Black Swamp Bird Observatory/Ohio Young Birders Club Winter Blues Blowout Killdeer Plains & Big Island Wildlife Areas Saturday, February 12, 2011 A hardy crowd of nearly 50 Black Swamp Bird Observatory and Ohio Young Birders Club members shrugged of the winter blues by making the annual February trek to Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area (KPWA)! The weather was great with sunshine for most of the day and temperatures hovering around freezing. The BSBO Bird Bus led a large caravan around Killdeer Plains for the morning. We had good looks at Bald Eagles on a nest, Northern Harriers, and Rough-legged Hawks. Some of the group saw Red-tailed Hawk courtship with talon locking and falling from the sky. Others were rewarded with close views of a Rough-legged Hawk devouring a small mammal. Before lunch the group ventured to the "owl woods", but we were unsuccessful at finding any owl sign. A Northern Mockingbird was spotted near the owl woods parking area. A potluck lunch was enjoyed by the masses, and not a hungry soul left the Sportsman's Center. Many thanks go to the Ohio Division of Wildlife and Tim Daniel for their support and allowing us to utilize the building for lunch. In the afternoon, we explored the south side of KPWA and then headed to Big Island Wildlife Area. Most of the group saw 14 Wild Turkey on TH 68 near Washburn Road. Heading down to Big Island there were many Horned Larks along the road, including a group of 7 that were synchronized preening on the snow. At Big Island there were several Northern Harriers and three Rough-legged Hawks viewed. The sun was still shining as we ended the field trip at the Big Island WA Platform on SR 95. A great day was had by all, despite not having any luck locating owls. Many life birds were located, especially for the Ohio Young Birders Club members. The Winter Blues Blowout is an annual event, and we hope you can make it next year! Here is the species list for the trip (35 Species): Mallard (25 +) Wild Turkey (14) Great Blue Heron (1) Bald Eagle (6+) Northern Harrier (20 +) Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk (8+) Rough-legged Hawk (9 +) American Kestrel (1) Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove (4+) Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker (5+) Blue Jay American Crow (12+) Horned Lark Black-capped Chickadee Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Eastern Bluebird (5+) American Robin (1) Northern Mockingbird (1) European Starling American Tree Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Snow Bunting Northern Cardinal Eastern Meadowlark (10+) House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow Thanks, KEN Ken Keffer Education Director Black Swamp Bird Observatory 13551 West State Route 2 Oak Harbor, Ohio 43449 419-898-4070 [log in to unmask] www.bsbobird.org www.ohioyoungbirders.org www.biggestweekinamericanbirding.org Become a fan of BSBO & OYBC on facebook at: www.facebook.com/bsbobird www.facebook.com/ohioyoungbirders Follow BSBO on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bsbobird ______________________________________________________________________ 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]