Howdy All,
My final list for January in Ohio is 106 after birding for 9 or 10 days on weekends and two holidays in Ohio.  The weekend of January 9 and 10 I was out of state in Texas.

On Friday, January 29, I left work early and spent about 20 minutes finding a Snow Goose (# 103) at the IKEA pond not far from where I work.

Early Saturday morning, January 30, at first light, about 7:00 am on a cloudy morning at the Horseman's Trailhead parking lot at east Fork State Park, Barred Owl gave three un-solicited "who cooks for you, who cooks for you-a-a-all" calls (# 104).  Just off the saddle dam, there were eight Common Golden-eye and two Pied-billed Grebes.  The lake at east Fork was just about completely unfrozen on Saturday morning.  I checked out the gulls off of the beach accessed from Rt. 125 and the Bantam entrance but did not find any gulls other than Ring-billed.  I was looking for a few Bonaparte's Gulls but not luck there.  I stopped at Armeleder Park, but the park was closed due to flooding and large areas of the water frozen.  I found a few Ring-billed gulls but none of the rarer gulls reported there recently, Glaucous and Lesser Black-backed.  The recently reported Bonaparte's Gulls were also not visible while I was at the closed gate.  The day was still young, so I decided to head north, and visit Killdeer Plains to try for Rough-legged Hawk and Short-eared owls at dusk.  On the way to KPWA, I stopped in Columbus to try for Double-crested Cormorant near the peninsula at Scioto Audubon on the Scioto River.  No luck there so I continued north to KPWA.  I arrived at about 3:30 pm.  There was more open water at KPWA in the Pond 27 area along CH 68 than in my previous visit.  There were about 15 Tundra Swans mixed in with the Canada geese, but I did not tarry.  There were no new waterfowl for my January list.  As I drove around KPWA, I saw three adult Bald Eagles.  At the intersection of road 103 and Rt. 294 in the southwest corner, I found a mixed flock of Horned Larks and Lapland Longspurs abut 75 to 100.  This estimate was obtained when they flew.  The flock was about 75% Lapland Longspurs.  I turned around and drove south on 103 toward the Sportsman's Center.  South of CH 75, a Northern Harrier started harassing another hawk sitting in the marsh, which turned out to be a light phase Rough-legged Hawk (# 105).  The rest of the remaining day until dark and a spectacular moon-rise, I watched for Short-eared Owls along 103, north to CH 75.  It was not to be for Short-eared Owls for me.

On Sunday, January 31, I got a late start at noon.  I needed to catch up on things like paying bills, etc, because I am working full time and working long hours.  I decided to bet on a late day Golden Eagle at The Wilds with an outside chance for Short-eared Owls at dusk.  I arrived at the overlook on Coal Hill Road near the intersection of Coal Hill Road and Rural Dale Road.  I arrived at the overlook at about 3:30 to 3:45 pm to find a group from Columbus and a couple from near Akron.  Both groups had spent 4-5 hours looking for Golden Eagle on Sunday at several locations, but without any luck.  The group from Columbus left to try a few other areas, such as International Road near the visitor center for The Wilds.  I mentioned that this location has had the reputation for a 4:00 pm golden eagle flight.  The couple from Akron stayed.  Because I just arrived, I decided to stay at the overlook where most of the recent sightings have been reported.  A beautiful adult Red-shouldered Hawk occupied us as it flew from small tree to small tree, perching out in the open for great scope views of a beautiful bird.  Two Rough-legged Hawks were hanging in the wind above the ridge between the overlook and Knox Cemetery.  We turned to look for the Red-shouldered Hawk.  As I did so I glanced up over the ridge that Rural Dale Road follows.  An eagle had just swooped/soared up from the ridge.  It was an immature Golden Eagle!!  (#106)  The time??  About 4:00 pm.  We got great looks in binoculars and also got telescope views as it soared and circled higher until it was a spec between several clouds.  At first at lower altitude, as the bird wheeled around, we could see the golden patches/shoulders on the top of the wings and when it turned to face us in the afternoon sunlight, we could see the golden hackles on the head.  The white base to the tail and the dark band across the tip of the tail were easily visible.  For a while, the bird hung in the wind, showing the slight dihedral, and in our scopes we could see the bird looking down like it was hunting.  By 4:15 pm, we had lost the bird.  It may have sailed off to the east.

I spent the rest of the day until almost dark, driving, stopping to scan along Rt. 340, International Road, Zion Ridge Road as well as a period of time at Jeffrey's Point, looking for Short-eared Owls.  Again, it was not to be for me for Short-eared Owls.

It has been a great month of January birding!
Jay

Jay G. Lehman
Cincinnati, OH
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