Visiting Great Birding Sites In Lexington
This weekend I visited a few spots around Lexington with varying degrees of success. On Saturday I went to Lakeside Golf Course near Jacobson Park. I arrived a little late, about 08:30, and didn’t see anything noteworthy. The best part was actually meeting another birder, Josh, who is a wealth of knowledge about birding in Lexington and the surrounding area. Josh and I basically hung out for an hour talking about birding in the area, where to go, and when to go. I really appreciate Josh freely giving all this great information. We both decided the birding was done for the morning and that we would link up Sunday morning for a walk at Hisle Park.
Before officially calling it a day I drove through Jacobson Park and didn’t see anything. I took a short stroll through a wooded area but all I saw and heard were typical resident songbirds - chickadees, cardinals, catbirds, and such.
So Saturday was a bust.
Sunday I met up with Josh at Hisle Farm Park at 07:30am. With no real target birds in mind, we walked the horse paths keeping an eye out for anything noteworthy. The first thing we found was a small tree with about a dozen American Goldfinches perched in its branches. They were just beautiful with bright yellow plumage. I took a few safety shots and tried to get closer, but that spooked them and they flew off.
American Goldfinch. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens mounted to a monopod. 1/1250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 180.
We continued down the path which took us to the base of a small hill where there were some bushes and trees. There we heard a Yellow-breasted Chat. I took it slow down the path to sneak up on the Chat, but it took off. Not so skittish was a Willow Flycatcher in the same area. It remained perched on a small branch and let me get several shots in before taking off as well.
Willow Flycatcher. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens mounted to a monopod. 1/1250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 450.
We continued our walk and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo flew right past us. It perched high up in a tree, right in the light so I couldn’t get a shot. We hung around for a few minutes hoping it would come down into better light, but it only flew to another tree, further away, and high in the dense canopy. While I didn’t get a shot, both Josh and I were thrilled to see and hear it
Walking back to our vehicles, we decided to go check out Haley Downs Rd. which was only a 10 minute drive down the road. Dickcissel have been in this area all Spring, and there have been recent reports of Northern Bobwhite. We found several Dickcissel which are amazing looking birds, especially when perched amongst flowering thistle. We heard three or four bobwhites but didn’t see them.
Dickcissel. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens mounted to a monopod. 1/3200 sec, f/6.3, ISO 720.
I’ve been suspecting that birding is slowing down and may soon dry up to a trickle as the heat of the summer ramps up. Josh confirmed this is true. Soon it will be hard to find birds like this Dickcissel, Willow Flycatcher, and American Goldfinch. For now though, the weather is really nice and I hope you are able to get out and enjoy it.
Just another word of thanks to fellow birder and new friend, Josh. Lexington’s birding community seems to be small but made up of really good people. Earlier in the week I went to the Central Kentucky Audubon Society’s Annual Picnic at Masterson Station Park were I met another dozen or so birders. All really good people who are enthusiastic about birds and their habitats. After the picnic we took a stroll through the park where we counted 27 species, including Indigo Buntings and a gorgeous Blue Grosbeak.
It’s always fun birding with other people, so if you’d like to go birding with me, especially if you’re interested in bird photography, get in touch or leave a comment below. Let’s continue to strengthen our Bluegrass Birding community!
Happy birding!
