Hello all,
There's currently a major northward movement of Black-necked Stilts
underway, with the first individual being detected on 8 April and now
upwards of 12 individuals (mostly paired) between Wood, Ottawa, and
Sandusky counties, as far as I'm aware. Below is a message I posted
yesterday on Birding Ohio's facebook page regarding 8 Black-necked Stilts
documented in a single day.
I had an incredible total of 8 BLACK-NECKED STILTS today, 7 May 2013,
between Ottawa and Sandusky counties in NW Ohio. The biggest shocker was a
group of 4 flybys while Keith Norris and I were shorebird banding at Winous
Point Marsh Conservancy in Bay Township (Ottawa Co.). That in itself was a
very unexpected and welcomed treat, but the stilts just kept coming.
On one of my first stops of our regular color-mark shorebird survey routes,
I found yet another pair [pictured here]. This pair seemed to be settling
in nicely at a closed area of Ottawa NWR along the south shore of the
Toussaint River in Carroll Township. There is a chance that this is the
same pair noted by many observers off County Line Rd. in Ottawa NWR over
the weekend (not present at that location on Monday, 6 May). In this photo,
the brown-backed female is on the left and the glossy black-backed male is
on the right. You gotta love those ridiculously long, bubble gum pink legs!
The final pair I located -- for a grand total of 8 on the day -- were at my
last survey stop at Boggy Bottoms of Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area off CR
254 in Sandusky County. I believe this pair was casually reported over the
weekend by one or two Biggest Week field trips to Pickerel Creek.
Fortunately, birders can access this property at any time. To access, take
US 6 west out of Sandusky or east out of Fremont until you reach CR 254.
Once on CR 254, you can park in the parking area on the left next to the
large white barn and hike in. It's about a 0.75 mi. hike one-way to the
pool where the stilts were hanging out, but well worth it. Although this
wetland isn't being used by many shorebirds, it is holding a fair number of
lingering waterfowl.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jboslerbirds/
Good shorebirding,
Justin
--
Justin Bosler
Port Clinton, OH
______________________________________________________________________
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]
|
