What a beautiful day.  The temperature ticked on 50 degrees for a minute and it felt even warmer with my face in the sun.

I started the day at Walborn Reservoir at the Reeder Ave. parking lot.  There was a growing flock of ring-billed gulls (75 was my high count) during the time I was there, but no other gulls showed up, not even a single herring gull to the best of my knowledge, which isn’t much in gull ID skills.  4 Common mergansers showed up for several minutes, but must not have found that area good for diving, so they moved on pretty quickly.  There was one lonesome Tundra Swan and about 50 Canada Geese when I arrived.  There was also a Great Blue Heron trying to find a place to hunt, but conditions did not seem to suit it and it moved on pretty quickly.  Just before I left, I watched one of the adult Bald Eagles working on the nest between Reeder Ave and Marlboro Ave.

Next up was the Jackson Bog State Nature Preserve.  There was plenty of open water at the western end near the beginning of the boardwalk, but views are a bit tricky with the trees obscuring a lot of habitat.  You need a scope.  There is one spot on the boardwalk that allows for decent views, but you are at the level of cattails so it can be tricky.  In any event, there were a lot of birds on the water.  The highlight was a group of 8 Green-winged Teal, who spent most of their time walking along the edge of the ice searching for food (?).  There were also 2 Mute Swans, a lovely male Ring-necked Duck, a Ruddy Duck, 7 common Merganser, 5 Redhead, as well as the usual cast of Canada Geese, Mallards and a group of 4 American Black Ducks.  There was also a group of 4 American Coot that came quite close to us, so scoping them was fun.

As I worked my way back home, I met up with Ben Morrison for a few minutes to check Walborn at Reeder Ave again to see if any new gulls showed up, but it was still all ring-billed…he had a Herring gull in his bins for a minute, but I did not catch it.  We were, however, treated to one of the best looks at a Bald Eagle flying I can imagine someone getting.  We were able to follow it from the far east end of the water all the way to us, over our heads, and then on toward it’s nest.  With the perfect weather and wonderful afternoon light, it was cosmic…there is just no other word for it.  Cosmic, man.

Ben then helped me find a White Crowned Sparrow nearby, which has been giving me fits this winter!  Ugh.  We got a really nice, long look at the bird…it was very cooperative, again in the great light.  I saw an adult Bald Eagle standing on the ice as I departed that area.

At Ben’s advice, I decided to check for other open water in the area before heading home.  There was significant open water at the Berlin Lake Mudflats (Price Rd. & SR 225).  Good numbers of Common, Red-breasted, and Hooded Mergansers were near the bridge and offered up wonderful looks through the scope.  There were also common Goldeneye further out to the north and what were surely other waterbirds, but the distance was too great for this novice’s ID eye.  I also saw an immature bald eagle working the area and heard a Wild Turkey gobble just before I departed.

I finished the day checking the bridge over Walborn Reservoir on German Church Rd.  There is a little area of open water there as well, offering up Ring-billed, a few Canada, 6 Common Merganser and a lovely pair of Lesser Scaup, who were shy but the water is pretty close to the road, so scope views were great.

It was a beautiful day and a good day birding…a hard combination to beat…

Jon Cefus
Stark County

“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” 
-Douglas Adams


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