Hi all,

About 150 birders descended on the 10,000 acres or so of grasslands at the
Wilds, Muskingum County, today, for the OOS's fifth annual winter raptor
foray. It was a far cry from last year weatherwise, when the temperature was
a frosty 12 below zero when we convened in the morning. This year, the high
was a balmy 52 degrees - 64 degrees warmer than last year's low!

The raptors were a bit on the sparse side, but overall the birding was quite
interesting. Open patches of water on some of the ponds produced hundreds of
Canada Geese, some Gadwall, American Wigeon, American Black Duck, Mallard,
Green-winged Teal, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, and Ruddy Duck.

Some Eastern Meadowlarks are toughing it out here and there, and a Wilson's
Snipe was a nice find. Nothing too out of the ordinary with the songbird
crowd, but most of the usual suspects were found.

Our group was imitating an Eastern Screech-Owl at one stop, when the real
McCoy fired back with its own whistles. We glanced up into a nearby dead
snag, and there he was - a beautiful gray morph bird peering out of a
woodpecker hole, inspecting the odd crowd below.

As is to be expected, Red-tailed Hawks were many and easily found, and many
of the pairs were getting chummy. One was even seen adding sticks to a nest.
A few Red-shouldered Hawks were seen, too. Rough-legged Hawks were fairly
plentiful; perhaps 18 or so were about, mostly light morphs. A handful of
American Kestrels were seen, but they were trumped by a Merlin found by
Paula Lozano and crew.

Star of the raptorial show at the Wilds is the Golden Eagle, and a number of
groups saw him. Our group first found the eagle far off perched in a tree,
allowing for extended albeit distant scope viewing. Later, another group
relocated the Golden in the same general area, but closer. The area where it
was seen is off Coal Haul Road, near the intersection with Rural Dale Road.

A real non-birding treat was the opportunity to go behind the scenes, and
visit with a "baby" Southern white rhinoceros. The little bruiser is only
four months old, and about as cute as something that will grow into a
four-legged horned Sherman Tank can be. I'm sure the micro-rhino will make
it on many blogs, as many bloggers were present. I'll stick some photos up
on mine tomorrow.

Thanks to all of the birders who came out this year and a BIG thank you to
all of the experts who graciously volunteer their time and talent to lead
the eight different groups that we divide into. We especially appreciate the
support of the Wilds, whose staff bends over backwards to accommodate our
crowd by opening various (warm) buildings with restrooms to us, providing
behind the scenes rhino tours, and offering other logistical support.
Special thanks go to Nicole Cavender, Krista Kugler, and Troy Burch for
their hospitality and support on behalf of the Wilds.

We look forward to next year's event, and hope you can be there!

Jim



Jim McCormac

Columbus, Ohio

Like nature? Visit my blog: http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/

Like birds? Join the Ohio Ornithological Society: http://www.ohiobirds.org






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