Five of us birded yesterday along the lakefront from Fairport Harbor to
Lorain, scene of the only rain in Ohio, it seemed, as we could see few
clouds out over the lake or five miles inland. Cold and wet, with many
birds, but few surprises.
        At least three lateish Virginia rails were seen and heard along the
Wake Robin trail, along with many common sparrows. A harrier insisted on
hunting with us, and often kept the latter at a distance.
        Worth mentioning was a peregrine perched on an four-foot-tall upright
amid a gathering of several hundred d-c cormorants at the Eastlake power
plant; a seemingly serene scene, with no attacks by the cormorants.
        As others have mentioned, waves of kinglets and creepers, a dribble of
Bonaparte's on a delayed schedule. A first-winter common tern and a
Caspian accompanied the usual ring-billed loafers on the Lorain pier.
        In the impoundment we found of hordes of sparrows, dominated by many
hundreds of white-throated/crowned, as well as two unlucky ruby-crowned
kinglets, a male and a female, dead after having gotten snagged on
burdock burs. A hard way to go, and a reminder of where the idea for
Velcro came from.
Bill Whan
Columbus

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