Midwest Birding Symposium wrap-up

Tweet I had a great time at the 2011 Midwest Birding Symposium. The best part was meeting many of my online birder friends in person. Unlike went I went in '09, I was able to do a little more birding this time.

Here is the sunrise over Lake Erie Saturday morning from the shore at East Harbor.

Maybe this is a good omen, but it seemed that almost all the birds that I encountered were white. Bonaparte's Gulls, Caspian Terns, Forster's Terns, Ring-billed Gulls, Great Egrets, Snowy Egret, Trumpeter Swans.

I always enjoy watching Great Egrets, they always look so pure and regal. Here, one was fishing close at East Harbor.

That's gotta hurt!

The best time I had was meeting for the first time fellow bird blogger Robert Mortensen from Birding is Fun! Since he is a Utah birder, he needed many eastern birds for his list so that he could hit that #400 mark.

While checking the internet for any good birds sighted close to Lakeside, I was approached by another fellow bird blogger and friend Kelly Riccetti from Red and the Peanut along with Rob. Rob informed me of some of the birds that he still needed for his life list and asked if I could help him find #400. I felt honored and challenged, so I quickly thought up a plan.

We headed to East Harbor State Park where I guided earlier in the morning. The first bird we happened to spot was one that he needed, a beautiful Chesnut-sided Warbler! Here is Rob texting the news of reaching #400.

And the victory dance, abbreviated.

Rob Mortensen on #400!

Later, Rob and I decided to try for a couple more lifers for him. He still needed Barred and Eastern Screech-owl. After hearing about a report of a Barred at Meadowbrook Marsh, we headed there after the evening programs on Saturday.

I used my owl calling ability to call for the screeches and barreds. We struck out on barreds, but we quickly had 3 Eastern Screech-owls respond to my calling. They even swooped above our heads. Had a wonderful time birding with Kelly and Rob! Looking forward to birding with them again in 2013!

On Sunday, I went on the auto tour at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge for the first time ever. I saw more white birds.

Here is a Trumpeter Swan peeking over the impoundment wall.

Why do birds always stare me down?

Not really many shorebirds at Ottawa, as the water seemed a bit too high. Did see another white bird though, a nice looking immature Snowy Egret.

Snowy Egret (immature)

A special thanks to all the many wonderful people that make the Midwest Birding Symposium happen and those that attended and made it such an awesome event! Looking forward to 2013!

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Midwest Birding Symposium I

Tweet Made it to Lakeside. I am camping at East Harbor State Park where I am volunteering as a guide. The first bird that I saw in the "area" was a Great Egret. They are as common as Great Blues here, but at home they are hard to find.

Also, there are Great Blues too.

Thursday evening, I went on the Sunset Cruise. The water was a little choppy, but not too bad. Saw a gorgeous sunset.

Perry's Monument on South Bass Island

Even chumming for Gulls off the back of the boat with popcorn.

Saw about 15 species of warblers this morning. Started off slow, but picked up and stayed good for at least an hour.

Here is a Palm Warbler hiding from this morning,

A closer up view:

Also had Philadelphia, Warbling, and Red-eyed Vireos.

Red-eyed Vireo hiding

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Getting ready for the Midwest Birding Symposium!

Tweet Will be heading to Lakeside, Ohio tomorrow morning for the 2011 Midwest Birding Symposium. Been looking forward to it for a while. I had a wonderful time in 2009.

I will be guiding bird walks at East Harbor State Park on Friday and Saturday during the symposium. Have been out practicing my fall Warblers at East Fork State Park. There is a reason that you don't see many warbler pictures on my blog. I am lucky if I can see them good enough to make an ID! Here are some pics from the other day.

I always feel rusty every fall, but I find that it is mostly unwarranted - a good thing :-)

Magnolia Warbler through the vegetation

A little better,

Tennessee Warbler

And here is why you don't see many warbler shots on my blog: (see if you can ID this warbler, look at the head)

And here is another,

Don't have a prize, just for fun. I will post the answers soon.

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A Raptortastic day!

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While searching for shorebirds along the beach at East Fork without much success, I decided to proceed to the woods nearby. I was primarily looking for warblers and any other migrants, however the woods was dead quiet.

I Then caught a glimpse of one of the three Osprey that regularly fishes the lake. It decided to land right above my head and I was able to get this cool shot right before it decided to dive for a fish in the lake!

Osprey

I then heard the call of a Bald Eagle. I could see it flying above the trees, but it proceeded to move on. I then saw it land in a tree on a far away bank. It was an adult.

Far away Bald Eagle

The crows were harassing the eagle constantly, so the eagle took flight and landed in a tree farther away. Much to my surprise, the eagle vocalized and another adult Bald Eagle flew in from behind me and landed right next to the one above.

