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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A sign?

Tweet Such a beautiful day, I had to go birding.

Decided to check out the East Fork beach and surrounding areas this morning to see if that huge low pressure system brought anything good in.

As soon as I got out of the car, an Osprey flew over. The wind was howling out of the northwest. Something large and white caught my eye just over the rise to the west. What the $#%@ is that? I got closer to find this:

Headless cement goose

A headless cement goose. Someone had to have carried this dang thing down to the water's edge and put it there. Don't know what this is supposed to mean. Maybe it's a sign I should quit watching birds?

Nah, that ain't happening.

After I found out what the goofy looking white thing was, I went back up the little rise to hear and then see a flock of about 20 Horned Larks flying around. They decided not to land on the beach. I then spotted an adult Bald Eagle soaring over the lake.

I then decided to head up to the two ponds on top the hill to look for land birds. Glad I did. There was a lot of activity. Found a Swamp Sparrow, lots of Yellow-rumped Warbers, Robins and other birds. Also found this cool looking leucistic American Robin.

Leucistic American Robin

While watching the leucistic robin, I noticed something smaller bathing in the water in front of the robins. Purple Finches! Two of them. They are the first of the season for me. (Crappy pictures)

Female (or immature) Purple Finch(es)

A female Belted Kingfisher was fishing the pond as I was watching the Purple Finches. I love kingfishers.

Female Belted Kingfisher

The woods were going crazy with bird activity, so I decided to go find out what was going on. I often see Barred Owls in this area, so I decided to imitate one to see what would happen. A Barred Owl went (vocally) nuts and so did the other birds.

Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, YS Flickers, GC Kinglets, Cedar Waxwings, WT Sparrows.

This White-breasted Nuthatch almost landed on my head.

White-breasted Nuthatch

And the flickers were going crazy!

Yellow-shafted Flicker female

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A white-crowned day

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I woke up at around 8:30am to the sound of birds singing outside the window. I got up and opened the back door and could hear the songs of White-crowned Sparrows. I love their songs! I could see sparrows flitting around in my brush pile, so I grabbed my camera and headed out the door.

I phished and the White-crowneds popped up!

"Hey, look at my cool hairdo!"

"Hey, I'll have a head like that some day!" or maybe not

Also saw an Eastern Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Yellow-rumped Warblers flitting around.

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A gorgeous fall day spent birding

Tweet I spent a gorgeous fall day in the backyard watching the birds flit about the golden-yellow sugar maple leaves in the backyard.

The drought has had the birdbath super busy lately, as I had to fill it up three times today. The day started off cool, in the mid 40's. The trees were filled with shivering, puffed-up Chipping Sparrows this morning. They all seemed to hit the birdbath at about the same time!

I keep my lawn a little longer than usual in the fall. The sparrows seem to love the seeds on the grasses. The yard was filled with over 20 chippies this morning.

Chipping Sparrows (fall plumage)

The Chipping Sparrows were chasing each other through the trees constantly. Every time I would look at a bird, it was a chippie. Then, a yellowish bird caught my eyes behind the leaves. The bird was playing hide and seek.

"Hey you, what am I?"

"How about now?" ah, a Tennessee Warbler (Had it misidentified on my camera)

"Hey, you takin' my picture?"

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Where's the water?

Tweet Woke up this morning to find a Yellow-rumped Warbler in the bird bath asking "Where's the water"?

Yellow-rumped Warbler

I quickly filled it up and am glad I did! The birds (mostly Yellow-rumped Warblers) kept it busy all day. Even saw a Cape May Warbler visit it very briefly!

The yard was filled with good birds all day despite the fact the we had a near record high temperature in the high 80's. Saw for the first time in the yard a Swainson's Thrush visiting the poke weed for some berries. Also saw a Palm Warbler (working goldenrod), White-crowned Sparrows and a Red-breasted Nuthatch that visited the peanuts I have put out. A nice, warm fall day off spent in the backyard. Tweet

Morning banding

Tweet Decided to stop by a bird banding demonstration at East Fork before having to go to work this morning. Wasn't much bird activity, but they did catch a few common birds.

I liked this idea, to keep it from biting, a bracelet was used. (cardinals hurt when they bite!)

Female Northern Cardinal




Tufted Titmouse




Carolina Chickadee in mist net



Cute little Carolina Chickadee

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Indigo Stem Borer

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Indigo Stem Borer Moth Papaipema baptisiae

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More dreary day birding

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Another cloudy, chilly, misty day.

Outside in the yard this morning, I heard Pine Siskins and looked up to see 3 flying from a sweetgum tree in the neighbor's yard. FOS (First Of Season) for me. Since I had the day off and the birds seemed to be moving, I decided to head to East Fork State Park.

I arrived at about 11 am at the beach. Scanning the gulls, I was able to pick out 5 Herring Gulls. Many people would probably not think that much of five Herring Gulls, however in SW Ohio they are not often encountered in this number. One was a very dark juvenile bird, one was an adult, and the other 3 were in various stages of plumage.

Adult Herring Gull with Ring-billeds

The gulls starting vocalizing and took flight. I saw an Osprey, but they usually don't react much to them. I then looked over my head and saw this immature Bald Eagle flying in from behind.

Immature Bald Eagle

I then decided to take a walk in the woods up on the hill from the beach. The land birds were moving away from the wind. I had a mixed flock of Cedar Waxwing, many Black-throated Green Warblers, Yellow-rumped warblers, a Common Yellowthroat and one Nashville Warbler.

Moving on to the ponds, I spotted this male Wood Duck with some females. He was displaying to one.

I continued on to find my FOS White-throated Sparrows. I missed their call.

White-throated Sparrow

The Blue Jays were raising a ruckus in the trees ahead, and I later found out why. A Barred Owl took flight in front of me heading for cover from the harassing jays.

Before leaving the park, I decided to check the beach/lake to see if anything new came in. I am glad I did as I quickly spotted my FOS Bonaparte's Gull. It was constantly pruning and looked kinda rugged. Must have just migrated in.

Winter plumage Bonaparte's Gull

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