Hi Ohio Birders,

I Birded East Fork State Park today.  It was windy and overcast, but the rain held off until 12:30pm.  The gate to the beach was closed this morning so I birded the area near the gate from 8am until 8:50am.  I then birded the twin ponds and from there I went to the south boat ramp.  From the south ramp I saw an adult Bald Eagle out over the lake scaring ducks up.  There were two Common Goldeneye in the sheltered water near the south boat ramp.  I could not Id the ducks that were on the lake from that point so I went to the dam.  From the dam I could make out groups of ducks, but it was difficult to Id all of them because the water was very rough.  In an effort to get a better view of the ducks on the lake I went to the north boat ramp.  The lake is low so I could walk out on the island near the ramp.  When I made my way out to the west side of the island I could see a bird near the dam.  I put the scope on the bird and it was a Red-necked Grebe in breeding plumage.  Scoping from the island provided a  better view of the ducks on the lake.  Other groups of ducks were scattered in various sheltered coves around the lake.  I found several very large flocks of Northern Cardinals around the lake including close to 50 around the Corp of Engineers office.

Birds seen at East Fork State Park include:

Red-necked Grebe 1
Black Vulture 6
Turkey Vulture 15
Canada Goose 30
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 8
American Black Duck 2
Mallard 50
Northern Pintail 6
Ring-necked Duck 75
Bufflehead 1
Common Goldeneye 5
Hooded Merganser 10
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Killdeer 24
Ring-billed Gull 50
Mourning Dove 12 
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 6
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 4
Blue Jay 50
American Crow 35
Carolina Chickadee 24
Tufted Titmouse 24
White-breasted Nuthatch 6
Carolina Wren 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Eastern Bluebird 1
American Robin 50
European Starling 30
Cedar Waxwing 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler 10
Eastern Towhee 6
American Tree Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 24
White-throated Sparrow 30
Dark-eyed Junco 200
Northern Cardinal 150
Red-winged Blackbird 20
House Finch 1

Peace and good birds,
Bill Stanley

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