January 24, 2013

About an hour ago, as Jane and I were preparing to take our daily, morning,
hike around our Flint Ridge property, I spotted a single common redpoll
feeding among the hoards of other finches and sparrows at the sunflower
tubes. All winter I have been trying to visually and mentally transform
house finches into redpolls, an ability that is apparently beyond my
powers. But this delightful little finch is definitely a redpoll, a lively
and beautiful male, pinkish vest pattern and all. The pinkish vest is
fairly pale, but the streaking is fairly strong, so I see no reason to call
it hoary. After we finished our walk (nothing unusual in the woods) I
reloaded the feeders, and the redpoll is still hanging around, both on the
feeders and on the ground. So far I have seen only the one individual, or
at least only one at any given time.

I have been patiently waiting for the last month or more for this bird.
Common redpoll joins my "yard list" as species number 136, not bad for an
average 57 acre piece of Ohio Appalachian upland and forested ravines
without a pond and without conifers. Earlier this late-autumn/winter
redpolls have been sighted at Dawes Arboretum (14 miles west of me), Burr
Oak (30 miles south), and near Cumberland during the Wilds event last
weekend (28 miles ESE), so it is about time!

Off topic: If anyone knows a good website for winter mammal tracks, or even
a good book or chart (gasp!), I would like to consult such a work. This
morning we found an unusual track in the inch of fresh powdery snow. Its a
sinuous small-footed track, feet placed next to each other about eight
inches apart, with either its body or its tail continuously dragging. It
fit through a two-inch gap in the welded wire fencing. I'm thinking weasel
or mink... We haven't seen this track before, but we have seen mink, both
live and roadkilled.

Bob Evans
Geologist, etc.
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County

______________________________________________________________________

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]