Especially during the migrations, questions come up quite often on
ohio-birds about whether a reported species is early or late. Asking on
ohio-birds is not the best way to get the right information, however.
Having a way of knowing the expected dates for birds is important to
observers for lots of reasons:
        Is a given sighting early or late enough for you to tug on the sleeves
of a thousand other birders about it? What can one expect or
realistically hope to see in a given week of the year, and what would be
really unusual? What are the migration schedules of certain sought-after
species? Years of experience help, but there are always things you need
to look up.
        I have three suggestions about how to learn these things, beyond
birding in all of your spare time and taking notes for the next few
decades. The following sources are valuable for beginners and old hands
alike:

        (1) the Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ohio, from the Ohio Bird
Records Committee (2008). This is a very handy 60-page checklist, the
most complete in print, for the birds of Ohio, and features clear and
detailed charts of the dates and abundances of each species across the
year. It's for sale in a few nature centers, but is available to all by
sending $3.75 per copy to:
        Robert Hershberger
        Time & Optics, Ltd.
        6954 CR 77, Millersburg OH 44654

        (2) based on the Annotated Checklist above, a very handy way of
printing out a checklist of the birds one can hope to see in Ohio in any
given day, with abundances for a week before and after the one chosen.
This is an accurate, inexpensive, and streamlined way to keep records of
daily or weekly lists of observations. Have a look. Thanks to Ned Keller
for this innovative product:
http://www.ohiobirds.org/publications/checklist/weekly/weeklylist.php
There's a version designed specially for the Cincinnati area at
http://cincinnatibirds.com/birdlist/cincheck.php

        (3) finally, for a larger-scale view of seasonal abundances, use
Peterjohn's "The Birds of Ohio" (2001). While it does not have the finer
detail of the Annotated Checklist, it does offer a general idea, as well
as the outlying extreme dates. For example, the Checklist shows the
prothonotary warbler in fall becomes rare in August and the first three
weeks of September, but does not show the extraordinary report Peterjohn
offers of one in Columbus on Nov 11, 1963. And of course this work,
essential for any serious birder in the state, offers a lot of
additional information in its 637 pages.
Bill Whan
Columbus



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