Hi all,
Over the past two nights, the NEXRAD maps showed really promising movements with the favorable southerly winds. After a few slow days, things started to pick up yesterday and today we've experienced one of the best days, number wise, of the spring including a decent turnover.
Starting at the west end of the Magee boardwalk, I spent a good hour (7:20-8:20am) checking things out. It was evident that there was a good turnover and numbers certainly increased. As soon as I entered the boardwalk (near #1), I immediately had a Mourning Warbler in full song working its way up a vine - one of the very few occasions I had to look UP at a Mourning Warbler! Yesterday I had at least four individuals along the boardwalk and today we banded 11 at the BSBO banding station. Other highlights from my quick run through include an Acadian Flycatcher calling near the small loop (all 5 empids heard/seen), several Gray-cheeked Thrushes and Philadelphia Vireos and roughly 20 species of warblers. As soon as I got a phone call that I was needed at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory's banding station behind Davis Besse power plant - I started working my way back. I was interrupted halfway as a Connecticut Warbler exploded into song only 10 feet off the trail (between #6 and #7A), but due to the vegetation density; I only had a quick few glimpses. Hopefully the small crowd of people I left behind had better looks.
The BSBO banding station recorded its best day of spring today, with 459 new banded birds. Being a slow migration year, a normal BIG day could reach over 1,000 birds but we haven't seen any numbers like that this year. With only an additional 30 or so recaptures, it was evident that we had a good turnover as very few birds from yesterday were still present today. Vireos, flycatchers and Bay-breasted Warbler numbers were certainly at their highest yet this spring while Tennessee Warblers and American Redstart numbers have notably decreased. The most prevalent species was Magnolia with a total of 129 banded this morning. Here are the todays totals:
Tennessee - 16
Nashville - 11
N. Parula - 1
Yellow - 10
Chestnut-sided - 17
Magnolia - 129
Black-throated Blue - 2
Black-throated Green - 3
Blackburnian - 5
Bay-breasted - 18
Blackpoll - 12
Black-and-white - 1
Am. Redstart - 15
Ovenbird - 6
Northern Waterthrush - 4
Mourning Warbler - 11
C. Yellowthroat - 13
Hooded Warbler - 4
Wilson's Warbler - 15
Canada Warbler - 6
Other totals include:
Traill's Flycatcher - 9
Least Flycatcher - 2
Warbling Vireo - 1
Philadelphia Vireo - 7
Red-eyed Vireo - 33
Veery - 9
Gray-cheeked Thrush - 3
Swainson's Thrush - 25
Wood Thrush - 3
Lincoln's Sparrow - 7
It was a great day to be out in the field here in NW Ohio. Tonight, winds persist from a southly direction and should continue to push new birds through the area. Tomorrow is looking especially promising.
For printable maps of the area, check out (http://www.bsbo.org/birding/birding_hotspots.htm)
See you out there!
Ethan Kistler
Education and Outreach Specialist
Black Swamp Bird Observatory
Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449
419-898-4070
2011 League of Ohio Sportsmen Conservation Organization of the Year Award
2012 Eastern Maumee Bay Chamber of Commerce Prism Award for Community Improvement
www.bsbobird.org
www.ohioyoungbirders.org
www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.com
BSBO on Facebook and Twitter
OYBC on Facebook
BIRDING OHIO on Facebook
______________________________________________________________________
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]
|
