This past Saturday in rural western Athens County I saw my FOS Chipping
Sparrow, and heard/saw my FOS Brown-headed Cowbirds.  The number of singing
Field Sparrows has increased greatly since last weekend.  On Saturday (Mar
22nd) I only heard one singing Field Sparrow singing along our road, but a
week later (Mar 29) I heard at least 5 in varying locations along our road.
Also, we are now up to at least 5 pairs of Phoebes along our road, including
a pair that returned to our property on March 20th (well, that's when the
male showed up - I'm not sure exactly when the female showed up).

I have been birding on the run for the past few weekends (meaning birding
while running), covering different roads and distances each weekend, which
has proved to be vastly entertaining and a great way to see birds that I
would likely not encounter if I were just driving these roads.  I flushed an
Eastern Meadowlark this past weekend, and it was great to see that flash of
lemon yellow burst up from the ground.  I also heard/saw a pair of
Red-headed Woodpeckers, adding another pair to my mental map of known
Red-headed locations within a short drive from my house (they are the least
prevalent of the 6 common year-round Ohio woodpecker species in my part of
SEOhio).  

I'm still waiting for what I predict will be our next spring arrivals in the
'hood: Brown Thrasher and Louisiana Waterthrush.

Good birding to all,
Heather Aubke
Albany, OH

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