In the dead heat of late morning today, Acadian Flycatcher and Hooded Warbler finished in a dead heat for most populous vocal bird at the CVNP Ledges Trail and the Haskell Run Trail, with 9 of each species. Also notable was a Winter Wren, three Dark-eyed Juncos, and a single Veery Thrush. I had 25 species total. 

Once again, not a single Ovenbird in another area where they have been traditionally present. When I commented on Ohio Birds the other day withh regard to Ovenbird absences in other areas in the CVNP, Bill Whan sent me an informative story from the Smithsonian about an empirical study showing that the introduction of European earthworms into the upper Midwest forests is a contributing factor to Ovenbird population declines in certain areas as they destroy the leaf litter and consequently thin out food souces and the ground-story plants that provide nesting habitat for ground-dwellers like Ovenbirds. Of course, in the CVNP White-tailed deer are no doubt also a contributing factor...

Here is the link to that story, which is well worth reading: 
http://smithsonianscience.org/2012/02/earthworms-to-blame-for-decline-of-ovenbirds-in-northern-midwest-forests-study-reveals/

Full list is below. 
-Patrick Coy
Peninsula, OH

25 species total
1       Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
1       Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
1       Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
1       Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus
2       Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
1       Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
3       Eastern Wood-Pewee Contopus virens
9       Acadian Flycatcher Empidonax virescens
1       Great Crested Flycatcher Myiarchus crinitus
7       Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus
2       Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata
1       American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
4       Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus
1       Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor
2       White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
1       Winter Wren Troglodytes hiemalis
1       Veery Catharus fuscescens
1       American Robin Turdus migratorius
9       Hooded Warbler Setophaga citrina
2       Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens
2       Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
3       Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis
1       Scarlet Tanager Piranga olivacea
4       Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
1       Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula

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