I spent 6 hours (9:30 am - 3:30 pm) at the Wilds and surrounding AEP lands
today and had very low numbers and diversity of birds.  In fact, probably
the "slowest" day I have had in 10 years of birding the area.  Still though
- there were interesting things to see, including a personal record two
Red-shouldered hawks each sitting atop large round hay bales - first time
for that.  Usually in this area a bird on a hay bale is a Harrier or
Rough-legged hawk, but this time the compact but still chunky size of these
hawks gave them away from a distance.   Not a single Harrier all day..
Best bird of the day was a Green-winged teal, in my opinion.  A list of
birds of interest is below:

Rough-legged Hawk - 6 (3 dark morph)
Red-tailed Hawk - 6
American Kestrel - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2
Great blue Heron - 1
Redhead - 2
Mallard - 18
Ring-necked Duck - 38
Green-winged Teal - 1
Canada Goose - 3

One last note:  the coal haul roads around the Rural Dale/Prouty road
complex are extremely muddy and rutted out this year.  4x4 (with generous
clearance) was an absolute must.  If it freezes up it will be much more
hospitable.

Glen Crippen
Athens

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