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Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 12:00 AM
Subject: OHIO-BIRDS Digest - 3 Aug 2008 to 4 Aug 2008 (#2008-217)
> There are 6 messages totalling 442 lines in this issue.
>
> Topics of the day:
>
> 1. Lorain Impoundment update
> 2. Hoover Nature Preserve
> 3. Lorain impoundment and birds
> 4. Englewood Metropark Shorebirds
> 5. Pipits and their I.D. contenders
> 6. Gilmore Ponds/Firebird Wetland
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
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> www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
>
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>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 11:53:41 -0400
> From: =?windows-1252?Q?Matt_Vosniak?= <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Lorain Impoundment update
>
> Hey All,
>
> I just got back after a quick check of the Lorain Impoundment to check on=
> =20
> the progress of the dredge spoil filling Jen Brumfield reported on=20
> Saturday. There is no longer any shorebird mudflats in either the easter=
> n=20
> or western ponds. The water levels are filled back up to the levels
> of=20=
>
> the early spring. If you have been out there in the last couple weeks yo=
> u=20
> will be quite surprised if you go now as to the change in water level.=20=
> =20
> They were no longer pumping anything into the ponds while I was there.=20=
> =20
> The north pond has not been filled and still has some good muddy areas. =
> I=20
> had a few least and semi-palmated sandpipers here along with 1 semi-
> palmated plover, 2 lesser (I think) yellowlegs, 1 spotted sandpiper,
> and=20=
>
> loads of killdeer. If they do not add into the northern pond it still ha=
> s=20
> some good shorebird potential over the next couple weeks but I don't thin=
> k=20
> the other wet areas will dry up enough to have any good spots for quite a=
> =20
> while as the water levels are now very high. I will also say if you like=
> =20
> house finches go to Lorain as they are there by the hundreds. I have=20
> never seen that many in one place before.
>
> Take Care All,
>
> Matt Vosniak
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
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> Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at
> www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 13:14:48 EDT
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Hoover Nature Preserve
>
> I spent the morning policing trash at the preserve while checking the
> status
> of the water level near my nest boxes. The water is mostly gone at Area
> N,
> but there is a layer of mud up to your knees. I'll have to wait for it to
> harden before trying to walk out to the nest boxes for cleaning and
> maintenance.
> At all the other area I checked the water is still present around the
> nest
> boxes. Thus, no shorebird habitat of note yet.
>
> Today I observed 17 Prothonotary Warblers, all juveniles, foraging in the
> black willow trees and cottonwoods. This is the first time since April
> that I
> haven't found any adults. It appears that the adults have begun their
> journey
> south to their winter retreats in Central and South America. The juveniles
> are
> fully grown but still lack much of the adult's color. They will follow
> their
> parents south in drips and drabs over the next several weeks and then the
> long wait until next April to see them again.
>
> 2008 was another successful year for the Prothonotary Warblers at the
> Hoover
> Nature Preserve. I'm in the process of perfecting my records for entry to
> NestWatch. Because of the high water I couldn't get to several locations
> and
> this caused a slight dip in numbers, but I think the total identified
> territories will be between 150 to 160 in 2008. Fledglings weren't
> confirmed for all
> sites but if the success rate matches the average of previous years there
> should be approximately 500 fledged Prothonotary Warblers from the known
> nest
> sites. I got the first indication of a good year back in April when I
> hosted an
> Ohio Young Birder's Club Chapter and we tallied about 40 males in just
> Area
> N. I'll post the final numbers by sections of the nest box trail in a
> follow-up
> posting.
>
> There was activity other than Prothonotaries at Area N this morning.
> Perched
> at the end of the Area M boardwalk were 2 Great Egrets, surrounded by
> numerous Ring-billed Gulls. About 25 Double-crested Cormorants were in the
> water
> between Areas M and N. The young Osprey at the platform off Area M were
> taking
> short flights over the water and back to the platform. They aren't ready
> to
> take the big step yet. One of the adults was present and busied itself
> harassing passing Great Blue Herons. It looked like a version of Osprey
> Skeet's.
> Belted Kingfishers were on several snags off the Area N trail and several
> Spotted Sandpipers were working atop the driftwood.
>
> Along the old roadbed in Area N I observed several Yellow-billed Cuckoos,
> Eastern Kingbirds, Green Herons, Red-headed Woodpeckers, a rather raggedy
> looking Yellow-throated Vireo, and as I was walking back to the car,
> American
> Crows mobbing a Great Horned Owl which they sent across the trail right in
> front
> of me.
>
> Not a bad morning considering I was there policing trash. I guess I should
> consider it a reward for a good deed.
>
> Charlie Bombaci
> Hoover Nature Preserve
>
>
>
>
> **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your
> budget?
