Rusty out the window

Tweet Looked out the window this morning to find a mixed flock of 200+ blackbirds. About 10% were Starlings, 10% Rusty Blackbirds with the rest being Common Grackles. Here is a picture of one of the Rusty Blackbirds from out the front window.

Nice looking Rusty Blackbird

Such a nice looking bird!

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Jefferson Salamander?

Tweet The other day, my nephews somehow came across this salamander, not sure where they got it from. It appeared to be cold and was very slow moving. I originally identified it as a Jefferson Salamander because they said it was found in the leaf litter. I haven't seen a salamander around my house in years!

Ambystoma spp.

However, after doing some research, I have discovered that the Ambystoma spp. complex is very genetically complicated. This cool link explains the weird genetics going on with this genus. It is worth checking out! -- http://www.ohioamphibians.com/salamanders/Unisexual_Ambystoma.html

***Update: This is a Small mouth Salamander. or mostly Small mouth.

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The birds are a movin' !!

Tweet Today was a busy day, so I wasn't able to get out to bird until about 1pm. It was still cloudy, cool and dreary. I have noticed that the birding usually stays good all day in such conditions and today was no exception.

I started off by checking out the beach at East Fork. The colder weather finally brought some birds down here. The first bird that I IDed as I got out of the car was an Osprey flying toward me from the west. They are not easy to find in November here.

November Osprey

I could notice a lot of loons out on the lake, so I got out the scope and WOW! I lost count of the Common Loons at 100. I was able to also ID Gadwall, American Widgeon, Ruddy Ducks, 2 Redheads (ducks), Horned and Pied-billed Grebes.

One of the 100+ Common Loons

I then walked to the brushy/grassy western side of the beach were a lot of grassland/open land type birds are often found. I wasn't disappointed. I noticed a small bird running in the cockle burrs as I approached. It did not fly, but ran. I got the binos on it and was able to ID it as a Savannah Sparrow. Savannah Sparrows are also hard to find this time of year in this area. It then flew into the lake and started bathing right in front of me. It appeared to be having a good time, as it was chipping loudly the whole time.

Savannah Sparrow bathing in the lake

It then flew up to perch on a rock giving me awesome views!

Savannah Sparrow

Before leaving, I took a drive down to the close by boat ramp to see if anything was "hiding" over there. The water is low, so I was able to walk out on the mud/sand farther then usual. Here, I found my (surprisingly) first and only coot of the day on the mud with some Mallards. They always look so odd on land.

American Coot

The sun had come out while I was at this location and while looking out on the lake, I could make out the profiles of something interesting. The birds finally swam closer in and I was to ID them as Red-breasted Mergansers. No sooner have I IDed them, they took off flying to the west. I will leave you with the only picture I was able to get of them. It was a nice day to be out birding!

Red-breasted Mergansers in flight (flying away from)


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Watch where you walk!

Tweet Usually when someone tells you to watch where you are walking while out and about to avoid stepping on something, birds are not what comes to mind. Well, yesterday I came very close to stepping on a Winter Wren.

The woods was very quite yesterday morning, so I phished at a brushy area to see what would pop up. My eyes quickly caught birdy movement, but I couldn't make out what it was. I continued to phish and up popped a Winter Wren!

It didn't stay in view long, as they seldom do. I was able to get the above quick shot before it disappeared to the ground.

I then went about my walk. The woods was quiet enough to hear leaves falling. I could hear something ruffling around in the leaves on the ground. I didn't pay much attention to it, as I thought that it was a rodent under the leaves. I then saw a little head pop up from the leaves - it was the Winter Wren.

It was very camouflaged and very hard to see in the poor lighting of the forest floor. I have shown a few birders their lifer Winter Wrens, as they are sometimes hard to spot. Many people's first instinct is to look on top of the log, like a Carolina Wren, but I say "look UNDER the log".

As I continued walking, the Winter Wren followed me. I think he was taking advantage of the insects that I was kicking up with my shoes. At one point, it came within only a few inches of my shoe and I almost stepped on 'em! If it wasn't for that little tail sticking out of the leaves...

See if you can spot the Winter Wren in the photo below (click on the pic for a larger pic).

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Odd company...

Tweet I cruised by the Ohio riverfront in New Richmond on my way home from work today like I do every day checking for anything odd or interesting that might be there (bird wise that is). I have seen some good birds here before. (Sooty Tern, Harlequin Duck, White-winged Scoter)

An odd grebe swimming with a Pied-billed Grebe caught my attention, so I stopped to check it out. The sun was glaring on the water and I only keep my back up binoculars in the car, so I wasn't able to get a good look. It was bigger than the PB next to it and had a different profile and bill. Its colors differed, but the lighting was bad. My first impression was a Red-necked Grebe. Since Red-necked Grebe would have been a life bird, I did not feel comfortable calling it.

Something with a different profile hanging out with the resident domestic geese caught the corner of my eye. Same color, but different shape - Great Egret? I drove closer to find that it was indeed a Great Egret. Not easy to find here in November. I would not have expected it to hang with the New Richmond River Geese.

I decided to go home and get my proper birding implements (including camera) and return. The odd grebe was gone of course, but I did relocate the Great Egret. And also found a Common Loon far out on the river and 8 American Coots.

Great Egret

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A quiet afternoon stroll in the woods

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Took a nice, quiet walk in the woods this afternoon to enjoy the last of this gorgeous fall weather. There wasn't much going on bird wise, as the woods were kind of still. I went by a brushy area near a pond and started spishing and was able to get the birds out of hiding. A lot of Yellow-rumpeds and sparrows. White-throated and a Swamp. Then I noticed a Fox Sparrow, the first of the season for me. I continued spishing and ended up with three Fox Sparrows in view at the same time! Unfortunately, they were too far in the brush and combined with the afternoon sun, I wasn't able to get any pics of them.

My spishing also got the Barred Owls railed up. The deer also came in to investigate what all the commotion was about.

I then came up to a small pond and found this dragonfly flying around. This is an Autumn Meadowhawk, the most likely dragonfly species one would expect to see flying around at this time of year (hence its name).

Autumn Meadowhawk

Continuing on to the woods, I came across this five point buck (or ten point) that must had just gotten into a fight prior to my spotting him. One side of his rack has been broken off. He must had won the fight, as he was with five does. His tongue was hanging out of the side of his mouth. He did not look happy to see me there.

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