Migration is into higher gear now, with shorebirds on the upswing, along with the first waves of neotropicals. It’s not like May, but these late April waves can bear lots of surprises. Even some late waterfowl and winter finches liven up this period, and most of the early wood warblers, and even a few of the late ones, are already here.

Snow Goose – waning stragglers, with birds still at Eagle Creek Lake (near Indianapolis) IN 4-16, UnivSo.Indiana (near Evanston) 4-16, Newton Lake (SE of Effingham) IL 4-15, and around Champaign IL thru 4-19. Even more stragglers are along the Illinois & Mississippi Rivers.

Ross’s Goose – hardly any left now. A bird has been at Springfield IL thru 4-18

Gr.White-fronted Goose – a late flight up the Mississippi flyway has thrown off lots of stragglers, including Adams Lake (so.OH) 4-15, east of Mansfield OH 4-14, OSU wetland (Columbus) OH 4-18, and Springfield IL 4-18

Black-bellied Whistling Duck – more strays, including a continuing bird at Sloughs WMA (W of Henderson) KY 4-13, one SW of Florence KY 4-13 thru 15, N of Rend Lake IL 4-15, and Wooster OH 4-18. Looks to be an interesting year for these ducks here.

Long-tailed Ducks – the bird at LaDue Reservoir (N of Akron) was relocated 4-15. Otherwise, the remaining few recent records are from the Lake Erie and Lake Michigan shorelines.

Surf Scoter – still a few late ones, with the bird at Indigo Lake in Cuyahoga Nat’l Park still found thru 4-16, and the 2 at Nimisila Reservoir (near Akron) OH thru the same date.

White-winged Scoter – all further north on the Great Lakes now

Eared Grebe – mostly gone now, but lingering birds were at Nimisila Reservoir (near Akron) OH 4-13 and Outhwaite Reservoir (near Bucyrus) OH 4-16

Red-necked Grebes – out of area, with the closest birds in central MI and Ontario

Western Grebe – 1 was seen by several observers at Presque Isle Park, Erie PA 4-14

Yellow-billed Cuckoo – early records for this ancient migrant include Jefferson Memorial Forest (S of Louisville) KY 4-15, and Muscatatuck NWR IN 4-17

Chimney Swift – plenty of early birds now, especially around Chicagoland and southern MI 4-14 thru 18

Ruby-thr.Hummer – lots of early records in so. IL, so. IN, and so. OH, but a few had overshot to Elkhart IN 4-15 and Cleveland OH 4-14,15

Whip-poor-will – multiple records of calling birds in southern and central IN & OH, but 1 had slipped north to Kalamazoo MI 4-15

Chuck-wills-widow – a few early birds: Western KY WMA 4-15, Ferne Clyffe St.Park IL 4-16, and Hoosier Nat.Forest near Tell City (far S) IN 4-18

Black-necked Stilt – a scattering of records from our states, but the reliable areas still are Howard Marsh (E of Toledo) OH thru 4-19 and Goose Pond FWA (SW of Bloomington) IN thru 4-19

American Avocet – lots of early birds W of the Mississippi, but the only strays to our area were 2 at Big Island WA (Marion) OH 4-18

American Golden Plover – not really rare now in glaciated areas of OH-IN-IL; look for them around flooded fields

Black-bellied Plover – rarer as a Spring migrant here, 1 was at Patoka River NWR in so.IN 4-17

Upland Sandpiper – always a treat, the bird near Grissom Air Reserve Base (N of Kokomo) IN was relocated 4-18, and another was at Shaker Trace Wetlands (N of Cincinnati) 4-16

Baird’s Sandpiper – many west of us; our area had birds near Richmond IN Municipal airport thru 4-14, S of Louisville KY Airport 4-14&15, Clear Creek Park (Cincinnati) OH 4-16, and along the B&O Rail Trail (near Lexington) OH 4-14 &15.

