I birded 59C6NW (Utica 1), a priority block, for about two hours after
church until family obligations distracted me. I saw some things I never
imagined I would see.
Of course, I had seen robins building nests many times as a child, and they
were in full pursuit of that activity all over the place today. Barn
swallows were scooping mud, apparently thankful for yesterday's deluge.
Starlings and house sparrows all seemed to have straw or feathers or in one
case, fluff from last year's cattails in their bills. A song sparrow was
also carrying material into a small evergreen on a tree farm. Blue-gray
gnatcatchers were whining everywhere, and I finally spotted a pair making
repeated trips to what I eventually identified as a nest.
I saw a male common grackle carrying what looked like a large insect to a
messy straw and grass nest in a low tree on a tree farm (nest was between 2
and 3 feet above ground, tree wasn't more than 5 feet tall, if that). Then,
he settled down on the nest, squished down low, and became almost invisible.
I believe the female may have just left, as I was turning. I caught
movement out of the corner of my eye, but wasn't sure where the bird had
come from. I was under the impression that very few male birds participated
in incubating either eggs or nestlings, but I saw it clearly with my own
Swarovski-enhanced eyes.
But the nest-building prize winner was a red-eyed vireo above the bridge on
Lake Fork Road near Smoketown Rd. She was in the early stages, and at first
I thought she was foraging for food. But then, I realized she was carefully
tucking what appeared to be spider webs. I watched her for about 20
minutes. She was bringing small pieces of grass or straw, I couldn't tell
which, and tucking them in with spider web material, in an old sycamore
tree. Fascinating!
I saw a lot of turkey vultures roosting. A couple of places looked like
possible nest sites to be investigated further: a large old tree stag and
an old barn that appears not to be in use at present. I intend to check
with the landowners of the barn and ask them to let me know. Five TVs were
sunning themselves along the ridge of the barn. Likewise, two TVs were
hunkered down, one almost out of sight, in the old dead tree. As I was
leaving, three others came to roost on other branches of that same dead
tree.
As for migrating birds, not much was happening, but I saw a couple of white
crowned sparrows. Baltimore orioles were everywhere, and rose-breasted
grosbeaks were calling in several wooded areas. (These apparently are
pretty common nesters throughout Licking Co. I have seen at least three
nesting pairs at Black Hand Gorge in one year, and it was one of my first
confirmed species when I signed up for my seven OBBA blocks last summer.
There were at least two nesting pairs in Block 59C6CW (Utica 2). It's not
within the "safe" dates, so I didn't record the calling males today.
However, I fully expect to confirm nesting in at least 6 of my 7 blocks.)
I have now confirmed 16 nesting species in this priority block, and the
1982-87 OBBA only confirmed 17 total, with 7 of those being code 30 (7 or
more singing males within the block), which I don't think we have anymore.
So, I'm feeling pretty confident about my efforts in that block, even though
it started out very slow. I just wish I were doing as well in my other
priority block (downtown Newark). Neither is as much fun as some of the
other non-priority blocks, though.
Did any of you catch the article by Pete Dunne in the latest Birder's World?
He talks about what birders do who have "seen all the birds" in a particular
place. They stop merely counting, and start noticing things that they had
never known before. He's love OBBA II. I know I do.
Margaret Bowman
Licking Co., OH
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