I wanted to reiterate Bob's comment on the autumn this year that we are
having in SE Ohio - undoubtedly one of the best I can remember in 10 years
or more in this location, which is very rural Morgan county near Burr Oak
State Park -  where trees are the rule.  Earlier in autumn, the various ash
species were aglow with cosmic and indescribable colors.  They retained
their leaves well into October when usually they are the first to go. The
maple species as well, especially Sugar maple have been stunning.  Now that
those species have mostly shed, oak and hickory are showing what I consider
to be the second peak of fall. Sassafras, Pawpaw, spicebush, dogwood, and
winged sumac have all had remarkable seasons as well.  Drought conditions
sort of ended locally here in August - we received about 12 inches of rain
that month and it has been quite dry since then.  The forest is having a
remarkable fall and mast year.

Anyhow, on the avian front - this has been the fall of the Yellow-rumped
warbler. These birds have been everywhere and in good numbers consistently
now for a couple weeks.  Red-breasted nuthatch are nearly common, Pine
siskins and Purple finch at the feeder - how much better can it get? Sure,
Evening grosbeaks and Red crossbills - of course.  Hundreds of Blue jay and
robin passing through daily as well.  Good birding here.  I had a
Sharp-shinned give pursuit to a Cedar waxwing which it captured and had a
hard time dispatching or there was just no rush I guess.  Three days later I
found the remains of a Flicker in the same spot.

Glen Crippen
Burr Oak Lake





-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Robert
Evans
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 12:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] Winter Bird Movement Maps

Hi Ethan, (and Ohio-Birds listserv)

One of these days I'm going to get around to using eBird, one of these days.
For right now, I have been very busy, and learning how to incorporate my
sightings into excel and into eBird seems too much like work. This is just a
fact of my life.

Anyway, in case Muskingum County has not yet reported an occurrence of
red-breasted nuthatch, we had one (only one) at our feeders (at least two
feeders) two days ago, on October 23.

Red-breasted nuthatch is not a common bird here. We have no conifers except
for a couple out-of-place and stunted cedars "trying desperately" and rather
unsuccessfully to eke out an existence on our acidic soils. Thus, there is
no real habitat for red-breasted nuthatches. I usually see one or two each
year, and usually during this season as they are moving through.
This time I even managed to point out the bird to my non-birding wife, who
quipped that it was now on her "life list," such as it is.

Autumn has been absolutely, spectacularly colorful here. Unfortunately, I
haven't had much dedicated time to spend watching birds. I have seen mostly
expected birds during our daily walks around the place or during other farm
work that has occupied most of my attention. Such is life.

Bob Evans
Geologist, etc.
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County


On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 7:43 PM, Ethan Kistler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> This is just a reminder that I'm maintaining maps to follow th Hi all,
>
> This is just a reminder that I'm maintaining maps to follow the
> movement of selected irruptive species on rarebird.ord. See below for more
details.
>
> Only 22 counties (out of 88) remain that still hasn't reported
> Red-breasted Nuthatch. It would be a safe bet that all counties have
> had hoards of them by now but these remaining counties lack coverage.
> Pine Siskins have been the main theme over the past week or so and
> continue to be.
>
> I'd like to encourage everyone to PLEASE use eBird on reporting winter
> irruptives - your data is invaluable to our understanding of winter
> irruptive. It also really helps me keep track of numbers.
>
>
> http://rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6841&title=winter-bird-m
> ovement-maps-1213
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ethan Kistler
> Oak Harbor, Ohio
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>  From: Ethan Kistler <[log in to unmask]>
> To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 8:48 AM
> Subject: Winter Bird Movement Maps
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> This will be the 6th winter that I maintain maps to follow the
> movement of selected irruptive species on rarebird.org. If you haven't
> seen previous years, check out -
>
> 2007-2008 -
> http://rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2615&title=common-redpol
> l-county-map(Common Redpoll only)
> 2008-2009 - http://rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3521
> 2009-2010 -
> http://rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4454&title=winter-bird-m
> ovement-maps-0910
> 2010-2011 -
> http://rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5179&title=winter-bird-m
> ovement-maps-1011
> 2011-2012 -
> http://rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6176&title=winter-bird-m
> ovement-maps-11-12
>
> Please let me know if you have any counties to add and if you can,
> include high counts as well. Red and White-winged Crossbills, Common
> and Hoary Redpolls, Pine Siskin and Evening Grosbeak maps will be high
> counts for each county. The Snowy Owl map will be total individuals
> and the Northern Shrike map will just be filled in if present.
>  The maps will be updated as the reports come in.
>
> With the invasion of Red-breasted Nuthatches this winter, I will now
> include a map for these too.
>
> Please consider submitting your sightings to eBird as well. Although
> my maps are detailed, they are simply created for viewing, not data -
> that's what eBird is for.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ethan Kistler
> Oak Harbor, Ohio
> http://www.nomadicbirdingtours.com/
> https://www.facebook.com/NomadicBirdingTours
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
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> Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at
> www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
>
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> Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
>

______________________________________________________________________

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______________________________________________________________________

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]