OHIO-BIRDS Archives

January 2009

OHIO-BIRDS@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Robert Royse <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Robert Royse <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:46:11 -0800
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (23 lines)
It has been nearly a week since I've had a chance to get out birding. Over the course of the past week I picked a few birds for the year here and there while running errands with yesterday's Snow Bunting at the Johnstown egg farms being #98. With a whole day to burn I headed down to the Shawnee SF.  That seemed like a logical place to go. I have been there in January every year that I can remember, so I knew what to expect, or at least I thought I did.

Along the way a huge raft of ducks at Lake White (Pike County) caught my eye, so I stopped to have a look. Mallards were by far the most numerous (1000+) with many Am. Black Ducks as well. N Pintails had a good showing too with at least 200 present.  Also noted were Am. Wigeon, Ruddy Duck, Canvasback, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, and Hooded Merganser in smaller numbers. Along the far bank from the docks I counted 10 Snow Geese (9 white, 1 blue), which was species #99 for me. 2 Bald Eagles flew overhead. 

Onward to Shawnee where I spent the whole day. I thought for sure that I would pick up Red-headed Woodpecker, Brown Thrasher, and Fox Sparrow without much effort. I always found them there in January. Other possible or likely birds to pick up there would be Ruffed Grouse and Pine Warbler, which I've seen there before in January, maybe a Chipping Sparrow, or possibly a W-w Crossbill in the extensive hemlocks. For sure I'd come home with at least 104 or 105 for the year.  I entered from the N of the forest around 9:30 in Lombardsville where Red-headed Woodpeckers have been regulars for years. And species #100 was................drumroll please..............well..........things didn't turn out the way I expected. There were no R-h Woodpeckers at their usual spot. No problem, I'd check their other usual spots later and comb through the thickets for thrashers and Fox Sparrows along the way. The going was slow since birds weren't singing. It's a lot of spishing and listening for the odd call note. I was finding a lot of birds including a Hermit Thrush or two at nearly every stop. In those thickets were a lot of cardinals, Carolina Wrens, E. Towhees, W-t Sparrows and even a few Field Sparrows. The usual woodland birds were all over the place, but only 6 woodpecker species. Purple Finches and Am Goldfinches were numerous in the sweetgums, but no siskins or crossbills were seen. It was well after noon and I had counted 19 Hermit Thrushes before I decided for a change of scenery. I looked around the SP campground then went up Pond Lick Run, which have been reliable spots for R-h Woodpeckers in recent years. I couldn't find any. Maybe it was a bad acorn year, but they we nowhere to be found. Hemlocks in those areas were loaded with cones, but no crossbills were taking advantage of it. I poked around some likely pine areas for Pine Warblers and came up empty with them too. It was getting late and I still didn't have #100, so I headed into the S part of the forest and continued checking the thickets again. I found a good half dozen more Hermit Thrushes and a couple of E. Phoebes, but no Fox Sparrows or Brown Thrashers. It was time to head out. I checked the thickets by the marina, also likely habitat for thrashers and Fox Sparrows, but nope. There were only some Song and White-crowned Sparrows there. One last ace up my sleeve to pick up #100 was Moore's Lane. The habitat looked like a pefect spot for lots of things. It looked like tundra. It could have been Barrow in June. A harrier flew overhead. There was a flock of starlings, a few Canada Geese, and a pair of pintails. I looked for anything else that might be moving - a pipit, a Savannah Sparrow, Killdeer or snipe, a blackbird or grackle. At that point I didn't care. Nope, nothing. So I'm stuck at 99 and still counting.

Bob Royse


Robert Royse
[log in to unmask]
www.roysephotos.com

______________________________________________________________________

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:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]

ATOM RSS1 RSS2