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Date: Monday, February 8, 2010
Location: Rivertowne Marina, River Downs
Reporter: Donald Morse Jr.
Other Birders:
Stopped by various spots along Ohio River on my way back from downtown. Highlights:
3 horned larks, 1 juv. dc cormorant, 1 pb grebe at Rivertowne Marina. 1 Killdeer at River Downs parking lot by horse stalls. My attempt to photograph a horned lark out car window (hard to get pic of!):
http://donaldthebirder.blogspot.com/2010/02/winter-river-hopping.html
Date: Monday, February 8, 2010
Location: Loveland (My Backyard)
Reporter: Mary Huttlinger
Other Birders:
HOLY COW -- we saw a warbler (my husband and I are still debating on which one - isn't this too early?) also have a Carolina Wren, Mockingbird (who chases our starlings - yay!) and 4 bluebirds (they seem to eat at my feeder every February!)
Date: Monday, February 8, 2010
Location: Finneytown Home
Reporter: Daniel Hadley
Other Birders: Mary Elizabeth Huey
Our first Chipping Sparrow of the year at our feeder this afternoon.
Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Location: Mercy Hospital Mt. Airy
Reporter: Barbara Casson
Other Birders:
A red tailed hawk in tall trees near
visitors parking lot.
Trip List: Red-tailed Hawk 1
Date: Saturday, February 6, 2010
Location: Loveland, OH
Reporter: Janet Pace
Other Birders:
I saw 6 Eastern Bluebirds in my backyard.
Date: Sunday, February 7, 2010
Location: Miami-Whitewater Wetlands & vicinity
Reporter: Jonathan Frodge
Other Birders: Samantha Sayre
Stopped by the Shaker Trace wetlands today around 3pm to peruse the snowy fields. Had to walk a ways to get there, as the parking area is inaccessible.
Sightings:
Red-shouldered Hawk
Kestrel
Red-tailed Hawk
N. Harrier (at least 3)
Turkey Vulture
Short-Eared Owl (3! near the bathouse path)
E. Meadowlark (7)
Swamp Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
House Finch (flock of ~30)
Red-winged Blackbird (two large flocks;50 and 100 birds respectively and the flock that came closer seemed to have other 'blackbirds' mixed in it, but none were identifiable, but the vocal red-wings certainly were the dominant members of the flocks.)
Date: Sunday, February 7, 2010
Location: Our backyard near Owensville
Reporter: David Johnstone
Other Birders: Jo Johnstone
Today we had 6 mature and 2 immature red-headed woodpeckers, a male and female pileated woodpecker, 3 female and 1 male northern flickers visiting our suet and peanut feeders. They have been regulars this winter along with 3 or more fox sparrows and the usual feeders birds. Great season! We have 50 plus cardinals!!
Date: Sunday, February 7, 2010
Location: Armleder
Reporter: William Hull
Other Birders: Eric B.
I was at Armleder from about 12:00 - 2:30. Highlights were a Cackling Goose, Merlin and lots of American Tree Sparrows. The Merlin came from the direction of the bank building, landing in a tree near the overlook and then made a direct flight out of the park towards the north. The Cackling Goose was with a group of Canadas in the flooded field adjacent to the park.
Darlena, I am curious about your Rough-legged Hawk. Did you note any plumage details? I saw 7 Red-tailed Hawks, 5 juv., 2 adults and 1 one of the adults was very suggestive of a Rough-legged Hawk from a distance. Suggestive enough that I chased it down across one of the fields to get a better look. It perched on the top of the small trees and its belly band was very dark. However, closer looks showed a beautiful red tail.
Date: Sunday, February 7, 2010
Location: Armleder
Reporter: Darlena Graham
Other Birders:
Suffered from a severe case of laziness this week-end. Happily so, finally got my act together and headed out to Armleder. Started out with an Am. Pipit, nearing the end of my walk, I added a Rough-legged Hawk, a lovely female No.Harrier, my first this winter, and last but not least a S.E. Owl. The Meadow Larks are also still there. Something was calling that I couldn't identify to send me home scratching my head!!! All of this fun between noon and 1:30 or so.
Date: Sunday, February 7, 2010
Location: Great Miami River, Hamilton
Reporter: Mike Busam
Other Birders:
There was one Least Sandpiper on the southernmost gravel bar at Hamilton Riverside Natural Area, in addition to two or three American Pipits. The Least Sandpiper certainly seems like a wintering bird. I don't know where it goes when its favorite island is submerged, as has happened three times or so since December, but the river drops enough for the island to reappear, and so does a Least Sandpiper. There were scattered pipits along the river from roughly the Columbia Bridge south to Riverside. A single Killdeer at the Hamilton-Miami low dam.
Waterfowl were less abundant than I had hoped for. There were 700 to 1000 or so Canada Geese on the river between High Street and Riverside. 200+ Mallards, 3 Lesser Scaup, 4 Greater, 1 Bufflehead, 2 Common Goldeneyes. These are roughly the same numbers--and possibly the same individuals in the case of the scaup at least--that have been on this stretch of the river for a month or so.
Date: Saturday, February 6, 2010
Location: Backyard Feeders, Anderson Township
Reporter: Joshua Eastlake
Other Birders:
One fox sparrow and several towhees came in with all of the regulars to feed in ths snow.
Date: Saturday, February 6, 2010
Location: Rivertown Marina / Luncan Airport
Reporter: Jonathan Frodge
Other Birders:
I made two quick stops today and had some notable sightings: at the marina 1 male Wood Duck, 1 1yr Herring Gull over the river. At Luncan 2 flocks, of ~6 Horned Lark in each.
Date: Friday, February 5, 2010
Location: Norwood front yard
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders:
Was glad to see the Red-Bellied Woodpecker chase the Starlings away from the suet, so he could eat. He was actually quite agressive!
Date: Thursday, February 4, 2010
Location: French Park -- around dusk
Reporter: Kirk Westendorf
Other Birders:
1 Eastern Screech Owl
1 Great Horned Owl
Both heard. The ESO was doing its non-whinny call from somewhere near the cell tower.
Date: Thursday, February 4, 2010
Location: Felicity
Reporter: Kathi Hutton
Other Birders:
Many times in the past, I have thought I heard a Pileated Woodpecker drumming, but always dismissed it because I didn't think there was enough old growth woods in the vicinity to support them. Tonight, a PILEATED WOODPECKER flew across Richey Road, heading toward the small woodlot behind my neighbor's horse pasture. There is no mistaking their flight or the flash of the white wing linings. Hurray!
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Location: Muscatatuck NWR / Oxbow, Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Reporter: Jonathan Frodge
Other Birders: slightly out of area
Stopped at both locations yesterday while driving back to Cincy fr/ some work in southern Indiana. Muscatatuck had great feeder action, with 8 Purple Finch and 4 Fox Sparrows in view at one time. 4 Greater White-fronted Geese, one of which showed a bright orange bill, consistent with the Greenland race, were among the Canada's on the one-way loop. Waterfowl diversity was low, with Mallards, 2 Gadwall, and 1 or 2 probable Cackling rounding out the field. Also present 1 2nd yr. Bald Eagle.
At the Oxbow, late afternoon, things picked up a bit. There's a pond or flooded field that's accessed by driving straight in to the chain and walking pas the chain (south?) into the corn stubble fields. All sightings were thru a scope: 10 N. Pintail, 4~ Gadwall, 200 Mallard, 50+ Black Duck, 100's Ring-billed Gulls, 6~ Herring Gulls, 1 suspicious large,2nd year Gull, still probably Herring, 1000's Canada Geese, 25 Great Blue Heron, and NO 'white' geese (although I scanned more than thrice through everything). The cool part was how so many birds were concentrated on this back pond. My guess is that as water recedes it creates nice feeding conditions in the shallows.
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Location: armleder
Reporter: john zahnen
Other Birders: Eric Burkholder
Just to add to what Eric already put in,there was 1 pileated, 1 kingfisher, and I thank Eric for his diligence. Two of the immature redtails were hard to classify despite their relative tameness. Eric left & got a different guide to make sure they were what he thought. Dang, I was hoping for something more exotic. However, the one was so tame that it allowed me to walk within five feet of it, talk to it(I'm sure he understood) for five minutes. A walker came by & told me, as we both stood next to it, that he had the same thing happen a couple of days earlier. Finally flew kaddy-korner to the other stop sign where Eric found him when he returned. The bird showed no agitation or nervousness the whole time.