Long-billed Dowitcher – sparse, with birds near Jasper-Pulaski IN 4-15, Goose Pond FWA IN 4-18, and at Big Island WA (Marion) OH 4-18

Marbled Godwit – 1 of these elegant birds was near Sheridan (N of Indianapolis) 4-17

Wilson’s Phalarope – many early birds out on the Great Plains, but our only stray was 1 at Brownsville (NW of Indianapolis) IN 4-17. Look carefully at any ‘squat yellowlegs’ now.

Lesser Black-backed Gulls – still lots of birds around Lakes Erie & Michigan, but inland records scarcer: Clear Fork reservoir (near Mansfield) OH 4-14, 11 in a CSX railyard near Bowling Green OH 4-15, and Kankakee River near Delmotte IN 4-14.

Franklin’s Gulls – lots on the Great Plains, but nothing closer to us than birds along the Mississippi River at Riverlands Bird Sanctuary N of St. Louis.

Red-throated Loon – mostly gone now, with the last recent sighting 1 at Rocky Fork Lake (Highlands) OH 4-13

Pacific Loon – a celebrity rarity seen by many at Nimisila Reservoir (Akron) OH 4-13 thru 18

Neotropic Cormorant – the McKinley quarry rookery in Columbus OH still had bird(s) thru 4-16, while possibly the same bird was seen at nearby Griggs Reservoir 4-17. Other birds were at Goose Pond FWA IN 4-13 & 14 and Lake Decatur IL 4-15

Little Blue Herons – multiple early records along the Mississippi River now, so we have strays to Fernald Preserve (Cincinnati) OH 4-13, Clarks River NWR (Western) KY 4-14, and Celery Bog Nature Area (W.Lafayette) IN 4-17&18

Snowy Egrets – early records are already coming from expected haunts along the Mississippi River, Lake Michigan (Cline Ave marsh rookery) and Lake Erie (Ottawa NWR & Howard Marsh), so a stray at Gilmore MetroPark (N of Cincinnati) OH 4-15 & 16 was not wholly unexpected

Cattle Egrets – more strays: Goose Pond FWA IN 4-14, Floyd’s Fork parkland (E of Louisville) KY 4-16, Kentucky lake (west) KY 4-16, and S of Terre Haute IN 4-18

Glossy ibis – 1 of these rarities was along Cache River in far S Illinois 4-13

Rough-legged Hawks – laggards at Litchfield Wetlands (Medina) OH 4-17 and Kankakee Sands preserves IN 4-14 & 17

Barn Owl – the bird at Pickerington Ponds (SE of Columbus) OH was seen 4-18, while another at Goose Ponds FWA IN was present 4-18 as well

Burrowing Owl – the bird at Montrose Beach sanctuary in Chicago stayed thru 4-13

Snowy Owl – a very late bird was at Willow Run Airport (suburban Detroit) MI 4-14&15

E.Wood Pewee – many sightings in KY, while OH had early birds at Shawnee St.Forest 4-14, Peebles 4-18, and Hueston Woods St.Park 4-19, all in the south of the state.

Acadian Flycatcher – early ones in southern KY: at Mammoth Cave NP 4-15 and near Benton 4-16

Least Flycatchers – near Cincinnati OH 4-14, and Eagle Creek Park (Indianapolis) 4-18

Great Crested Flycatchers – plenty of early records from KY and southern IN, fewer in OH

Eastern Kingbirds – multiple sightings throughout southern portions of area

Loggerhead Shrike – the only recent ones are all in IL: Williamson 4-15, Wilmington 4-14, and NW of Albion 4-18

N.Shrike – the closest one was NE of Jackson MI 4-16

Vireos – Yellow-throated and Warbling are now being reported from multiple locations. The first Red-eyed came in at multiple sites in KY, so. IN, and so OH between 4-16 thru 18.

