I found my first of the season Red-breasted Nuthatch this morning at Chilo Lock #34 Park, near the entrance to Crooked Run Nature Preserve, Clermont County. It seems a tad early to me, but there was no mistaking him. I heard his call first, and finally track him down visually. I also had Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, both of which I had seen last weekend in Ottawa County, NW Ohio, but hadn't had here yet. Tried hard for Brown Creeper (I saw 3 in Ottawa County last weekend) but no luck.
I also saw what I am certain were 2 light morph juvenile Broad-winged Hawks soaring along the ridge line as SR 222 goes uphill from the Ohio River when I left Chilo. I know it is late for them, but I feel confident of the ID based on the following description:
While driving up the hill on SR 222, I saw two hawks soaring with a Black Vulture. They caught my eye because they were significantly smaller than the vulture, and appeared almost white. I was able to pull off into the Chilo Cemetery and observe them with my 8x42 bins. They soared the whole time I watched them; they did not flap. The overall look was of a small, compact Buteo. They had straight wings all the way to the body (the wings did not "pinch in" where they attached to the body), with pale secondaries and dark, pointed wing tips. There were no translucent "crescents" near the primaries. The bodies were very light, almost white in color, and the tails were short. There was some very light streaking near the throat; I did not perceive any tail banding.
I ruled out Red-tailed Hawk based on size relative to the Black Vulture, lack of patagial bars and belly band. I ruled out Red-shouldered because of the compact size, shorter tail, lack of wing "windows", and wings broad at the base rather than narrow.
I would appreciate constructive comments on my hawk ID, if anybody would care to e-mail me off list.
Kathi Hutton
Clermont County
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