January 14, 2008

I won't be able to attend the OOS event at The Wilds this coming Saturday, but I'm delighted to see so much interest in our part of the state. I decided yesterday to ignore the remnants of my cold and venture forth to the hilly grasslands in the far southeastern corner of my county. It really is a special place, but the birding is sometimes subtle. From about 2 PM to 4:15 PM I managed to see some of the area's feature birds.

I approached The Wilds from 146 turning onto Zion Ridge Rd. I stopped near the intersection to see if there was any signs of a Northern shrike since I saw one here last year. Nope. The only birds I could raise were a small flock of tree sparrows. As I decended the hill and approached the turnoff to the Education Camp area I may have briefly spotted an immature golden eagle, but I'm not counting it. It was too fleeting a glimpse, although my impression was that the bird gliding off to the left was huge. By the time I stopped the car and got my optics on it it was very distant and then over the hill. I could be delusional, and it could have been a harrier. I saw some white. Next time....

It took a while for the bird sightings to warm up. I saw nothing in or around the lake on Zion. Nothing at the "Birding Station at Jeffrey Point" except for a man and a woman in the field below who seemd to be picking up recently shed antlers. Although there were no birds these long views across The Wilds always entertain with views of bison, Bactrian camels (who were running down their road at one point) and the sizeable white-tailed deer population. 

As I proceeded down the hill from there I saw a distant raptor so I pulled off near the intesection with Paisley Rd. and watched a beautiful female harrier who approached quite closely during her gliding survey of the grasslands. This may have been the most satisfying moment of the day. A kestrel on the utility wires nearby was also entertaining. 

The rest of this trip was challenging but rewarding. I wandered my usual zig-zag across the area. from The Wilds over to 340, Prouty, Rural Dale, 340 and back. All told I spotted two harriers (both female,) three rough-legged hawks, two red-tailed hawks, and four kestrels. I couldn't turn any of the kestrels into a prairie falcon, no matter how I tried. It was a pretty descent day of raptors, but I was a little dissappointed not to find any short-eared owls. I guess they haven't rebounded from the meadow vole collapse of a couple years ago.

Another interesting bird was a great blue heron at the pond at the "1" mile marker on 340. There were also 3 red-breasted mergansers in this pond, which I didn't necessarily expect.

Back at home on Flint Ridge the most interesting birds are a pair of red-shouldered hawks that are raising an almost daily racket with their calling. A Cooper's hawk is regularly visiting the feeder area. During this morning's walk, Jane and I were treated to three pileated woodpeckers flying around the denuded canopy above. A single bluebird singing in the blowing snow from the top of the ash at the top of the "back forty" was unexpected but delightful.

Bob Evans
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County
DeLorme 70 A1

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