OHIO-BIRDS Archives

March 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:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:25:34 -0400
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (37 lines)
        We did not find yellow-crowned night-herons this morning at the
traditional spot; other than a single bird seen last week, no one has.
It is possible that the two pairs and their offspring that have spent
the summer here for so many years have perished. Or maybe they are just
late when so many other birds are early. It is also possible that for
some reason they have abandoned this nest site.   Nesting in this
general area dates back into the '50s, and perhaps for some reason they
have chosen another spot along Alum Creek nearby. Time will tell.
        Pick Ponds had an apparent pair of ospreys, with nest preparation
underway on the northerly nest pole. There have been intriguing
sightings of a pair of sandhill cranes in the area, but we didn't see
any. A crane nest in the county would be a great discovery, as there are
none on record. Had we seen any, we would not reveal the location,
sorry, and I recommend no one else do so, for the birds' sake.
        We viewed the island rookery in the quarry visible from Shrum Mound on
McKinley Ave (on the way we picked up some of the new Franklin Co maps
at the Engineer's office, recommended). It is never easy to verify nests
there---and doing so will become much harder as the leafage
increases--but I was able to count 39 great blue herons, many on nests;
35 double-crested cormorants, a minority on nests, and four great
egrets, with one maybe on a nest already. The water here is quite
yucky-looking, but cormorants and egrets strongly prefer nesting areas
surrounded by water, no matter how unappetizing. This is an important
site, for this or other reasons.
Bill Whan
Columbus

______________________________________________________________________

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