They proceeded to engage in activities that would suggest that they are thinking about nesting somewhere along the lake shore again this year.

I continued watching the eagles and the ospreys fish for probably about an hour. I love to watch them splash down and to see how big the fish is that they catch. They always seem to have better luck than me when fishing, but their lives depend on catching dinner.

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Tips for beginning birders

Tweet I had just recently conducted an interview with the birding blog Backyard Chirper Blog about tips for beginning birders. You can read the entire article at: Tips for identifying species at your bird feeder with expert Donald The Birder

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Some cool beach birds...

Tweet During migration, I like to hit the beach at the local reservoir in the early morning to see what birds are moving through. I go at the first hint of daylight and leave when the people start to show up.

There has been quite a few birds around the south beach at East Fork State Park. I have had all the regularly occurring terns that one would expect to see here during migration - Black, Common, Forster's, and Caspian.

Here, a Caspian Tern flies into the beach.

The Caspian decided to land in front of where I was standing.

(Looks like it has a carrot for a beak!)

Here is a Juvenile Common Tern. Notice the thinner bill, dark carpel bar and hood that is not split.

Also, been seeing a good variety of shorebirds. The beach at East Fork is about the only local spot (less than a 1 hour drive) to see shorebirds around here when water is not low.

Here is a little Semipalmated Plover. Sooo cute!

Also, there was this pair of shorebirds pictured below. The one I IDed as a Least Sandpiper immediately. The other one gave me fits. I originally IDed it as a Semipalmated Sandpiper, but the odd leg coloration gave me fits (legs should be black, not orange. I will have more of this bird and its ID in a later post.)

Least and Odd Sandpiper

Below is a juvenile Sanderling from today. The orange legged bird in the picture above was suggested by a few to be a Sanderling. The bird above is a juvenile, but as you can see, it is not a Sanderling. (Notice that the Sanderling has no hind toe, which enables it to run back and forth chasing waves on the beach.)

The Sanderling was not afraid of me at all and came to within a foot. It was comical to watch the bird poke at the sand castles that were on the beach. The bird even knocked a few down!

Sanderling poking in sand castles

There was some more cool birds in the woods that border the beach. I often hear Yellow-billed Cuckoos here, but I don't get to see them much. This bird was just sitting out in the open!

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Also, lots of Cedar Waxwings. Always love the waxywings!

Disgruntled Cedar Waxwing

And, as I was watching the beach birds, an adult Bald Eagle flew by scattering everthing. Here is a fast, far away shot of it. It also dove and caught a fish, but I didn't get it on camera.

Bald Eagle

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Nice (Yellow) Legs!

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It isn't often that I get to see yellowlegs up close. If you have never seen them up close, the brightness of their yellow legs is stunning.

Here is a juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs that I found foraging along the beach at East Fork the other day. Man, those are some bright legs!

Why are you looking at my legs?

The yellowlegs are comical birds to watch, constantly running and stabbing at the sand. I watched this bird for about half an hour.

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Young Red-headed Woodpeckers!

Tweet After seeing Red-headed Woodpeckers numerous times at the end of my road, I was finally able to confirm that they are breeding in the area today. They used to be VERY hard to find around here, however I am seeing more and more of them.

Here is a pic I took this morning out the car window of an adult Red-headed Woodpecker after just feeding a juvenile. If you look closely, you can see the young one.

And here is a pic of the juvenile -

The sighting was entered in to the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II.
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Someone Terned off the heat!

Tweet Thunderstorms have given way to a much nicer, cooler, and less humid air mass. Being cooped up for about two weeks due to mid - high 90° temps, I had to take advantage of the nice weather.

August is the time that I start to see terns appearing on the beach at East Fork. I love terns! I have to go early to avoid the people. I found this gorgeous Forster's Tern there the other day.

Forster's Tern

And a quick drive by of the beach yesterday produced this nice looking Black Tern. It just flew in and landed in the corner of the beach with the local Ring-billed Gull flock.

Black Tern in non-breeding plumage

Ospreys are also moving through, two have been fishing the lake for the last couple of days.

Osprey

Got lucky and found this beautiful Prothonotary Warbler this morning while looking for a Red-headed Woodpecker that I heard calling. I never found the Red-headed, but I got good looks at the Prothonotary.

Prothonotary Warbler

It's already time for the American Goldfinches to start nesting. They start nesting later than other birds as to coincide with the abundance of food from blooming thistles. Here, a female gathers nesting material from a cattail.

Female American Goldfinch

Young of the year Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been hanging around the yard eating peaches from my peach tree. Here is one that spooked when I opened the back door. Notice that it is just getting its red crown.

Young Red-bellied Woodpecker

Also been seeing a lot of butterflies and dragonflies. Here, I leave you with this photo from today of a Twelve Spotted Skimmer.

12 Spotted Skimmer

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