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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1st Annual Queen City Bird Festival

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Saturday, May 3rd, Jaime and I attended the 1st Annual Queen City Bird Festival held at the College of Mt. St. Joseph in Delhi, OH. The event was put together by Dr. Jill Russell (prof. at MTSTJ), executive director of The Avian Research and Education Institute (AREI).

The day started out with heavy rain and 25mph winds. It was decided to move the vendors/exhibitors into the small Earth House on the campus. Many local environmental organizations and businesses participated, including Dr. Jon Seymour from Oxbow, Inc, and Susan with raptors from Raptor, Inc. It was too crowded for me to spend much time in the Earth House. It seemed as if the weather would not break, but by noon, the sun came out and the day was nice. This allowed for mist nets to be set up behind the Earth House. Some of the birds below were caught at the new Clifford Bird Observatory which is located in the cemetery behind the Sisters of Charity Motherhouse. Here are a few pictures of birds from that day.

1st Bird of the day, Tufted Titmouse.

Female Eastern Towhee

Probably the best bird of the day, a breeding plumage male Orchard Oriole.

A very fat (ready to go) White-throated Sparrow (tan stripe) (fat: 5!)

Visitors watching a male Northern Cardinal get banded.




And the cardinal protesting.

Even with all the rain, they had 86 participants! Nice number considering the weather. Again, the Russells are to be commended for taking the lead in educating our youth.

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Queen City Bird Festival

Tweet News of the upcoming 1st Annual Queen City Bird Festival on Saturday, May 3rd has made it to the Cincinnati Enquirer - Inaugural festival will celebrate the return of migratory birds.

I will be attending. This is what Cincy needs. The Russells are taking the lead to educate our youth about nature. Tweet

Love this bird!

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After a morning in the 30's, this was nice to wake up to this afternoon. Just breathing it in...

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak at backyard feeder.

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Spring has Sprung

Tweet It is nice to finally see some nice weather. It is amazing how mother nature can lift ones' soul from the gutters. If only more people would look to nature instead of ...

This Great Egret was on the flooded Ohio River banks in New Richmond, OH. Many breeding plumaged Bonaparte's Gulls were flying down the river as well.

At Home, Red-shouldered Hawks were flying and screaming above me -

and the Spring Beauties are blooming in the backyard.

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Grebes at East Fork

Tweet Spent a cold winter, I mean spring day looking for birds in the flooded surroundings of East Fork State Park. Saw some OK birds.

1 Eastern Phoebe

~10 Red-breasted Mergansers

2 Common Mergansers

~4 Common Loons calling and in breeding plumage

~10 Ruddy Ducks

~20 Horned Grebes

1 EARED GREBE

~10 Pied-billed Grebes

2 GB Herons

Mallards

Ring-necked Ducks

Lesser Scaup

TONS of Buffleheads

1 Northern Shoveler male sleeping

Canada Geese

The Grebes and Buffleheads were swimming in the flooded parking lots at the beach.

Horned Grebe in Winter Plumage

Eared Grebe - this bird was different in profile than the nearby Horned Grebe. It got close enough to me that I could see in my scope the yellow plumes by the eye, but my camera's batteries died. This bird was molting. It had the high peek above eye and dark tip to bill. (the pic looks better on my camera than here for some reason)

Never seen an Eared Grebe before, so this would be a lifebird.

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5th Annual Adams County Amish Bird Symposium

Tweet Jaime and I attended the Adams County Amish Bird Symposium Saturday, March 1st after missing it last year. We had a good time overall. Wonderful speakers and good food.

Chris Bedel from the Cincinnati Museum Center's Edge of Appalachia gave the introduction. Robert Schlabach, a member of the Holmes Co. Amish Community, was the first speaker. It is always interesting listening to the stories of the Amish birders. The one thing from his speech that stuck out in my mind was his comment that "If you stay out long enough, all the birds will come to you" or something like that. I got to thinking about that statement. We, as in most birders, aren't as connected to nature as we would like to be. With the Internet, fancy birding gadgets, etc., our birding time is usually minimal. When we do go out, we usually hit all of the proven spots looking for good birds. Makes me wonder what good birds are going unnoticed right under our noses?

Other speakers included:

Dr. Geoffrey E. Hill, Scharnagel Professor of Biology at Auburn University of Alabama. His presentation was based on his book Ivorybill Hunters - The Search for Proof in a Flooded Wilderness, which recounts a recent POSSIBLE encounter with an Ivory-billed in the panhandle of Florida while doing other ornithological work in the area. Dr. Hill showed video that while not 100% conclusive, was none the less intriguing. I am of one that still believes .

