As a nice counterpoint to Nick Boutis' report from Glen Helen, Diana & I hiked through most of the gorge of the Little Miami River in Clifton Gorge & neighboring John Bryan State Park this morning, mostly for wildflowers, but taking note of the birds that we found as well.  As Nick commented, there wasn't a big fallout here, but there were lots of calling and singing birds, many of which were likely returned residents.  Notables on our list from about 4 hours of hiking included:

Cooper's Hawk - 1 in display flight CG
Red-shouldered Hawks - calling, both CG and JBSP
Broad-winged Hawk - adult JBSP
Belted Kingfisher - only 2 in nearly 6 miles of stream
Pileated Wpr - 1 calling CG
E.Phoebe - 5-6 along cliffs and river
Crested Flycatcher - 2 along river in JBSP
Solitary Vireo - 1 singing in JBSP
Yellow-thr.Vireo - 3+, scatterd in several locations
Rough-winged Swallows - 12-15 along Little Miami River
House Wren - 4-5 singing in gorge
Ruby-cr.Kinglet - 3-4 in entire morning, which is lower than expected
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 30+, hardly a moment without hearing one
Blue-winged Warbler - 1 near gorge JBSP
Parula Warbler - 8+ singing along gorge in both parks
Yellow Warbler - 1 JBSP
Yellow-throated Warbler - 6-7 singing along gorge in both parks
Black-thr.Green - 2 singing around White cedars in CG
Cape May Warbler - 1 male in gorge CG
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 6+ scatttered throughout gorge
Hooded Warbler - 5+ singing in different parts of Gorge
Ovenbird - 1 singing in forest along lip of gorge, JBSP
Louisiana Waterthrush - 4 singing , mostly in the gorge of JBSP

The wildflowers were mind-numbingly spectacular, with the sudden warming pushing many later flowers to open, overlapping some earlier ones.  We probably had some 45+ blooming plants, including large masses of Trillium (both Nodding & Showy), Bellworts, Bluebells, and Foamflower.  Gorgeous day to be out.

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