Yes, Dan & all: It's the saison d'amour for Pepé Le Pew. Male skunks are on
the move seeking mating opportunities, moving from establishment to
establishment (den to den). Females, the loners, and those with young of
last year, are emerging, too, probably, after such a long warm spell. Jack
Gottschang's 1981 book, "A Guide to the Mammals of Ohio" is a good reference
for these matters, sadly, it's out of print. Your nearest library probably
has a copy.
All, a tip for owling: that phantom wisp of skunk smell where there is no
roadkill was probably a Great Horned Owl perched nearby. During late winter
warm spells, skunks emerge to seek food and mates at the same time Great
Horned Owls are trying to feed incessantly hungry young.
Roadside carnage is everywhere. Yesterday I counted fresh roadkills along
Route 104 between Stringtown Rd., Franklin County and Chillicothe, Ross
County. That's 34 road miles.
I saw 12 opossum, 7 skunk, 2 raccoon, 4 deer, 1 gray squirrel, 1 fox
squirrel, and 1 crow.
I enjoyed seeing the living Sandhill Cranes at Charlie's Pond, Pickaway
County, too. Nearby, the quarry along Island Road, visible west of Route 23
as you drive along route 23 just north of Circleville, is a good waterfowl
spot during February-March. Today it was slow. There were a lot of
Ring-necked Ducks, Redheads, and a few Lesser Scaup.
Tom Bain
Delaware County
-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dan
Sanders
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2011 10:47 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [Ohio-birds] Common Raven - Yes!
Hello All,
I arrived at the Knox County Raven area at about 1:15 PM today and saw
very little, driving the area roads, until about 2:00 PM when I spotted a
Rough-legged Hawk in flight from College Hill Road, near the pole barn that
is
under construction. I pulled over and got out of the car for better looks
and
almost immediately heard the "croak" call of a Common Raven. Looking in the
direction I thought the sound came from, I saw nothing at first, then
realized
that the Raven was also in flight and in pursuit of the RL Hawk. By now,
both
birds were nearly directly above for great looks. The Raven was nearly as
large
as the hawk and the wedge-shaped tail and large beak were easily seen.
Within a
couple of minutes, the hawk had moved on to the N and the Raven was flying
over
the pole barn and then over the wooded hillside beyond. I immediately drove
along the roads in that direction, but was never able to relocate the bird
during the next 45 minutes or so. I did find/hear four Common Crows that
were
interacting among themselves, but based on all reports, the Raven doesn't
seem
to be associating with them, at least on a regular basis. This was also the
case
last Thursday when we were not successful in finding the Raven, but did find
a
few crows. Also seen later and moving through the area was 1 Turkey Vulture,
and
3 Black Vultures.
On another note, and as a follow-up to an earlier post about seeing two
dead skunks on the road, I counted 14 dead skunks along SR 3 between Sunbury
and
Loudenville, OH! Eleven of them were between Sunbury and Mt. Vernon. In
addition, one had been killed on SR 161, just S of Westerville. And so there
were 15 of them in all! I've never seen this many skunks killed on the
roadway
over this short a distance (approximately 50 miles of roadway) and am
wondering
if it is mostly due to this warm spell we've had, or perhaps related to
their
mating season? Other roadkill species, in this same stretch, included 7
Racoons,
and one Opossum.
Good Birding,
Dan
Dan Sanders
42 Scioto St
Powell, OH 43065
614-596-5666
<[log in to unmask]>
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