Boreal chickadees may have occurred in Ohio a few times over the last few years.  I have heard reports at least twice over the years of boreal chickadees flying south from the tip of Point Pelee.  Unless they ended up in the belly of a herring gull, they may have ended up in Ohio somewhere.  Doing the Lake Erie Island Christmas count we occasionally get huge numbers of chickadees.  If past movements are any indication, I think the islands may be a good place to look for them.  
 
In the fall I like to keep an eye on the different rare bird alerts around the Great Lakes.  It is a great way to know what birds are moving where and when.  The Duluth alert is an interesting place to look.  If winter finches are moving they start seeing them way before we do.  This year there has been little or no mention of winter finches there.  They have not mentioned boreal chickadees either.  This may mean that the boreal chickadees have reached them yet or that the dispersal may be of a more eastern origin.  If the dispersal is more of an eastern thing, watch for them to be moving along the shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie.  There have been times in the past where I have seen real good movements of chickadees along the shoreline in Lake County.  So basically watch what's going on north of us and plan accordingly.  
 
Before we get too excited, there have been a few great chickadee movements over the last twenty years that have included boreal chickadees.  For some reason the movement seemed to dissipate before reaching us.  We can hope though.
 
John Pogacnik
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