Julia Blyth, Steve Landes, and I went to the north western parts of Ohio today. We started the day with an attempt at the Northern Shrike that has been very intermittently hanging around the corner of Sherwood Road and Horseshoe road in Delaware co. but had no luck this time. Then it was onwards to Woodlawn Cemetery in Toledo where we finally lucked into the group of about 25 White-winged Crossbills and 20 Common Redpoll in the trees around the area marked as section 25. We also thought we glimpsed the Merlin as the Crossbills scattered, but then later returned. The Redpolls were enjoying the abundant catkins around the pond there in the many alder and birch trees. We birded Huron along the river mouth next and found a good variety of waterfowl including many Common Mergansers, Red-breasted Mergs, a lone Hooded Merganser, and a Surf Scoter, a couple of Bonaparte's Gulls, good numbers of Herring and Ring-billed, with the best find being a classic adult Thayer's Gull out in the impoundment waters there. We ended the day at the still very birdy Lorain Harbor and river mouth there with its thousands of mixed Mergansers, and gulls. We had a single adult Iceland Gull out on the water when we parked at the furthest point you can drive to.Then, to the south, past the route 6 bridge many gulls were congregating on the river with thousands of Ring-billed Gulls and Herring Gulls. We sorted through them as best we could in the dusk, but all we could pick out from the majority were a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls and a few Bonaparte's. As we left, still more gulls were flying in, there must have been upwards of 5,000, its hard to estimate the swirling masses. Highlights list follows:
Woodlawn Cemetery
White-winged Crossbills - 25
Common Redpoll - 20
Merlin - possible
Huron
Red-breasted Merganser - 1,200
Common Merganser - 1,000
Hooded Merganser - 1
Surf Scoter - 1 first winter male
Canvasback - 6
Lesser Scaup - 12
Common Goldeneye - 6
Bufflehead - 2
Ruddy Duck - 100
Thayer's Gull - 1 adult
Bonaparte's Gull - 3
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1
Great Black-backed Gull - 10
Lorain
Iceland Gull - 1
Bonaparte's Gull - 80
Gull Sp. - many thousands
Red-Breasted Merganser - thousands
Common Merganser - hundreds
American Kestrel - 1
Good Birding!
Ben Warner
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