My husband, Tim, & I were joined by another couple, Joyce Stevens & Dave
Kuseyeski, on a jaunt across the state to try to add several new birds to our
Ohio lists. Our target birds were the several rarities that have been seen
lately. We left early Mon. morning & headed to W. Manchester to look for the
Eurasian Collared-doves. We searched the town thoroughly, by foot & car, for 1
1/2 hours with no luck & just as we were ready to leave to try Ft.
Jefferson, we saw 2 doves fly by. The second one was NOT a Mourning Dove! We were
able to not only get good looks at 2 collared-doves on the ground but to share
our views through the spotting scope with a few of the locals. One of these
ladies was a postal clerk. If you go there to see the doves, stop in at the
post office to say hi & tell her why you are there. The town locals were
amazed to know people were coming to their little town just to see birds. And
while you are there you might want to drop some money into the economy at the
little pizza shop/restaurant on the corner. We wanted to but it is closed
on Mondays.
From there, we headed to Columbus to find the Yellow-crowned Night-herons.
Bill Whan's directions from his posting on June 16 led us right to the spot &
we had very little trouble finding the fledglings (branchlings?) moving
about on the branches around the 2 nests. We saw no adults in the 1/2 hour or so
we spent there but we did see 5 birds in the southernmost nest tree & then
later 5 in the nest tree to the north & we never saw them move from 1 tree to
the other. But I really don't think just 2 nests could produce 10 birds,
could they? Again, we shared views with a lady & her daughters who said she
used to live in the house right across from the nest. They now live in Ariz.
but when they come back to Ohio, she always comes to see the night-herons!
Our next destination was Logan for the Mississippi Kite, but as it was now
late afternoon, we laid over in Lancaster & headed to Logan Tues. morning. We
arrived at the golf course at 9:00 AM, hoping we would be lucky & find it
perched in a tree. That didn't happen, but right on schedule & with the help
of a few other people who had shown up, we saw the kite soaring over the golf
course at 11:05. Good enough looks to easily tell it was a Mississippi Kite
before it dropped down below the trees. And then a grand bonus for us:
while watching for the kite to come back into view, an immature Broad-winged Hawk
flew to right above us & circled several times. For Tim & I, this was
another bird we had never seen in Ohio. What a trip this was turning out to be.
And if that wasn't enough, during the 2 hours we waited to see the kite, we
of course checked out the other birds in the trees & shrubs along the road.
One of those happened to be a White-eyed Vireo feeding a fledgling, found by
Jim Fowler from Detroit. Yes, I will enter this in the OBBS.
Time now to head to Tri-Valley WA. We had tried to find a Blue Grosbeak
that had been reported in Clark County but were unsuccessful. We felt sure we
would find one at Tri-Valley. But first a stop for lunch at Clay Haus in
Somerset. Great food, neat antiques, really nice people & very reasonable
prices. I highly recommend it. We left a "birding calling card". At Tri-Valley
we drove what we believed to be Madison-Hall Rd. It was the right kind of
habitat & we easily found Grasshopper & Henslow's Sparrows but no Blue Grosbeak.
Upon reaching the end of the road, we realized we weren't on Madison-Hall
but Black Snake Rd. It was time to head home but we decided to get back on
Madison-Hall for at least a little bit. Drove a ways down the road, still no
luck finding the grosbeak. By now we did need to start heading north, so we
turned around to head back, went just a few car lengths, & there in a bush
was a Blue Grosbeak! The collared-doves & grosbeak have taught us a new
birding strategy...upon arriving at the intended spot, get out of the car, look
around, say "OK, it's time to go" & head back to the car...the bird you want
will then appear!
What a trip this has been. We found every bird we were aiming for with a
special bonus. Tim & I added 5 birds to our state list; Joyce & Dave added 4
to their state list (they had seen a Broad-wing at Magee Marsh) & 1 life bird
(Blue Grosbeak). To end the trip in a fitting manner, as we were driving to
Dave & Joyce's house, a Turkey Vulture took off from the road in front of us
& flew straight & low down the road. Suddenly, from the woods to our right,
a Cooper's Hawk flew right at the TV, hit it with it's talons on the back &
then stayed right on him for several yards before flying back into the woods.
None of us had ever seen anything like that before! I am sure the Cooper's
has a nest somewhere in those woods but why would it attack a TV, of all
things? Wow.
Laura Dornan
Louisville, Stark County
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