A gang of Columbus birders spent yesterday birding from Springville
Marsh to Ottawa NWR, then back to various Wyandot County spots. We
tallied 80-some species (all numbers not in yet). Some observations that
may be of interest follow:
        1. Back roads in Seneca Co yielded more vesper sparrows than expected,
some singing. I wonder if this species is more numerous than many think,
because of its habitat requirements and relatively inconspicuous appearance.
        2. Benton-Carroll Rd, just south of Ottawa NWR, was the birdiest spot
of the day; beyond newly-arrived Bonaparte's gulls, swans, and numerous
ducks, seven shorebird species were there in numbers that totaled more
than a hundred. Regretfully, we spent only 10-15 minutes here. The spot
is private land, maybe 2-3 acres, difficult and dangerous to bird. There
is no place to pull off the road. Birders insist on parking on both
sides of the road, making it especially annoying and perilous for
passing traffic. I predict local residents and law enforcement folks
will not allow this to continue.
         We continued to Ottawa, just across the road, and spent over
two hours, walking 3+ miles along the trail system. Here, by contrast,
we saw only three shorebird species, totaling less than ten individuals.
Perhaps all of Ottawa's shorebird habitat is away from the trails, but
we saw water being pumped into two impoundments along the way, rendering
them useless for nearly all shorebird species. Go figure.
        By the way, the north side and the east side of Pond 2B (the
northeastern-most accessible one) are closed, because of a bald eagle
nest. We wondered if this nest had been newly constructed by the pair
that used the very visible one on the east side of the North Woods for
the last several years: it has been reoccupied by a just-as-visible
great horned owl.
        We also noticed that entry was no longer blocked to the trail leading
south along the west side of pond 8A; this was new to us. See this map
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/ottawa/documents/trailmap.pdf . This makes 1+
miles of new trails available to visitors, as near as I can figure. Oh,
yes: we had a cooperative northern shrike at the SE corner of 2C.
        3. In other news, breeding-plumaged male Lapland longspurs were
numerous along the west side of County 112 in the spot made famous by
Rick Counts (De Lorme 47, A:6). Sexual selection at its finest.
        4. Finally, a four-species blackbird flock just north of Killdeer
Plains produced a couple of Brewer's blackbirds.
Best to all,
Bill Whan
Columbus

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