I'd like to thank Roger for his input ...
his scholarship with regard to the
history of Ohio Christmas Bird Counts is
impeccable ... Roger I'm still very much looking
forward to seeing your tome published.
As to late season Black-throated Blue Warblers.
The latest accepted (documented with photo)
record for Ohio is
Cuyahoga County, 25 Nov - 10 Dec 2000. It was
discovered by Ted Gilliland. Read the original
report here ...
http://aves.net/birdnews/past1200.htm
Subsequently recognized by Rosche, 2004. Birds
of the Cleveland Region.
This surpassed the previous late record of
Cuyahoga County (Garfield Hts), 29 Nov - 5 Dec
1993 [not 4-5 Dec as published in Peterjohn, 2001.
Birds of Ohio, 2nd ed.] This individual survived
at a feeder (peanut butter).
The present record of discussion, a bird discovered
by Gayle Thomas 5 Dec and photographed by Ronnie
Macko 6 Dec becomes the 2nd latest documented by
photograph for Ohio ... and the 3rd in winter.
All have been males. The lack of green in the
upperparts as depicted in photos I have seen
suggest adults but the angles and
photo quality have not been definitive.
All these records appear within eBird, among the
roughly 750 Ohio records for the species thus far.
Of these, just two exist for counts exceeding 20
birds (both in May for the Magee Marsh Bird Trail).
The common departure from Ohio is 10-16 Oct,
although there are several November reports
including from Highbanks Metropark, Delaware,
2 Nov 2008, and more in the vein of the
above reports from northern Ohio, a male
discovered at Veteran's Park, Lake County
29-30 Nov 2006 by Jerry Talkington and Jim
McCarty).
Furthering the exercise with eBird, there is a
distinct pattern of late season (Nov) distribution
up and down the eastern seaboard north to southern
Maine. December records are largely restricted to
Florida (PEAK daily count of 2 for ALL records),
and the normal wintering ground in the Carribean.
The only other state in the mid-continent with a
Dec record is Arkansas (with the caveat that most
historical records have not been entered with the
eBird database). For example, there is a
24 Dec, 1984 record for Wyoming County, PA
(McWilliams & Brauning 2000, Birds of Pennsylvania),
and a bird survived at a feeder in Boone County,
IN 16 Dec through 20 January 1980 (Mumford & Keller
1984 Birds of Indiana).
It is only through these well documented records
that we may begin to see a pattern unfold. I would
like to remind birders, not that the informed
majority of this listserv need be, that we live in
VERY INTERESTING TIMES ... and we cannot see all
ends. Your observations, most especially those of
the every day, are more crucial than ever.
Hope this helps put the most recent report from
Shari and Ronnie, who have always been a source of
quality observations for this editor, in context.
cheers
Vic Fazio
Lawton, OK
PS> To examine the eBird record I cite above go to
http://ebird.org/
Select View & Explore Tab heading
Select Maps
Enter Black-throated Blue .. and Continue
Using the bar chart tool above the map, select
each month in turn to find records for that
selected time fram covering the most recent 5
years 2004-2008. If you wish you can change the
year entry under CHANGE DATES to encompass a
greater time span but until historical data are
entered this will probably not be far different
from the more immediate years.
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