sharp-shinnedHawk as late as 4 wereevidently fleeing Dennis. Single Com- Jun in Mobile (MVH) establishedthe first Uncommononthe Alabama coast in summer,this mon Ternswere seen 12 Jul in Tishomingo, Jun recordfor the Gulf coastof Alabama, GlossyIbis was well documented at Mobile MS (SJD),following Dennis, and 27 Jul in ninereports of summeringCooper's Hawks, 16July 2005. Photo•]raph byTerry I-lart/ey. Prairie,AR (KN). Forty-fiveSooty Terns 6 includingone definitebreeding, added to Jul at PensacolaBeach (LC, RAD, LD), the evidenceof the robustrecovery of this singleWillets in inlandWilcox (GDJ, DGJ) largestnumber ever for the area,were evi- speciesin n. and cen.Arkansas (KN, MM1, andHenry (LW), AL on 11Jul in thewake of dently fleeingHurricane Cindy, and there JN, MW). A pairof Swainson'sHawks nest- HurricaneDennis. Three were found 27 Jul were four inland records from Alabama in ing in Vermilionfledged 2 youngby 26 Jul in Prairie,AR (KN).