The subject of this message seems inconsistent.  It seems to me that the
warbler migration should be later than the last reports for Smith's
Longspur, but that is surely not the case this year.  It was a fantastic
day of birding in Ohio.

 

Saturday morning I headed for the Manley Road site west of Rockford in
Mercer County.  On the way just west of a pond on the north side and
just beyond the Rest Area along Rt 33, I found 4 CATTLE EGRETs.  I
arrived at Manley Road between 9:30 and 10:00 am.  Steve from Cleveland
and Jill and john Bowers were already there.  The wind was fierce from
the south, but they had some brief fly-by views of Smith's Longspurs
before I arrived.  We mostly walked the road and watched for flying
Horned Larks and longspur shaped birds, searching the corn stubble and
grassy areas with foxtail.  After I heard a longspur rattle call, from
the vicinity of a foxtail grassy patch, a single bird flew toward the
road, circled to have the sun at our backs and came close enough and
showed Steve, John and I the white patches on the wings "shoulder area"
as well as the distinctive black and white pattern on the face and the
salmon colored under-parts.  This single bird then returned to the corn
stubble field on the south side and dropped down into the grassy area on
a knoll and disappeared.  Steve left after that satisfying look but Jill
was down the road and missed this single bird.  We watched and waited
some more in the fierce but warm wind, hoping to find some more birds
close enough for Jill to get a good look.  Again I heard the tell-tale
rattle and found a bird sitting on a corn stalk slanting across a row.
In my scope I could see a nicely plumaged Smith's Longspur, but of
course it dropped down into the grass before Jill could get on it and
get a good look.  Suddenly, a small flock of longspur shaped birds flew
up towards us calling and circled across the road, giving us good looks
but then dropped down into the winter wheat on the north side of Manley
road and disappeared.  These five Smith's Longpsurs were followed by
four more, which followed the same pattern.  So, Jill got her good looks
at a life bird too. It took a lot of patience and perseverance to find
and see the Smith Longspurs well enough, and the trip was well
worthwhile for a new bird for my Ohio state list.  The first and last
time that I saw a Smith's Longspur was in 1976 in Alaska on the Denali
Highway!!   After the nine Smith's Longspurs disappeared in the winter
wheat, Jill and John and I left the Manley Road area and stopped by
Frysinger Road to look for Golden Plover, but that location was empty.
I left the Rockford area about 12:00 - 12:30 pm and headed north to look
for shorebirds and warblers in the Ottawa NWR, Metzger Marsha and Magee
area.

 

The rest of the day/afternoon was spent finding new birds for the year,
starting with Osprey north of Krause Road and then, Dunlin along
Benton-Carroll Road.  The woods at the end of road at Metzger Marsh was
a gold mine-Black-throated Green (2-3), 1-Golden-winged Warbler (this is
very early), 1-Blue-winged Warbler, Palm Warbler (many),
1-Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Swainson's Thrush, Orchard
Oriole 1 male, very early, many Blue-gray Gnatcatchers as well as many
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (not new for the year). There was also at least one
Pine Warbler and many Yellow-rumped Warblers but these also were not new
for the year.  I met Gabe Leidy and Sherrie Duris there, and they told
me that they had 23 species of warblers including a lot of time at Magee
at the boardwalk.  I headed toward Magee, but stopped at Veler Road
first.  Just before I arrived, Gabe and Sherrie had found the flock of
23 American Avocets, but the birds had landed behind an embankment on
the far south side of the marsh and were out of sight.  I stayed when
Gabe and Sherrie left hoping to see the flock of avocets take wing or
appear.  However, before seeing the avocets, I found a MARBLED GODWIT
with no one else there to enjoy it but me.  Finally, six American
Avocets appeared beyond the embankment.  There was also a swirling flock
of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpipers flying around
the marsh and landing at new locations.  I left Veler Road to head to
Benton-Carroll for more shore-birding but stopped on the next road south
of Veler Road to see the three Sandhill Cranes that Gabe and Sherrie
told me about.  On my way out of Veler Road, Rick Nirshl was heading in,
so I told him about the American Avocets that Gabe and Sherrie found and
the Marbled Godwit that I found.  I met Gabe and Sherrie at the corner
of Krause and Stange and told them about the Marbled Godwit, so they
headed back to see it.  I'm glad that they reported it on Rarebird,
because I did not have internet access.

 

Along Lichert-Hardin Road south of Ottawa NWR, I met Gabe and Sherrie
again at a sky pool.  There I added Purple Martin and Gabe and I heard a
Solitary Sandpiper flight call, our first for the year.  I ended the day
looking for a flock of 200 American Golden Plover that Gabe and Sherrie
found, but the directions were confusing, and I never did find them.

 

I ended a fantastic Saturday with a new state bird, Smith's Longspur,
and some other great birds, Cattle Egret, Golden-winged Warbler (always
tough to get in Ohio for me), Orange-crowned Warbler and American Avocet
and Marbled Godwit, both more readily found in the late summer fall but
not as easy in the spring, with about 17 new birds in Ohio for the year.

Jay

 

Jay G. Lehman

Cincinnati, OH

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