Wordless Wednesday

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Female Eastern Pondhawk

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Adult Antlion

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More cool, colorful bugs

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Last Saturday, my travels brought me to Miami Meadows Park. I originally went there to see a rock concert, but the music just wasn't my taste and I quickly became board. Instead, I went to the natural areas of the park to see what insects I could run across.

I started out at a little pond that I often see cool dragonflies and damsels at. There was a man and his son fishing on the other side of the pond, but they quickly left when they seen me. They must have thought that I was nuts taking pictures of the weeds.

There are always plenty of Eastern Forktails flying around. I love this small damselfly, as I think they are rad looking. Their cool neon green thoraxes and neon blue tail tip are awesome. I am always amused at when I try to point them out to someone, as they are so tiny that many people can't even detect them.

Eastern Forktail wheel on heal all or self heal

Walking around the pond I came across more odes, like this female Widow Skimmer

Female Widow Skimmer

and this awesome Halloween Pennant. I love the pennants, their wings are the coolest. This is the first time I was able to get a good look at a Halloween close up.

Halloween Pennant on a sedge

I looked down to see a duskywing on the clover at my feet. I decided to take a pic, as I can't usually ID them in the field as they are always gone before I can get a diagnostic look at them. Sometimes it is difficult for me even with pics.

Horace's Duskywing

I had narrowed this duskywing down to either Juvenal's or Horace's, but wasn't sure. Thank you Crystal - a.k.a. Rangerous for the ID help!

I then moved from the pond to the nearby field which was full of teasel and and Orange Sulphurs.

Orange Sulphur on teasel

While trying to take a picture of a dragonfly, I heard a small child ask their mother "mom, what is that guy taking pictures of?" she answered "I don't know honey, just keep moving". There were probably over a thousand people in that park that day. Most of which will never take the time out of their busy lives to experience and appreciate the beauty and awesomeness of the nature that is all around them. :-(

After not seeing much more in the fields, I moved on to the wet woods. I could hear a Pileated Woodpecker and Acadian Flycatcher calling. Got to see the pileated before it was spooked by kids on bikes. I also noticed a hummingbird sitting on a stick above my head. As I went farther down the trail, I came to a forest clearing that was glistening in the setting sun. The clearing was sparkling with the wings of many Eastern Comma butterflies chasing each other. It was almost magical looking. One landed at my feet on the broken boardwalk, casting a cool shadow!

Eastern Comma casting a big cool shadow

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."

-Albert Einstein

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Wordless Wednesday

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Red Admiral

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Just trying to stay cool...

Tweet Haven't been outside as much as I would like to recently due to the heat.

However, I did run across this Mallard family just trying to stay cool along the bank of the Ohio River in New Richmond today while out and about. Mommy Mallard was trying to keep the little ones cool :-)

Mallard family

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Question Mark and Morning Cloak nectaring

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Great Blue Heron

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2010 Queen City Bird Festival

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Saturday, May 15th, my mother and nephews, Ashley and I attended the 3rd Annual Queen City Bird Festival held at Hueston Woods State Park in Butler Co. Ohio. The Queen City Bird Festival was created by my friend Jill Russell from the Avian Research and Education Institute. She is the one that brings it all together and makes it all happen. Other local organizations and institutions that also help make it all possible include Oxbow Inc., Audubon Miami Valley and the College of Mount St. Joseph.

As in previous years, I helped out by running a station for children teaching them how to identify common birds that they may see around their feeders and yards. I am always surprised by the breadth of knowledge of these kids. There were numerous educational and entertaining events for the young birders ranging from bird bingo and face painting to bird banding and bird walks. A highlight for many was a flyover of an adult Bald Eagle right over the crowd!

The Keynote Speaker for the event was Thane Maynard, Director of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. I always get moved to do more for conservation after hearing him speak about the progress that has been and is still occurring with endangered species.

Thane Maynard brought along his friend Charlie, an African Penguin. He was a big hit with the kids!

This year, I was able to bring two of my nephews to the event. They loved it! They told their siblings about it and they want to go next year!

My nephews at the Queen City Bird Festival with their Audubon Plush Birds they won.

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Killdeer nest or lack thereof...

