Cooled down it has...

Tweet Haven't been able to get out much with all of the rain we have been getting here. This year is already the wettest on record for Cincinnati, Ohio, and all the local bodies of water are above their banks. Cool down it did, as last night that rain had changed to the season's first snowfall. It was only a dusting and melted before the sun even came up here.

I was able to get out and look for Saw-whet Owls on Thanksgiving Day at a relative's property. I wasn't able to find any saw-whets, but I did find this Eastern Screech-owl right before sunset.

The low pressure that had brought all the rain and snow had moved out by morning, so I headed down to East Fork to see what had come in. I noticed an increase in waterfowl and grebes. I was lucky enough to catch some Horned Grebes fishing in front of me. I hid behind a tree as the birds swam closer. I watched them for a while.

They seemed curious of me, and swam up to me. Love their red eyes!

As the sun set today, I heard and then saw Sandhill Cranes flying over. All the while, Common Loons were giving their soul soothing call. A nice end to the day.

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Cooling down or heating up?

Tweet The weather forecast calls for cooler temps and the chance of seeing the first snow flakes of the season. The birds have been locally "hot" this fall migration, and I hope that this trend continues through the winter season!

We have had some beautiful weather recently, and I have tried to get out birding as much as possible. The luck continues, as I have found some good birds too.

There has been word that a loon at East Fork could have been a Red-throated, but nobody got good enough views to confirm it (including me). Since a Red-throated Loon would be a life bird, I can't say with any certainty what I was looking at. Maybe one day I will have a Red-throated up close like this Common Loon from the other day at East Fork.

Common Loon winter plumage

I have never seen a Dunlin up close, only scope views. So I was happy to get to observe this Dunlin hanging out with a Least Sandpiper in the surf at East Fork beach.

The Dunlin was fun to watch. As a large wave would come in, the Dunlin would just stand there. One wave was big enough that the bird had to fly up through it!

And the good views of good birds continues. While walking along the beach, I saw some movement ahead of me and found three Snow Buntings lurking in the sand/grass. I usually only see them in the snow, so I forgot how camouflaged they are even in the sand and grass.

They seemed very curious of me, and followed me around for a little while. They would walk up to me and then appear to pose for the camera.

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The Franklin's Gull

Tweet The gulls have been fantastic at East Fork so far this season, with Sabine's, Laughing, Franklin's, and possibly Lesser and Greater Black-backed as well as the regular Ring-billeds, Herrings and Bonaparte's.

Here are a few pics of the Franklin's Gulls that have been hanging out at East Fork. I haven't seen two Franklin's at the same time in a while, so I think just one bird remains. If gulls can be "nice looking", this gull definitely is (even in winter plumage!)

2 Franklin's Gulls (RB in the middle)

What you lookin' at!

And again, birds always staring me down.

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Where did the time go?

Tweet It seems like just the other day that I was watching flocks of warblers moving through the yard. Actually, it has been about three to four weeks ago already. The warblers have been replaced by Juncoes, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows. I saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker today. Of course, Yellow-rumped Warblers are still around and will be all winter.

I always enjoy seeing and watching mixed flocks around the change of the season. Birds that are thought of as warm weather birds like Cape May Warblers mingling with birds that are thought of as cold weather birds like Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

Black-throated Green Warbler

There is a reason why I don't have pics of warblers on here often! Black-throated Greens are one of my favs, I see them in my yard more during fall migration.

Also see more of another one of my favs, Cape May Warbler. Here is a still bright male photographed during the second week of October.

Cape May Warbler

And of course, Yellow-rumped Warblers are everywhere by the first week of October. Why can't all warblers be this cooperative!

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Here is a Ruby-crowned Kinglet that was hanging out with the warblers. I have only seen the red on their crown when I had one in the hand. Dang, they are harder to photograph then warblers!

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Here's to seeing some good birds this winter. Hoping to be able to participate in the Christmas Bird Counts this year!

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Birding is Fun! contributor

Tweet Starting this month and continuing on the 21st of each month, I will be writing for the blog Birding is Fun! as well as this blog. See you over there!

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Sabine's Gull!

Tweet Another Cincinnati area birder, Allan Claybon, photographed what appeared to be a juvenile Sabine's Gull at East Fork State Park on Saturday. I just saw the post on Sunday evening, so since I only live about ten minutes from that park, I headed out for a chance at this would-be life bird.

I got there about a couple hours before sunset and stayed till it started to get too crowded with people (sunset watchers I guess). I was there for about an hour and a half. I waited for about an hour by the resident gull flock for it to possibly fly in. I saw an adult Herring Gull fly in and land. I saw three Bonaparte's Gulls fly in including the one with three legs. Nothing else. More Ring-billed Gulls. and then, I saw something different looking coming in...

