Date: 4/21/24 8:25 pm From: N Drilling via groups.io <dril0008...> Subject: [NEBirds] Fog victim
This morning I went south of Kimball to try to find the Mountain Plovers reported there. I had to wait until the fog lifted - overnight there was snow, then heavy fog. I found a Western Grebe sitting in a grass field, certainly not its usual habitat. It was sitting up and alert but making no attempt to flap its wings or move. I'm assuming that the overnight weather caused the bird to be in this bad predicament, but I'm not sure if it was grounded by the fog or if it ran into nearby telephone wires in the fog.
I eventually found a pair of Mountain Plovers, at the intersection of Highway 71 and Road 12. One of the birds kept wiggling around in the same spot, suggesting that she was creating a depression in the soil to lay her eggs, similar to the nesting habits of Killdeer.
The other unusual sighting for the day was a small flock of Red-breasted Mergansers at Bridgeport State Rec Area in Morrill county. This is much farther west than where they usually are found. The species hadn't been reported in the county to eBird since 2013 and never reported to eBird at this particular spot.
