Several weeks ago I found some longspurs at the business park in Euclid across from Euclid Square Mall but it was raining heavily and I was not able to ID them correctly.  I check there often as I was there Saturday.  I went back this morning at 9:30am to look for something I couldn't see clearly yesterday but today there were approx 38-40 birds that mostly appeared to be LAPLAND LONGSPURS flying around the park.  They were very vocal.  Sometimes they were in smaller groups, sometimes you just heard them in the fields as you walked the road but when you approached further into the fields they flew up.  I could not tell that there were any different species with them.  They often flew off to the west but would return or only a few would fly over but sometimes they were all together.  Sometimes they were all spread out in the fields.  I was there for two hours and they never left for good. Sometimes they would be 15 ft in front of you and you didn't even
 see them as they blend in to the ground and then they would fly up.  Finally two stayed behind when they flew up and I could get some pictures.  When they landed in the fields they were often landing in the dirt/brown grassy areas that had a small amount of water and they did tend to like the entrance to the park (west).  Also, American Tree Sparrows and Northern Mockingbird and Red-tailed Hawk.

Also, I did check out Sims Park in Euclid today around 1:45pm.  My ID skills may not be as accurate as everybody else that has been there but I was able to see 25 scoters.  Two White-winged Scoters far east of pier (in with five female Scaup) and 23 Scoters far west of park.  I saw seven female Black Scoters in with them.  There were only a few Surf Scoters with most being White-winged.  There are multiple hundreds of Red-breasted Mergansers there with a few Bonaparte's Gulls.  Also two Hermit Thrush near the lake slightly bothered by disk golf players.

Nancy Anderson
Richmond Hts, OH
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nancy_a/

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