MAY 07, 2016 - CUYAHOGA VALLEY TOWPATH TRAIL CENSUS.ROUTE: Red Lock Trailhead south to Merriman Valley. TIME: 5:55am-4:55pm TEMP.: 37-76-72 COND.: Chilly & mostly sunny early,clouding up at 10:10am; turning overcast with sprinkles from 2:35pm-3:00pm; turning partly sunny then mostly cloudy; winds lightand variable, turning southerly from 2:50pm-4:55pm. TRAIL COND.: Good. RIVER COND.: Slightly above normal.FT.MI.: 13.70 OBS.: John Henry & Douglas W. Vogus. I. MAMMALS: 8 SPECIES. - Coyote - 2 (both barking & howling - Tied Census High from 05/2011) - Eastern Chipmunk - 22 - Eastern Gray Squirrel - 3 (2 black morph) - Eastern Fox Squirrel - 3 - Red Squirrel - 29 - Muskrat - 3 - Eastern Cottontail - 1 - White-tailed Deer - 3 (1 doe with 2 yearlings) II. BIRDS: 82 SPECIES, 1 HYBRID, 1,014 TOTAL BIRDS, 1 SPECIES NEW TO CENSUS.(NOTE: ? = bird was seen but not sexed; * = bird was heard calling but not sexed) - Canada Goose - 43 (1 nest) - (hybrid) Canada Goose/Greylag Goose - 1 - Wood Duck - 5 (2m,1f,2*) - Mallard - 12 (9m,3f) - Common Merganser - 1 (f) - Double-crested Cormorant - 3 - Great Blue Heron - 39 - Green Heron - 1 (at Lock 29 Swamp) - Turkey Vulture - 18 - Osprey - 1 (at Red Lock - Tied Census High from 5 different occasions) - Red-shouldered Hawk - 1 - Broad-winged Hawk - 1 - Red-tailed Hawk - 6 (1 juvenile, 2 active nests - Stanford Swamp & Yellow Creek) - Virginia Rail - 2 (Ira Beaver Marsh - Tied Census High from 05/2012) - Killdeer - 7 - Spotted Sandpiper - 2 - Solitary Sandpiper - 3 - Mourning Dove - 20 - Eastern Screech-Owl - 1 (calling at Red Lock) - Chimney Swift - 11 - Belted Kingfisher - 4 (2m,1f,1*) - Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 (Stanford Swamp) - Red-bellied Woodpecker - 12 (2m,1?,9*) - Downy Woodpecker - 6 (3f,3*) - Northern Flicker - 5 (1m,1?,3*) - Pileated Woodpecker - 2 (1m,1?) - Peregrine Falcon - 1 (f) - Eastern Phoebe - 6 - Great Crested Flycatcher - 4 - Eastern Kingbird - 2 (at Lock 29 Swamp) - Yellow-throated Vireo - 5 - Warbling Vireo - 13 - Blue Jay - 22 - American Crow - 14 - Tree Swallow - 20 - Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 9 - Bank Swallow - 1 - Barn Swallow - 9 (1 nest being built at Boston Store) - Black-capped Chickadee - 20 - Tufted Titmouse - 13 (1 nest) - White-breasted Nuthatch - 5 (2m,3*) - House Wren - 6 - Carolina Wren - 7 - Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 25 (6m,4f,8?,7* - 2 nests being built) - Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 (f) - Veery - 1 - Wood Thrush - 2 - American Robin - 54 (2 nests) - Gray Catbird - 19 - European Starling - 18 - Louisiana Waterthrush - 1 (at Lonesome Lock) - Blue-winged Warbler - 5 (m - Tied Census High from 05/2013) - Nashville Warbler - 2 (m) - Common Yellowthroat - 29 (28m,1f) - Hooded Warbler - 5 (4m,1*) - American Redstart - 6 (m) - Cerulean Warbler - 1 (m) - Northern Parula - 1 (m) - Yellow Warbler - 39 (36m,3f) - Palm Warbler - 4 - Yellow-rumped Warbler - 10 (4m,6f) - Yellow-throated Warbler - 6 (m) - Eastern Towhee - 1 (m) - Chipping Sparrow - 5 - Field Sparrow - 1 - Lark Sparrow - 1 (New Species On Census - now at 179 Species since 01/01/2010 - specifics below) - Song Sparrow - 49 - Lincoln's Sparrow - 2 (Tied Census High from 05/2010 & 10/2013) - Swamp Sparrow - 13 - White-throated Sparrow - 13 - White-crowned Sparrow - 4 - Scarlet Tanager - 2 (m) - Northern Cardinal - 46 (32m,9f,5* - 1 nest) - Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 16 (14m,2f) - Indigo Bunting - 1 (m) - Red-winged Blackbird - 87 (67m,20f - 1 nest) - Common Grackle - 62 (1 nest) - Brown-headed Cowbird - 16 (13m,3f) - Orchard Oriole - 7 (5m,2 juvenile m) - Baltimore Oriole - 22 (20m,2f) - House Finch - 8 (4m,2f,2? - 1 nest) - American Goldfinch - 26 (19m,4f,3?) - House Sparrow - 30 - Unidentified Passerines - 8 III. REPTILES: 5 SPECIES. - Common Snapping Turtle - 9 - Red-eared Turtle - 8 - Midland Painted Turtle - 287 - Eastern Spiny Softshell - 10 - Northern Water Snake - 1 IV. AMPHIBIANS: 5 SPECIES. - American Toad - 3 (heard only) - Northern Spring Peeper - 1 (heard only) - Gray Treefrog - 8 (heard only) - Bullfrog - 3 - Green Frog - 4 (heard only) V. FISHES: 1 SPECIES. - Creek Chub - 17 VI. BUTTERFLIES: 3 SPECIES. - Cabbage Butterfly - 6 - Red-spotted Purple - 1 - Mourning Cloak - 1 Notes on the Lark Sparrow: the bird was a beautiful adult bird, first seen in the gravel driveway of the Everett Ranger Station, from the Towpath Trail. It flew up into a small tree, then flew east across the trail at Johnnycake Lock, into another tree. It then flew down into Szalay's unplowed corn field. It landed in a small patch of bare soil and I was able to obtain a distant photo of the bird since John Henry had brought along his Canon camera. This was at 1:25pm Saturday. I texted several other local birders of the find and Gene Kovach re-found the bird in the same area as of 3:10pm Saturday. A totally unexpected find for me, as I've never had this species in the Cuyahoga Valley, let alone Summit County. Douglas W. Vogus - Akron, Ohio. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]