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Location: Armleder
Reporter: eric burkholder
Other Birders: John Zahnen
The park is open with a lot less cover in the fields. Stopped by around lunch. Found 2 Great Blue Herons, 8 Mallards, 5 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 American Kestrel, 1 Belted Kingfisher,20 American Tree Sparrows, 6 Eastern Meadowlarks and a large flock of 90+ Starlings.
At one time there were 4 Red-tailed Hawks in the row of trees between the N field and the soccer fields. Two of the hawks were immature. They allowed us to get very close to them when they perched on the stop signs and nest boxes.
There are still plenty of meadow voles around. I checked the ODNR website and not only are meadow voles prolific breeders but also excellent swimmers.
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Location: Winton Woods Parcours Trail 5:30 pm
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders:
Lots of woodpeckers out today! I heard one pecking on a nearby tree, so I put my ear on the tree, and it was pretty neat!! Even though she (Downy) was drumming on a very small branch near the top, I could hear it in the trunk, and I could feel the tree vibrate too.
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Location: GM River Hamilton; McGonigle nr Oxford
Reporter: David Russell
Other Birders: Miami U Ornithology class
With class this morning we found a Snow Goose in a Canada flock at the trailer park right off 27 in McConigle; the Snow left soon after our arrival with about 6 Canadas heading west. From the marina near MU Hamilton on the river we had an Am Pipit, female RB Merg, and a small mixed flock of Greater and Lesser Scaup. While looking for a Killdeer near the dam a DC Cormorant flew over headed upstream. We found no unuaual geese among the 1,000+ grazing along the banks, although a couple domestics always make life interesting, and the ducks were limited to a couple dozen Mallards, a single Bufflehead female, and about 8 Gadwall. Two imm Herring Gulls were actively working the shoreline.
Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Location: Shawnee boat ramp, 3:30 PM
Reporter: Mike Murphy
Other Birders:
Mature Bald Eagle perched in a tree at the parking lot.
Date: Sunday, January 31, 2010
Location: Delaware, Big Island & Killdeer Plains WA's
Reporter: Jay Stenger
Other Birders: Mark Gilsdorf and Jack Stenger
The following report is from locations that lie outside of the immediate Greater Cincinnati region, but may still be of interest to local birders who regularly visit these spots. Delaware, Big Island and Killdeer Plains Wildlife Areas (WA) are all located in west-central Ohio, a bit northwest of Columbus. Delaware WA is about a 2.0 hour drive from Cincinnati. Add another 20 minutes north to Big Island plus 15 minutes more to Killdeer Plains. Maps of these sites and all Ohio Wildlife Areas can be found at:
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/wild_resourcessubhomepage/WildlifeAreaMaps/tabid/19694/Default.aspx
On Sunday, January 31st the three of us decided to check out the large winter raptor populations that are annually attracted to these sites. Mark and I left Cincinnati at 8:30 am and picked up Jack in Delaware, Ohio around 10:30 am. From there we made a quick pass through Delaware WA to pick up a wintering Northern Shrike, that was cooperatively right where it usually is. We then made a quick pass through Big Island and arrived at Killdeer Plains after noon. At sunset, having the option of looking for Short-eared Owls at Killdeer or Big Island, we chose Big Island where we stayed until dark.
Our day’s highlights included Northern Shrike, 3 Cackling Geese, a Greater White-fronted Goose, 32 Tundra Swans and lots of raptors. Keeping a strict and conservative count, our totals for the day included 48 Red-tailed Hawks, 5 Rough-legged Hawks, 24 Northern Harriers, 22 American Kestrels, 5 Bald Eagles, 3 Short-eared Owls and 2 Great Horned Owls. All of these birds were seen from or near our car.
Some of the species we saw included:
Cincinnati to Columbus: Red-tailed Hawk 8, American Kestrel 5.
Delaware WA: Red-tailed Hawk 5, American Kestrel 2, Northern Shrike 1 (large field in area G, south of US 229).
Big Island WA: Red-tailed Hawk 14, American Kestrel 3, Northern Harrier 18 (5 adult males), Bald Eagle 4 (2 adult, 2 immature), Short-eared Owl 3, Great Horned Owl 2 (the owls were seen near last light).
Killdeer Plains: Canada Goose 3000 (low estimate), Cackling Goose 3, Greater White Fronted Goose 1, Tundra Swan 32, Mallard 100+, Black Duck 30+, Northern Pintail 3 (most of the waterfowl were seen in the ponds along CH-68), Red-tailed Hawk 21, Rough-legged Hawk 5 (2 black morph, 3 light morph, including 1 immature), American Kestrel 12, Northern Harrier 6 (2 adult males), Bald Eagle 1 (adult), Red-headed Woodpecker 1, Eastern Meadowlark 1, Northern Mockingbird 1 (uncommon up there)
Horned Larks were numerous everywhere we went.
Date: Monday, February 1, 2010
Location: Beckjord soccer fields, New Richmond, OH
Reporter: Donald Morse Jr.
Other Birders:
1 Northern Harrier. Also, RS and RT Hawk in area. Haven't seen too many harriers this season.
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Location: Trammel Fossil Park
Reporter: STEPHEN RICE
Other Birders:
Saturday night heading home from work at Jungle Jims, stopped at Trammel Fossil Park to look at the Full Moon 10PM & heard at least one Great Horned Owl hooting up on the hill in the forest. Once saw a large owl fly thru the woods there at dark.
Date: Sunday, January 31, 2010
Location: Great Miami/Miami Whitewater
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders: Mike Sweeney
If you want to see eagles, invite expert birder(Worth Randall taught)Mike Sweeney along. We were looking for an eagle nest reported to me by a birder at Armleder - visible from Lawrenceburg Rd. across Watson Gravel just left of a maintenance bldg. in a Sycamore. I missed it, but Mike spotted it, saying we should get a closer look. Turns-out, the nest was on the other side of the Whitewater adjoining Dave Lutz' canoe livery. Hearing a Redtail protest as we got near, it became obvious it was a RED TAIL NEST- way too small for Bald Eagles. Mike thought it was a Redtail nest from far away.
We got a 100' close 5 minute watch of an immature Baldy next to U.S.50 bridge at Great Miami River, and later a quick shot of one of the pair 400yds. from the Whitewater nest, finally a different immature Baldy circled close over our heads at Campbell Lakes Preserve.
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Location: St. Joesph Cemetary
Reporter: Jim Terlinden
Other Birders: Patricia Terlinden
Female Merlin in the "Old Single" section just north of St Anthony near W 8th and Enright.
Date: Sunday, January 31, 2010
Location: Our home near Owensville
Reporter: David Johnstone
Other Birders: Jo Johnstone
Today brought us six mature and two immature Red-headed Woodpeckers!! It appears the really cold temps bring them all in. It is a treat to watch them! We also had four Fox Sparrows!
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Location: Magrish Preserve/Camp Dennison
Reporter: Kirk Westendorf
Other Birders:
Magrish Preserve:
1 immature Bald Eagle (probably around 930 am)
Camp Dennison (late morning; there were more ducks among the distant coots that I didn't ID):
200+ Canadas
5 Mute Swan
27 Gadwall
50 Canvasback
12 Redhead
4 Ring-necked
4 Greater Scaup
8 Lesser Scaup
5 Bufflehead
3 Common Goldeneye (all female)
20+ Hooded Merganser
2 Ruddy Duck
100+ A. Coot
I made 2 stops at Armleder as well but there didn't seem to be much going on when I was there.
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Location: Fort Thomas, KY
Reporter: Debra Hausrath
Other Birders: The family
An immature Bald Eagle has been flying over the Ohio River and our woods today. Saw it 3 times. Assume it's one (or both?) of the ones that were spotted at Armleder yesterday.
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Location: grand valley
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders:
late afternoon -
11 Lesser Scaup
5 Mallards
51 Canvasbacks
100+ Coots
50+ Hooded Mergansers
23 Rednecks
5 Buffleheads
1 Widgeon
1 Snowgoose
120+ Canadas
6 usual Mute Swans
1 immature Bald eagle
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Location: Woodland Mound - Anderson Township
Reporter: John Cimarosti
Other Birders: Penny Borgmand, Larry Jones
One adult bald eagle flying over the visitor center about 1:15pm. Pretty cool.