> Read reviews on AOL Autos.
> (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017
> )
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> 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/.
>
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 13:47:23 -0400
> From: Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Lorain impoundment and birds
>
> The Corps of Engineers built the Lorain impoundment to hold dredge
> spoil, not to preserve Lakeside habitat for birds. These constructions
> on behalf of local industry are expensive, and will be exploited to the
> fullest, literally. At best, this site may end up like Dike 14 in
> Cleveland or the Huron impoundment or any number of similar sites along
> Ohio's shore, brimful of chemical-laced mud scooped from rivers and
> harbors, and vegetated by whatever plants--native or not, probably
> not--end up getting a foothold there. In the meantime, as Jen hinted,
> shorebird habitat may improve slightly, but only temporarily.
> Were Lorain's sculpted impoundments of last year just cheap
> temporary
> window-dressing? Even left alone, the soil was a cookie-dough of churned
> spoil and chopped-up Phragmites that would soon have ended up just as it
> was before. When the impoundment is filled, the USACE will probably
> proclaim it a Bird Sanctuary as they have Dike 14, as there is little
> other use for it, composed as it is of a huge turd of sludge from Ohio's
> most contaminated river.
> Commendably, Cleveland has developed plans for Dike 14 that
> preclude
> the marinas, housing, and commerce that already crowd the lakeshore, and
> will include wildlife in the picture. One hopes Lorain will do likewise,
> even if the pressure to plant a Casino Toxico there is high. As for
> birds, migrant warblers will probably do OK in Bratenahl, and good
> numbers of migrant and wintering gulls will continue to use Lorain
> Harbor as long as fish die there. Shorebirds will not do so well.
> Natural shores along Lake Erie, even in our 'wildlife' areas, are
> nearly erased. The once-enormous marshes of the Western Basin now
> connect directly and naturally to the Lake in areas that add up to maybe
> a few hundred yards instead of 50 miles. Stagnant, beset by invasive
> plants, they ferment behind walls of stone. Temporarily pumping them
> down to accommodate shorebirds involves too much trouble and expense,
> and often conflicts with management for game species. Since the last
> large connection with the Lake was closed at Metzger Marsh over a decade
> ago, most big counts of shorebirds have come from Crane Creek, which
> necessarily retains a narrow opening to the Lake. Counts are down now.
> Dike 14 and Huron don't host shorebirds anymore, even though within
> memory they were real Meccas for these birds. And the same will be true
> for Lorain soon. What will replace them?
> Bill Whan
> Columbus
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> 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/.
>
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 14:36:53 EDT
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Englewood Metropark Shorebirds
>
> Englewood Main Metropark - 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
>
> Great egret - 2
> Lesser yellowlegs - 2
> Pectoral sp - 4
> Least sp - 3
> Semipalmated plover - 2
> Solitary sp - 8
> Spotted sp - 5
> DC cormorant
> Belted kingfisher
> Great blue herons - 22
>
> Sitting on a fallen tree branch over the lake observing the waterfowl
> was a great horned owl. Go figure.
>
> Ed and Bev Neubauer, Kurt Stein
>
>
>
> **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your
> budget?
> Read reviews on AOL Autos.
> (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017
> )
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> 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:
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 19:35:28 -0400
> From: Kenn Kaufman <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Pipits and their I.D. contenders
>
> On Saturday Aug. 2 there was a report of a possible Sprague's Pipit seen
> Saturday in Sandusky County. As I write this, there hasn't been any more
> traffic about that bird on Ohio-birds, but over on RareBird.Org there were
> a
> couple of posts from observers who went to the same place and saw
> potential
> candidates for the species on Sunday.
>
> I went to the site today (Monday Aug. 4) and spent almost two hours
> scoping
> the entire edge and surroundings of the pond repeatedly. It was early
> afternoon, but the high overcast made for very good lighting with no harsh
> shadows nor obvious heat shimmer. A lot of shorebirds were present, to
> make
> the search more enjoyable. There were many swallows foraging low over the
> water, and a couple of Eastern Kingbirds perched low and flycatching near
> the pond. On the ground I saw a few dozen each of Eur. Starlings and
> Mourning Doves, a couple of Savannah Sparrows, and at least two juvenile
> Horned Larks.
>
> I wouldn't presume to tell someone else what bird they saw. But anyone
> who
> has been to the site, or is planning to go, should be aware that birds
> suggesting the appearance of Sprague's Pipits out of range in summer may
> be
> juvenile Horned Larks. Several years ago I saw a parallel situation in
> another state, and even though the observer had managed to photograph his
> "pipit," he reacted angrily to my identification: "I know a - - - - - - -
> Horned Lark when I see one!" But in fact, most birders are not familiar
> with juveniles of this species, which look strikingly different from
> adults
> and which have not been illustrated well very often. The larks remain in
> this plumage only a very short time, a few weeks at most, and their
> appearance is changing throughout that time as the feathers become worn
> and
> molt begins. By the time we start to see winter flocks, that plumage has
> been replaced and the birds are easily recognized.