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Birdathon 2010: A summary

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The 2010 Birdathon was held May 7-8th. The goal of the Birdathon is to raise money for local conservation organizations by seeing as many different species of birds from 5pm Friday to 5pm Saturday (24 hr period) in a pre-determined radius centered on the Oxbow in SE Indiana (Oxbow area). Pledges are solicited from friends and members, the more species seen collectively, the more money that is raised for the local conservation organizations. This year my team consisted of Dave Brinkman, Dr. Jon Seymour (President of Oxbow, Inc.), and myself. Although our team entered in as "non-competitive" this year, we still ended up with a good number of species I thought. For the first time in my Birdathon experience, we decided to camp at Miami Whitewater campground instead of sleeping in the car. I am glad that we did. Before setting out, we got word that there was a tornado watch in effect until early morning. We put the tent up before the 5pm start time while it wasn't raining. Good thing we did. It thunderstormed Friday night, so we stayed in the car until the lightning stopped. The winds were roaring loud all night, but I somehow managed to stay dry and get some sleep in.

And now on to the birds...Both Friday and Saturday, we went to the new Fernald Preserve in northern Hamilton Co. I have been wanting to go here for a while, but it is a drive for me. I really enjoyed this place. The place was a hopping, as I was able to see Dickcissels, Bobolinks, and hear Grasshopper Sparrows all in the same field. The small but very productive biowetlands held all kinds of good birds including shorebirds, Blue-winged Teal, and an American Pipit. I am glad to be able to have a place like this to see so many different species of birds in one place. I was thinking while there that this could be reproduced with only a little work just about anywhere there was open space to do so. It is a shame that it takes something like Fernald's history to guarantee quality bird habitat in SW Ohio, but that is the sad times we live in I guess. I am hoping to go back to this preserve soon.

Friday, we failed to relocate the reported Wilson's Phalarope at the Fernald Biowetlands. We ran into another team that had said they just seen it 15 minutes prior to our arrival. We searched again, still no phalarope. Dang, that would have been a life bird for me!

Lesser Yellowlegs at Fernald Preserve

Saturday we saw quite a few Wild Turkey, including some male toms displaying to hens.

Male tom turkey displaying at Miami Whitewater Forest

We got word that there was another Wilson's Phalarope at a place called lost bridge. I was really hoping to get this bird here, since I just missed it at Fernald. The first visit yielded a Dunlin, Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Solitary Sandpipers and Spotted Sandpipers. But still no phalarope.

So we headed out to bird other locations in the area. We ran into another group who stated that they saw a shorebird they were unsure of at lost bridge, so we decided to return there to see if we could find the "odd" bird. Glad we did. Just as we were getting ready to leave the spot, Dave spotted the Wilson's Phalarope flying in fast from the left - life bird for me! It landed in front of us briefly, but then disappeared. Luckily, after a long while, we were able to relocate the bird. Got some good looks at it while it was feeding right in front of us!

Lifer Wilson's Phalarope at Lost Bridge in Hamilton Co. , OH

We also stopped by a place where Lark Sparrows had been seen. This would be another life bird for me. As we approached the area where they were supposed to be, Dave found one on the road in front of us. It fled quick, and I was only able to get a brief look at the head pattern and white outer tail feathers - dang!

At 5pm on Saturday, all the teams got together at Winton Woods for the final tally and pizza. It was nice to see so many birding friends that I haven't seen in a while, some in years. Each team discussed their best bird and best moment of the birdathon. Every year, I see more and more 18 years and under young birders at this event - love this! Kathy McDonald led the Queen City Birder's/Ohio Young Birder's Club team. They got first place in the under 19 years category with 95 species!

My team got 118 species and the winning team got somewhere around 147 total species. But everybody was a winner, raising money for conservation and having fun!

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More details on the SW Ohio (Clermont Co.) chuck

Tweet On Wednesday, April 28, 2010, I heard a Chuck-will's-widow calling in a field behind my property. It was shortly after dusk and the call was repeated for at least approximately 5 minutes. A Barred Owl called right before the chuck started to call. A lot of times owls will get birds to call that normally wouldn't call.

I heard the call loud and clear for at least 3 minutes, until the noise of the neigborhood made the call harder to hear (dogs barking and kids screaming). Since the dog was closer than the chuck, I was unable to get a recording, as I only have a digital camera to do so.

Chuck-will's-widows by Louis Agassiz Fuertes (from Wikipedia)

The habitat that the chuck was in is an old field with Andropogon spp. and other grasses. It has mixed maples, pin oak, and multifloral rose that I can identify.