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Location: Winton Woods (Kestral Point)
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders:
About 2:30 pm, I saw a Red-shouldered Hawk along Winton Lake.
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010
Location: Bethel
Reporter: Kathi Hutton
Other Birders:
Seen at 5:30pm, in the side yard of the house at 448 N. Main St (SR 133) on the east side of the road, north of SR 125 between Circus and Kennedy-Ford: A huge roost of vultures, both Black and Turkey. There had to be at least 100 birds. The sycamore tree had 15 or 20, which is what caught my eye, but the 3 large old evergreen trees were filled with vultures, stacked on every available branch. Quite a sight!
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010
Location: Norwood front yard
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders:
New visitors to my bird feeders; this afternoon I saw a beautiful Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Carolina Wren hanging around. This experiment is getting expensive; I never realized birds could eat so much!
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010
Location: Armleder
Reporter: Joe Kappa
Other Birders: Paul Krusling
Fly-over Rough-legged Hawk heading East. Flew right overhead.
Two Jeuv. Bald Eagles flying East up the river. Several gulls in the distance all appeared to be Ring-Billed.
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010
Location: IKEA Pond on Mulhauser Road
Reporter: Jay Lehman
Other Birders:
At about 5:00 pm, the Snow Goose previously reported was on the pond by the parking lot with the local flock of Canada Geese. This was species # 103 for Ohio in Janauary 2010 for me.
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010
Location: Columbia Parkway
Reporter: Rockin Birder
Other Birders:
Immature Bald Eagle was flying around near the large church at the top of the Mt. Adam's hill. Closest I've seen an Eagle to downtown.
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010
Location: Lake Isabella - 12:30-1:00 PM
Reporter: Allan Claybon
Other Birders:
Approx. 30 Hooded Mergansers far out on the lake that was mostly clear of ice.
Adult American Bald Eagle moved to 3 different perches around the lake.
Photographed from the car. Still there when I left.
First stop was at Armleder around 10 where no unusual gulls were seen.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsxbirder/
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010
Location: Armeleder
Reporter: Jonathan Frodge
Other Birders: No Sighting
This morning before work spent about 15 minutes checking the flooded park from the main entrance at the closed gates. Mark G. was there a bit before me and no interesting gulls were sighted at all. There are plenty of Ring-billed Gulls present though; perhaps 100. 1 Killdeer on the 'shore' immediately opposite the gate. I'd guess that the 'interesting' gulls that have been sighted there in the past days (Glaucous, Lesser Black Backed, Bonaparte's) could be around but just not visible. Certainly worth checking back at this location in the coming days. I can't think of any other viewing access to this area, but other nearby lower Little Miami areas could have these birds. Gulls were visible last night and this morning in the distance flying up and down the river at Armeleder.
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Location: Armleder
Reporter: Mark Gilsdorf
Other Birders:
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL - 1
Stopped by Armleder after work, from 5 – 6 p.m. Water still rising. Among a group of six Ring-billed Gulls floating in the water I spotted one LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. The bird was an adult gull, with black wings, a reddish spot on its lower beak tip and was roughly the same size as the ring-bills, maybe slightly larger. I observed it through my scope for about 10 minutes before something put the gulls up and they dispersed, with only a couple ring-bills remaining in view. The gulls still seem to be feeding on meadow voles.
In addition, a juvenile Northern Harrier was hunting low over the unflooded fields at the north end of the park.
Trip list:
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL – 1
Ring-billed Gull - 10
Killdeer – 1
Great Blue Heron - 1
Northern Harrier – 1
Eastern Meadowlark – 5
Mallard - 3
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Location: union center blvd
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders:
Rough Legged Hawk dives on top and drives away Red Tail from squirrel prey.
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Location: Armleder
Reporter: Mark Gilsdorf
Other Birders:
Stopped by for about an hour this morning before work. Park completely flooded. About 50 Ring-billed gulls, 1 Northern Harrier, 5 Canada Geese, 4 Mallards and 10 Crows. One interesting thing was that the gulls seemed to be picking the furry little corpses of drowned meadow voles out of the water. The Harrier was picking off the ones who managed to make it to dry land. No sign of the Glaucous Gull Paul reported yesterday, but it would be worth checking the park again.
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Location: Armleder
Reporter: Paul Krusling
Other Birders:
I stopped by Armleder after work today hoping to see if the high water brought in anything interesting.
Canada Goose 20
Mallard 8
Great Blue Heron 1
American Kestrel 1
Bonaparte's Gull 4
Ring-billed Gull 30
Glaucous Gull 1 (See notes below)
Rock Pigeon 20
Mourning Dove 4
Tufted Titmouse 2
European Starling 20
Northern Cardinal 2
Notes: Glaucous Gull - I was unfortunately alone when I spotted this bird. I spent about ten minutes staring at the bird through the scope trying to note every field mark. The bird was white without the gray on the wings or the black wing tips of the ring-billed gulls and the Bonaparte's Gulls which were also present. The bill had a black tip and the wings had very light tan freckling. I hope it sticks around so someone else confirms it.
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Location: West Chester
Reporter: Laura Keene
Other Birders:
The Snow Goose I reported this morning was not present later this afternoon. Pic from this morning: http://www.flickr.com/photos/keeneone/4309844281/sizes/l/
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Location: Susana boat ramp, New Richmond, OH
Reporter: Donald Morse Jr.
Other Birders:
1 Male wood duck with the ~30 mallards and ~15 Canada geese in the flooded trees to the left of ramp.
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Location: Crooked Run State Nature Preserve/adjacent Chilo Lock 34 Park
Reporter: Suzanne Clingman
Other Birders:
15 Purple Finches at our back feeder today. The most so far for the year at one feeder. The cold brought them back but seems to have chased off our Phoebe. The last we saw it was 1/18/10. It was happily eating Virginia Creeper berries off the front of the house.
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Location: West Chester, Allen Road
Reporter: Laura Keene
Other Birders:
On my way to work this morning (~9:30 AM) I got a nice close up view of a Snow Goose with about 10 Canada Geese in a small pond on Allen Road east of Ikea- probably the same one John Hull spotted down the road at the Ikea pond yesterday. I'll just post a map: http://maps.yahoo.com/?ard=1&mvt%3Dh%26lat%3D39.313252%26lon%3D-84.425668%26zoom%3D18%26q1%3D39.313729%2C-84.424241#mvt=h&lat=39.313252&lon=-84.425668&zoom=15&q1=39.313729%2C-84.424241
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Location: Miami Whitewater wetland
Reporter: Frank Frick
Other Birders:
Rusty blackbirds: Across Baughman rd. from the parking lot in the woodlot on the left side of the trail. I had a small group of birds mostly a.robins with some e.bluebirds,red-winged blackbirds,starlings and two RUSTY BLACKBIRDS. The first I've seen this year.
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Location: Ikea pond, West Chester
Reporter: John Hull
Other Birders:
I saw a white blob in with the Canada Geese as I drove by on 75 so I circled back later and found a lone Snow Goose along with 40 Canada Geese, and 3 Mallards. Also 3 Starlings, and 3 Ring-billed Gulls.
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Location: Batavia Wendy's
Reporter: Lola Irvin
Other Birders:
An American Kestral hanging out on the light pole by Wendy's at Route 32 and Half Acre Road. Probably stopped in for a hot bowl of chili like I did.
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Location: armledder
Reporter: john zahnen
Other Birders:
Went looking for the great horned owl at the cavity I saw it in a few days ago. No activity. Bean field nicely flooded. 50-60 Canadas, 6 cackling (going on the basis of size. Closer to mallard size than Canada). Maybe forty ducks, mostly mallards and a few I won't call. Need a scope, as all were on the far side.
1 female harrier & 2 rt hawks.