Hummingbird enthusiast/researcher and author of Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America - (Peterson Field Guide Series) Sheri L. Williamson from the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory. Always nice to see the diversity of hummer species.

Ohio Bird Photographer Brian Zwiebel , whose work is outstanding and who also shined an interesting light on some little known shorebird behaviors.

Last and certainly not least, Jenifer Brumfield - Young Ohio Artist/illustrator, Author, Naturalist, Bird Tour Guide, Educator, etc., etc. I remember seeing her posts on the Ohio-birds listserv when I started birding. I was surprised at the time to learn that there were other "kids" involved in birding. Nice to know there are more people around my age that thinks exactly like I do. She is doing great things with the inner city youth of Cleveland. Tweet

Rusty Blackbirds

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Photos of some of 8 Rusty Blackbirds in the backyard on Feb. 25th.

Love those eyes!

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Finally, A NEW Camera!

Tweet Testing out my new camera. (Two week's paychecks )

Everywhere I put my fingers, I am pressing some kind of button. Got to get used to this!

My "resident" immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (been here since Dec.). Taken out the back window.

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Great Backyard Bird Count

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Participated in the GBBC sponsored by Audubon and Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I did my backyard with a small walk around my neighborhood.

Friday totals:

(Not in order)

Pileated Woodpecker - 1
American Goldfinch - 50
Purple Finch - 2
Blue Jay - 6
Carolina Wren - 1
Mourning Dove - 15
Northern Cardinal - 10
Starling - 20
Song Sparrow - 2
DE Junco - 2 only
White-throated Sparrow - 5
American Tree Sparrow - 3
House Finch - 5
Tufted Titmouse - 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Carolina Chickadee - 5
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Hairy Woodpecker - 1
YS Flicker - 1
American Robin - 5
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
House Sparrow - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 1

Saturday added :

Common Grackle - 1

Sunday added:

Killdeer - 1
Canada Goose - 2

One of the 2 male and 6 female purple finches at the feeders.

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Bird Profiles

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Can you guess what bird this is by profile?

(A nice skill to have honed in!)

I see other birders complaining about their cameras and skills, but all I can say is at least one can ID the birds in the pictures! Again, If anyone would like to contribute to my new camera fund please email me. Pic taken at Washington Twp. Park on date above.

Answer: Merlin

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Ohio Bird Conservation Symposium

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Nov. 30th-Dec 2nd

The day didn’t start off on a good note. About one hour into our trip to Deer Creek State Park in Mt. Sterling, OH, for the 1st ever Ohio Bird Conservation Symposium (sponsored jointly by the Ohio Ornithological Society and The Nature Conservancy) the car I was riding in blew its engine. After about a five hour delay and a bit of money later, we were off again. We arrived at the lodge a little late and the evening festivities have already begun. Running on no sleep from a previous night’s work, I was exhausted. Luckily, others were still arriving after us.
Friday night, Jaime and I met with Scott Weidensaul and got our copy of Return to Wild America signed. That night, we took a trip to near Chillicothe, OH to see the Saw-whet Owl banding setup of Kelly Williams-Sieg.

Saturday consisted of speakers speaking on various topics relating to bird conservation. The speakers were all wonderfully knowledgeable and interesting. Many topics were covered and not just birds were discussed, as everyone knows that everything is connected in the web of life. It just goes to show what can be done when everyone works together to accomplish goals in bird conservation. It also shows what work still needs to be done in Ohio. I especially enjoyed the keynote speaker Scott Weidensaul who discussed his book Return to Wild America. It almost brought me to tears. I forgot my camera in the room that day, and didn’t want to miss any presentations to go back and get it. Also that night, Jaime put in money to a raffle to win me a carved wood decoy of a Blue-winged teal made by Tim and Laura Dornan, and by golly she won it. It really is very nice!



I had a very wonderful time; it was a very nice & needed break from the wheels. For a more detailed account, please see the President of the Ohio Ornithological Society - Jim McCormac’s blog and The Cerulean, the newsletter of the OOS. Tweet

Tougher penalties for Raptor Killers

Tweet I have not heard much about this elsewhere, but it is long overdue. This bill in the U.S. House could make it a felony (at the discretion of the Judge in the case) for killing them.

The Oregonian:

DeFazio pushes tougher penalties for raptor killers Tweet

What happened?

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President Bush Discusses Migratory Bird Conservation

What happened? Doesn't anybody remember that W is the "Killdee Killer"? I am glad to see that he has finally realized the economic benefit of birding.

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Odd hummer IDed!

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Thursday, Oct. 25th - Bird was last seen at feeder.

Thursday, Oct. 18th

LATE BREAKING - Bird has been caught and banded by Tim Tolford. The bird is a juvenal male Ruby-throated - late pre-basic molt. It has some odd molt going on that threw me off.

