A redefining moment...

Tweet I haven't been spending as much time outdoors as I have wanted to.  And for those that know me well, this is not the norm for me.  I've been going to my minimum wage job every day and then coming home only to fall asleep in the chair.  I just haven't had much of a desire to do anything.  I have only made some quick trips to some  local spots looking for easy birds (not much success) and with gas at close to $4 a gallon, I can't really afford to go too far.  I felt like a robot operating in a machine, low on energy and spirit.   I need to spend some quality time outdoors.  I now see how people can go about their lives never being able to connect with nature.  It is a system that is designed that way and unfortunately it works all too well.

The last couple of days has given us a hint of Spring, with lots of sunshine and mild temps.  I had gotten off work early Sunday, so I decided to go for a walk at Indian Creek Wildlife Area.  There were a lot of far off Northern Pintails, probably 50+ !  A closer look revealed both American Wigeon and Northern Shoveler.  There were a lot of Canada Geese, but no little, white, white-fronted or blue geese.  However, I just didn't feel right.  I was seeing some nice looking birds, but it just felt all so foreign to me.  I felt very disconnected.  It was a very odd and vulnerable feeling to me, but I continued to just keep walking.   

After Indian Creek, I stopped at East Fork SP to see what I could find.  I only found a few Pied-billed Grebes on the lake, so I decided to take a walk.  As soon as I got out of the car, I saw a male Eastern Bluebird sitting on a post.  He was singing his song and glowing in the sun.  Something wasn't right though, the bluebird of happiness wasn't working anymore.  It brought back memories of when I was younger and had bluebirds nesting in my box on my windowsill.  I used to check on them every day and feed them mealworms.  Just their presence back then brought me a since of peace and content.  The singing bluebird brought back memories of times that seemed like just a dream.  My how things have changed.  

As dusk was approaching, I decided to go to a place where I have seen American Woodcock in the past.  I haven't heard or seen any yet this year, so it was a long shot.  As I was waiting for the sun to go down, a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds descended on a clump of cattails to roost for the night.  Shortly after, a Cooper's Hawk raided them looking for a late snack.  By now it is getting dark and time to listen for the woodcock.  The full moon is now shining bright, and still I wait.  A close "peent" suddenly pierces the solemn silence.  Woodcock!  It is now officially Spring!

Here is a quick video that I shot with my phone.  The peenting is hard to hear, so you will have to turn up the speakers.  (At about 2:00 min, I accidentally hit the touchscreen of the phone making a loud thumping sound, so click here to skip it)

The peenting of the woodcock brings back more good memories of when my brother and I used to try to see how close the woodcocks would land to us.  There were many more back then though.  Something had just happened without my even realizing it.  I had forgot about work.  I had forgot about not having money to pay bills.  I have just reconnected to nature!

On the way home, I spotted something on the side of the road.  A car was coming at me, so I slowed down to a crawl.  It was not moving, but sitting upright.  As the car passed, I noticed it was a Barred Owl. I didn't think much of it at first, as I have seen them go after things on or near the road often.  However, as I got to with about 7 ft. of it in the car, it just stayed put.  It must have been hit by a car and was injured I thought.  I put the car in park and got out.  I walked up to the owl and it started trying to walk into the path of another oncoming car.  I then went back to the car to get my heavy duty gloves and a blanket.  I just couldn't watch the owl get hit.  The owl just sat there as I waited for the car to pass.  It starred at me and I starred back into those dark brown eyes.  It was a very spiritual moment.  If any of you have ever looked into the eyes of a Barred Owl up close, you know there is something wild and free about them.  Just as I was about to make contact with the owl, another car was fast approaching.  The owl flapped its wings, and managed to fly up and land on a wire above my head.  The car passed and the owl was there on the wire looking down at me.  It stayed there just starring for about ten seconds and then flew off to the woods.  It was a very surreal moment, like it was meant to happen. I connected to nature in a way that I didn't expect.  I tried to take a picture of the owl illuminated by my headlights out the windshield.  This is how it turned out:

I call this photo -  The Soul of the Barred Owl.  So odd that it turned out like this, almost like a ghost in the night.

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Is it spring yet?