>
> I just glanced at a couple of field guides -- older editions of the Natl
> Geographic guide had a really poor picture of a juvenile; the latest
> edition
> has a better picture, but it fails to capture the face pattern and it
> shows
> a darker bird than most of the ones around here. Sibley usually has
> excellent illustrations of juveniles, but most of the juv Horned Larks
> I've
> seen in Ohio have been paler, warmer, buffier, paler around the eye,
> whiter
> on the throat, and less evenly washed on the chest than his illustration.
> The juv in the Kaufman guide shows the broad pale eye-ring and supercilium
> that make the eye stand out as conspicuously dark in a pale face, but it
> shows a darker buffy throat than most of the birds around here and it
> doesn't show the back pattern well. And some guides don't show juveniles
> at
> all. Compounding the problem is the great amount of variation in plumage
> in
> this species, so that even a perfect illustration of one individual might
> not look much like another individual.
>
> Across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia there are almost 100 species of
> larks, many of them quite hard to identify, while in the Americas we have
> just the Horned Lark (plus introduced populations and stray individuals of
> Sky Lark). Horned Lark is not a typical member of the family -- only one
> other lark has a similar pattern to the adult plumage -- but the juvenile
> Horned Lark looks superficially very similar to many of the larks in the
> Old
> World. If you've birded a lot overseas, when you see one of these
> juveniles
> your first reaction might be "uh-oh, it's a lark," followed by, "oh, yeah,
> it has to be Horned Lark here." But if you've birded extensively in North
> America, even if you've seen thousands of adult Horned Larks, you can
> still
> be thrown off by the juveniles because they are very different-looking
> birds.
>
> I don't want to discourage anyone from going to look -- after all, the
> shorebirding is quite good at the site now, with crisply marked juveniles
> of
> several species starting to show up. But observers should be aware that
> Sprague's Pipits have no history of showing up out of range in summer,
> they
> rarely walk around on open ground among corn stubble, and many of their
> stated field marks could apply equally well to juvenile Horned Larks,
> which
> are known to be at the site. So if you do find a Sprague's Pipit there,
> please try to get photographs!
>
> And, finally, kudos and thanks to the original observers for getting the
> word out about their sighting. When we see a "possible" rarity, it's
> tempting to keep quiet about it until we're absolutely sure, but that
> might
> mean that the bird will get away before others have a chance to look for
> it.
> It takes guts to publicize a tentative rarity, but we all appreciate
> having
> the chance to know about these things promptly.
>
> Kenn Kaufman
> Oak Harbor, Ohio
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> 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:
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>
>------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 21:14:40 -0400
> From: John Habig <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Gilmore Ponds/Firebird Wetland
>
> I stopped by Gilmore Ponds after work today. It has acres of mudflats
> and shallow water. The only thing missing were the shorebirds. Maybe
> morning would be a better time to visit? If you go I would park at the
> Symmes Rd parking lot and walk back to the first viewing platform.
> Firebird Wetlands is located at Firebird Ct next to 6200 Union Center
> Blvd. This wetland has some ponds that are starting to dry out and held
> Killdeer and Solitary Sandpiper today while I was there (about 20
> minutes).
>
>
>
> Killdeer (dozens)
>
> Solitary Sandpiper (7)
>
> Spotted Sandpiper (3)
>
> Least Sandpiper (1)
>
> Semipalmated Sandpiper (1)
>
> Indigo Bunting
>
> Carolina Chickadee
>
> Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
>
> Robin
>
> Catbird
>
> Pied-billed Grebe (5 juveniles)
>
> Great Blue Heron (38)
>
> Great Egret (5)
>
> Mallard
>
> Canada Goose
>
> Wood Duck
>
> Cardinal
>
> Purple Martin
>
> Tree Swallow
>
> Barn Swallow
>
> House Wren
>
> Willow Flycatcher
>
> Common Yellowthroat
>
> Song Sparrow
>
> Field Sparrow
>
> Flicker
>
> American Goldfinch
>
> House Sparrow
>
> Pigeon
>
> Mourning Dove
>
> Red-winged Blackbird
>
> Grackle
>
> Starling
>
> Red-tailed Hawk
>
>
>
>
>
> John Habig
>
> 261 Lantis Dr.
>
> Carlisle, Ohio 45005
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> 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/.
>
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of OHIO-BIRDS Digest - 3 Aug 2008 to 4 Aug 2008 (#2008-217)
> ***************************************************************
>
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