Ohio Birders:



My husband, Tom and I had a blast today. Our goal today was just one species.
Cliff Swallows!



Recently, Tom and his friend Stan Searles and a few others walked the entire
length of the Rocky River Important Bird Area on May 24th. Thirty-one miles!
This walk was done to promote awareness of IBA's but in particular Rocky River.
Several people joined in for the last five miles. I actually walked about 12.



The reason I'm telling you all this is because while I was walking my part of
the IBA I was birding more than trying to keep pace with Tom and Stan who made
the walk in 11 hours. As I was dragging myself through the last mile of the
walk, I passed over one of several small traffic bridges on the Valley Parkway.
Of course, I had to look over the bridge and check for swallows. I was very
surprised to find a few Cliff Swallows flying under the bridge.



Today, Tom and I revisited this bridge which is just south of the Rocky River
Marina parking lot. We found 10 nests under the overhang created by the sidewalk
on the bridge. We drove the entire length of the Rocky River Reservation and
stopped at all the bridges and looked under them. We found 8 more nests on 4
more bridges. Some of the nests were still being constructed.



We also found at least 4 Barn Swallow nests under the bridge on Cedar Point Road
just west of Valley Parkway.



So, get out there and check out small the small concrete bridges that go over
water in your area. You might be surprised too.



Mary Anne Romito

www.wcasohio.org <http://www.wcasohio.org/>






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