Some days are just meant to be fun. Today was one of them. I had the
pleasure of hosting a terrific young man, Logan Kahle, for a day of birding in
Central Ohio. Logan, a resident of San Francisco, is in Ohio visiting his
aunt who lives in Delaware. She was referred to me when she was seeking
someone to take Logan birding during his visit. Logan is a mixture of
personality, enthusiasm and talent. To paraphrase the adage “It’s a small world” it
turns out that Logan’s aunt and I have something in common; we both have
family roots tied to Essex, Connecticut. Essex is a pin point on the map, all
3 by 5 miles of it, nestled on the banks of the Connecticut River as it
meanders into Long Island Sound. But back to birding, I picked Logan up at
his aunt’s and we headed first to Jackson Township in Hardin County to locate
Dickcissels, Bobolinks and grassland sparrows. Success as we were
surrounded by Dickcissels and lesser numbers of Bobolinks and sparrows, with
Eastern Meadowlarks thrown in.
We next made a circuit of Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area. We located Bald
Eagles, Eastern Meadowlarks, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Trumpeter Swan, lots of
Common Yellowthroats and Indigo Buntings, Spotted Sandpiper, Lesser
Yellowlegs and a lone Forster’s Tern which at first seemed like a great find
until we discovered a pair of Sandhill Cranes with their colt. I at first
thought there was only the two adults until I scoped them in and my first view
was a Sandhill sans the red on the head. Then all three emerged in to the
sight picture.
We cut through the Delaware Wildlife Area on our way to my home grounds,
the Hoover Nature Preserve. There we added more Red-headed Woodpeckers,
Yellow Warblers, Baltimore Orioles and a few other expected species. At the
preserve we watched the Osprey at the nest platform as they fed the
hatchlings. Then off to get Logan his Prothonotary Warbler. Mission accomplished. We
added Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, Spotted
Sandpiper and a few others.
Our last stop was at Hogback Ridge Preserve (Delaware County Preservation
Parks). Acadian Flycatchers were everywhere; however the trail was
otherwise quite quiet except for two Wood Ducks and a Green Heron. We were now out
of water and my old bones were running out of energy.
Logan added a nice group of birds to his Life List and additional birds to
his Ohio List. I believe he considered the day to be a success. I know I
did as I got to enjoy good birding (70+ species in late June) and great
company. Between Logan’s enthusiasm and abilities I think we will hear more of
him in the future.
Charlie Bombaci
SPECIES LIST
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Mallard
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Wild Turkey
Common Moorhen
SANDHILL CRANE
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
Forster’s Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
|