Sometimes the best thing is the new thing, and sometimes the best birds are out of temporal range rather than map range.  I was invited to parents night at one of the local Boy Scout camps, which ran last night through this morning.  I fretted about missing a morning on my established OBBA blocks but had a deep-seated feeling that most Scout camps have good habitat and interesting wildlife.  Camp Falling Rock was no disappointment on those counts.  Tucked into the far NE corner of Licking County, it has some amazing forest and ravine habitats.  This morning I was able to sepnd a few early morning hours hiking around the place, and was startled by the amount of bird song and breeding activity present here.  It was as if I had been transported back into June, with many birds on territory and more than a few feeding begging fledgelings.  Chalk this up to the mix of weird weather, rich habitat, and the Ohio gradient (where the seasons progress from southwest to northeast).   Note
 worthy sightings included:

Cuckoos - Yellow-bills were calling everywhere, but I couldn't find a single Black-billed.  I'm beginning to think that Yellow-billed are the dominant forest cuckoo in central Ohio, and that Black-bills occupy some unusual habitat that we don't fully understand yet.

Flycatchers - Acadians, Pewees, and even Phoebes were all calling, and each had at least one pair trailing younsters.  The Phoebes were about as late as I've seen nesters, but the Camp had ideal habitat, with a few bridges and lots of isolated cabins with eaves.

Vireos - Red-eyeds were abundant (not unusual), but there were several Yellow-throated as well.  This species seems to be having a banner year, as I've had them in most of the OBBA blocks that I've visited, even sparsely-forested ones.  A singing White-eyed was a bonus.

Thrushes - Wood Thrushes were one of the most common songsters here, and it seemed every little ravine held one.  Try as I might, I coulnd't hear any evidence of Veery or Hermit, although the habitat looks great for both of them.  It may just be too late for singing Veeries right now, even here.

Warblers - Hooded, Kentucky, and Louisiana Waterthrush (the trinity of common Unglaciated area warblers) were all here.  One of the Hooded pairs was defensive around a brush tangle, but late breeding  & re-nesting is pretty typical of this species.  More spectacular was watching a waterthrush pair feed a fat, barely-flying fledgeling.  This is later than I've ever found them breeding, but most of my timetable has been informed by birds to the south & west of here.   Even more intriguing were two Black-thr.Greens singing from a pine plantation/camping area.  I saw no evidence of nesting, but this location may merit a visit earlier next Spring to see if they return.

Tanagers - several Scarlets were singing and calling, and a female was guarding a big fledgeling.  I couldn't find any Summers, but the habitat here doesn't really include the drier oak-hickory forest that they seem to prefer.

Finches/Sparrows - nothing totally out of place here, although E.Towhees were a lot more common than I expected.  (Again, this may be due to my birding Towhee-poor areas closer to Columbus.)  Chipping were the dominant birds around the campsites, and a few Fields and Songs were in brushy field margins near the camp.  The best bird here may have been too furtive: I thought I heard a singing Purple Finch early in the morning, but only heard it briefly and couldn't relocate it.  This would be a great breeder anywhere in central Ohio (perhaps the Licking County birders like Margeret Bowman or Heather Nagy have already found some).

My hat's off to the Simon Kenton Council of the Boy Scouts.  I've birded several of their camps now (Lazarus, Chief Logan, Oyo) and have always been surprised by the great habitat found therein.  They don't just talk the talk about good land stewardship, they walk the walk.  Most Girl Scout camps seem to have a similar ethos, so OBBA volunteers might want to pay speial attention to scout camps in their blocks.  If they're really alert, they can recruit the counselors & scouts to survey the camp!


Rob Thorn
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EarthLink Revolves Around You.

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