Hello!  

This is a general report of some observations over the past week.

First of all, I have seen a few Common Nighthawks this week.  I saw 4 flying over a spot in Carroll County that I frequently pull off to snap photos of sunsets along Autumn Rd.  I also saw 1 last night in Stark County near Jackson High School at the intersection of Fulton Rd. and Wales Rd. (SR 241).

I saw something for the first time 2 days ago at my hummingbird feeder.  I’ve had a male hanging around all summer.  It frequently perches on a little post that was a support for a large flowering plant last year.  I observed this bird do a little “flycatching” behavior as it swooped off of it’s perch and grab a very small insect in flight.  It ate the insect, perched again and then extended it’s tongue several times.  Lapping up the goodness?

Finally, Kent Miller and I checked shorebird habitat yesterday at Walborn Reservoir and Berlin Reservoir in Stark County.  Both areas continue to dry up very quickly.  Berlin resembles how it appears in late October already.  At Walborn, the best habitat is by the Bald Eagle Observation Deck area off of Marlboro Rd.  We had 7 Stilt Sandpipers there along Marlboro Rd. just south of the gravel road that goes to the observation deck.  The best place to park to check that little causeway over the backwaters of the reservoir is to park at the small cemetery just south of there and walk to the causeway.  Do not park along this road or you will be ticketed if caught.  There were Blue-winged Teal and Northern Shovelers at the area directly next to the parking lot for the observation deck.

The best habitat at Berlin (in Stark Co. anyway) is in the area east of the bridge over the river/mudflats along SR 225.  We found, at least yesterday, that parking up on German Church Rd. near where they are building a boat launch and walking down a little (and slightly treacherous) path a little west of that work was the best view of the shorebirds in that area.  We had 3 Baird’s Sandpipers mixed in with a lot of Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers.

Overall, we had 10 species of shorebirds with nothing rare or unusual.  We were certainly hoping to find a Buff-breasted.  We did not see any sign of the Little Blue Herons, but we did not hike the woods to the mudflats south of Price Rd., which is where they were first located.  A recent report from someone walking on the bike path bridge over the dam between Deer Creek Reservoir and Berlin lake indicated seeing 1 Little Blue looking east from there.  This path can be accessed from either Greenbower Rd. or from the Deer Creek Reservoir park/boat launch site on Price Rd.

Happy birding! 

Jon Cefus
Carroll Co.  
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