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Date: | Mon, 8 Dec 2008 19:32:19 EST |
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Today began with reasonable expectations that seem meek as I reflect on how
the day went. Bruce Simpson met me at my house and we headed north for Oak
Hill Cemetery where Bruce planned to take pictures of the White-winged
Crossbills. When we arrived at the cemetery we met David Holcomb who was also there
to photograph the crossbills. We ended up birding as a trio the rest of the
day.
After I parked at the cemetery we walked to the Hemlock Trees the crossbills
seem to prefer. As I approached I could hear them chattering in the tree and
we immediately located the birds. Both Bruce and David began taking pictures
and thought they were pleased with their success, that is until a sizable
number of the crossbills decided to drop in and feed on small pine cones on the
ground, right in front of them. The birds were oblivious to their presence
of Bruce and David and the low clicking as they shot picture after picture.
The crossbills at one point were within five feet of the guys as they continued
taking pictures. My conservative estimate is that the birds had over 150
shots taking of them. Digital has its advantages. My Nikon F2 SLR which uses
film would have been left in the dust. Eventually we decided to move on and
continue our planned route.
We next stopped at the Upper Sandusky Reservoir to check for waterfowl.
Based on Rick Counts recent report I was looking for the 3 Cackling Geese that
have been there. They proved to be stinkers and it took some time to sort them
out of the thousand or so Greater Canada Geese. A small goose sleeping behind
a large goose is a hard object to perceive, but eventually we did locate the
Cackling Geese. But as we were looking for them we also found Tundra Swans,
white morf Snow Geese, Northern Pintails and Ruddy Ducks.
The next stop was for lunch – grilled Jungle Fowl on a bun.
Back on the road we checked Wyandot County C112. From the snow at my place
last night I expected the ground to be white. Not! The eagles Linda and I saw
Friday were long gone and all we located were some Horned Larks and a
fly-over by a Red-shouldered Hawk.
Our final stop was Killdeer Plains Wildelife Area. This proved to be much
better. Although there were a few hunters around they posed no problem for us.
The highlights at Killdeer were a fly-over by a flock of 88 Sandhill Cranes
that could be heard coming and going; a covey of 16 Northern Bobwhite viewed
from about 20 feet; multiple Northern Harriers; a couple of immature Bald
Eagles; 4 Trumperter Swans, 23 Tundra Swans, 7 Red-breasted Mergansers; a few
Horned Larks; and a very cold looking Eastern Bluebird. The rest of the birds
were the usual suspects.
I counted a mere 42 species for the day, but considering what some of them
were I definitely can’t complain. The weather cooperated (didn’t do what they
forecasted), good birds, and very good company for the day (yea Bruce and
David).
Charlie Bombaci
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