Fish Crows – loads of records in southern IL, southern IN, & western KY; the 1-2 birds at Eagle Creek Lake Park (Indianapolis) were still being seen thru 4-18, while the Akron OH birds were located 4-13. Champaign IL has had some thru 4-16, while Decatur IL had 1 on 4-14

Sedge Wren – Prairie Ridge SNA IL still had 1 on 4-15, while Goose Pond FWA IN had 1 on 4-18

Thrushes – the first early waves of Veeries and Swainson’s arrived throughout the region 4-14 thru 18

Red Crossbill – scarce & widely scattered, with reports from so IL 4-16 & 17 and from Little Darby Preserve in central OH 4-17

Pine Siskins – records scattered all over our area; most likely at isolated large forest blocks, with reports from Fox Ridge & Shawnee Nat.Forest IL, Yellowwood St.Forest IN, and Hocking Hills area OH

Grasshopper Sparrow – multiple records in glaciated areas of OH, IN, IL

Lincoln’s Sparrow –still strangely scarce in our area, though common west of Mississippi River now

LeConte’s Sparrows – none in our area, though 1 at Grant Park Chicago 4-14 suggests that they may just be overlooked because of their wariness.

Lark Sparrow – multiple records from northern IL and further west; we had strays at Terre Haute IN 4-14, Taylorsville MetroPark (N of Dayton) OH 4-14 thru16, and Sheridan (N of Indianapolis) IN 4-17&18

Harris’s Sparrow – the bird at the river confluence N of St. Louis was seen thru 4-14

Spotted Towhee – nothing currently in our area, though the stakeout bird in St. Genevieve (S of St. Louis) was still there thru 4-18, and 1 popped up in Forest Park St. Louis 4-17.

Western Meadowlark – the stakeout bird near Lyons IN was relocated up thru 4-18; other birds were at Lexington IL 4-15, and Lake Rawson (Illinois River N of Peoria) IL 4-15

Brewer’s Blackbirds – nothing in the Ohio River Valley, but still many sightings in Chicago – NW Indiana area, with a second cluster now around St. Louis.

Yellow-headed Blackbirds – the vanguard has arrived in the isolated breeding population in eastern Wisconsin, but we have only a stray at the Erie Hunt Club marsh MI 4-17.

Orchard Orioles – records all over southern IN & OH from 4-15 thru 18

Yellow-br.Chat – multiple records from KY and so IN starting 4-16

Early Wave Warblers – Nashville, Black&White, Black-thr. Green, Palms, Prairies, Redstarts – all showing lots of records now in KY and forested areas of IL, IN, OH.

Hooded Warbler – multiple early records from big forest blocks in KY, southern IL, southern IN, southern OH; very few overflights to further north yet.

Cerulean – rare enough that early records are noteworthy: singles at Eagle Slough FWA IN 4-14, Yellowwood St.Forest IN 4-15, Grandview Heights OH 4-18

Tennessee Warblers – unusual before May, but records now from Eagle Slough WA 4-15 thru 17, southern IL forests 4-13 thru 16

Blackburnian Warbler – early birds at Scales Lake Co.Park (E of Evansville) IN 4-15, Lexington KY 4-16, and Shawnee St. Forest (southern) OH 4-16

Blackpoll Warbler – very early records at Peebles OH 4-18 and Evansville IN 4-18

Swainson’s Warbler – reliable record from Clark’s River NWR in western KY 4-14; another was at Forks of Coal SNA WV 4-18

Rose-br. Grosbeak – many early reports in KY, IN,IL, less so in OH

Scarlet Tanagers – multiple early reports from KY, southern IN, southern OH 4-16 thru 19

Summer Tanager – cluster of early reports in western KY, southern IL, and southern IN 4-17 thru 19

Blue Grosbeak – multiple records from KY, so. IL, and so.IN 4-16 thru 19; southern OH had 1 at Hueston Woods St. Park 4-17thru19

Indigo Bunting – many records in KY and southern parts of IL, IN, OH now