Date: Sunday, January 24, 2010
Location: Miami Whitewater/Fernald
Reporter: Kirk Westendorf
Other Birders:
Afternoon-nightfall
Miami Whitewater Golf Course:
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
14 Wild Turkey
1 Hermit Thrush
Fernald:
2 Mute Swan
21 Gadwall
210 Ring-necked Duck
65 Redhead
4 Canvasback
Miami Whitewater Wetlands:
9 Cackling Geese
1500+ Canada Geese
700+ Mallard
4 Gadwall
10 A. Black Duck
4 Northern Pintail
1 N. Shoveler
6 N. Harrier
1 Killdeer
The Cackling Geese came in as one flock, half the size of the other geese in the air. They were easily distinguished by their short, higher-pitched honks despite the cacophony of Canada Goose sounds. They mixed briefly with a Canada flock but ultimately didn't land and flew south in their own flock. My numbers for Canadas and Mallards are very rough since I was mostly just enjoying the spectacle.
Date: Monday, January 25, 2010
Location: Fernald
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders:
Late afternoon -
18 Mallards
8 Canvasbacks
23 Redneck
2 Buffleheads
5 Piedbilled Grebes
220 Hooded Mergansers
12 Common Mergansers
1 Gadwall
2 Mute Swans
15 Canadas
4 blue-morph Snow Geese
1 Harrier
300+ crows
Date: Saturday, January 23, 2010
Location: Crooked Run State Nature Preserve/adjacent to Chilo Lock 34 Park
Reporter: Suzanne Clingman
Other Birders: Chris Clingman
An Immature Bald Eagle, we first saw it flying over the estuary. It perched in a tree next to the middle bird blind. Later it flew over our garage to the river and flew downriver along the preserve bank. It had very mottled plumage underneath.
Date: Saturday, January 23, 2010
Location: Rt. 1 (Indiana near the slopes)
Reporter: Bruce Leonhardt
Other Birders: Michele Leonhardt
We located a new GBH rookery on our trip back from Starve Hollow & Muscatatuck. At Muscatatuck the regulars and a few Muted Swans. The highlight was watching a family of river otter break thru the ice. I have photos posted for those who wish to view.
Date: Saturday, January 23, 2010
Location: Spring Grove Cemetery
Reporter: Kirk Westendorf
Other Birders:
1 Fox Sparrow (next to the woodlot across from section 60)
2 Mute Swan
2 Horned Lark (see message board)
Date: Saturday, January 23, 2010
Location: armledder
Reporter: john zahnen
Other Birders:
At about 10:15 this AM while in the woods a GH owl flew out of a tree cavity (nest?) and sat for my viewing pleasure a good five minutes. I finally won the staring contest.
Also, 1 RS hawk, 1 merlin,1 female harrier, 2 mallards, ,2 gw teal, & hoardes of titmouse. Also many other backyard feeder birds.
Date: Saturday, January 23, 2010
Location: Fernald Preserve, Lodge Pond
Reporter: Allan Claybon
Other Birders:
Nice variety this afternoon about 3PM.
Counts on Redheads, Ring-necked, and Mallards are estimates.
Trip List: Mute Swan 2, Mallard 30, Northern Pintail 2, Canvasback 2, Redhead 40, Ring-necked Duck 40, Bufflehead 3, Common Goldeneye 2, Hooded Merganser 4, Belted Kingfisher 1
Date: Friday, January 22, 2010
Location: Armleder Park -- around dusk
Reporter: Kirk Westendorf
Other Birders:
1 Great Horned Owl (2 on 1/19)
3 Savannah Sparrows
I watched one of the GHO cough up a pellet on both nights but couldn't find either one of them in the leaf litter. The Savannah Sparrows are almost always in the field between the shelterhouse and the picnic shelters along with meadowlarks. I sometimes see them but usually just hear their weak call notes from the bike path when I'm there at dusk.
Date: Friday, January 22, 2010
Location: East End - Ohio River
Reporter: Jonathan Frodge
Other Birders:
This morning before work -
1 immature Bald Eagle flying low from the river up the hill, paralleling (approximately) Delta Ave.
Date: Friday, January 22, 2010
Location: Clifton backyard
Reporter: Lori Brumbaugh
Other Birders:
I just had a immature CAPE MAY Warbler on my suet in the backyard...and got photos!
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010
Location: Winton Woods (various)
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders:
Walked in the rain this afternoon between 4 and 6 pm and saw more birds than I thought would be out; quite a few robins on the ground,feeding. I saw a couple of Downy Woodpeckers, 1 Pileated overhead, some Carolina Chickadees, a Brown Creeper and a couple cardinals. Also saw Canadian Geese flying overhead in several groups as it was getting dark.
Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Location: East End - Ohio River
Reporter: Jonathan Frodge
Other Birders:
I had a probable Cackling Goose fly over in one of numerous skeins of Canada Geese late this afternoon. I'd like to know where they've all been headed, as it's towards downtown from here, which is relatively urban and close in. 22 Mallards and a Great Blue Heron were on the river bank. As dusk settled an E. Screech Owl trilled quietly in the cottonwoods.
Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Location: Valley View Preserve
Reporter: Joshua Eastlake
Other Birders:
1 Red Tail
1 Sharp-Shinned
Field, Song, and American Tree Sparrows in droves. Also some White-Crowned.
Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Location: Armleder
Reporter: Joshua Eastlake
Other Birders:
2 Red Tails
1 Harrier
1 Kestrel
1 Pileated
1 Hairy
Plenty of White-Crowned and Am. Tree Sparrows
Date: Monday, January 18, 2010
Location: Cincinnati Nature Center - Rowe Woods
Reporter: Kathi Hutton
Other Birders:
Heard along Edge Trail, behind the Rowe Building: a pair of Barred Owls calling back and forth to each other.
Date: Monday, January 18, 2010
Location: Fernald
Reporter: John Marvin
Other Birders:
In the front pond there was a pintail in addition to the mallards, ring necks, redheads, canvasbacks, and green-winged teal. Also saw a pipit, meadowlark and horned larks in the fields. Still haven't been able to track down any of those longspurs though...
Date: Monday, January 18, 2010
Location: Great Miami River, Hamilton
Reporter: Laura Keene
Other Birders:
A Trumpeter Swan landed in the Great Miami River upstream from the lower dam around 3pm today, stayed for about 10 minutes, then flew south. I missed the Least Sandpipers Mike Busam reported(again)!
http://www.so-keene.com/IMG_8709.jpg
http://www.so-keene.com/IMG_8712.jpg
Date: Monday, January 18, 2010
Location: Camp Dennison Gravel Pits 1 pm
Reporter: Everitt Kitchen
Other Birders:
Only one area of about 100 yds by 50 yds in the South pond free of ice.
80 coots, 6 mute swans, 40 Canada geese, 24 canvasbacks, 8 red heads, 10 bufflehead, 6 hooded mergansers, 10 ruddies, 4 scaup, 6 gadwall, 3 wigeon, 20 ring-billed gulls.
Date: Monday, January 18, 2010
Location: my backyard (West Price Hill)
Reporter: David Brinkman
Other Birders: Adam Brinkman (3 yrs old)
28 goldfinches (on 2 thistle feeders) is a record count for my yard. Pretty good for inside the city limits. No siskins yet.
Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Location: Campbell Lakes Preserve
Reporter: Bruce Leonhardt
Other Birders:
1 Adult Bald Eagle gave me a great show as it went for a freestyle flight over the lakes. I have 7 photos posted in my gallery.
Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Location: Hamilton Riverside Natural Area/Great Miami River
Reporter: Mike Busam
Other Birders: Charlie Saunders
Charlie and I birded the Great Miami River in Hamilton for a little bit Saturday and Sunday mornings. Some highlights include 1 Peregrine Falcon on Saturday, and 3 Least Sandpipers on the Hamilton Riverside Natural Area gravel bar on Sunday. These birds seem intent on wintering here. Also Sunday, one Double-crested Cormorant, and 1 Killdeer.
Ducks include the following, and with the exception of hundreds of Mallards and 6+ Gadwall over two days, all the numbers are of five or less individuals:
American Wigeon, American Black Duck, Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, and Red-breasted Merganser.
There are many Canada Geese (1000+) up and down the river, but we couldn't find anything unusual. There were still a few Herring Gulls hanging around, and we had a nice view of three individuals of different age classes, which were fighting over a dead fish. That's what passes for high times when it comes to river birding in Hamilton . . .
Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Location: MWF, Fernald, Shawnee
Reporter: Albert Scruggs
Other Birders: julie morris
Rough-legged hawk at Fernald.. Also 9 duck sp.-- American Black, Mallard, Gadwall, Canvasback, Ring-necked, Redhead, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy, Green-winged teal. Saw 20 wild turkeys in 3 different flocks. Raptors other than rough-legged were Red-tailed, Cooper's, Red-shouldered, Am. Kestrel, N. Harrier.
Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Location: Grand Valley, St. Joe Cemetery, Lost Bridge, Harrison, Miami Whitewater Wetland
Reporter: Jay Lehman
Other Birders:
I discovered that my total list reported after three days was low by two species. I missed reporting Swamp Sparrow seen on the East Fork Christmas count and did not count the Winter Wren. So, I started Saturday, 01/16/10 with 77 species. I ended the Saturday, 01/16/10 with 88 species.
I started the day at Grand Valley Park/Camp Dennison looking for several waterfowl still missing from my list. All of the ponds were frozen except for a hole in the south pond where I found new birds Northern Shoveler-2 (m) and Green-winged Teal-1 (m). The Green-winged Teal was feeding on the ice edge somehow finding food. The Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser and Mute Swan were still present. I was lucky that the fog was still high enough that at first I could see from the dike along the road, when I first saw the N. Shovelers. When the fog dropped obscuring my view from the road side dike, I went to the park in Camp Dennison and was able to see the Northern Shovelers and find the male Green-winged Teal. I heard later from other birders that the fog dropped further obscuring a good view. I thought I heard a Red-winged Blackbird only once flying over in the fog, but couldn’t find it and decided that I was hearing a Starling doing an imitation or a similar sound.
Next I went Armeleder Park hoping for pipits. I found American Pipits-2, flying over and calling. I checked out the extensive sparrow habitat, looking for Savannah Sparrows, even though they have not been reported there recently. No luck. The snow and cold weather probably drove them south. I met Jonathan Frodge, who had found a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds along the river. So, we returned to the rivers edge and found them. There was one long-tailed bird in the group and a few potential candidates for Rusty Blackbird in the flock, but I didn’t have a scope at that time and they were too distant for a cloudy day to identify. Other birds present but not new were two different flocks of White-crowned Sparrows, 10 in each, and lots of Song Sparrows and Tree Sparrows. There was a small flock of about 8 Horned Larks, several Red-tailed Hawks, one American Kestrel and two immature Red-shouldered Hawks.
Next stop was St. Joe Cemetery on West Eighth Street. I found a Merlin by driving up the hill from the entrance building on Seton Road. The local crows were harassing it.
I headed west to the Lost Bridge area. There I found the Common Goldeneye-8 (1 m the rest f or imm.), Ross’ Goose-1, Northern Pintail-1 (m) and Common Merganser-18. There was a second smaller white goose, but I could not get a good look at its bill. I kept its head tucked, and when it un-tucked its head, it was actively preening and moving too fast to see the bill well. There was a large white domestic goose, with bright orange bill, legs and feet and bigger than the Canada Geese. Hopefully, this was not previously reported as a Snow Goose. The N. Pintail appeared when some shooting flushed a large flock (+300) of Mallards and Black ducks off the river. The Common Mergansers were on the river, south of the bridge (scope necessary). Other birds while I was there were one adult Bald Eagle, perched in a tree north of the bridge in back of the gravel operation, one Northern Harrier, hundreds maybe 1000 Canada Geese and at least 20 Gadwall, a few American Coot and at least one female Ring-necked Duck. I checked the cornfield to the south, but there was no flock of Horned Larks, longspurs, etc. visible while I was present.
Next I stopped at the end of Southwest Parkway and found at least one Lapland Longspur in a flock of about 250 Horned Larks. Every time the whole flock flew I heard the dry rattle flight call of Lapland Longspur. I looked for Snow Bunting in this flock but never saw any. Turn left on Dry Fork off of I-74, continue straight across Simonson on Southwest to the dead-end.
I continued to Miami Whitewater to the wetlands, and stayed at the observation hut until almost 6:00 pm. watching for the Short-eared Owl recently reported. No luck. However, up to six Northern Harriers were seen north of the observation hut, with up to five sitting on the ground in view at one time. There was one male (“gray ghost”) in the mix. Just before I left the observation area, a flock of Common Grackles-5 flew by followed a little later by a single Common Grackle. A third group of three blackbirds flew over, but I did not see them well enough to identify them.
Date: Saturday, January 16, 2010
Location: Great Miami River, Dayton
Reporter: Laura Keene
Other Birders: Shane Egleston, Frank Frick and 2 other birders
I arrived at 11:45AM to find the Glaucous gull in the exact location reported yesterday.
Date: Saturday, January 16, 2010
Location: Backyard, New Richmond, OH
Reporter: Donald Morse Jr.
Other Birders:
2 Female Purple Finches at feeders. Always seem to show up right after the snow melts.
Date: Friday, January 15, 2010
Location: Twin Creek Park
Reporter: John Hull
Other Birders:
A little north of the area but I found a Red-breasted Nuthatch in the southern portion of the Twin Creek Metro Park yesterday if anyone is interested.
The area is in Warren county off Route 4, N of Middletown. There is a fishing pond and entrance off Morning Star road. If you drive back and park, walk past the maintenance area and across a field to a stand of pines with a nice crop of cones. I had walked the entire Southern trail in the late fall and had seen a pair of nuthatches at that time so I thought I would see if any are around this winter and at least one is.
Also seen: Brown Creeper, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, C Chickadee, C Wren, A Goldfinch, A Crow, and R Belly Woodpecker.
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: Grand Valley, Bethel area, Hillsboro, Armeleder
Reporter: Jay Lehman
Other Birders:
I started day 3 following up on some good birds reported on the East Fork State Park Christmas Count. At the end of day three I had 75 birds on my list. A quick stop at Grand Valley yielded Yellow-bellied Sapsucker-1 in the park at the south edge of the south pond. I looked for but did not find Northern Shovelers. Unfortunately, I did not find the Brown Thrasher and White-crowned Sparrows at the power lines, reported by Bob Foppe and Donald Morse on the Christmas Count, but I did find one White-crowned Sparrow along the road near the corner where they also reported American Pipits on the count. I did not find the pipits either. I then went to Grant Lake as I worked my way north and east toward, Highland Stone and Gravel, Highland County, the quarry southeast of Hillsboro. I didn’t find anything new at Grant Lake, so I headed toward the quarry near Hillsboro. In the park across from the office, there were 6 Sandhill Cranes, and while driving around south of the area, I found a flock of 32 more. In the gravel pit area, there was a Killdeer-1, a Northern Harrier-1 in the grassy areas around the pits, and a flock of Horned Larks-20 in a harvested soybean field. I headed back to Cincinnati, and stopped again at Grand Valley looking for Northern Shoveler. No luck. There was till enough light to stop at Armeleder Park before dark. There I added Eastern Meadowlark-3 and also saw a flock of 20 Tree Sparrows.
At the end of day three, I was well on track to get to 100 with a total of 75.
However, this quest was interrupted January 09 -12 by a successful trip to south Texas to see the Bare-throated Tiger Heron.
Date: Saturday, January 2, 2010
Location: East Fork State Park
Reporter: Jay Lehman
Other Birders: Joe Bens, Linda Rommine, Kathi Hutton, one additional counter-Rick?
I joined the East Fork State Park Christmas Count. At the end of the day my list was 68. I arrived almost too late to join the count, but followed Joe Bens and his group. One my way to the south beach, I added Red-shouldered Hawk-1. At the beach in a small flock of Canada Geese flying by, I added Greater White-fronted Goose-2. The Eastern Phoebe had survived a very cold night (13F) and was still present near the bath houses and added to the Christmas count list. At the prairie I added Field Sparrow-2. The prairie habitat is not as good this year, because all vegetation was cut in the fall to limit woody plants. At the trail access parking area along the entry road from the South Bantam Entrance, I added Winter Wren-1, which popped out of the ground cover around the small frozen pond near the blind and wood duck box. It promptly disappeared—as usual for Winter Wren. At a private nearby feeder, Brown-headed Cowbird-3 and Fox Sparrow-1 were added. Great Blue Heron-1 was added at the dam. At the raceway, I added a distant Belted Kingfisher-1 rattling. On the way back to Bethel for lunch, I added Copper’s Hawk-1. In the afternoon along the south side of the lake, we birded the roads that end at or near the lake. I added Brown Creeper-2, Hermit Thrush-1, Turkey Vulture-3, Black Vulture-3, Sharp-shinned Hawk-1 and a beautiful male Purple Finch-1.
