Hello!  

This is a report on our survey on Monday and contains no rarities or chase birds, so feel free to delete this now if a general report is not of interest to you.  

On Monday morning, our core team (myself, Kent Miller, and Ben Morrison) was joined by Ben’s wife Rita as we set out into Stillfork Swamp Nature Preserve (restricted access) to seek out fall migrants.  We started at 7:30 am and took our time as we birded the marsh over the course of 4 hours covering approximately 2 miles from Andora Rd. to Mark Rd. in Carroll Co.

We had a few species in mind that we have yet to see in the county this year.  Connecticut Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Gray Cheeked Thrush,  Olive-sided, and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers were high on our radar.  Good luck shined on us (attributed to Rita joining the party) as we had nice looks at a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher about 1/3 of the way into the marsh.  The variety of warblers was low with only 5 species.  There were quite a few Common Yellowthroats right at Andora Rd. and a few more scattered along the way.

One of the most numerous species all along our route were White-eyed Vireos.  We saw them often in groups of 3-4 birds and they were very, very vocal.  When it was all said and done, we tallied 22 birds in just a 2 mile stretch!  This is not an unusual number of Swamp Sparrows in this stretch during the early breeding season, but on Monday we only saw 3 Swampies and none were singing.  The other most numerous species was Eastern Wood-Peewees.  We had to estimate these birds as seeing each one in the foliage is often impractical, but we decided that 25 was a conservative estimate.  This made finding Yellow-bellied a challenge to say the least!  Speaking of Least…we also had 3 Least Flycatchers along the way.  Migrants were clearly working their way through, it just was more about flycatchers than it was warblers.  We also had 7 Yellow-throated Vireos along the way.  This species does nest there, but I would think some of these birds were migrants as well.  

When it was all said and done, we tallied 63 species (+1 taxa) for our efforts, which I think is a pretty nice list for a hot early September day.  We’ve noticed that there seems to be a few specific areas along the way that typically hold groups of birds just about every time we go there.  We still think our best shot at Connecticut and Golden-winged will be in this area.  

We hope to get back out there later this week and continue our search for new species.  It’s getting harder to find new birds as the year winds down, but we’ve grown accustomed to that reality and move forward unperturbed.  Now, if we could just get the winds to cooperate some.  Come on Canadian air!

Our complete eBird list is below.

Happy Birding!

Jon Cefus
Carroll Co.  


Stillfork Swamp Nature Preserve (TNC) (restricted access), Carroll, Ohio, US
Sep 5, 2016 7:24 AM - 11:25 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.5 mile(s)
Comments:     With Kent, Ben & Rita <br />Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 1.2.6 Build 75
63 species (+1 other taxa)

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  1
Green Heron (Butorides virescens)  1
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)  12
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  4
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon))  8
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  16
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)  2
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)  2
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)  1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)  2
Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)  4
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  3
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)  3
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)  2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) (Colaptes auratus auratus/luteus)  2
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  2
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)  25     Singing and seen all along 2 mile corridor
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris)  1
Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus)  3
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)  2
Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)  1
White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus)  22
Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons)  7     All along the corridor
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  8
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)  2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  14
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  3
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  12
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)  4
Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis/atricapillus)  4
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  3
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  1
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  6
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  2
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)  2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  25     Estimate
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  25     Estimate
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)  2
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)  2
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  12
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)  8
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  18
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)  2
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)  4
Bay-breasted Warbler (Setophaga castanea)  1
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)  2
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  75     Estimate
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)  3
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)  3
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  2
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  3
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)  5
Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)  4
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  4
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)  4
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  2
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)  1
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  20     Estimate
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  12
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  5
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