OHIO-BIRDS Archives

February 2012

OHIO-BIRDS@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Sherrie Duris <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Sherrie Duris <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 4 Feb 2012 01:19:38 -0500
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (107 lines)
Greetings Birders-

Attempting a January Century list was not an easy task. Going for a January
Century list all in one county was tougher than I thought.  

The fact that I live a quarter mile from Lake Erie and right around the
corner from Maumee Bay State Park puts me at a great advantage point.  I am
centered amongst some of the best birding locations in the state. Places
like Magee Marsh, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Metzger Marsh, Maumee Bay
State Park, Mallard Club Marsh, Bayshore Edison, Woodlawn Cemetery, Secor,
Swan Creek, Side-Cut and Oak Openings Metroparks are all within the
boundaries of Lucas County and cover every type of habitat imaginable. 

What was so much fun, however, was discovering other areas of Lucas County
that I never knew existed. I have lived in this county my whole life. Where
have I been?  I found parks, streams, abandoned quarries, grasslands, open
fields, hidden lakes, and tangly, birdy-type habitat that I know I will be
back to explore this spring. 

I ended the last day of January at Oak Openings with 99 species for Lucas
County and 101 species for January. This was the first time I have ever kept
a January list. Talk about fun!  Now I know why some of my Ohio birder
friends do it every year. The Snowy Owl & Short-eared Owl on my January list
were Wood County birds that brought me over the century mark. 

My 100th Lucas County bird may have been a Long-eared Owl that flushed in a
pine/spruce stand near Secor Metropark.  Right size, right color, and
perfect habitat... but a glance so quick, I just couldn't call it. Talk
about being so close! I did find whitewash and a pellet underneath the
roosting tree. I took a photo of it if anyone is a pellet expert? It had
mouse bones and gray fur.

My biggest miss was a Barred Owl. I was at Oak Openings after dark on
Tuesday night for two hours trying to snag a Barred. I know he was looking
at me laughing quietly. I tried for this bird at least eight times in
January at Oak Openings and four times at Swan Creek Metropark.

I missed a flyover Turkey Vulture at the Window on Wildlife at Secor
Metropark by five minutes Tuesday afternoon. 

The highlights this January were Merlin, Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, Lesser
Black-backed Gull, Snowy Owl, Saw-whet Owl, Northern Shrike, Gray Catbird,
Common Yellowthroat, Dickcissel, Red Crossbill, White-winged Crossbill,
Common Redpoll, and Pine Siskin.

The best birding moments were...

-Scoring a Dickcissel at Pearson Park the first day of the year.

-Finding my own Snowy Owl on a telephone pole driving down Rt.235 and
actually getting a pretty decent photo of it out of the sunroof of my car.

-Watching 23 Common Redpolls dangle from catkins four feet from my car at
Woodlawn Cemetery.

-Seeing 60+ American Robins and a dozen Cedar Waxwings eat berries ten feet
in front of me at eye level during a snow squall.

-Spending hours looking for a Northern Pintail at Metzger only to have it
fly over the top of my car on the causeway as I'm leaving.

-Spotting a female Common Yellowthroat along a ravine in East Toledo while
searching for Field Sparrows.

-Finally identifying a Greater Scaup on my own and getting a photo of it.

-Scoring birds on my lunch hour at work without trying as I watched a Snow
Goose leading a flock of Canada Geese right above me.

-Hearing my first Killdeer of the season in January as I am scanning through
a large flock of Canada Geese.

-Falling asleep with the sound of White-winged Crossbills ringing in my ears
because I've heard them so many times at Woodlawn.

And last but not least....

-Hearing a Winter Wren sing in the wild for the very first time at Metzger
Marsh had to be the absolute best moment I had in January 2012!

Reaching 101 was okay, but the experiences I had above were priceless.  I
could only imagine what birds are going to be reported around the state this
year will all the county listers in Ohio. Imagine all the habitat that will
get covered locally and the gas that will be saved. 

A big shout out to people like Tom Kemp who told me 100 in Lucas County was
attainable. Greg Links for telling me it is "Not the end result, but the fun
you have trying to get there" ... and Jen Brumfield for being such an
awesome motivator with high energy who inspires me to get out and bird and
have a blast doing it.

Good Birding!!

Sherrie Duris
Vice President/Field Trip Coordinator
Toledo Naturalists' Association

______________________________________________________________________

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]

ATOM RSS1 RSS2