Tweet It certainly doesn't feel like spring, as of the writing of this post it is currently 24° here.  The weather has been up and down, one day in the 50s and the next in the 20s.  However, birds don't take their cues to migrate from the weather.  They rather rely on the increasing amount of daylight as their cue.  That being said, I was a little surprised to find a small flock of Chipping Sparrows in early February.  I don't typically see them until March, although as of late I have been seeing at least one bird  on one of the two Christmas Bird Counts that I regularly participate in.

Here is one of FIVE Chipping Sparrows I found at the riverside park in Moscow, Ohio.

and another

Yep, it's a chippy

One of my favorite early spring birding opportunities is to watch courting waterfowl.  It is about the only time when the males let their guards down and come in close to shore to show off to females.  However, I guess the colder weather has them still holding off.  There have been some female Gadwall  hanging out with some coots at East Fork for a while now.  I kept wondering where all the males were.  The females will approach somewhat close as long as the coots are content.  

I have found a group of males hanging together, however they were very far off.  Here is one trying to get as far from me as it can.

Such a nice looking duck.  

A female Ruddy Duck sneaked up on me while I was looking at the female Gadwall.  

It looks like the duck has a smile on its face.

Later in the day, I came across this Red-shouldered Hawk.  A nice looking adult.  The afternoon lighting was harsh for photos, but I can see the bird's nictitating membrane.  

Only when I was looking at the picture on my camera, did I notice that the bird was banded.  It was too far off and the lighting to blown out to be able to read the text/numbers on the band.  

This is pretty cool for me.  I believe that this bird is from this project that has been going on for a while now in the Cincinnati area.  The website here has some more information on Red-shoulders in the Cincinnati area - Red Shouldered Hawk Research in Southern Ohio.

Hoping for some warmer weather!  Woodcock should be doing their skydances soon!

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Back to birding!

Tweet This young Herring Gull looks about the way I felt for a while.  I just haven't felt like doing anything but sleeping.

Now that I am feeling much better from my bout with whatever bug I had, I have been able to get back to doing some birding.  People have been seeing some good birds on the east side of Cincinnati  so I thought that I would go out to try to find some of them.

I originally went to the Medahl Dam to try to find the reported Surf Scoter there.  The day I went it was 67° F.  I didn't see the bird.  I decided to just check different spots along the Ohio River.  Nothing much anywhere.

I got so bored, I decided to take pictures of plants.  Here is a plant that many locals probably didn't even know existed here.

I remember seeing this around the Ohio River only when I was a kid. I remember telling people that this was  Mistletoe, but they didn't believe me.  I now know that it is indeed Mistletoe, Phoradendron leucarpum.  It is fairly common along the Ohio bank of the Ohio River, but not so much as you travel even a few miles from it.  

The weather had changed dramatically in just a short time.  As it was close to 70° F the days before, it had turned to the single digits with snow by the end of the week.   I decided to watch the feeders to see if anything good had come in.  I didn't see anything noteworthy rare wise, but I did get to enjoy the many colors at the feeders like this handsome male Red-bellied Woodpecker.

As I had two days off in a row, I just couldn't sit home and watch the feeders all day.  I had to get outside.  The temperature was only 15° with negative wind chills, but the sun was shining bright.  I decided to go chase the Surf Scoter again.  I have only seen what I thought was one through my scope at East Fork State Park, but it was such a distant view, I didn't even count it on my life list.  

I got something to eat, and headed to Medahl Dam to look for the Surf Scoter.  Boy it was cold.  My hands were freezing as I don't like to use my binos with gloves on unless I have to.  I figured I was close enough to the car, I could go back to heat up.  

The first bird I saw pop up right in front of me was a Ruddy Duck.  It was as close as I have been to one.  It quickly disappeared   I saw a Horned Grebe and Pied-billed Grebe - no scoter.  And then I saw a dark duck pop up in the rough water near some wood debris - SURF SCOTER!  

What a cool looking bird!  The current kept drifting it closer to me, and I could see that it didn't like.  It started hanging out with some Ring-billed Gulls which made it more comfortable.  

Love that massive, colorful bill.

I think I can count it this time!  I was so excited about seeing this life bird, I didn't realize that I couldn't move my one hand til I got back to the car!

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When the birding is slow, watch otters!

