Hi all,

 

I had a great field trip this morning to a small wetland in western
Tuscarawas County with Ed Schlabach and a couple of friends, Greg Miller,
and Cheryl Harner. The place that we went is a private farm, and the area in
question is essentially a low-lying poorly drained field with lots of
smartweeds of four species, and several dominant grass species that provide
excellent sparrow forage. Lots of birds in there, and we had two Nelson's
Sharp-taileds, one Le Conte's, and lots of Savannah, Song, Swamp,
White-crowned, and one Lincoln's Sparrow. There were also half a dozen or so
Wilson's Snipe.

 

While access to this particular field is problematic due to the necessity of
trying to secure permission, I wanted to let people know that these birds
are moving through and that they could appear nearly anywhere. And I can
suggest an outstanding and easily accessible place to go look. Funk Bottoms
Wildlife Area is not too far from where we saw the birds above, and someone
had two Le Conte's Sparrows there last weekend, I just learned. Here's a
link for info on Funk:
http://www.ohiobirds.org/birdingsites/showsite.php?Site_ID=8

 

I did stop in there briefly on the way home, and the places to look are
right off State Route 95 between Blachleyville and Funk. You'll need to
bushwhack to find these birds; look in dense grassy areas that have a
diversity of plant life, including smartweeds. Walking the mowed paths by
the observation deck at the west side of the wildlife area on the south side
of 95 might be a good bet, too. I'd think Big Island and Killdeer Plains in
central Ohio would be good places, too.

 

If you want to see an actual Ohio Le Conte's Sparrow, visit my blog at:
http://www.ohiobirds.org/blog/blog.php

 

Jim McCormac

Columbus, Ohio

 


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