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September 2016

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Thu, 1 Sep 2016 07:03:00 -0400
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Hello!

As expected, August has been a quiet month in Carroll Co. in terms of trying to add new species to the county survey.  Habitat for shorebirds is just not easily found.  A small lake along Arrow Rd. has been the primary source of our sightings.  I’m not sure how many total shorebird species Kent had there this past month, but the best I could manage was 7.  The plan is to keep checking this small spot and hope for the best.  The lakes of the Muskingum watershed are not lowered until late October after watercraft and docks are removed.  Maybe we can hope for a rogue Purple Sandpiper on the Leesville Dam rocks!  A fool’s hope, perhaps.  Anyway, as a group the species count stands at 210.  Carroll is sitting at 17th in the state in 2016 (55th for all years) for species reported in eBird and 913 checklists have been generated so far.  I personally identified 88 species in August in the county.  

Warbler species were also, unsurprisingly, down.  I only recorded 5 species during the month.  To be fair, I have not had much time in the past 10 days or so to search for early migrants, so I am sure that individual birds were coming through here and there.  The fields along Fargo Rd. have been mowed finally.  It appears that the grassland birds that nested there had ample opportunity to get at least one successful brood out before the hay was cut.  This marks the 2nd year that I have observed a single late cutting.  If this continues, it will be a great place for these species to nest unmolested in the years to come.  In addition, the same areas of grassy scrubland were not mowed, which could increase the odds of the return of Short-eared Owls for the winter.  We shall see.

A few final observation notes for the month.  For the 2nd time this summer, I saw a Dark-eyed Junco fly off of the side of Antiqua Rd., which runs on the north side of Leesville Lake.  There are many ravines that run down to the lake and it seems perfectly reasonable that this species could attempt to nest there.  I observed our regular male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (who likes to roost on a small post by the feeder) do a bit of flycatching when it flew off of it’s roost to grab a very small insect and eat it.  Tongue-smacking good, apparently.  Over the past few weeks, I have seen scattered Common Nighthawks at several spots around the county, which is consistent with other reports across Ohio during that time.  The largest group I saw was at least a dozen birds, but I think I caught the tail-end (so to speak) of what may have been a larger group heading S-SE over Sherrodsville.  

We have not been able to get out as a team since early June (perhaps actually late May?) due to other obligations and responsibilities, but this is not uncommon as we head toward the final months of another year of undertaking these surveys.  The hard push in April and May results in the inevitable push back, so to speak.  I am hoping we can regroup and connect with some of the other folks who were able to join us earlier in the year to try to wrangle up a few more species before the year ends.  I know for me, a lifer Connecticut Warbler would be a wonderful addition to the county records.  I can’t complain, though…seeing my first White Ibis and Swallow-tailed Kite was well worth going “off mission."

That’s the news from a slightly cooler Carroll Co.

Happy birding! 

Jon Cefus
Carroll Co. 


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