2009 Queen City Bird Festival

Tweet Volunteered for the Queen City Bird Festival held at Hueston Woods State Park last Saturday. It was a nice change of pace for me. I enjoyed talking to children and adults about birds, much more enjoying than dealing with threats of violence from coworkers at work.

I was at the bird feet table, which teaches children about how a birds' feet are adapted to their way of life. I was able to demonstrate with real specimens. I had a good time, the children were learning - always good. It seemed to me that we had a good turnout, but there could always have been more people!

I decided to stay at the lodge, since I planed on attending both days. There were vultures sitting on the balcony just outside the door and all over the building.

Black Vulture sitting on the balcony outside the room.

I want to thank Dr.s Jill and Dave Russell and all those involved with the QCBF for taking the lead in educating people, especially youth in the tri-state about birds. Their work with the Avian Research & Education Institute and with the Queen City Birders Club is to be commended.

Sunday, I paid a visit to the banding station at Hueston Woods State Park. Some good birds were caught, including a RT hummingbird. Some pics are below.

Canada Warbler

Bander Dave Russell with a Northern Waterthrush


Young male Indigo Bunting


Triall's Flycatcher (can't be ID in hand, song must be heard to ID)


A protesting Barn Swallow (Dave's first time banding this species)


Children always love seeing the the birds like this male Baltimore Oriole up close. Hopefully he will grow up to pursue a career in science or at least gain respect for our earth.


Hummingbird bander Tim Tolford with a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird.


This is how small a hummingbird band is!

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New Tree Species for Ohio Found Locally

Tweet ODNR Celebrates Discovery of Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata) Tree in Ohio

I haven't seen this anywhere else, thought this was interesting. I have probably walked right past one before and not even known it, I used to spend a lot of time in the area when I was a child.

I used to be fairly up to speed and good at IDing local flora, but my "job numbness" has dried my botanical knowledge up almost completely. There are probably other species of plants along the river that are yet to be known to occur in Ohio, as the habitat is so diverse and varied.



New Tree Found Growing In Clermont County Tweet

'09 Birdathon & A Swainson's Warbler Quest

Tweet David Brinkman and I participated as a team in the '09 Birdathon last weekend. The Birdathon goes from 5pm Friday to 5pm Saturday, and just like clockwork, it started to rain right at 5 on Friday. We had a Ruffed Grouse drumming and a turkey gobbling before the start and then the rain came (we later got turkey, but no grouse). I got soaked as we continued to hike in the pouring rain and lightning. Dave jumped a Chuck-wills-widow up in the rain at Lynx Prairie in Adams Co. I did not see it. It rained all evening. The only owl we got was a nest rule Barn Owl (the hardest owl to get).

We tried to get a hotel, but they were all full for the East Fork Regatta. Camping in the mud and rain - no good (plus cost too much). We ended up sleeping in the car at the Miami Whitewater Wetlands parking lot. Our team total was 115 species, the winning team was in the 140's. I am way too much out of practice with my sounds and birding in general.



A Swainson's Warbler quest
On Tuesday, May 15th, David Brinkman and I went down to try for a Swainson's Warbler at the Red River Gorge in Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky. Swainson's Warbler would be a life bird for the both of us. Dave had old records of locations where they had been found in 1988.

As soon as we turned on the road that was marked on the old map as a potential SWWA spot, Dave heard one singing. We parked the car and walked down the road a bit to the spot the bird was singing from. We looked and looked, but I only caught a glimpse of the bird, Dave did not see it.

I decided to briefly play an audio lure to get a glimpse of the bird. Shortly after it started playing, the bird jumped up to exposed perches and started singing. It was very fast and agitated, flying around in circles around us. I got good looks, but all were brief - this bird wouldn't stop moving for nothing. I almost got a pic, but my camera was giving me all kinds of hell (it does weird things often). Even with a good camera, it would have been hard to get a shot in the dark woods. It almost seemed too easy for a life bird. It was the only SWWA we had for the day.

We had many good warblers, many spished to a few feet of us. They are not afraid of people down there. My camera was giving me hell all day, couldn't get any good shots. I need a new job so that I can get a new camera - job offers and camera donations accepted.




Black and white and Yellow-throated. My camera takes too long to focus!
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Nesting Pine Siskins

Tweet Just talked to the coordinator of the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II. He said that my observation of Pine Siskins carrying nesting material would qualify for confirmed breeding. This would be a first Clermont Co., OH record. Pretty cool. Right in the backyard.

Just walking around the neighborhood, I noticed (heard and seen pairs) that there are Pine Siskins in the trees everywhere. I think there are more than 30 birds.

Pine Siskin breeding in Ohio OBBA II Tweet

Upcoming birding events

Tweet Many good birding events coming up.

Birdathon '09

and the


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East Fork Christmas Bird Count

Tweet Jaime and I attended the East Fork CBC Saturday. This is always my favorite count to go on because it is near my home and covers places I am familiar with. It always proves that there are good birds all around us, but most go unnoticed by birders. All in all, got good birds, met new birders, very good day.

Went owling before the count and was able to get/call in 2 Great Horned Owls, 2 Barred Owls, and 1 Screech Owl, all of them from the park property, which is not always easy - off to good start.

The morning started out very slow (a little cold), but as the day got later, the birds got better.

There was no tally, so I do not know what others groups may have. I know ours had some good birds.

Some pictures from the day:

Sandhill Cranes in Salt Air (name of small town),



I spotted a distant raptor that looked different from the many kestrels we were seeing (both a good thing). We stopped, got closer looks and confirmed a Merlin (also later saw bird in flight). This was outside of Bethel on country roads. Not a good photo, but better than my other pic of a merlin that was right in front of me (my old crappy camera).



