Howdy All,

The two best birds of the day at Caesar Creek State Park today were
White-winged Scoter and Red-throated Loon later in the afternoon between
3:30 and 5:00 pm.  There were also large numbers of Horned Grebes and
certainly two and possibly four Surf Scoters.

 

I arrived at Harveysburg Road at about 11:00 am.  It was still snowing
quite hard and visibility was poor.  Today was the first day of another
waterfowl hunting season that will last until January 29.  The blind at
the end of Harveysburg Road was occupied until later in the afternoon,
so it was not wise to go down to the end of the road to get the best
view of the lake.  When I arrived there was about an inch of snow on the
road to the gravel parking area at the end of Harveysburg Road, but the
road was drivable with care and front wheel drive.

 

At about noon, visibility improved as the snow slowed and turned to
sleet and then rain.  At times I used a small umbrella to keep dry.  The
best waterfowl viewing for me today was starting about 3:30 pm near and
at the North Boat Ramp that is north of the swimming beach off of Rt.
73.  I was able to find a Common Loon first and then the Red-throated
Loon along the road to the North Boat Ramp.  The Red-throated Loon was
staying very close to the far shore and was difficult to find.  Previous
Red-throated Loons that I have seen at Caesar Creek have also behaved
this way.  I first found the RTLO from the gravel parking area, locally
known as the sail boat launching area.  There was a flock of 9 Horned
Grebes, which I though was a lot until I saw a recent note from Bob
Foppe about the numbers of HOGR (+120) that he reported on the Caesar
Creek CBC yesterday, and until I got to Harveysburg Road at about 4:30
pm.  The waterfowl hunters had vacated so I had access to the prime
viewing location at the end of Harveysburg Road.  In rapidly falling
light I counted 30 Horned Grebes.  There were two scoters with heads
tucked, which I suspect were Surf Scoters, far out in a very large flock
of Ring-bill and Bonaparte's Gulls on the water.  I also found three
more scoters together.  One was a White-winged Scoter showing its white
on the wing, and was following two other scoters that were not showing
any white in the wings, thus I called them Surf Scoters.  I could see
the two white spots on the face of these three scoters.  Harveysburg
Road to the end was in better shape between 4:30 and 5:10 pm.  The road
was bare where there were tire tracks.  However, it is likely to be very
different tomorrow morning, as the rain is predicted to change to snow
at about 4:00 am.  In spite of waterfowl hunting, I was able to find
additional water fowl:  Mallard, Black Duck, Pintail (only one),
Bufflehead (only one).  Other nice birds where an adult Red-shouldered
Hawk hunting along the road to Furnas Boat Ramp, a Fox Sparrow that flew
from the road edge near Furnas Boat Ramp, and a beautiful male Purple
Finch at the feeder at the Visitor Center near the dam.  I also stopped
by the north gravel pit at Roxanna and Young's Boat Ramp.

Jay

 

Jay G. Lehman

Cincinnati, Oh

[log in to unmask]  

 

     


______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]