As a nice counterpoint to Nick Boutis' report from Glen Helen, Diana & I hiked through most of the gorge of the Little Miami River in Clifton Gorge & neighboring John Bryan State Park this morning, mostly for wildflowers, but taking note of the birds that we found as well. As Nick commented, there wasn't a big fallout here, but there were lots of calling and singing birds, many of which were likely returned residents. Notables on our list from about 4 hours of hiking included: Cooper's Hawk - 1 in display flight CG Red-shouldered Hawks - calling, both CG and JBSP Broad-winged Hawk - adult JBSP Belted Kingfisher - only 2 in nearly 6 miles of stream Pileated Wpr - 1 calling CG E.Phoebe - 5-6 along cliffs and river Crested Flycatcher - 2 along river in JBSP Solitary Vireo - 1 singing in JBSP Yellow-thr.Vireo - 3+, scatterd in several locations Rough-winged Swallows - 12-15 along Little Miami River House Wren - 4-5 singing in gorge Ruby-cr.Kinglet - 3-4 in entire morning, which is lower than expected Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 30+, hardly a moment without hearing one Blue-winged Warbler - 1 near gorge JBSP Parula Warbler - 8+ singing along gorge in both parks Yellow Warbler - 1 JBSP Yellow-throated Warbler - 6-7 singing along gorge in both parks Black-thr.Green - 2 singing around White cedars in CG Cape May Warbler - 1 male in gorge CG Yellow-rumped Warbler - 6+ scatttered throughout gorge Hooded Warbler - 5+ singing in different parts of Gorge Ovenbird - 1 singing in forest along lip of gorge, JBSP Louisiana Waterthrush - 4 singing , mostly in the gorge of JBSP The wildflowers were mind-numbingly spectacular, with the sudden warming pushing many later flowers to open, overlapping some earlier ones. We probably had some 45+ blooming plants, including large masses of Trillium (both Nodding & Showy), Bellworts, Bluebells, and Foamflower. Gorgeous day to be out. ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]