Many raptors. Some of our group's better birds were:

1 Rusty Blackbird
Sandhill Cranes
A Merlin
Harriers
A male Purple Finch
2 Fox Sparrows

May be missing something. Tweet

The 62nd Cincinnati Christmas Bird Count

Tweet Good day of bird counting. Had a good time, nice weather, nice birds and met a new birder. Held Dec. 28th '08

Here are the photos of 1 of the 2 Chipping Sparrows that our party had seen on the count. While not publishing quality, (I am no good at taking pictures!) good enough for documentation. The birds were at the edge of a future subdivision off of ST RT 131 in Milford.


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Cincy Birders in the Enquirer!

Tweet We "bird nerds" have made today's Cincinnati Enquirer:

Happy to be bird nerds Tweet

Another Life Gull!

Tweet Many thanks to Bill Stanley for finding another great gull at East Fork State Park. The Glaucous Gull is a life bird. Even though the temp was in the teens, the bird would be a colder bird to be seen up on the lake ;-) I got to study the bird at flight and behavior.

Also got to meet another local nature blogger, Nina from Nature Remains. I always enjoy meeting new people who need nature for their souls.

Got some pictures, and a short movie of the gull in flight.






Short video:

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1st Pine Siskin of the season

Tweet Apparently, from reports from farther north, it is going to be a good bumper crop year for Pine Siskins. Below is one of many to come. Only 1 so far...

Under feeders in backyard.

Update: as of Saturday, the 25th of Oct., 11 Pine Siskins are the high. Interesting to keep track of them by checking Ethan Kistler's map of Pine Siskin movement in Ohio.

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Sparrow banding Sunday at Miami Whitewater

Tweet Last Sunday, Jaime and I went to the annual sparrow banding event put on by the Avian Research and Education Institute at Miami Whitewater Park. Good birds were seen, however no "good" (i.e. LeConte's, Henslow's, or Nelson's Sharptails) sparrows were caught except for Lincoln's.

Sister Marty Dermody was also conducting a Big Sit at the wetlands. There were some good birds on the list when I left.

Susan will love this post ;-)

Lincoln's Sparrow (above as well)

And, a quiz bird:

Answer at bottom of post.

And, here is a bad photo of a Nelson's Sharptailed Sparrow I found on my comp from years past at MW (my old crappy camera). Look at the pointy tail for which it is named.




And, just for a break from sparrows, here is a female Hairy Woodpecker that was caught out in the fields (?) Love the nictitating membrane!



There were also good butterflies flying around. Here is a Common Buckeye, they were everywhere!




Answer to quiz bird: Alternate form Savannah Sparrow

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Saw-whet Owl banding started

Tweet Visited Mr. Tolford's newly opened Saw-whet Owl banding station in Liberty, IN last night. This is kind of early for this far south, but Project Owlnet requires the project to start on this date. Didn't catch any owls while I was there. I am hoping to be able to go back later in the season when there are some owls, but ol' greedy Dillon still wants his money!!! (I might's well face it, he's the one really getting ahead from my relentless slaving)

Saw-whet from last year at Chillicothe, OH.

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A day of damselflies

Tweet Last Saturday, I took a walk behind my sister's house on Eight Mile Creek in Anderson Twp., Hamilton Co. Went looking for Odes.


First, I saw many of these, but didn't know what they were

Until I saw it in a wheel

Ebony Jewelwings making love.

I love the males

Neon Green, then

Neon Blue

Also seen was this Powdered Dancer

Other Odes seen were Variable Dancer and Blue-fronted Dancers. I would not have bee able to ID the damsels on here if it weren't for Bill Hull's help and his wonderful site at http://www.mangoverde.com/ It is definitely worth checking out, as it has audio of birds and pics of birds, odes and lepids from around the world. Tweet

A Po' boys cruise & Birds of Prey Day

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On June 28th, I took my mother, girlfriend and nephew on an Ohio River cruise aboard BB Riverboat's Mark Twain. My mother always said she wanted to go on a cruise, and this is as close as I can afford, a poor man's cruise if you will. We boarded at the Chilo Lock #34 Park in Chilo.

We all had a good time. At the start of the cruise before boarding, Jaime dropped mother's disposable camera in the river - it was hilarious.

This is the first time that I have ever been in a lock. Pigeons and Barn Swallows were nesting in the cavities of the walls. Plants were growing on the ledges of the lock doors, creating a sort of micro habitat that moves. Below is a picture of a tiger lilly growing on the lock door.



The ride only lasted about an hour and a half, most of which was spent in the locks. It was interesting to see how they work.

After the boat ride, the Clermont Co. Park District's Raptor Day was starting to get going. Susan with Raptor Inc. was 1st up. I always enjoy her enthusiasm. There needs to be more people like her around.

Susan with Sylvester. (Click on her blog link above for better and more pics)

Next up was the Cincinnati Zoo's Wings of Wonder Bird Show. Below is a new bird for me, (too bad can't add it to my lifelist) the Spectacled Owl of Central and South America.

Mother thought it looked like a monkey. It had real silky feathers.

Next, was a Laughing Kookaburra from Australia. The audience was able to get it going.

And next, a Hyacinth Macaw from South America. The largest of the macaws and the largest flying parrot species.

And last but certainly not least, Sam the Bald Eagle. Sam is a local celebrity that works for the Cincinnati Reds and even has his own baseball card. Sam is flown before games at Great American Ballpark.


And, just in time for the 4th of July, this nice shot





In between presentations, Jaime and I took a walk in the nearby Crooked Run NP. The insects were better than the birds.

Male Blue-fronted Dancer

Banded Hairstreak

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Hard Times

Tweet Due to the rising price of groceries and my stagnant paycheck, I have decided to make the best of the cicadas. Although, they are rather bland!

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