Tweet Haven't' been able to get out birding much, as I recently came down with the flu.  I still don't feel 100% yet, but anyone that knows me knows that I can't stay indoors for long.

The birding has been kinda slow for me locally.  Since my girlfriend's favorite animal is the otter, I tried to think of a place to find them.  I have read reports of many being seen at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Seymour, Indiana.  I have also heard that the birding is stellar there, and I have never been there before, so.

After a two hour drive, I arrived at Muscatatuck.  I was surprised at the size of the place, as I was envisioning a different kind of place.  That being said, the place looked awesome to see some cool birds.

It was unseasonably warm for January, so the birds weren't really moving.  I spotted a Savannah and White-crowned Sparrow.  Not much else of interest.  I proceeded to the auto tour route.  The place was slow bird wise, so we stopped at the first pond we came to.  There was an observation platform, so we got out of the car and walked around.  We immedialty saw some movement on the ice.  River otters!!  Three of them.

They were catching fish under the ice.  I has been a very long time since I have seen river otters.  I remembering seeing them often when I was a kid while fishing.  The last one that I saw in Ohio was deceased.  They are very rare in Ohio.  These otters have been reintroduced at Muscatatuck.  

Here is an otter breaking trough the ice.

There were otters in almost every pond that we stopped at.  They were at first very curious to our presence, but after a while they started to retreat for cover.

                 

The one swimming above was very curious of my girlfriend and swam up very close to her.  

Otters are just as hard to photograph as birds.  Here is a otter tail, as I missed the dive.

You can almost see the disapproval of being watched on the one otters face.

               

Watching the otters was a different experience.  I enjoyed watching them as much as I do watching birds.  Brought back memories of when I was younger.  I remember otters, barn owls, and bobcats.  Things are not the same.

Since this is a birding blog, it wouldn't be right not to have some birds here.  Even though the birding was slow, I did manage to see some good birds.

Here is the first raptor seen on the auto tour.  A far away Northern Harrier.  

We saw two of them.  I also spotted this Barred Owl sitting in a tree sleeping on the side of the road.  

As the sun started to set, we saw thousands of Sandhill Cranes coming into the south closed area of the preserve.  I am not too familiar with the area, so I couldn't get that close to see where they were landing.

              

Love the sound and sight of sandhills!  It was a very much needed help to my recovering from the flu.  

As I write this post, the temps are falling quick.  The coldest it has been in a few years here.  Hoping as the ice forms up north, it pushes some good birds down!

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Lesser Black-backed Gull

Tweet Decided to check the beach at East Fork State Park after work today to see what may have changed bird wise since the weather had changed dramatically. The gulls numbered in the thousands with Ring-billed being the most numerous with both Herring and Bonaparte's Gulls mixed in.

While scanning through the gulls, I came across a very dark-backed gull that stood out from the others.  I am not at all experienced in gull ID.

I usually just try to find one that doesn't look like the others and study it to see what it might or might not be.  I am slowly becoming more confident in my gull ID, but we don't get much in the way of practice here in SW Ohio.  The bird in question was not as large as a Herring Gull, but larger than the nearby Ring-billed.  When the bird flew, I could see the white border of the back of the wing contrasting with the dark mantle.  Once on the water and at quite a distance, I could pick the bird out among both Ring-billed and immature Herring Gulls.  That being said, here are some photos of a gull that I am fairly sure is a 3rd winter or winter adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.  The pics were taken in very poor light and at a great distance with no other gulls for comparison.

Comments welcomed and encouraged!

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Long spurs and Crossed bills

Tweet The first day of winter has brought with it our first noticeable snow of the season here, alas only a dusting.  The temperatures are now in the mid twenties here as I write this.  However, for most of the season so far, it has been very mild for this time of year.  Thunderstorms with hail had taken the place of snow and ice.  But this hasn't stopped the northern bird invasion.

While recently looking for any odd grebes and loons that are different from the "regular" species seen at East Fork State Park beach, I spooked up a small bird from the beach.  I recognized the call as a Lapland Longspur.  This would be cool to see one, as I have only seen them a few times.  The bird flew out over the open lake, only giving distant views.  

As I was walking back to my car to head for home, a small bird landed not far in front of me.  It quickly disappeared among the grasses that border the beach.  I carefully moved in the direction of the bird.  I then spied some movement and this is what I found.

