Late  this afternoon (12/7) Ben Morrison, and then Ryan Steiner & I picked out a
striking male Hoary Redpoll among 70 Common Redpolls and 10 Pine  Siskins at
Ladue Reservoir in Geauga County. This redpoll flock has been  present for some
time. Though the bird is striking as Hoarys go,  picking it out is a significant
challenge due to the number of birds and  especially the thickness of the alder
grove they are in. This grove is  just just south of the small building beside
the boat ramp, which is at  the end of the long lane, which heads east off
Valley Road just after  the road curves to the north (this is just north of Rt
422 and just east  of Rt 44) This bird has a bright pink chest with no streaking
in the  pink, just a couple of faint streaks on the flanks, the classic stubby
"punched in" bill, immaculately unmarked undertail coverts, and an  overall
frosty pale plumage making it appear a bit plumper than the  other redpolls.
Again, the larger challenge is locating the bird. The  grove of alders is not
large but very dense and the birds move around a  lot within it making it hard
to pick out any one bird. We sorted for 1  1/2 hours until we all 3 had
satisfying looks at it and at no time were  able to get the other 2 on the bird
during each individual sighting. It  took pretty painstaking, methodical
searching through scopes to relocate  the bird even though you can approach the
grove fairly closely.
Kent Miller
Hartville, OH

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