Here is a photo of the habitat from the area of where I heard the chuck:



Here is an attempt to provide a map of the approximate area of where the chuck was calling from:


View Larger Map

This would make a second record for Clermont Co. for Chuck-will's-widow. The first is of an injured bird found by Raptor Inc. in Milford on or around Dec. 12th, 2004. Details on this bird can be found on the Ohio Ornithological Society's website HERE.

*Addendum: Thanks goes to Bob Foppe for supplying me with info of a chuck specimen found in Clermont Co. on 5/20/1945 from the Owensville area, possibly from the St. Rt. 222 and US 50 area.

Looking at different online sources, one gets a very cloudy idea of the range of Chuck-will's-widow in Ohio.

The source that I put the most faith in is Cornell's All About Birds site. It shows the chuck ranging only in the Adams County/Shawnee - Portsmouth area (southernmost tip of OH) for Ohio.

This site, whatBird.com, shows chucks ranging from Cincinnati eastward to the Ohio-West Virginia border. This is not what I am familiar with, as a chuck in SW Ohio is a rare find.

Here is an article that I found on the Ohio Ornithological Society website that discusses chucks in Ohio in more detail.

I thought that I might have heard it again on Monday night, May 3rd, but it was far off sounding. I have not definitely heard it since that first night. Tweet

A beautiful, shorebirdy day!

Tweet Being such a beautiful day, Ashley and I stopped by East Fork State Park's south beach in Bantam today for some birding. We got a later than I wanted to start, ending up getting there at 2pm. The water was up from the recent rains, so no beach was exposed, just grass. There were quite a few people sunbathing and swimming, so I wasn't expecting much.
Getting out of the car, all I could see were a couple of Ring-billed Gulls and a crow. Some movement caught my eye, and right in front of us a Spotted Sandpiper flew up and out over the water. It started calling, and quickly returned to take perch on a log right in front of us. It posed and gave a look like "look at me, I'm looking at you".

This Spotted Sandpiper is not nearly as intimidating as the mean lookin' Brown Thrasher.

I scanned the shoreline and approximately 50 foot in front of a couple sunbathing, were 12 Willets! They were right in front of us practically and I didn't even notice them. I went back to the car and got the camera. The sunbathing couple gave us an odd look, but didn't say anything when they found out what we were looking at.


We were able to get good looks at them fairly close up. They did not seem at all concerned with us or the closer sunbathers. Then a guy with a dog came up and let the dog off the leash (arrrgghh!!). The birds got antsy and flew out over the lake, calling and circling.

Love those Willet wings!

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How I spent Earth Day

Tweet Spent this Earth Day out working in the yard. I started off with sowing some butterfly weed seeds in a raised bed. I have not had much luck with butterfly weed in the past, I have only had it actually come up once. I used to grow common milkweed in the front yard for the monarch butterflies, but the neighbor would harass me about growing weeds despite my attempts to educate her about how it is the host plant for the monarch butterfly. From what I have read, monarchs are going to need all the help they can get this year due to the loss of 50% of the population on their wintering grounds in Mexico. While preparing the bed, I heard my first of the season (FOS) Baltimore Oriole singing high in the maple trees. I also heard and then seen a Brown Thrasher fly over my head, heading for the birdbath.


It then gave me a look like "what you lookin' at!"


I could hear the sound of numerous Eastern Meadowlarks singing their "It's the spring of the yearrr" song. I love that sound! I managed to spot one very far off at the top of a sweetgum tree.


Knowing it was Earth Day, I tried not to have to use the lawnmower, but I couldn't. Have to get caught up before the rain. While coming in from putting my lawn tractor away, I came across this cool looking Isabella Tiger Moth Pyrrharctia isabella in the driveway.


This is what those brown and black wooly bear caterpillars (the ones that are supposed to foretell how bad the winter is going to be based on the amount of black on them) turn into when they become an adult. Tweet

Ahh, Spring, love is in the air...

Tweet Last Saturday while on the way to the store, I stopped by the Ohio River in downtown New Richmond, OH like I always do to see what birds I can see. As soon as I got out of the car, I could hear a Wood Duck whistling. It didn't take long to spot it. This lonely male Wood Duck was calling and displaying to a couple of female Mallards. He would tuck his bill into his chest and whistle, then bring his head back up. They did not want any of that and quickly abandoned him.


He then swam up by the marina/floating restaurant and out from underneath the marina/floating restaurant an American Coot appeared. The Wood Duck swam towards it whistling, and the coot went back under the structure - didn't want any of that either.


