Leslie Sours, Jenny Bowman and I birded at the Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve in Licking County today. Conditions started as mostly cloudy but improved to sunny by the days end, as did our spirits. We tallied 83 species while basically birding only the eastern parts of the preserve. Some of the species present at the nature preserve were:
Green Heron at the Button Bush Swamp. Fly over of 3 Great Blue Herons.
Numerous Turkey Vultures but no sign of a Black Vulture.
Waterfowl were limited to a few Canada Geese, Mallards and Wood Ducks.
Hawks include single Red-tailed and Cooper's and some Red-shouldered Hawks that put on an aerial show.
Shorebirds were limited to a sole Spotted Sandpiper.
Both Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos. One Black-billed Cuckoo joined us for lunch landing in a nearby tree as we ate.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were fairly common. We observed one especially aggressive male drive a White-throated Sparrow away from the Buckeye tree blossom it was feeding at.
We had all the woodpeckers except for Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Flycatchers were sparse. We only found Acadian, Eastern Phoebe, Great Crested and Eastern Kingbird. This group of birds seem to be slow to arrive this spring.
Vireos included White-eyed (they seemed to be everywhere today), Blue-headed, Warbling and Red-eyed.
Thrushes were limited to Wood and Swainson's.
The only mimics were Gray Catbirds.
Cedar Waxwings. Here is a species I'm use to finding in large flocks. We only saw 3, all together in a Sycamore tree.
Wood warblers. This group is filled with the prize most birders seek during migration. We were able to find 19 species today. They included Blue-winged (4), Golden-winged (1), Tennessee (1), Northern Parula (14), Yellow (12), Chestnut-sided (12), Black-throated Blue (6), Yellow-rumped (25+), Black-throated Green (4), Yellow-throated (4), Prairie (4), Palm (2), Cerulean (21 - they put on quite a show for us), Worm-eating (1), Ovenbird (3), Louisiana Waterthrush (3), Kentucky (4), Common Yellowthroat (5) and Hooded (6).
Both Scarlet and Summer Tanagers. Stunning colors.
Eastern Towhees were very abundant.
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings.
Both Orchard and Baltimore Orioles.

An enjoyable day shared with friends
 for Leslie, Jenny and myself,Charlie Bombaci




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