Tue, 15 Oct 2013 11:44:32 -0500
Morning birding at Arkalon Park northeast of Liberal, KS. 12 October 2013 | | I birded Arkalon Park with Jeff Calhoun on the 12th. Photography opportunities were limited, but I did manage to get a few pretty good images... including Eastern Bluebird, Belted Kingfisher, and a Bewick's Wren. Below is a write-up from Jeff:
==============
Mike Umscheid and I went down to Arkalon Park near Liberal today to enjoy it on the last weekend it is open to the public. We listed 52 species there including Osprey, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper's Hawk, the 2 resident Bald Eagles, Prairie Falcon, Bewick's Wren, Townsend's Solitaire, and a flyover Siskin. A few other migrants were around but not as many sparrows as expected. An unusual moment was feeding the Wild Turkeys an apple core by hand – obviously they’ve done that before. The most notable thing there was the fact that we voice recorded a singing Marsh Wren that I think matches, by song, the western sub-species of Marsh Wren. I’m not sure how many records of this subspecies there are in KS, but it was a first for me.
We went on over to Meade Lake but it was pretty quiet. A few Scissor-tails still hanging around was a surprise and it was nice to hear the Sandhill Cranes flying over. There were a lot of ducks on the playa on Yucca Rd in Ford Co, mostly Pintail. At the DC Lagoons were 9 LB Dowitchers and 20ish American Pipits. Full lists at links below.
==============
| (click on thumbnail for pop-up of larger images)
(1) Belted Kingfisher, male, in-flight |  |
(2) Same male Belted Kingfisher, perched high |  |
(3) A pair of Eastern Bluebirds perched high |  |
(4) Bewick's Wren, vocalizing.
|  |
(click on thumbnail for pop-up of larger images) |
|