Thinking back, I can only remember seeing 1 female Wood Duck at this location ever. Hope he's able to find a girlfriend Wood Duck! Tweet

Morning walk and avipoxvirus again

Tweet Being such a beautiful day, I decided to take a walk down the road. Eastern Meadowlarks are everywhere! Broom sedge is coming back to many of the fields that I used to remember it in. The meadowlarks are taking advantage of it. When I was a child, I remember finding lots of Bobwhite in broom sedge as well, I would love to hear that sound again.

My curse of finding dead or sick birds on my walks seems to be back :-( . This female American Goldfinch landed not too far from my feet in a driveway as I was walking. The bird must have been able to see somewhat, as it flew away when I got closer. Here is a dead bird from avian pox that I found last year on a local walk down my street.


I have never seen avian pox on the birds that visit my feeders. I clean them often and I usually don't feed birds in the spring and summer (a money saving strategy!). My birdbath (cleaned daily) has been empty since I moved it to mow and never put it back. I found this bird near where the grackle was found last year. I really would like to find the source of this, maybe a neighbor's feeders? Tweet

7th Annual Amish Bird Symposium

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Image © Lucy Miller. Used here with permission.

Last Saturday, March 6th, I attended the 7th Annual Amish Bird Symposium in beautiful, rural Adams County, Ohio. I have to say that this is one of my favorite birding events to attend, as it is just the right size and doesn't have too much going on all at once. This event always seems to get better every year, and this year was no exception.

This year, the event was held at a new location, the Wheat Ridge Amish Community Building. With this new location brought for the first time indoor plumbing, an insulated building and plenty of room to enjoy your Amish made lunch. The only thing that reminded me that I was still in an Amish building was the gas powered mantle lighting.

Every year, the symposium starts off with a speech from a member of the Amish birding community. I enjoy listening to them as they have different perspectives on birding than most of us. I listen closely, hoping to get a little hint or secret as to how they attract all the rarities ;-)

Susan from Raptor Inc. was there with her rehab birds (always a very popular draw!), as were several birding related vendors which had items on sale.

Storm the Barn Owl was adding wild sound effects to many of the speakers' presentations!

The speaker list for this event is always impressive, and this year was no exception! Thane Maynard , Director of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden , gave an optimistic talk about the work and the progress that is being made with endangered species conservation.

Susan Gets Native, Lucy (Peregrine Falcon), and Thane Maynard.

Donald Kroodsma , author of The Singing Life of Birds, opened up a whole new world to me that I have never really paid that much attention to. Very interesting and informative talk. Wildlife photographer Ron Austing showed off some of his stellar bird photography and volunteer naturalist Chuck Jakubchak gave an informative talk about bird nests.

After the presentations, some symposium attendees took a trip to the close-by Adams Lake State Park for some local birding.

Ring-necked Ducks on Adams Lake.

I had a wonderful time. Met many old friends and some new ones too! Looking forward to this event again next year! Tweet

2010 Great Backyard Bird Count: A Summary

Tweet There was snow cover on the ground during the entire period, which kept the feeders very busy.



Sparrows as a group were the most numerous birds, breaking many of my previous all time highs for the yard. I had 15 Eastern Towhees (tie), 38 American Tree Sparrows (record), 35 White-throated Sparrows(record), 8 Dark-eyed Juncos, 1 Fox Sparrow, and 8 Song Sparrows (record) *Highest # counted at one time, per the GBBC rules

The new 1 foot of snow on Presidents Day brought in more good birds, including 10 Brown-headed Cowbirds and 1 male Eastern Bluebird. The birds were fighting for the feeders and I even had a male towhee try to stay on the feeder as I was trying to fill it. He made an odd squealing sound as I approached him.

Wasn't able to get all of my expected woodpeckers, but was surprised by a brief sighting of a Red-headed Woodpecker that was down the street (flew over yard, but didn't stop at feeders). Broke my all time high for the yard for Red-bellies (8 at one time).

Somehow I managed to miss my resident Red-shoulder that I had seen the day before the count. I did get feeder raids by both expected accipters though. Also had flyovers of a Red tail, 1 Turkey Vulture and 3 Black Vultures. Was able to call in an Eastern Screech-owl at dusk. The Great-horned was heard calling from the big woods across the street at dusk while filling feeders.

Complete species list for weekend:

Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Mourning Dove
Eastern Screech-Owl
Great Horned Owl
Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
European Starling
Eastern Towhee
American Tree Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

I had 34 species seen or heard in or from my yard for all 4 days combined.

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