Hello!

I finally have a few minutes to breath after a very busy few days in the New Year, including an all-day effort yesterday to help Jacob Roalef get 100 species in 3 days to raise funds for the Ohio Young Birders.  The conditions were brutal yesterday with morning rain turning into an all day fog that really limited our efforts.  Still, we managed to find 55 species of birds in the Bobolink Area and helped him add 23 species toward his goal.  Good luck today Jacob!

Now back to Carroll…

It was a really fun and challenging year in Carroll County.  When we (Kent Miller, Ben Morrison, and me) began this undertaking, Carroll was ranked 82nd of 88 counties in Ohio in the number of species reported in eBird.  At that time, 181 species had been reported in the county and 435 total eBird checklists had been submitted.  

We know that many more species had been seen in Carroll than is reflected in the eBird record because we know that the historical work done by Forest Buchanan from the late 1930’s until the 1970’s is nowhere in those records.  Bill Whan was kind enough to provide me with a copy of Buchanan’s work, which helped us get an understanding of what once was and what we may or may not see.  Thank you again Bill!  We are going to try to find out if anyone has Buchanan’s records anywhere so that this data can get into the historical database on eBird.  If you, or anyone you know might have a lead in this area, please contact me.  In addition, Jerry Talkington and his brother Willard certainly have seen and collected many more species in Carroll than were reflected in the eBird data.  Maybe someday Jerry will put in his records?  Hint, hint Jerry!  

I was able to add 2 new species to our year efforts in December and they were both good birds for Carroll Co.  The first was a group of 4 Black Scoters that were at Atwood Lake on 12/3.  I then found 1 Black Scoter the next day, but after that we did not see them again.  Then on 12/11, I found a very, very clean-headed Lesser Black-backed Gull at Atwood standing on ice with other gulls.  This ID took some work as the bird was quite distant and photos were somewhat inconclusive.  However, the next day Kent and Ben were able to relocate the bird (unfortunately on the Tuscarawas Co. side of the Atwood Lake line) and confirm that it was indeed a VERY clean looking LBBG.  Believe me, as good as a LBBG was for our Carroll record, I had dreams of…. well, something better.  ha.

Through the month, other highlights included more Tundra Swan movement observed, a flock of over 110 Wild Turkeys foraging in a cut corn field just east of Atwood Lake, a continuing Red-breasted Nuthatch at our feeders by Leesville Lake, and a total of 13 species of ducks in a season that has been pretty stingy on ducks seen.  

With the addition of these 2 species, our group total reached 216 species in Carroll in 2016.  This is an addition of 35 species to the eBird records, so it was a pretty good effort.    Carroll was lifted from 82nd of 88 in species seen to 55th, which is appropriate considering the limitations of habitat in terms of shorebirds and marsh/wetland species, not to mention the relatively few eyes working in the county in any given year.  1135 checklists were generated in the county last year, which ranked 23rd in Ohio.  Not bad for a little, largely unglaciated rural county.  The top spots birded in the county were Atwood Lake (156 species), Stillfork Swamp Nature Preserve (151 species), and Fargo Road (145 species).  Birds we did not see that was a bit surprising?  Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, and Ruffed Grouse.  

In addition to the birds, we also got to spend some time with some great folks who took time at some point to join us.  Thank you to Barb & Terry Sponsellor, Irene Krise, Jerry Talkington, Dan Kramer, and Rita Morrison for going birding with us!  In addition, I want to thank Kelly and George Benish, who let us know that they had seen Black-crowned Night Herons on several kayaking outings at Atwood in previous years.  Also, I want to again thank Bill Whan for kindly providing me with historical materials and encouragement.  Birding can bring people together.

Finally, on a personal note:  I added 89 county life birds in 2016.  I generated 693 checklists in eBird in 2016 and 490 of those were in Carroll Co, for a whopping 70% of my 2016 lists in Ohio.  I saw 210 species in the county in 2016, which is 1 short of my 211 species life list in the county.  The only missing previous bird was Blue Grosbeak.  This was due in no small part to my friends Kent Miller and Ben Morrison signing on to help.  Their skills are remarkable and on top of that they are good, solid humans who it is an absolute privilege to spend so much time with.  How did I get so lucky?  

For those who have read these lengthy updates over the past year and sent so many notes of encouragement, I want to take a moment to thank you for appreciating these kinds of posts.  We need a balance of rare bird reports, general sighting reports, historical accounts, and occasional musings on this listserv to help keep it a viable tool in the landscape of social media reporting.  If you know new birders, let them know about this tool.

2017 is here.  Get out and enjoy the birds in whatever way that you can and, if so inclined, share the joy and wonder of our bird brothers and sisters with others so that they might come to understand how important diversity of animal species is to our own survival as a species.  We live in difficult times.

Peace and good birding!


Jon Cefus
Carroll Co.




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