Sunday Morning at dawn. Sorry for the late post, but Sunday the 12th was busy for me and I haven't had a chance since to post until now. Andy Newman and I went on a birding trip Sunday morning with somewhat limited time on our hands. We started off by going to the overlook Platform area right outside the burg known as Funk (off of I-95, Funk road I think?). Hiking back along the cut grass trail revealed many Swamp sparrows and a few others. All along the way we could hear the merry, yet primeval sound of the Sandhill Cranes, and were treated to views of the majestic birds as they flew overhead. We were looking for the rarer of Ohio's Sparrows, but struck out, though the habitat didn't look unsuitable, although not as wet as this time last year. There were also gargantuan flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds. Often peppering the sky with noisy black dots as far as we could see. Our list for this area:
Mallards - 6
Wood Ducks - 6
Canada Geese
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vultures
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel -1
Sandhill Crane - my count for flyovers - 30 birds, I had another report of up to 50 being in the are
Killdeer
Mourning doves (trying to look scarce from the dove hunters we saw)
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker -1
N. Flicker - 4
Blue Jays - 6
American Crow
Chickadees
Titmice
W.B. Nuthatches
Carolina Wren
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet - 1
Golden-Crowned Kinglet - 2
Eastern Bluebird - 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 6
Field Sparrow - 2
Savannah Sparrow - 6
Swamp Sparrow20- 40+
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
Song Sparrow - 10
White-throated Sparrow 4
White -crowned Sparrow - 4
N. Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird - apprx. 100,000 give or take 10,000
Eastern Meadowlark - 10
Brown-headed Cowbirds
Am. Goldfinch
Wilderness Road:
Great Blue Heron
American Kestrel - 2
Killdeer - 40 (near the muddy wetspot, which is drying)
Belted Kingfisher
Song Sparow.
We also made a brief cruise of Killbuck W.A. and checked the water levels which were average to below average. We saw few birds except Wood Ducks, Coot, Pied-billed Grebes, Mallards, Canada Geese, etc. Next We hit Pleasant Hill Reservoir to see if the previously reported juv. Laughing Gull was still around. We ran into some Wooster area birders doing a big Sit, who informed us that it hadn't been seen for days. We looked around a bit and saw only Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, Bald Eagles and Turkey Vultures, plus a few of the usual suspects. Kind of a slow day really, with the exception of the migrant swamp sparrows and the Sandhill Cranes.
If you go out to Funk this weekend, remember to wear Orange, and I'm not sure the other regulations, but I'm informed that Duck Season starts this weekend. Those rare sparrows still may make an appearance.
Good Birding,
- Ben Warner
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