I went up to Conneaut harbor yesterday. There was only a little ice in the marinas and around the spit. You can't drive on the spit now, a few of the small roads are closed like usual for the winter. But it doesn't matter so much because the best viewing is from the boat launch parking lot and the jetty just east. Found there in early afternoon: Canada geese, 4 cackling geese (2 "Richardson's" and 2 of the even smaller and darker race) which I got to hear call before they flew nearby to the east, mallards, 35 Am. black ducks, 2 canvasbacks, 8 redheads, greater scaup, 8 lesser scaup, 5 buffleheads, c. goldeneye, 100 common mergansers, ruddy duck, bald eagle, Am. kestrel, 1 Bonaparte's gull, only 4 great black-backed gulls, 36 snow buntings (beach/grassy area), and 60 common redpolls feeding in seed-bearing trees on the spit right opposite the boat launch. Heavy snow and wind cut down visibility after 2:00 PM, so I went west to Lake Shore Park in
Ashtabula for a look. Shortly after arriving, something got all of the 5000+ gulls up and they left en masse for another spot to roost. I didn't get a chance to pick through them. There was more ice here, and the only divers present were 10 buffleheads and 5 c. goldeneyes. It was snowing so hard that I retreated south at that point. I stopped at the Pymatuning Res. causeway on the way home. There were open-water holes on each side of the OH/PA border which held many Canada geese and mallards, 6 Am. black ducks, 4 redheads, and 7 c. goldeneyes. During the day I had good luck seeing raptors while driving in Ashtabula, Trumbull, and northern Mahoning Counties. Totals were: 1 imm. bald eagle, 2 Cooper's hawks, 5 red-shouldered hawks, 6 red-tailed hawks, and 3 Am. kestrels. Birds of note around my local patch in Poland Twp., Mahoning Co. the last couple days were pileated woodpecker, brown creeper, and golden-crowned kinglet. Craig Holt,
Lowellville
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