It's that time of the year when we start to shake out forest strays, especially vagrant warblers, in areas of central Ohio around Columbus, and some patterns are slowly becoming apparent.  I'll summarize a few patterns below that I've noticed this Summer along with the past 5-6 summers.

Black & White Warbler - I had a singing male on a 'territory' along Walnut Creek in Canal Winchester yesterday.  This is the 9th male that I've found in the last 5 years during June, all of them singing along riparian thickets of various rivers in central Ohio.  Interestingly, I've had 4 females either returning to a nest or feeding fledgelings during the same period, never in the same locations as males.  I dare to say that these pioneers are not your typical monogamous warblers.  It appears that these B&W warblers are likely practicing some type of polygamy, possibly because of their widely scattered population.  Males rarely stay at one location longer than a few days, and likely work as 'roving troubadors' attracting whatever females they can find, mating, then moving on.

Black-throated Green - I've had only 3 of these birds over the last 5 years, and have yet to find one this year.  These birds often show up in conifer plantings in yards or cemeteries, and are probably displaced from the growing populations in the unglaciated areas south & east of Columbus.

Ovenbirds - I had 2 singing in the ravines of the 5-Oaks trail at Slate Run yesterday, which only brings the total to 3 I've found all summer at other locations.  These birds had been slowly increasing in central Ohio over the last few years...until this Summer.  Now they seem very scarce, and I don't know why.  They seem to be possible anywhere where there are a lot of oaks in the forest, presumably because the oak leaves may help to waterproof their odd ground nests.  Unfortunately, there aren't many extensive oak forests around here since they represented well-drained soils favored by agriculture.

Kentucky - there are almost always some strays of this species in different spots in central Ohio, but they don't seem to breed.  I had 3 singing at different areas around Slate Run yesterday, which is far more than I usually find there.  Slate Run & Chesnut Ridge MetroParks are the only locations locally where they seem to breed, although they can often be found in the forested ravines around Hoover Reservoir.  But they've been virtually absent from many other locations where I can usually find them, especially in woodlands along Darby Creek and the Olentangy River.

Hooded - one of the few species that's having a good year.  There are nesting or territorial birds at most of the large forest tracts in central Ohio (Blendon, Highbanks, Camp Lazarus, Hoover, Slate Run, Alum Lake), often more than 1.  Oddly, they're nonexistent in the woodlands along Darby Creek and points west & south.  Perhaps the woodlands there are not large enough or lack some feature that they really key into.

American Redstart - this is another species that seems to be having a 'down' year, with virtually no strays.  It's one of the few warblers, along with Black & Whites and Ovenbirds, that I've come to expect to find every June, but never in large numbers.  I've not found a breeder locally, but other prople have reported nests or fledgelings from the urban Olentangy river and Hoover Reservoir.

Veery - one of these elusive forest thrushes was seen carrying nesting material in Blendon Woods recently (fide Bruce Simpson), representing one of the few local breeding records.   They've been heard in a few other central Ohio locations, but breeding is very hard to confirm.  Presumably these are birds spawned from the population in the Hocking Hills.

Brown Creeper - one was singing in Blendon Woods 2 days ago, which is very noteworthy.  This species has established a regular breeding area at the north end of Hoover reservoir, but also has a history of nesting or attempted nesting at other forest tracts in central Ohio (Berliner Park, Highbanks), so any singing bird represents a potential breeder.


Rob Thorn
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