On 10/1/2015 9:20 AM, Bill Whan wrote:
> Eric---
>      Good question. I used to get excited about the storm-driven
> birds that might accompany hurricanes to Ohio and was repeatedly
> disappointed. If you think over the landbirds of Virginia and Maryland,
> the targets of this one are likely not to be a whole lot different
> from Ohio's. Sure, there are a few rarer species that take a narrow fall
> route along the Atlantic seaboard--Bicknell's thrush and whimbrel come
> to mind--but mostly we'll just get more blackpolls.  As for saltwater
> birds, the chances are very slim: there is a LOT of dry land between
> here and there, and some mountainous terrain. Atlantic storms are most
> likely to push odd birds farthest west by way of the St. Lawrence
> seaway, and most of those don't reach Lake Erie.
>      Better chances accompany big storms in the Gulf of Mexico, which
> can push odd petrels and shearwaters and terns up the Mississippi (and
> then occasionally the Ohio), and are usually the source of frigatebirds
> here; our sooty tern of a few years back is an example of the rarer
> ones. But these species are almost never seen during this season from
> Atlantic storms.
>      I recommend Greg Miller's article "Gannet Invasion in the Great
> Lakes: the role of storms" [Ohio Cardinal Autumn 2002], with
> advice for the hopeful. Also in the Cardinal, I wrote a series of
> articles I called "Annals of Pelagic Birding in Ohio," which casts some
> light on this topic. The first, on black-capped petrels, was in the
> Winter 2002-3 issue; the second, on magnificent frigatebirds, was in the
> fall 2003 issue; the third treating the weirdest of them all, the
> invasion of thick-billed murres here in 1896, is in the Winter 2003-04
> issue. Most Cardinal issues may be read online on the OOS site at
> http://www.ohiobirds.org/site/publications/cardinal/archiveissues.php  ,
> and I recommend these articles for the history involved.
>      Hopes that just might be fulfilled would include highly pelagic
> birds like terns. Several species never touch land outside the breeding
> season, and are well adapted to constant flight at this time; this might
> make it easy for them to be swept west by winds, as they could easily be
> headed south at this time: roseate, gull-billed, Arctic, and sooty terns
> (see Donald Morse's article in the Cardinal,Summer 2005),   maybe
> skimmers, but bear in mind that there are no October records of these
> species in Ohio!
>      So, I admit to having harbored unrealistic Ohio expectations from
> Atlantic hurricanes, and I cannot offer you anything but wind and rain
> in the sky in the week to come.
> Bill Whan
> Cols
>
>
> On 9/30/2015 10:37 PM, Eric Elvert wrote:
>> So with Hurricane joaquin predicted to strengthen and make landfall
>> sometime around next Monday. My question to all the long time ohio
>> birders is. Do you think it has what it takes to push some good birds
>> into Ohio? And when should we start looking for some of these odd
>> ball birds. Thanks for any input. Bird On!!!
>>
>> Eric Elvert Dayton oh

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