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07 July 2016

June Birds in the Valentine Vicinity

A highlight of month was a juvenile Common Merganser well seen at the Valentine Fish Hatchery on June 28th. On the same date, Wood Duck young both larger juveniles and relatively smaller, mot recently hatched young were present at the Valentine Mill Pond. Most of the many Canada Goose present were larger juveniles, that hatched weeks ago.

A pair of Wild Turkey roamed along Lake Shore Drive, and they were accompanied by only one young. Eastern Bluebirds using a nesting box in the northeast part of the city had a second clutch of eggs underway by the end of the month. Chimney Swift numbers increased downtown, indicating the likely fledging of the season's young. Bunches of Common Grackle were scattered about by the last week of the month, with numbers of the drab, black-colored juveniles obvious.

The Sand Martin burrows at the Valentine Shooting Range were doing okay. After hearing from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife in regards to nests and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, city officials put cones in place to make certain that no dirt was removed from where the burrows were located.

Purple Martins were nesting at three houses in the city. One was infested by House Sparrows so the presence of the martins was drastically limited to just two or three nest holes.

There are 66 species listed for the month. Records were kept within the city, on the north side and also to the Valentine Fish Hatchery and Government canyon.

It was a busy month for local breeding birds as they took care of eggs and began feeding young.

Common Name 162 167 178 180 182
Canada Goose 12 7 6 36 - -
Wood Duck - - - - 2 13 - -
Mallard - - - - - - 6 - -
Common Merganser - - - - 1 - - - -
Wild Turkey - - - - - - 3 - -
Great Blue Heron - - 2 - - 1 - -
Turkey Vulture 4 6 5 4 - -
Red-tailed Hawk - - - - 3 1 - -
Killdeer 2 2 2 1 1
Spotted Sandpiper - - 1 1 1 - -
Rock Dove - - 14 - - - - 35
Eurasian Collared Dove 10 29 - - 6 10
Mourning Dove 4 4 16 4 - -
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - - 1 1 1 - -
Black-billed Cuckoo 2 - - 1 - - - -
Common Nighthawk - - - - - - 2 - -
Chimney Swift 9 13 - - - - 20
Belted Kingfisher - - 1 1 - - - -
Red-headed Woodpecker - - 2 5 1 - -
Downy Woodpecker 1 1 1 - - - -
Hairy Woodpecker - - 3 1 1 - -
Northern Flicker - - - - 4 1 - -
Eastern Phoebe 1 2 2 1 - -
Eastern Wood-Pewee - - 1 2 1 - -
Least Flycatcher - - - - 1 - - - -
Western Kingbird 8 10 - - - - 4
Eastern Kingbird - - 2 5 2 - -
Great Crested Flycatcher 1 2 2 1 - -
Bell's Vireo - - - - 1 - - - -
Warbling Vireo 1 - - 1 - - - -
Red-eyed Vireo 1 1 2 2 - -
Blue Jay - - 1 2 - - 1
American Crow 1 2 1 1 2
Cedar Waxwing 8 4 3 - - - -
Black-capped Chickadee - - 2 - - 3 - -
Sand Martin - - - - 20 - - - -
Purple Martin - - 9 - - - - 6
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 5 7 15 5 - -
American Cliff Swallow 15 20 50 10 - -
House Wren 7 14 19 10 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch - - - - - - 2 - -
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 2 3 2 1
Grey Catbird 2 8 2 2 - -
Brown Thrasher 1 2 1 1 - -
Common Starling - - 4 6 - - 1
Eastern Bluebird 1 - - 3 1 - -
American Robin 20 45 11 6 15
House Sparrow 5 25 - - 4 20
House Finch 10 9 - - 7 4
American Goldfinch 3 3 3 2 2
Common Yellowthroat 1 2 5 2 - -
American Redstart - - 1 - - 1 - -
American Yellow Warbler 2 4 6 1 - -
Yellow-breasted Chat - - - - 3 - - - -
Western Meadowlark - - - - 2 1 - -
Baltimore Oriole - - 3 3 - - - -
Orchard Oriole 2 2 2 2 - -
Red-winged Blackbird 10 10 8 35 - -
Brown-headed Cowbird 6 14 11 2 - -
Common Grackle 25 35 2 25 30
Chipping Sparrow 7 9 1 2 3
Field Sparrow - - 2 2 1 - -
Lark Sparrow 2 3 9 3 - -
Spotted Towhee 1 1 6 2 - -
Northern Cardinal 1 - - 1 1 - -
Indigo Bunting - - 1 1 - - - -

Overall there have been 120 species noted in this vicinity since late in the month of August 2015.

Owls are probably present but are not very expressive this time of the year.