OHIO-BIRDS Archives

September 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:
Kenn Kaufman <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Kenn Kaufman <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 9 Sep 2012 01:23:27 +0000
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (24 lines)
As Kim mentioned in an earlier post, a Townsend's Warbler was found at the Magee Marsh boardwalk, Lucas Co., n.w. Ohio, today (Saturday Sept. 8). It was originally found in early afternoon by Josh Haughawout, Mark Rozmarynowicz, and others from Bowling Green State University, near numbers 12 and 11 on the boardwalk. Despite difficult conditions of lighting and distance, Kurt Wray was able to get several diagnostic photos, and some of those are now posted on the Birding Ohio page on Facebook. After the first sighting, the bird disappeared for quite a while. There was a possible sighting from the observation platform at the west end of the boardwalk in mid-afternoon. At around 5:45 p.m. I found it again near number 11, and several people got to see it before it vanished once again.

The Townsend's is an adult male and readily identifiable from the photos. The only real contender for the ID would be a hybrid Townsend's X Hermit Warbler (those two interbreed very frequently in the Pacific Northwest), but the photos and our observations didn't show any sign of Hermit ancestry.

The Townsend's was traveling with mixed flocks of warblers each time it was seen, and today it had plenty of flocks to choose from. Migrant warblers were present in excellent numbers. In four hours on the boardwalk I easily saw 70 Cape Mays and 50 Blackpolls, plus lesser numbers of 15 other warbler species. Species that I didn't see today included Yellow Warbler (they're almost all gone by now) and Yellow-rumped Warbler (they mostly haven't arrived yet), a suggestion of how predictable the timing of migration can be for various species. Other migrants included Swainson's and Gray-cheeked thrushes, a noticeable movement of Northern Flickers, many Red-eyed Vireos, a couple of Philadelphia Vireos and a Yellow-throated Vireo - I don't see the latter species here very often in fall.

The radar picture tonight after sunset suggested that a lot of birds were leaving the area, so I don't know if the boardwalk will be as productive on Sunday morning. But Townsend's Warbler is sufficiently rare in Ohio that I assume many people will come to look for it regardless. I would recommend searching for warbler flocks and then sifting through them carefully, especially near number 11 but anywhere on the western part of the boardwalk. Here's a link to a map of the boardwalk: http://www.bsbo.org/birding/pdf/magee_marsh_boardwalk_map_and_text.pdf
Good luck to anyone searching tomorrow, and please keep us posted on your results.

Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor. Ohio



______________________________________________________________________

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