I got a reasonably early start to try to beat the heat/humidity as I really haven’t had a chance to bird Clear Creek for awhile. I was pleased to find quite a few of the nesting warblers (11) and even managed to see a number of them. KY & Hooded were the easiest to locate. I was disappointed to miss Worm-eating which I only heard there in the spring. The only vireo I missed was Warbling. It was lovely to listen to Hermit as well as Wood thrushes singing on the Hemlock trail. No swallows, orioles, tanagers or RB Grosbeak.

Merlin noted a Black-capped chickadee on the hemlock trail while others chickadees were all ID’d as Carolina. In John Watts et al Birds of Hocking Cty, the default chickadee is Carolina with just a couple records of Black-capped during migration. I figured all the chickadees were Carolina so I didn’t pay much attention to the song Merlin picked up. Prob an error?

The biggest surprise was just before I left— 10 Common Mergansers! I think it was one adult female w/9 almost full grown immatures. They were all fishing very actively/noisily in Clear Creek and moved from a calm pool to an area with small rapids downstream. One came up with a good-sized fish which a few of the others tried to snatch away. I had seen a pair earlier this spring, a first for me at clear creek, so I guess they had a successful nesting season!

As the temperature went past 80 & the humidity worsened, I was amazed to encounter a lot of bird song near the creek at high noon including 7 warblers, 3 vireos and my one YB Cuckoo for the day.

Warblers
Am Redstart heard
Yellow-throated h
N Parula h
Cerulean h
La Waterthrush
Ovenbird
BT Green
Com YT
Hooded
KY
B&W

Vireos: Red-eyed, White-eyed, Yellow-throated & Blue-headed

YB Cuckoo
Brown Thrasher
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
Veery 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 
Indigo Bunting 
FCs: E Peewee, Acadian 
Turkey Vulture 
Black Vulture—one by roadside N of Lancaster

July 3 at Denison, the chats were chatty & I watched a fledged Chat devour a big bug. I was delighted to see & finally get good photos of a beautiful Zebra Swallowtail & added a new butterfly, Peck’s Skipper (listed as common but I’d never recorded it).

Peggy Wang
Granville 
Sent from my iPad
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