More photos can be found on the bander's - Tim Tolford's website : http://www.tolford.com/birdband/Hummer%20Photos.htm

I could not see the color of this spot with the poor light and my poor optics. (again, I will readily accept any grants for new optics/camera).

This is what threw me off. Look at that molt. They are supposed to molt on their wintering grounds I thought? The short tail appeared to point up in flight, but it may have been an illusion created by the shortness and stiffness of the feather sheaths.

It had a lot of energy and was very feisty and vocal.

This is how tiny a hummingbird band is.

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This bird has been coming to my feeders for about 2 weeks now. It has some very odd plumage and behavior.

The hummer's tail is very short. The bird flew up to me before this picture was taken and I could see a little tail that was in a 90° right angle pointed up in the air while hovering. See what you can do with editing - I will do what I can with my very limited software.

I currently have a digiscoping setup pointed out the back door on its favorite perch.

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Testing

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Painted Lady

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Birders, Birds, and Dogs

Tweet I think we must use caution as birders on the situation. The park boards are going to side with what their taxpayers want. If asked what they (non-birders) would like to see in their parks, I will bet that many would say more area to walk my dog, play sports, etc. Very few people would mention other uses. The reasons for this is deep intrenced in our American lifestyle.

Offering citations may backfire in that park visitors may feel that they are being cheated in the parks that their tax money has bought or pays for. They may go to the park boards with their concern. Many people feel that it is their right to walk their dog anywhere in the park that they want, they feel - "I pay for the land, therefore I do as I please." This mindset is going to be impossible to change for many, as it would take a whole overhaul of our society to change.

A situation that I could envision is that someone would actually get bit, calls police, files suit against the owner of the dog and the park district for not providing adequate law enforement. This could cause a situation were, out of fear of lossing funding/money from a situation like this, they close the park where the incident occured. It is a sticky situtation.

One example of what to expect is to look at East Fork State Park. Things are changing there, and will continue at an alarming pace. Special interests groups (and money) are currently running the park. There is little if any oversight by ODNR, no law enforement, etc. People pretty much do as they please here with no consequences. Much of this is caused by a lack of funding (which was discussed here before), which all plays a part in this whole situation.

Dog walks 'prompting bird flight'

Dog-walking can adversely affect wildlife Tweet

Beware of the Red-tailed Hawk!

Tweet While searching the web, I found this video on CNN of a Red-tailed Hawk that apparently tried to take a boy's puppy.

The wildlife officer and reporter in the clip give the impression that Red-tails will readily attack humans. Again, I wonder why people like that wildlife officer are even in a position to try to educate the public about wildlife. We, as birders, have a lot of work to do in trying to change the public's perception of raptors.

The whole print story can be found here. Tweet

Loosing habitat/conservation funding

Tweet Recently, a discussion about conservation funding came up on the Ohio-birds email list. Although the topic seems to show up every so often in these types of forums, it is generally looked at as taboo to go in to much discussion about the subject. Many birders get very jittery when the subject even comes up. It often turns political and personal, which causes the subject to be put off.
But the fact is that politics, no matter how much we birders don’t want to admit it, is tied into the whole conservation issue. If we birders want to continue to be able to have *public* land that is attractive to birds that we can bird on, we must start becoming active on the subject. We are now seeing with increasing frequency, the disappearing of local birding hot spots. The fact is that this is going to continue. Many communities are losing funds to other more important issues (one example is here, click on “See the cost in your community” and then click on Ohio and then Cincinnati on the drop down menus.) Eventually, I feel that if we birders want suitable places to bird in the near future that is truly birdy, we are going to have to have our own *private* preserves. Organizations such as The Ohio Ornithological Society and others should look into the possibilities of raising funds for the acquisition of bird habitat. This will be the only true way, I feel, that we are going to be able to preserve suitable bird habitat in the very near future. But, even this approach has its problems. I know that many communities around this area see undeveloped land as an eyesore and loss of revenue. Even private land is not completely safe from development, but it may be all we can do (maybe conservation easements can be used in these situations?).
No matter how much we birders don’t want to admit it, all of this can be changed by making our positions heard in the way we vote. Enough said on that matter.
I will end with some more examples of how a local birding location is about to change (or has changed).

I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but a local mountain bike club has made several trails on the south side of the park. Although I would say that this is minor as far as disturbance goes (it could be much worse). At first, I had no problem with the trails. However, now it seems that every 3 ft. there is now a mountain bike trail in certain parts of the park. They have cleared some trees and areas, causing some minor erosion. For example, I have seen places were Kentucky Warbler nest sites and nice wildflower areas have disappeared under the mower. For more information, see here Tweet

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