Juvenile Sabine's Gull!!

It flew in and landed on the water briefly, then proceeded to the beach to preen. There were people all around the gull flock, approaching it from both sides. I didn't expect the bird to stay long.

The bird was very skittish and was constantly moving. It stayed on the beach for about three minutes before a couple of young men walked close to the flock. It took to wing, flying just off the beach. A young boy then threw a football into the flock, and the gulls scattered and put down on the lake for the night.

This bird looked contented enough to stay here for a little while. It is very skittish though, so lots of activity close to the gull flock will spook it. Hope it stays. Thanks Allan for this awesome find and lifebird!!

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Book review: The Big Year (Movie tie-in Edition)

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The Big Year: A Tale of Nature, Man, and Fowl Obsession

By Mark Obmascik

In 1998, three birders consisting of Sandy Komito, Al Levatin, and Greg Miller decided to compete in a big year. A big year is where you compete to try to find as many species of birds as one can in the ABA area (mostly North America) in one year.

While I have never competed in a big year myself, this book had brought back many good birding memories. I could relate with the characters in the book, as it made me feel like I was birding with them. It was also cool to read about a birder that I know, fellow Ohio birder Greg Miller!

This book will make you laugh regardless of whether you're a birder or not. While I doubt that many non-birders would pick this book up just as a causal read, I feel that they would be entertained enough to read it all the way through if they did. For those non-birders, you will see just how obsessed us birders are when it comes to seeing good birds.

As most of my readers probably already know, the book has now become a major motion picture!

Whether or not the movie is ornithologically correct or not, I feel that this movie will be a turning point for the future of birding and possibly (hopefully) bird conservation. I have had non-birding friends coming up to me asking what this movie is all about. This is the first time that birding has been in the national mainstream spotlight. That is a GOOD thing!

The Big Year will be opening in theaters everywhere October 14th!

*Disclosure: I had received this book free of charge from the publisher for the purpose of reviewing. The opinions expressed are solely my own. Tweet

A two-billed Caspian Tern!

Tweet I swung by East Fork State Park to check the beach after work today to see if anything new had showed up. Many of the same birds reported from earlier in the day were still there. A Forster's Tern, four Caspian Terns and the juvenile American Golden Plover were still on the beach.

As I preceded closer to be able to see over a small ridge of sand, I noticed that one of the Caspian Terns looked odd. It appeared to have a deformed lower mandible at first. The bird walked closer to me and I was able to determine that it was a growth from beneath the lower mandible. It appeared to be a second bill. The growth was shorter than the lower mandible, so it did not appear to hinder feeding.

The bird behaved normally, with the exception that it would point its head to the ground (I see terns do this often) and plunge its bill in the sand for a few seconds. I always said that it looks like they have a carrot for a bill, but this one actually does!

Very odd! Any comments to the contributing biological causes/factors welcomed.

**Update to the deformed birds. Was talking to another birder, Allan Claybon, who was there earlier in the day yesterday. He photographed this Bonaparte's Gull with 3 legs and another Caspian with the same bill deformity. Weird stuff!

Here is the link to his Flickr photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsxbirder/6221946174/

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The life bird rule

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Often times I wonder how one can go for years and not see a certain bird, and then once you have seen it, it seems that it is no longer hard to find. Well, that has happened to me again today.

I have found another American Golden Plover this morning at East Fork. I was also able to show it to another birder that I have only talked to on the internet. Always love meeting online birding friends in the field!

This time, the bird is a juvenile. I love the pattern on the back of this bird.

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Not a gull to laugh at!

Tweet For many years while I was starting out birding, I would simply pass over the gulls without paying much attention to them. I think I was intimidated by all the many ages and the possibility of encountering hybrids. As a challenge, I decided to get to know the common gulls that are regularly seen in my neck of the woods.

Many years later, I am still not where I would like to be in gull identification skills. However, I am glad that I took the time to try to master the local species. I find gulls fun birds to watch behavior wise, as they are always putting on a show in some way.

Here is my favorite of the gulls regularly seen around here, the Bonaparte's.

But the local birding buzz has been from another gull species.

No, not a laughing Herring Gull, but

A 1st winter Laughing Gull spotted by another Cincinnati area birder at East Fork recently. Laughing Gulls are not common in Ohio, however I have seen them at this location before. There are a few other LAGUs currently being seen around Ohio as well.

Laughing Gulls are usually seen along the East and Gulf coasts. They are quite common in Florida.

And, again the bird is starring me down!

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American Golden Plover!

Tweet Found an American Golden Plover today hiding behind a tuft of grass while birding the beach at East Fork State Park. This would be a life bird. I originally thought that it was black bellied, but I now see the pics and the back is more brown speckled. Such a cool looking bird!

Again, why do birds always stare me down!

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