Deer Creek State Park
Ohio Bird Conservation Symposium

I only attended the morning portion of the conference and took advantage of the free time in the afternoon to do some birding. I was part of a caravan involving three vehicles and seven birders driving around looking for northern shrikes in an area where one was seen last year. We saw 8 sandhill cranes across the tributary from the beach and drove around to the marina to get a closer look. Also present were triple digit gulls involving ring-billed, Bonaparte's and at least one herring. After viewing these birds, we headed back toward rt. 207. I was the second car in the caravan with Randy Lakes and Daniel Kendrick behind me. The lead car kept on going when a raptor in the top of a tree caught my eye. I stopped, backed up a little and put my binocs on it. It was too large for a kestrel and the tail too short for an accipiter. I also noticed the block-shaped head. Suspecting a merlin, I got out of the car and popped the trunk to get my scope, all the while with the bird still in view. The scope confirmed my suspicions. I was looking at an adult blue-gray male merlin, very cooperative. Randy and Daniel suspected that the bird they saw back toward the marina parking lot might have been a merlin as well. Randy dropped Dan off at that bird and came back to me, with my bird still in my scope, proclaiming that the bird they had was also a merlin. I drove over to look at that bird after the male I was viewing flew to a perch closer to the road. Sure enough, I was now looking at a chocolate brown female merlin. I attempted to digiscope both birds but I must admit that I am an amateur at the technique. 

From the lodge we had two bald eagles, the first an immature while dining by the windows for lunch at the lodge restaurant. The adult was seen as I was setting up my scope from the lodge balcony to scope a white goose mixed in with canadas. The adult eagle pursued the snow goose over the lake. We never did relocate the snow goose.

Several other waterfowl were seen on the lake, mostly mallards, black ducks and hooded mergansers. Among these rafts were a few gadwall, pintails, an American widgeon, lesser scaup, ring-necked ducks and shovelers. A horned grebe was seen from the beach area. Dan Sanders heard a flock of rusty blackbirds fly over as we were scoping the waterfowl.

All in all, a good day of talks and birds!



--
David A. Brinkman
Cincinnati, OH

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