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February 2008

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From:
"Lehman, Jay" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lehman, Jay
Date:
Sat, 9 Feb 2008 23:24:42 -0500
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This was my first full day of birding since January 21.  I started late
this morning and tried to find the large flocks of geese reported in
recent weeks in SW Ohio.  I stopped at Caesar Creek SP at the beach of
Route 73, and then the gravel pit along Roxanna-New Burlington Road.
Not much activity.  Then I stopped at the corner of Social Row and
Sheehan Roads, south of Dayton, where Rick Asamoto reported a large
flock of Canada Geese with 9 Cackling Geese last Sunday.  No luck here.
So, I headed north.  

 

I arrived at Killdeer Plains at about 3 pm.  I saw three Long-eared Owls
in the distant, alternate conifer grove.  One was quite out in the open
in a spruce for LEOW.  I got some good photos as did another birder from
Columbus. The other two were very high in a spruce.  It is possible that
there were more than 3 Long-eared Owls there, as more have been reported
earlier, but I left rather quickly to help minimize disturbing these
birds.

 

I finished the day north of Upper Sandusky near the intersection of CH
112 and CH 42 and the white barn along CH 112.  This is the area where
Rick Counts has reported Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings in the past
and as recently as Tuesday, January 22.  The last time I was there in
January, I drove slowly through the area and did not spend enough time.
This time I arrived at about 5:15 pm and stayed until about 6:30 pm.  I
drove part of CH112 slowly toward the white barn with windows down to
listen for call notes but spent most of my time out of the car walking
along CH 112.  There was no snow cover but there are plenty of birds.
Lots of Horned Larks.  My best guess is several hundred Horned Larks but
they are scattered over the area because the ground was open and thawed.
I saw five Snow Buntings, three of which were right along the south side
of the white barn feeding along a grassy strip that is right against the
south side of the barn and two more along the road north of the white
barn.  Later there were more Snow buntings out in the fields and flying
over.  So, I estimate 10 total, but that is probably conservative.  A
visit earlier than my visit would surely find more.  I had only 3
Lapland Longspurs.  They were hard to see but easier to find by
listening for the dry rattle call note.  The Snow Buntings also have a
rattle like call note that seems higher pitched and more musical to my
ear than that of Lapland Longspur.  I suspect, but can not prove that
there are more Lapland Longspurs present than I detected.  Again an
earlier visit would very likely find more.  When I left the area at 6:30
pm to a red sunset and darkening sky, the Horned Larks were still
calling and some were still singing.

 

I ended the day with three good birds for early February in Ohio,
Long-eared Owl, Lapland Longspur and Snow Bunting.  And by the way, none
of these are easy to find in the Cincinnati or SW Ohio areas!

Jay

 

Jay G. Lehman

Cincinnati, OH

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