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July 2009

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[log in to unmask][log in to unmask], 10 Jul 2009 01:39:48 -0400557_iso-8859-1 First of all, thanks to everyone for the replies regarding the Downy.

Second, I got to see the Yellow Crowns today! Yay! Dad was driving up to visit us so I went down to great him...of course I arrived 4 hours ahead of time...what should I do to pass the time..hmmmm.. I know I'll go check for Yellow Crown Night Herons. When I got to Academy Park, it was a little overcast I walked across that EVIL foot bridge (Have I mentioned that I get motion sickness easily? :-D) A Juvenile dropped (glided really) out of one of the Sycamores, [...]47_10Jul200901:39:[log in to unmask]
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Thu, 9 Jul 2009 20:09:54 -0400
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Today Rick Oxley, Richard Oxley and myself visited several of my favorite locations in Hardin, Wyandot and Marion Counties seeking grassland birds and a few other target species. We headed out at 8:00 AM and finished up in the late afternoon with a sense of accomplishment.

At the very start of our drive to Hardin County we had our first omen of pending good luck as we encountered several Wild Turkeys just miles from my place as we headed up Rome Corners Road in Delaware County. The turkeys were foraging in a recently mowed field and were in plain sight and more or less oblivious to our presence.


We arrived at our first location in Jackson Township, Hardin County about 9:00 AM and almost immediately scored with Rick and Richard’s target species, Bobolinks. There were many males that would rise from the grass for a short flight before dropping back down out of sight. Eventually they became more cooperative and remained perched on stalks where they could be viewed with ease. Sometimes a female would take flight and immediately 3 to 5 males would be in hot pursuit. I would estimate that there were likely 20 to 30 birds on either side of the road.



We were nicely distracted at times by male Dickcissels that would land either on a utility wire of high plant stalk and pose nicely in the sunlight. From all the calls there were many more in the grass than what we saw which was 20+ males. Eastern Meadowlarks were well represented and were calling and flying around us the entir
e time we were at this location. As an added attraction we located Savannah and Grasshopper Sparrows in the grass near the edge of the road.



We next traveled south to Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area in Wyandot County where we added some nice species to the days list. Among them were 5 Bald Eagles, a showoff Red-headed Woodpecker, Horned Larks, Orchard Oriole, Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Trumpeter Swans with young, Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, and Willow Flycatchers.



Our last stop was at Big Island Wildlife Area in Marion County. Here we observed Pied-billed Grebe, Wood Duck, immature Hooded Mergansers, Eastern Kingbirds, Marsh Wren (after much coaxing by me which brought the wren up with some untranslatable words for me), Common Yellowthroats, Grasshopper Sparrows and many Eastern Meadowlarks.



While in route on US 23 we spotted what appeared to be a Common Loon on a large pond. Shape, color and size all seemed to fit, but US 23 is not a smart place to try and stop to view a bird. We put safety first and stayed the course. We tallied 62 species for the day. It was a fun day birding with two very good friends.



Charlie Bombaci

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