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March 2016

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Thu, 24 Mar 2016 07:36:59 -0400
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Greetings!

Last year, Kent Miller and I joined Ben Morrison in Noble County to survey the bird species in one of the least birded counties in Ohio.  It seems that unglaciated eastern Ohio is an area that, surprisingly, has not received much attention in the modern era of birding, although it did seem to get a good amount in the earlier days of ornithology.  We had a very successful year, as well as a lot of fun, so when we talked about where to focus our efforts this year I floated the idea of working in Carroll County, a place that my family has had a presence in since 1971 when my grandparents built a cabin at Leesville Lake.  We decided to make Carroll our target county for many of the same reasons that we chose Noble in that it is very much under-birded and it is almost completely unglaciated, with the possible exception of the very northern-most areas.  It is also in the Bobolink Area of Ohio, which did impact our choice.

As of January 1, Carroll was ranked 82nd of 88 Counties in Ohio in eBird.  A total of 181 species had been identified in the county.  There was obviously room for adding species there and moving the county up the list in Ohio, although nobody would rightly believe that interior Ohio counties can rise to the level of species seen along the Lake Erie shores.  Frankly, if an area such as Carroll rises to somewhere in the top 60 counties it would be at least be situated in the range of species that ought to be seen in an interior, unglaciated county.  

We had a good start on January 2nd with 43 species, primarily the species one would expect on an early January list.  By the end of January we had identified 58 species.  In February, we added another 31 species, including 2 large flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese, Snow Geese and Cackling Geese during the big goose push that month.  So far in March, we have added 19 more species including Ben and Kent locating a pair of Sandhill Cranes who may well be setting up shop to nest in the county.  There is 1 earlier record in eBird of Sandhill in the county, but no significant information was included in the sighting, so the fact that good photos were taken of these 2 birds provided the evidence needed for a confirmed sighting.  Thank goodness there is no need to shoot them to get evidence these days!  

As of today, 114 species have been identified in the county this year alone.  20 brand new species have already been identified in the county this year and one of the best parts is that some other folks have made there way to Carroll following our reports and added to the data.  This, in our minds, is the best part of doing this kind of work.  It is not about competition, it is about increasing the knowledge base and hopefully inspiring other birders to check out areas that may otherwise not get birded much.  We all love to hit the North Shore in the spring and to see those awesome rarities that show up so often, but if we could all spend a bit more time in our local patches adding to the larger understanding of birds in Ohio perhaps that information can be used to help preserve and protect important bird habitat, which it seems to me is the greatest challenge we face today.  Your individual work can fit into a larger picture that can have a significant impact on the future of birds in Ohio.  And who knows, maybe you’ll find a MEGA like a Kelp Gull or Brambling while checking your local patch!  

If you or your family have information about or property in Carroll that you can share with us, or better yet join us for a day of birding in, we would sure appreciate your help.  We would be particularly interested to know if anyone has had any knowledge of Barn Owls nesting in the region, which seems likely based upon the favorable agricultural habitat.  Any and all help is welcome.  

Happy birding and hoping to see some birding friends out on the trails as spring 2016 gets underway.

Jon Cefus
Carroll County 
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