Today Darlene Sillick, Linda and I made a circuit of Marion, Wyandot and
Hardin County sites. Nadya Bennett joined us during the day. The weather defied
the weathermen and stayed clear and dry all day. On the way to Big Island we
spotted a Common Nighthawk in Marion.
We began at Big Island WA where we quickly located the Wilson’s Phalaropes
at Herr Road and along SR 95, our count was 14. We then located the
Black-necked Stilts in the flooded area just west of Herr Road along with Least
Sandpipers, Dunlin, Semipalmated Plovers and Blue-winged Teal. In the fields beyond
the flooded area were Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks and Grasshopper Sparrows.
Across the railroad tracks were a brilliantly colored Indigo Bunting and
several Bald Eagles. Back in the older area along the Prospect-La Rue Road we
added Common Moorhen and Northern Pintails.
From Big Island we proceeded north to CH-50 and vicinity in Hardin County.
The Bobolinks were cooperative and displayed openly all over the place. Also
present were Grasshopper Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlarks. The Dickcissel
refused to go along and stayed out of sight (probably due to increasing winds).
Shorebirds were spotted I the wetlands behind the grasslands, but were too far
to identify. Hunger and a break for lunch.
Killdeer Plains was our next target area. Better species observes included
Bald Eagles, Trumpeter Swans, Pied-billed Grebes with young, Wood Ducks with
young,, Northern Pintails, Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least
Sandpipers, many Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitchers, Horned Larks, and a
Connecticut Warbler. On our drive home we added an Olive-sided Flycatcher.
We did have a problem bird. A diving duck that had a dark appearance with a
white patch on its cheeks. It was slightly too far to define the bird’s bill
and other specific details. Three votes were akin to the Democratic Primary.
Opinions aplenty with positive aspects and negative aspects for the various
candidates, but no consensus. It had many characteristics of a scoter hen , but
seemed to be small for a scoter. We listed the bird as a “what was that?”
We tallied 81 species for the day.
A listed of the more interesting species observed included:
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Pintail
Hooded Merganser
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Common Moorhen
Semipalmated Plover
Black-necked Stilt
Spotted Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson’s Phalarope
Common Nighthawk
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Cliff Swallow
Yellow Warbler
Connecticut Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Grasshopper Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Charlie Bombaci
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