Today  Rick Oxley, Richard Oxley and I took advantage of the great weather 
for December  30th and headed north to do some birding. Our initial objective 
was  to find some owls, but the overwhelming presence of “Hunter’s Orange” led 
to a  change of agenda. We did though have an enjoyable day both in our 
company and  the birds we located. 
Our first stop was at Wyandot C-112 where there were numerous  Horned Larks 
and a few Lapland Longspurs and American Pipits. From there we went  to C-29 to 
see what was present at the flood plain. We weren’t disappointed as  along 
with the many Canada Geese and Mallards we found 9 Greater White-fronted  Geese 
and a few Northern Pintails. In the tree line at the edge of the road near  
the farmhouse we found a Red-headed Woodpecker.   
We  then headed south to the Upper Sandusky Reservoir. As we entered the 
reservoir  we were greeted by a gorgeous Red-shouldered Hawk in the trees along 
the fence.  In the stand of dead trees in the water were 2 adult Bald Eagles. We 
scanned the  water looking for Cackling Geese but only located Canada Geese 
and Mallards at  first, and then we found a Hooded Merganser and a Bufflehead 
near the middle of  the reservoir.  
We  next headed south to Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area where we located a 
nice  mixture of species. Included were 2 Greater White-fronted Geese, hundreds 
of  Canada Geese, 9 Trumpeter Swans, 61 Tundra Swans, 13 Gadwall, 20+ American 
Black  Ducks, hundreds of Mallards, 18 Northern Shovelers, 23 Northern 
Pintail, 1  Green-winged Teal, 8 Common Goldeneye, 10 Bald Eagles, 8 Northern 
harriers, 1  Cooper’s Hawk, several Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrel, a Wild Turkey 
that  played chicken with Rick’s vehicle, and various usual common birds. 
Our  last stop was at Big Island Wildlife Area where we found a few Great 
Blue  Herons, the first for the day, 2 Trumpeter Swans, 6 Green-winged Teal, 7 
more  Bald Eagles (total for the day was 17), 9 Northern Harriers, a Ring-necked 
 Pheasant, Horned Larks, American Tree Sparrows, 2 Swamp Sparrows and several 
 other common species. Our total for the trip was 44 species and lots of good 
 company. 
Charlie Bombaci      

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