Here at Valhalla Acres Fiber Farm on Flint Ridge in western Muskingum Co.,
it continues to be very wet, as elsewhere in the state I'm sure. One
benefit of the soggy skies seems to be that the spring mood of the warblers
has persisted into summer. As I walk and work around this place I am still
hearing many songsters that I don't recall from the Julys of previous years:

Hooded warbler - multiple (perhaps 3) individuals in the wooded hollows.
Common yellowthroat - I think there are at least 4 of them still singing.
Yellow-breasted chat - one very entertaining bird consistently in the
central thicket of the successional field.
Cerulean warbler - an occasional burst from the woods at the end of the
successional field.
Ovenbird - I still hear one now and then in the deepest ravine.

As I was picking the close-to-last black raspberries yesterday, a
blindingly blue indigo bunting defended one patch with vigor, flying around
me quite closely, and perching nearby to scold. I figure he must have a
fledgling or two in the undergrowth. I left a few ripe berries for the wild
natives.

It seems like a good year for the other species as well, with the dawn
chorus remaining strong into July.

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]