I certainly hope I did not lead any of you astray with my musings yesterday. A bird like Sage Thrasher would be outlandishly unusual. Even though there are a few records in the East, it should certainly not be "expected" by any means. So if I got your hopes up too high, I apologize. Sage Thrasher is a pet dream of mine for Ohio. It's a bird that is nondescript and if it did show up, might be overlooked...maybe. It's just a thought, that's all. So check your Ohio Birds Checklist for this time of year. Above all, have fun birding!
I got a chance to think about my list some more. I see Smith's Longspurs have gotten some mention on the mailinglists. It is certainly the right time of year for them to be moving. Same for Harris' Sparrows. And I'm sure there are others that I could have listed. I just put the first things that came to my mind. If the conditions are so good for migration that we don't see many Northern breeders because they've overshot us on their way to the nesting grounds--well, I am happy for the birds. Many times in migration what is enjoyable for birders (like a fallout) may mean conditions are not so good for the migrants themselves.
At least we should see the "normal" good stuff this time of year. For me, I get Spring Fever every year. I love migration. It is therapeutic to me. I think the thing I long for most is that time of year when the Wood Thrushes return to Ohio. One day in mid-April a birder can be out a full day and not see a Wood Thrush. The next morning, it seems nearly impossible to pass any woodlot without hearing the wonderfully melodic song of numerous Wood Thrushes. This is my own personal "Spring Moment". It is the time that I look for that really tells me warmer weather is here to stay. It is like a new chapter in a book. Winter is gone. Spring has come.
So now--besides just rarities--is a good time to be looking for sparrows, egrets, terns, American bitterns, swallows, winter wrens, hermit thrushes, fox sparrows, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, kinglets, and our earliest returning warblers (in Southern Ohio). If you're lucky you might stumble onto a Northern saw-whet owl, too.
-Greg Miller
Sugarcreek, OH
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