A list of 68 species for the second day is about average for me for the past three years.
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Location: Madeira, Grand Valley, East Fork SP & area
Reporter: Jay Lehman
Other Birders:
January 100 Species in Ohio Quest
This is the report for my first day trying for 100 birds in January in Ohio (aka January Century List). My strategy this year was again to start in the south and try to get all of the more common birds in the south before heading north. At the end of the day I recorded 53 species. Below is the list of the new birds with the number seen following each species name. Additional sightings of previously sighted species are also added at the end of each section/location. On my way to spend Christmas in Pennsylvania with family, I picked up cold, so I wasn’t sure how long I could stay out in the cold to bird.
I started on my front porch with my morning cup of coffee, getting in order Great Horned Owl-1, American Robin-5, White-throated Sparrow-1, American Goldfinch-1, House Finch-2, Blue Jay-2, House Sparrow-2, Northern Cardinal-1, Song Sparrow-1, American Crow-1, European Starling-8, Mourning Dove-2, Carolina Chickadee-1.
Then I headed to Grand Valley/Camp Dennison only a few miles east, where I added Golden-crowned Kinglet-1, Ring-billed Gull-30, Ring-necked Duck-20, Greater Scaup-2 (1m, 1 f), Lesser Scaup-3, Canvasback-8, Redhead-6, Ruddy Duck-46, Bufflehead-8, Canada Goose-3, Horned Grebe-1, Pied-billed Grebe-5, American Coot- 100, Carolina Wren-1, Bald Eagle-1 (adult), trying to catch coots in north pond, Mute Swan-6, Mallard-4, Hooded Merganser-6, American Wigeon-3, Gadwall-10. I also saw 3 Carolina Chickadees and 15 American Robins at Grand Valley.
In Milford I added Rock Pigeon-15.
At East Fork State Park (EFSP) at the Visitor center by the dam, I found Red-bellied Woodpecker-2, Dark-eyed Junco-15, White-breasted Nuthatch-6, Tufted Titmouse-25, Hairy Woodpecker-1, Downy Woodpecker-1, Eastern Towhee-1 as well as 15 White-throated Sparrows and 20 Carolina Chickadees.
At the raceway below the dam at EFSP, I added Northern Flicker-1, Pileated Woodpecker-2, Eastern Bluebird-8, as well as 2 Downy Woodpeckers, 10 White-throated Sparrows, 3 Tufted Titmice, 5 Carolina Chickadees and 1 Hairy Woodpecker.
At the prairie at EFSP, I added Tree Sparrow-2 as well as 1 Song Sparrow, 1 Carolina Wren and 1 Eastern Towhee.
At the south beach at EFSP, I added Eastern Phoebe-1, which was snagging food off the ground and flying into and out of the bath houses. There were also 200 Ring-billed Gulls and 3 Pied-billed Grebes.
On Route 222 on the way back to Batavia, I added Wild Turkey-1 and Northern Mockingbird-1 and a flock of several hundred European Starlings.
On the way east on Route 32 to the rest area east of Sardinia, I added Red-tailed Hawk-1, and at the rest area I added Red-headed Woodpecker-1 and American Kestrel-1.
On my way back home on Route 32, I stopped at the pond west of Bodman Road, visible from Hess Road and added Black Duck-1 and Cackling Goose-1. There were also about 40 Mallards and 50 Canada Geese on the ond.
A total of 53 birds is not bad for a first day.
I called Joe Bens to report the Eastern Phoebe for the East Fork Christmas Count and signed up to help on January 2.
Date: Friday, January 15, 2010
Location: Armleder Park
Reporter: Bill Doss
Other Birders:
I failed to locate the Merlin in the park but found it in a large Sycamore tree at 16:00 about 1,000 feet North on Wooster Road.
Trip List: Canada Goose 20, Mallard 2, Red-tailed Hawk 1, Merlin 1, Rock Pigeon 14, Mourning Dove 2, Belted Kingfisher 1, Red-bellied Woodpecker 1, Northern Flicker 1, Blue Jay 1, American Crow 1, Carolina Chickadee 4, Tufted Titmouse 5, White-breasted Nuthatch 3, Brown Creeper 1, Carolina Wren 1, American Robin 3, Northern Mockingbird 1, European Starling 20, American Tree Sparrow 12, Song Sparrow 4, Dark-eyed Junco 2, Northern Cardinal 3, American Goldfinch 1
Date: Friday, January 15, 2010
Location: Dayton, Ohio
Reporter: Mike Busam
Other Birders: reported by Rick Asamoto
I thought this report taken from the Ohio-birds list (http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/OHIO.html#1263582573) of a Glaucous Gull along the Great Miami River in Dayton might be of interest. It's a close location and easily accessed from I-75:
Subject: Glaucous Gull, Great Miami River, Dayton (Montgomery County)
From: Rick Asamoto
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:07:13 -0800
The Glaucous Gull reported by Dave Collopy was located by Shane Egleston today.
It was on the ice on the Great Miami River between Carillon Park and the UD
Arena.
Ducks in the area included Mallard, Hooded Merganser, Gadwall, Common
Goldeneye, and female Green-winged Teal.
Rick Asamoto Miamisburg
Date: Friday, January 15, 2010
Location: Chilo Lock 34 Park
Reporter: Chris Clingman
Other Birders:
One Peregrine Falcon at the visitor center. It headed down river towards Meldahl Dam.
Between Chilo and Felicity on State Route 222, One Eastern Meadowlark.
Date: Thursday, January 14, 2010
Location: armledder
Reporter: john zahnen
Other Birders: Ruhikant, Tom, Lola, all in part
1 female harrier
1 coopers
1 kestral
on LMR
7 mallards
2 gw teal
5 gb herons
1 kingfisher
7 canadas
6 maybe cackling geese. Half the size of the canadas they were next to. Markings different. However, not positive without another verification
Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Location: Miami Whitewater Wetlands
Reporter: John Hull
Other Birders:
I walked the big loop around the Miami Whitewater wetlands early this afternoon. I was looking for Harriers without luck but I did have a Short-eared Owl that popped up and barked at a Red-tail that flew in too close. The Owl flew around briefly and settled back in to the grass. A nice surprise.
Other new species for my year were Turkey Vulture and Red-shouldered Hawk.
Full list:
A Robin - 8
N Mockingbird - 2
C Chickadee - 2
A Goldfinch - 7
Song Spw - 9
---
E Bluebird - 5
RS Hawk
WT Spw - 10
A Tree Spw - 3
N Cardinal - 2
---
House Finch - 3
M Dove - 4
RT Hawk
T Vulture - 2
E Starling
---
SE Owl
Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge
Reporter: Joe Kappa
Other Birders:
I arrived at the Lost Bridge last night shortly after 4:00 and found one white phased Snow Goose swimming with approximately 1,500 Canada Geese. The Snow Goose left the water by 4:30 and flew across the road to the corn field. In the 90 minutes I was there I observed approximately 2,500 Canada Geese fly over from the East. The earlier geese flew into the Western horizon, approximately 1/3 of the later arrivals landed in the field with the Snow Goose. There were also nearly 500 Mallards and Blacks circling the field while I was there. The lake itself had one Bald Eagle on the ice eating a fish and one dead duck also on the ice (I suspect from a local duck hunter).
Other observations:
On the river from the bridge:
Common Merganser 16
Gadwall 4
Lesser Scaup 1
Mallards 40
Great Blue heron 2
On the pond, in the air or in the field:
Snow Goose 1
Canada Goose 3000-4000 (mostly fly-overs)
Gadwall 5
American Black Duck 23
Mallard 900
Ring-necked Duck 14
Bufflehead 1
Common Goldeneye 18
Hooded Merganser 1
Great blue Heron 3
Bald Eagle 1
American Coot 5
Mourning Dove 4
Belted Kingfisher 1
Crow 14
Starling 22
Song Sparrow 14
White-crowned Sparrow 3
Cardinal 3
Large mixed flock of Rusty Blackbirds and Grackles 700 – 1000
American Goldfinch 1
Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Location: Grand Valley to Mariemont
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders:
Regarding the many sightings over the last 2 yrs of an adult Bald Eagle pair(and occassional immatures)hunting the Little Miami and surrounds from Morrow down to Lunken, numerous birders think a nest exists somewhere in these environs. They were last reported together by Dee Durham on 1/3. Last year I interviewed folks in likely nest spots up and down the river with lots of hiking to no avail.
