Hello!

July has been rather slow birding here in Carroll Co.  This is certainly expected for many reasons.  Personal schedules, maximum leaf cover, mosquitoes, and a myriad of other factors conspire to make this a tough month.  Still, I did see 96 species in the county and considering the lack of shorebird habitat, that is not too bad.

As of today, our team (Kent Miller, Ben Morrison, and myself) still stands at 210 species on the year.  885 checklists have been generated in the county.  We represent a good chunk of that, but many folks have ventured down to see different species.  Fargo Rd. seems to attract the most activity from folks who do not otherwise seem to bird here often, if at all.  The following are a few brief summaries on specific areas/species.  

Shorebirds are very hard to find.  Any of the agricultural fields that yielded spring migrants are weeded over or planted with crops.  Even if they were open, there has been almost no rain until the past few days and all of that rainfall is being quickly absorbed.  The only puddling is on the roads.  The lakes (Atwood and Leesville) will not lose much water, if any, until they are let down at the end of the season (end of October).  “Lake Wahalo”, a large pond on Arrow Rd. is our best spot to date, but it’s not a good place to try to scope from as there is not a good pull-off.  We are still hoping to get lucky and score species like Dowitchers, Stilt, Golden or BB Plovers at some point.  WR or Baird’s Sandpipers would be a very good find here, I think.   A non-Carroll side note on shorebirds:  There is some kind of issue at Walborn Reservoir in Stark County and it could be the best shorebird spot inland in Ohio this year as the water levels continue to drop, especially if Wilderness Rd. does not get precipitation soon.  It may be worth your while to check there from time to time, particularly along German Church Rd.

It seems that Yellow-billed Cuckoos have been having a very good year here.  We seem to hear them at just about every spot with appropriate habitat.  I think they really benefitted from the Brood V 17 Year Cicada.  I have seen 6 species of swallows this month as well as Chimney Swifts.  Warbler species total ended up at 10 for me.  I tried to track down Cerulean at a couple of spots, but did not have any luck, although Jerry Talkington or Irene Krise, who bird here pretty often, may have had them in the county in July.  

Fargo Rd. is quieting down.  On my last 2 trips I have not seen or heard Bobolink, Meadowlarks, Dickcissel, or Grasshopper Sparrows.  I continue to hear Henslow’s regularly, but as usual they are not big on showing off.  I have not heard YB Chat or Prairie Warbler on my last 2 trips.  White-eyed Vireos have been quite vocal lately.

At the feeders, it’s been all about the locals.  Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Hairy Woodpeckers, RB Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Chipping Sparrows, Carolina and House Wrens, as well as a family of 6 American Crows have been seen at the feeders or on the ground showing the young ones the ropes.   The Hairy Woodpeckers were particularly fun to watch, as were the Crows of course….their intelligence is pretty incredible.  

Finally, another factor has taken just a bit of my focus off of the birds this July as I wade into Dragonflies, Butterflies, and Moths (just a little bit).  For those interested, I have regularly seen Spangled Skimmers at the bottom of Fargo Rd. in the wetland area near the intersection of Briar Rd.  I see them most often on the “north” side of the road on the right side of the drain pipe in the near cattail reeds.  A very cool Dragonfly.

That’s the news from Ohio’s Daffodil Country!

Peace…

Jon Cefus
Carroll Co.



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