A Lapland Longspur!  And only about 5 ft. in front of me.  It seemed to calm down and started to feed on grass seeds along the edge of the beach.  This is the closest I have ever seen one.  I took time to watch and study the bird.  

Notice that the bill looks identical in shape as the Snow Bunting's.  They both feed on grass seeds and are very similar in behavior.  

And just as fast as the bird appeared at my feet, the bird ran to the center of the sandy beach and looked at me one last time as to say "goodbye" and flew out over the lake.

After seeing the longspur, I wanted to see some more northern birds that are usually not so easy to find in SW Ohio.  I have been seeing reports of both crossbills being seen at a cemeteries and parks on the west side of Cincinnati.  Both crossbills would be a life bird for me.  Since these places are a good drive for me since I live on the far east side of Cincy, I want to see them as close as I can.   The west side of Cincinnati has something that is very hard to find on the east side of Cincy:

Hemlocks!

Since this is the preferred food of the crossbills, I decided to head west on my next nice off day.  I have been told that the crossbills that are being seen at Spring Grove Cemetery are far up in the hemlocks and very active/flighty.  However, this is the only place where both species have been seen.   I have also seen reports from other birders that you could see White-winged Crossbills fairly close at the small county park named Mitchell Memorial Park.  I just read a report that 7 WW crossbills were there earlier in the day, so I decided to go chase them.  

Upon arriving at Mitchell, I could hear several Red-breasted Nuthatches calling.  As soon I got out of the car, I could hear and then saw Pine Siskins.  I said to my girlfriend who was with me, "I think we are in the right spot."

I found some hemlocks, but no crossbills.  Then another birder had pulled up in a car and recognized me and told me he had seen one female up on top the hill in a hemlock.  So, I decided to head that way.  

Just like that, he showed me the bird.  My lifer White-winged Crossbill!

The bird was just chowing down on the hemlock cones.  It was kind of funny watching it stretch to get the cones.  

Very cool bird!  It is so adapted and specialized for feeding on cones.  I am hoping to be able to go back out west and see some more and hopefully a male White-winged or even a  Red Crossbill!

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Pine siskin, pine siskin, REDPOLL!

Tweet Today was the first time that I have been able to get out birding in a while.  I checked out East Fork first.  There wasn't much of anything going on here at all.  I then decided to go the Washington Twp. Park to see if any more odd geese have shown up.  I found no geese other than Canada Geese.  I did find my first of the season Hermit Thrush on one of the trails though.

However, when I got out home and stepped out of the car, I thought I had seen some reddish hues on one of the many Pine Siskins that was on one of my thistle feeders.  The bird was on the backside of the feeder.  I figured it was just a trick of lighting and proceeded to go into my house.  The feeder than turned in the breeze and then I noticed that I was looking at a male Common Redpoll!  This particular feeder is right next to the porch.  I was very close to the bird, and since I just got back from birding, I had my camera around my neck.  I was able to get this very fast shot of the bird before I spooked it.

This is only the second redpoll that I have ever seen here.  The last and only other time was a female in November of 1999.  It stayed off and on for about a month.  

Filled the feeders back up hoping that something else nice shows up (I'll accept more redpolls too!)

Keep them trickling down!

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Snow! goose that is...

Tweet Spent a good portion of the day at East Fork with another birder looking for the Red-necked Grebe that was photographed here yesterday.  While we spotted a grebe that looked different from the Pied and Horned Grebes that were near it, it was just too far away to make any kind of conclusions.

After leaving East Fork, I decided to check a local park that is not too far from me to see if anything good was hiding out here.  I have seen some good things here in the past.

As soon as I arrived at the park and pulled into the parking lot for the playground, I noticed a flock of Canada Geese.  I was hoping something was with them.  I soon spotted a white goose, but I passed it off as one of the domestics I have seen here before.  I got out of the car and walked down to the pond to discover that is was a Snow Goose!

The flock decided to get out of the water and graze before flying back to the pond.

A very nice end to the day!  (The forecast for tonight says snow, but with temps near 50° F when I write this at 8pm, I doubt it.)

*For local birders, the address for this park is 2238 State Route 756, Moscow Ohio, 45153 which maps to here:

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