The Ottawa NWR driving tour was in full force today -
we made two passes and were rewarded with ridiculous
birding.  The highlight was at least one WHITE-FACED
IBIS.  The facial skin, red eye, gray bill, and
reddish legs were all viewed in awesome light, as many
stopped by to tick this species on their state lists.
Also in this same area were two WILSON'S PHALAROPES -
both females.  Two YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS were on
territory near their traditional haunts - I guess they
really do exist in these northwest marshes!  Finally,
FIVE AMERICAN BITTERNS and a LEAST BITTERN were seen
in a single wet meadow near the tour's end at Veler
Rd.  The American Bitterns were putting on quite a
show chasing each other around the marsh, with as many
as four in the air at once, and stopping to pose for
absurd scope views.  Soras and Virginia Rails also
called incessantly from this marsh and a BLACK TERN
passed overhead.

The bird trail was quite slow for this time of year,
as the human count far surpassed that of the warblers.
 25 species were seen, but not in any great numbers,
and a Yellow-throated Warbler was apparently the star
of the day, but we missed it.

Good birding -
Gabe Leidy
Cleveland


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.  http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]