John Habig and I left very early and arrived at the Mountain Bluebird
spot at 295 and Wilkins at about 7:00 am.  There was one other birder
there, who apparently stopped off on the way to work or and appointment.
A park employee also stopped by.  The Mountain Bluebird showed up at
about 8:00 am, initially located by Phil Choan.  The bird put on a great
show.  There were lots of photo opportunities.  There was a Wilson's
Snipe winnowing over the airport grounds along 295 at the intersection
with Wilkins.  I found 2 Fox Sparrows, singing and visible along Sager
toward 295 as well as singing Brown Thrashers, Purple Finches and Field
Sparrows.  We heard a Ring-necked pheasant crowing.  Quite a few other
birders showed up including the group from the Columbus area.  See
previous posting by Ben Warner.  John and I left the area and visited
the Nature Center at Oak Openings MP, where we found 2 Eastern Phoebes,
2 Pine Warblers, both singing, one at the nature Center and one along
the exit road from the Nature Center parking lot in a stand of White
Pines.  There were lots of Purple Finches (about 24) with some beautiful
red raspberry colored males, which we do not see very often on Southwest
Ohio, and quite a few Pine Siskins at the feeders and in the area at the
Nature Center as well as at least 8 Fox Sparrows in the nearby woods,
singing and visible.  We had two Red-breasted Nuthatches in the pines
near the Nature Center parking lot.  There were lots of Dark-eyed juncos
singing.  John and I birded around Oak Openings, adding all the
woodpeckers except Pileated.  We had two Red-headed Woodpeckers on Reed
at the Lark Sparrow spot.  We looked for but did not find the Lark
Sparrows.  However, Chipping Sparrows were on territory and singing, as
were Field Sparrows at many locations.  We had a single Tree Sparrow
along Reed at the Lark Sparrow spot.  We left the area about 10:30 am,
and there were still many birders viewing the Mountain Bluebird.  

 

At Bayshore Power Plant, we added a single Caspian Tern, at least 100
double-crested Cormorants, a single Winter Wren, about 50 Bonaparte's
Gulls almost in breeding plumage and about 11 Great Egrets in the hot
water outlet.   On the way to Maumee Bay SP we added another Great
Egret.  At Maumee Bay SP, we added 6 more Caspian Terns and a pair of
Wood Ducks, John had a fly-over Bald Eagle and there was a large flock
of scaup far out on the lake.  We headed to Ottawa NWR with several
stops at and in the area of Metzger Marsh.   We had six more Bald
Eagles, five at Metzger in assorted immature plumages.  At the gate to
Ottawa NWR on Veler Road, the new managed marsh had large numbers of
waterfowl, 21 Northern Pintail, 100 American Wigeon, 40 Green-winged
Teal, another immature Bald Eagle sitting on the ground in the field by
the marsh, 25 Pectoral Sandpipers, 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 1 Greater
Yellowlegs.  Along Benton-Carrol Road we had 15 Greater yellowlegs, 6
Lesser Yellowlegs, 25 Pectoral Sandpipers and 7 Wilson's Snipe.

 

Along the causeway to the Magee Marsh boardwalk, we had 2 SNOWY EGRETS,
probably the first report for Ohio this year, and quite early.  These
birds were feeding with Great Egrets just beyond the bridge on the east
side and inside of a controlled burn.

 

On the boardwalk, we had a flock of about 8 Golden-crowned Kinglets and
2 Brown Creepers.  We estimated 20 Fox Sparrows along the boardwalk
witout waling the whole boardwalk, many singing, at least 18 Rusty
Blackbirds, many singing, as well as good looks at 2 pairs of Greater
Scaup in the pond between the entry road and the boardwalk.

 

We had just enough time to stop by Cygnet to try for the Western
Meadowlark on our way south.  On the way to Range Line Road, we had at
least two Vesper Sparrows, one tail-less and one singing.  These were in
cornfields on the north with a woodlot beside the road on the south.
There may have been more Vesper Sparrows, because there was a lot of
singing, and the number reported here (2) assumed that the singing bird
was moving around.  We found the Western Meadowlark immediately upon
arriving at Range Line.  It flew up out of the ditch on the south side
just before the intersection with Range Line, landed on the power line
and immediately sang its beautiful pipe organ quality song.  We found a
large flock of Horned Larks and Lapland Longspurs in the green grassy
field in the northeast quadrant of the intersection with range Line
Road.  We estimated 200 Lapland Longspurs and 100 Horned Larks.  The
birds were very difficult to see on the ground, but the flock flew
around several times, allowing an estimate of numbers.  Most if not all
of the longspurs were in breeding plumage.  We had hoped for some
American Pipits in this flock and saw a few candidates but they
disappeared into the grass upon landing and were not calling.  I wish we
had enough time and light to check out the longspurs for Smith's
Longspurs, but we did not.

 

We ended the day with a list of 88 species without trying for a big day.


Jay

 

Jay G. Lehman

Cincinnati, OH

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