Greetings from the wide open spaces of Paulding County!

Our fourth Black Swamp Christmas Bird Count was held yesterday.  Participants were few (2 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon), but results were rewarding.  Among the 40 birds tallied, these few stood out:

Northern Shrike  -  This bird flew across the road in front of us and proceeded to perch in a tree near the road, affording us with a good look at a species we have not seen in this county for nearly 12 years.  Incidentally, the location was the same where we had previously seen a Northern Shrike during the winter of 1991!  Must be a relative visiting his ancestor's old stomping grounds. [Location:  north side of County Road 230,  0.3 mile east of County Road 63, Delorme p. 34, C-2, just above the word Delarme on the map.]  

Hermit Thrush - A first for our count, although we have gotten this species at the Goll Woods CBC.

Pied-billed Grebe - Another first for the count, seen on the Maumee River.  

Turkeys - Not a rarity, but we saw these birds roosting in a tree at the edge of Mark Center, a small town within the count area.  After driving over 100 miles searching the fields for these birds, here they were sitting in a tree a few hundred feet off the road!

Our thanks for Doug & Micki Dunakin (why, that's us- how self-serving!) and Lach Ohman for participating in the field and to Judi Snook, Penny Hertel, Pam Adams, Millie Weaner and Cleo Ziegler for watching their feeders.  

Hopefully we can scrape up more participants next year!
Doug & Micki Dunakin
Antwerp, O. 



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