Today around 3:00 observed adult Baldy penetrate Grand Valley from the river ridgeline, then move south along the river, picked-up again in large sycamores downstream until 5:15 when it crossed the river and went up into Indian Hill, where I say it is likely nesting with its mate in the inpenetrable riff-raff guarding green belt forest.
Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Location: Winton Woods (Kestral Point, Kingfisher Trail)
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders:
Birded between 3:30 and 5:30 this afternoon; saw 1 Great Blue Heron by Winton Lake; 2 Downy Woodpeckers, 3 Carolina Chickadees on the way to the trail head; more Chickadees, Male and Female Cardinals, White-Breasted Nuthatches, Tufted Titmice, Mourning Doves, Song Sparrows and American Tree Sparrows near the bird feeder by the trail head. On the trail I saw another Downy Woodpecker, 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker, 1 Carolina Wren. The best thing of the afternoon was watching a Northern Flicker drinking water (or maybe eating bugs) from the creek on the lower part of Kingfisher Trail. What a wonderful day to be outside! The woods smelled of winter, and the sunset was gorgeous pink and orange.
Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Location: Armledder
Reporter: john zahnen
Other Birders:
2:30-3:45 PM. Along LMR trail: 1 rt hawk, 1 gb heron, 2 pippit, 2 male green winged teal, 2 mallards.
The male harrier was present in the south field but headed toward Lunken. A brown female showed up briefly in the middle. Also 1 kestral. The merlin I've seen daily did show today.
Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Location: Overlook Avenue, Price Hill
Reporter: Paul Krusling
Other Birders:
An Eastern Screech-Owl flew out of the hemlock trees along my driveway and landed on the rose trellis outside my kitchen window. I watched it closely for about five minutes before heading off to work. It was a new yard bird!
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: Chilo Lock 34 Park/ Crooked Run Nature Preserve, Chilo
Reporter: Laura Hoople
Other Birders: Suzanne Clingman, Jennifer Wagner, Steve Wagner, Sheila, Linda Romine, Pam Branh
Results for the Clermont County Park District 2010 Winter Bird Count
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Canada Geese 202
Ring billed Gull 170
Black Duck 32
Mallard 77
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 3
Ruddy Duck 3
Mourning Dove 20
Northern Flicker 6
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 14
Downy Woodpecker 14
Blue Jay 18
American Crow 18
Carolina Chickadee 37
Tufted Titmouse 32
White-breasted Nuthatch 5
Brown Creeper 2
Carolina Wren 15
American Robin 120
Eastern Bluebird 9
Herring Gull 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Red-winged Blackbird 14
Common Grackle 33
Northern Cardinal 26
Purple Finch 1
American Goldfinch 75
Rufous-sided Towhee 13
Dark-eyed Junco 6
Tree Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 6
White-throated Sparrow 27
Swamp Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 23
Fox Sparrow 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Common Goldeneye 2
Eastern Phoebe 2
American Pipet 3
European Starling 47
TOTAL SPECIES 45
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: Kelley Nature Preserve, Loveland
Reporter: Laura Hoople
Other Birders: Chris Clingman
Results for the Clermont County Park District 2010 Winter Bird Count
Canada Geese 47
Mallard 18
Hooded Merganser 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
Carolina Chickadee 32
Tuften Titmouse 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 6
Brown Creeper 1
Carolina Wren 4
Northern Mockingbird 1
American Robin 13
Hermit Thrush 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 7
Northern Cardinal 14
American Goldifnch 4
Rufous-sided Towhee 1
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Tree Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 9
Song Sparrow 4
European Starling 6
TOTAL SPECIES 29
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: Sycamore Park, Batavia
Reporter: Laura Hoople
Other Birders: Adam Hoople, Jim and Julie Varick, Ken and Barb Braun, Jerry Braun
Results for the Clermont County Park District 2010 Winter Bird Count
Great Blue Heron 4
Canada Geese 7
Ring billed Gull 38
Black Vulture 6
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Common Flicker 7
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 6
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 2
Carolina Chickadee 27
Tufted Titmouse 17
White-breasted Nuthatch 7
Carolina Wren 3
Northern Mockingbird 1
American Robin 8
Eastern Bluebird 2
Hermit Thrush 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Kinglet ssp. 1
Northern Cardinal 8
American Goldfinch 2
White-throated Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 1
European Starling 13
TOTAL SPECIES 26
Ken and Jerry, a Junco and 3 goldfinches finally showed at the feeder on Sunday
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: Meldahl Dam
Reporter: Suzanne Clingman
Other Birders: Jennifer Wagner, Steve Wagner and Chris Clingman
We got a great look at a mature Peregrine Falcon sitting at about the 800 sign on the upriver lock wall. It was in the same spot the whole time we were there. Also on the upriver side of the dam: 33 Canvasback, 7 Ruddy Duck, 3 Cormorant, 3 Coot, 25 Black Duck, 1 Herring Gull, 3 Pied-billed Grebe, 6 Mallard, 25 Canada Geese, 1 white domestic goose "Gandy", 20 Rock Dove, and 150+ Ring-billed Gulls on the downriver side.
Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Location: Crooked Run State Nature Preserve/ Chilo Lock 34 Park
Reporter: Suzanne Clingman
Other Birders:
There was still a Phoebe in the yard this morning and a Am. Pipit in the parking lot in The Park they're waiting on the heat wave!
I saw the first Commom Mergansers (2) and and Bufflehead (3) for the year this morning. The Bufflehead were with a group including 7 Goldeneye, 39 Black Duck and 34 Mallards. We were up to 7 Purple finches at the feeder this morning.
For our Winter bird counters from Saturday at Chilo. Chris and I did pick up Pipits in the parking lot when we got back from the dam and another Bald Eagle, an immature, to add to our other two from our morning count. (1 mature Eagle, 1 immature, and 1 intermediate with the dark eye band).
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010
Location: Armleder Park -- around dusk
Reporter: Kirk Westendorf
Other Birders: Eric Burkholder
400+ Canada Geese
1 Northern Harrier
1 Killdeer
2 A. Pipit
Also a likely Brown Thrasher. We heard 2 notes coming from the same spot where one was for much of the breeding season. But we couldn't find the bird.
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: Lee's Creek Rd near MWW
Reporter: Bob Schlake
Other Birders:
Sorry about the mistake on the coyote link here is the right one.
BEWARE Graphic Photo
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4267662010_cb2250e8e5_b.jpg
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: various
Reporter: Bob Schlake
Other Birders:
Campbell Lakes; 4 Am. Pipit on the Whitewater river
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4267661396_13cbcd9a5b_b.jpg
MWW wetlands: 1 male 1 female N.Harriers
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2771/4267657704_c5a9d0e333_b.jpg
Lee's Creek Rd: at the "S" curve grain silos there was a flock of 30-40 Horned Larks.
Also a coyote with severe mange,
BEWARE this picture is graphic
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2771/4267657704_c5a9d0e333_b.jpg
I saw a coyote with mange(I think this one) at the MWW Baughman Rd parking lot Friday. He seems bold.
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge and Shawnee Lookout
Reporter: Paul Krusling
Other Birders:
I stopped by the Lost Bridge today hoping to see some of the rare geese. A few more ducks have moved into the gravel pit and the river. Afterward I stopped by the feeder at the Shawnee Lookout (SL) boat ramp parking lot.
Canada Goose 2000
Gadwall 5 in GM River
American Black Duck 17
Mallard 400
Northern Pintail 2
Ring-necked Duck 35
Bufflehead 2
Common Goldeneye 16
Common Merganser 15 in GM River
Ruddy Duck 2
Great Blue Heron 6
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 SL
Downy Woodpecker 1
American Crow 20
Horned Lark 80
Carolina Chickadee 20
Tufted Titmouse 4 SL
American Robin 20
European Starling 100
American Tree Sparrow 29
Song Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow 25 SL
White-crowned Sparrow 1 SL
Lapland Longspur 75
Northern Cardinal 4
American Goldfinch 1 SL
House Sparrow 6
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010
Location: Warren/Clermont/Brown
Reporter: Robert Foppe
Other Birders: Bill Doss
Bill and I drove some back roads through southern Warren, northern Clermont, visited East Fork Dam and the Hess Rd borrow pit.
