Hi all,

At 2:30 this afternoon, I took advantage of returning from a little Spanish
interpreting job at the western end of the county to look for the American
Bittern in Rocky River reservation. The bird was right where it has been
reported the last few days, in the swamp just north of the Big Met golf
course. If I had missed the spot, the half-dozen or so birders would have
been a pretty good clue!

Other folks told me that I had missed a close approach by the bird, but even
at the ditance it was (maybe 50 years) the view was great! The few times I
have seen this species in the past, it¹s been well-camouflaged in reeds.
Here it¹s in some very low-lying vegetation and completely visible. Even
then, it¹s interesting how its colors blend into the surroundings.

After watching it eat a few fish, I decided to check out Erie Street
Cemetery. Nothing unusual there for this time of year‹American Robins,
Northern Flickers, Dark-eyed Juncos, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Song Sparrows,
European Starlings. There was a lot of noise coming from the baseball
stadium‹I guess some team was going to play there....

One last chance as to check out the lakeshore. A quick look provided a lot
of Red-breasted Merganser, some Greater Scaup and American Coot. Killdeer at
the airport. But the great look was an American Kestrel hovring over the
edge of the shoreway, opposite the airport. On the big roads around here,
these used to be a gimme, but that hasn¹t been true for a number of years;
it was great to see this bird (though the airport is one of the places where
they are seen farily often, I guess).

Best wishes,

Steve Cagan
Cleveland Heights
Cuyahoga County



--------------------------------------------

Steve Cagan, photographer
[log in to unmask] € www.stevecagan.com
www.pbase.com/stevecagan € www.stevecagan.blogspot.com
216-932-2753 (USA)








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