Sorry for the late post.



Yesterday, Bill Whan, Paul Gardner and myself visited several locations in
the Sandusky region, with some points south on the way back to Columbus. We
birded at Castalia Pond, Bayview, Medusa Marsh, Magee Marsh, Ottawa NWR,
Metzger Marsh, and Maumee Bay SP, and then went south to the Longbrake
Wetlands and Killdeer Plains. Highlights included:



Huge numbers of diving ducks along the lake, mainly Lesser Scaup,
Canvasback, Common Goldeneye and Redheads. Some Greater Scaup were present,
along with Ring-necked Ducks and Bufflehead. Common Mergansers seemed to be
the most common merganser, followed by Hooded Merganser and Red-Breasted
Merganser. Canada Geese were ubiquitous everywhere. We observed decent
numbers of American Widgeon and Mallards, along with a few Northern
Pintails, Black Ducks, Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, and Green-Winged Teal.
Notable were the Wood Ducks we observed in multiple locations, and the two
drake Blue-Winged Teal we found in a flloded field along SR 103 in Hancock
County. Perhaps the most impressive sight was at Maumee Bay SP, where tens
of thousands of ducks are concentrated along the edge of the ice, well
within scoping distance. They nearly stretched in a band from horizon to
horizon along the lakefront in this location. Ottawa NWR held a huge number
of Tundra Swans, over 1300. Also of note were a Horned Grebe and a Common
Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser hybrid at Medusa Marsh, which seemed to be the
best spot in terms of overall diversity.



Other birds of note: Killdeer seem to be back in force. Red-Winged
Blackbirds were found everywhere, along with Common Grackles. We tried hard
for Rusty Blackbirds but the flocks we found with possible candidates all
spooked before we could get positive IDs. Raptors observed include Bald
Eagles, Red-Tailed Hawks, Red-Shouldered Hawks, Northern Harriers,
Rough-Legged Hawks, and American Kestrels. We did have at least one Chipping
Sparrow in Bayview as well. We kept an eye out for snipe but didn't see any.
Turkey Vultures seemed to be pretty common south of the lake.







Andrew R. Sewell, MS, RPA

Principal Investigator

Historical/Industrial Archaeology

Hardlines Design Company

4608 Indianola Avenue

Columbus, Ohio 43214

ph. (614)-784-8733

fax (614)-784-9336

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