Hello all! 

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

Here in the hills of Carroll County, the Cicada Brood V activity is almost over.  Only a few stragglers remain.  The din of 3 weeks ago is gone and birding by ear is once again possible.  In the peak of the emergence, it was impossible to listen for nesting species in areas where the cicada were present in numbers.  Although the emergence was rather localized, it was not lost on me that the areas where we would be seeking nesting species of birds, or new as of yet unseen species, were the same areas where the cicadas were present.  The upside is that birds in these areas had a feast.

There was nothing new added to our (Kent Miller, Ben Morrison, and me) 2016 list of bird species in June.  I personally saw 96 species of birds in June.  I was able to confirm the presence of 12 species of nesting warbler species (Ovenbird, Kentucky, Black & White, Co. Yellowthroat, Yellow, Hooded, Am. Redstart, Pine, Yellow-throated, Prairie, BT Green, and YB Chat).  I would certainly think that Cerulean Warblers are nesting somewhere in the county, but I have not heard or seen any since May.  One of the challenges of doing this kind of work in Carroll Co. is a lack of public/park land.  There are corridors of public access land near Muskingum Watershed areas (Leesville and Atwood Lakes), but most of the wooded areas are privately owned.  A great deal of land is owned for hunting only with limited or no management of the land.  

I was able to find a pair of Blue-headed Vireos near Wattsville (where we first located them this year), which I believe is solid evidence for them nesting in that area, which is good habitat for them.  The presence of a Virginia Rail last week at Stillfork Swamp Nature Preserve is a strong indicator of that species nesting there, but I did not see any young birds with the adult.  Leesville Wildlife Area (the section off of Delta Rd.) has been a good place to check on nesting birds, even with the cicada noise.  Black-throated Greens, Kentucky, Ovenbirds, Pines, YT Warblers, as well as other nesters have been heard/seen in that area pretty consistently.  Grosbeaks, Sc. Tanagers, YT Vireos, and Wood Thrushes have been consistent there as well.

Fargo Road, which is the most consistent grassland area in the county has been producing the same groups of birds that I saw there last year as I began scouting for the 2016 survey.  Henslow’s, Grasshopper, and Savannah Sparrows are seen (or in the case of Henslow’s mostly only heard) frequently.  Bobolinks and Eastern Meadowlarks have been nesting for a few weeks now and in early June Dickcissels showed up again in the same spots as last year.  Last weekend, I was able to definitely distinguish 5 singing male Dickcissels there, but I am sure there are more as the area is pretty vast and access is limited to the road.  In May, someone was seen walking in one of the fields (a birder), so I would just remind folks that this is private property and that needs to be respected.  As of Sunday, the fields remained uncut.  

In the front yard, it has been a real treat to watch a family of Hairy Woodpeckers visit our suet feeder.  About 10 days ago, an adult female showed up with 2 fledglings with her.  She took them to the tree with the suet and fed them each for a bit then flew off.  Over the next few days, it was fun to watch her (one day the adult male was there too, for a group of 4) show the young birds how to feed on the suet.  She was clearly demonstrating how to do it.  Within a day or 2, the young birds were feeding themselves on the suet.  They are still following mom around, but they are big and healthy looking.  I also recorded a young Carolina Wren trying to learn it’s song.  It has been fun to watch that bird develop and I can say that after only a week or 2, it has a pretty good voice going!  

We have had a family of Eastern Gray Squirrels raiding the suet for the past 2 weeks.  Last night, my mom observed a Red-tailed Hawk kill one right on our sidewalk!  That’s one less squirrel raider and one nice meal for a Buteo.  Let’s hope it has a second course.  

In terms of what is still missing, yet probable in Carroll in 2016 are Summer Tanager and Blue Grosbeak.  We have great habitat for both of these species, but I have still yet to locate either.  I also think that Sedge Wren is possible, but access to suitable habitat is difficult.  It must have been a bit easier for Forrest Buchanan to make connections with local residents back in his time to get access to good habitat, but we work with what we can and whenever we do talk to local residents it is almost always a positive interaction and I have been invited to more than a few private properties over these past 6 months.  We still have not located any Ruffed Grouse either.  This is a bit concerning.  It’s hard to pin down what may be happening with that species here, which at one time was quite plentiful, but we will keep trying.  If you have any leads on that, or other species we are trying to track down, please send me an email.

That’s the news from Carroll for now.  Let’s hope for some precipitation, otherwise the potential for fall shorebirds is going to be extremely low.  



Jon Cefus
Carroll Co. 




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