A probable Parasitic Jaeger flew by the Eastlake power plant at about 4:30 PM yesterday 02/22/2011. The bird flew eastward without pause at about 50 meters off shore. It entered my scope view as I looked at gulls resting on longshore ice 'islands'. I followed the bird eastward until it disappeared. It strafed gulls half-heartedly a few times, seemingly intent on moving eastward. This was a very dark bird, like an adult dark phase illustrated in Sibley. Slightly lighter barring separated a nearly uniformly warm charcoal mantle and tail. Central rectricies did not pop--can't rule out they were there. Under-wings appeared uniform warm light (didn't see light shafts) charcoal with hints of brown. Underside was near uniformly warm dark based on very limited views. The long pointed narrow wings, shape, and flight-style suggested jaeger, excluded other groups.
ID comments welcome.
I took an hour for birding while in the Cleveland area for a meeting and found observing difficult due to high wind and chop. Eastlake's warm water outlet held Redhead, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Canvasback, Red-breasted Merganser, Mallards, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead. Gulls included Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed.
Something to look for...
Good luck,
Tom Bain
Delaware County
-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 9:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [Ohio-birds] Rusty Blackbird in SW Ohio
Too late for the Great Backyard Birding weekend or the blitz, I had 1 RUSTY BLACKBIRD in my yard this morning. It had a yellow eye, and had a shorter tail than the 3 Common Grackles it was associating with. Not as iridescent as the grackles, it was definitely not a starling.
~Kathi Hutton
Clermont County, SW OH
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