The gate was open this morning, but with last nights rain and the water level even higher, I had to drive thru about 200 feet of water to access the sandspit. The in recent years annual arrival of eagles in July to The Conneaut Harbor Area in Ashtabula County, is now in full swing. Amazing numbers can be found first thing most mornings. This morning I arrived at 6:55AM, and began a Bald Eagle count at 7:30AM when the rains had completely ceased. With a spotting scope this mornings actual count was 55. 10 adults and 44 juveniles. 22 could be found on the east breakwall, 15 from the lighthouse west, and the rest in and around the aggregate pile and conveyor area to the southeast, and in the tops of the dead trees looking over the aggregate piles. As many as 6 could be found on the peaks of individual piles. The big question is, where do all these eagles come from, and why do they gather here. Some of the other highlights today were 2 Short-billed Dowitchers, 14 Least Sandpipers, 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 2 Common Terns, 2 Caspian Terns, and a possible out of season female Red-breasted Merganser with a tag along probable half size Common Merganser juvenile, just to name a few. With the drive thru water access, I was pretty much to myself.


Bob Lane / Mahoning County

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.


You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]