Southern Warren we had several flocks of Horned Larks and each large had a couple Longspurs each. Small blackbird flock consisting of 5 Red-wings and 15 Rusty.
In Wayne Twp Clermont we found a vulture roost on SR 727 near Stonelick, 26 Blacks were still in the trees around 10am. Also we had a female Harrier and a couple more Longspurs. Most interesting was a dead bird in the road, it was on the double yellow, weird coloring and very smooshed. In the end we found it to be a very flat male Pintail that was beyond salvaging. Was expecting raptor of some type not duck in the middle of bean fields.
We checked East Fork from the dam, 1000+ Canada Geese way out there, 150+ Mallards, 10 Black Ducks, 1 Common Goldeneye, 1 Common Mergansers and 18 PB Grebes.
Last we visited Hess Rd in Brown County. 800+ Canada Geese, 75 Mallards and 5 Blacks were all we had but there was some open water.
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010
Location: armledder
Reporter: john zahnen
Other Birders:
2:45 to 3:45 PM
Male Harrier still working the fields. Also the merlin dashed by a couple of times. No other raptors noted. Only two mallards on the river with 1 kingfisher & 4 gb herons.
Date: Monday, January 11, 2010
Location: East Fork State Park
Reporter: Allan Claybon
Other Birders:
2 Adult Bald Eagles were at the South beach at 11 AM today. Roads to both the beach and boat ramp are closed. No salt available to treat the roads. They were seen from the wood deck near the visitor center on the North side of the lake. Must be a mile away! Crows were feeding on the remains of the kill reported yesterday.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsxbirder/4267248610/
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: Elizabethtown bridge, Hamilton Co., OH
Reporter: Neill Cade
Other Birders: Kim Cade
From 4:30-5:30 PM, there were lots of geese and ducks moving to and from the gravel pit next to the bridge. There appeared to be 1,800-2,000 Canada Gesse, 2 or 3 Cackling geese, 1 Snow Goose, and 1 Greater White-fronted Goose. There were 3 interesting geese that left with a large flock of Canada Geese before I had my scope set up. Binocular views showed 2 probable Greater White-fronted Geese and 1 possible Ross's Goose...but that's probable and possible, not certain.
There was also an interesting goose that remained the whole time I was present. Virtually as large as the Canada Geese, it had bright pink legs and a pink beak with a dark tip. It also had a fairly pale belly and pale areas on the face. In some lights, the facial area looked outlined, like the cheek patch on a Canada Goose.
There was a nice assortment of ducks onsite: Mallard, Black, Gadwall(3), Northern Pintail(1), Rehead, Ring-necked, Greater Scaup(1), Common Goldeneye, and Bufflehead. American Coots, 1 Pied-billed Grebe, and 3 Great Blue Herons rounded out the birds on the pond (and ice).
2+ Lapland Longspurs and 40-50 Horned Larks were also in the area.
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: Armleder 5:00 p.m-5:35p.m
Reporter: eric burkholder
Other Birders:
1 male Northern Harrier
1 Red-tailed Hawk
10 Mallards
1 Belted Kingfisher
8 Red-winged Blackbirds
9 Common Grackles
10 American Tree Sparrows
Saw the male Northern Harrier twice, at 5:00 p.m when I first arrived and another longer look at 5:30 p.m The Harrier and the small pale breasted Red-tailed Hawk were both hunting the South field just North of the mowed path.
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: Great Miami River, Hamilton
Reporter: Mike Busam
Other Birders: Charlie Saunders
Charlie Saunders birded the Great Miami River in Hamilton this morning from the low dam below Miami-Hamilton to the edge of Joyce Park. In the afternoon I covered a few riverside stops from Black Street Bridge, south to Hamilton Riverside. There were many Canada Geese along that stretch, but neither of us found anything unusual. Waterfowl variety was very low, as well. Charlie's list has more variety than I found in the afternoon. The only thing of interest I can add to Charlie's list is a Least Sandpiper that was once again feeding on a gravel bar--snow covered today--in the Great Miami.
Canada Goose 700
Gadwall 6
American Black Duck 5
Mallard 200
Ring-necked Duck 1
Lesser Scaup 1
Bufflehead 1
Common Goldeneye 1
Hooded Merganser 1
Red-breasted Merganser 1
Great Blue Heron 4
Northern Harrier 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1
Killdeer 1
LEAST SANDPIPER 1
Ring-billed Gull 40
Herring Gull 10
Rock Pigeon 7
Mourning Dove 4
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Horned Lark 1
Carolina Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 1
Brown Creeper 2
Carolina Wren 3
American Robin 5
European Starling 8
American Tree Sparrow 4
White-throated Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 8
American Goldfinch 3
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: Harrison,ohio
Reporter: Frank Frick
Other Birders:
andy bess called this afternoon to let me know that he had found horned larks and lapland longspurs near harrison, ohio. I was able to get there by about 3:30pm and found horned larks,lapland longspurs and snow buntings. from dry fork rd. cross harrison rd. to I think southwest parkway and continue past simonson to the end of southwest pkw..
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: Armleder Park
Reporter: Debra Hausrath
Other Birders:
I was at Armleder from 10:15 AM 'til noon in search of the Merlin for the third time. Finally! It was hunting from the tree line just south of the "river overlook." The kestrel was present, not far away, preferring the stop signs along the path for its perches. On the way home, a peregrine was perched atop the Combs-Hehl Bridge making for a 3 falcon day! (Where is a Gyrfalcon when you need one?)
The most interesting bird of the day was a lone swan that went "wonk, wonk, wonk, wonk..."ing by 3 times. From the size and the call and the black bill, I'm 95% certain it was a Trumpeter. Did anyone else spot it today?
No meadowlarks, but there were 2+ pipits foraging and calling on the river banks. Ducks were basically missing, too.
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: East Fork Lake
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders:
Having sighted 6 Baldy's yesterday, a return with an eye to finding a nest yielded no clues. While viewing 40 Coots in an ice hole, 100' beyond on the ice was an adult Bald Eagle feeding on a Coot as an immature soared along the tree line. 2 hours later 300+ Canada Geese, 80 Ringbilled Gulls, 100+ Mallards, and 3 Buffleheads had joined the Coots while the adult Baldy sat on the ice nearby still there as dusk approached. Down the shoreline a few 100 yds the other adult Baldy was perched in a tree.
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: Felicity
Reporter: Kathi Hutton
Other Birders:
A good day for backyard feeding/feeder-watching. Highlights: 3 Eastern Towhees (2 M/1 F)- a high for my yard, my FOS Amer Tree Sparrows, and 2 Carolina Wrens.
9+ Northern Cardinals
6 Blue Jays
2 Tree Sparrows
3 Eastern Towhees
2 Song Sparrows
2 W-C Sparrows
1 W-T Sparrow
juncos
goldfinches
House Finches
Mourning Doves
Tufted titmice
Carolina Chickadees
1 W-B Nuthatch
2 Downy Woodpeckers
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
2 Carolina Wrens
4 fly-over Amer. Crows
30+ starlings (grrrr!)
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: Western Hamilton County
Reporter: Ned Keller
Other Birders:
I went out this morning looking for Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings. I ended up with great looks at the former, and glimpses of the latter.
I started at Lost Bridge, since longspurs were reported there, along with a variety of rare geese. What I found there was about three thousand Canada Geese, exactly zero rare geese, and a few Horned Larks.
My next stop was the big gravel pit east of Kilby Road, on the Hamilton County Parks property. The best way to see it, if you don't wan't to walk the fields at Kilby, is from behind the Whitewater Township community park building on Dry Fork Road. This pit had another thousand-plus Canada Geese, but no rare ones. It did have a tiny scrap of open water, which held two Redheads, three American Coots, and three Pied-billed Grebes.
The next stop was where I expected to find my target birds. The mostly undeveloped light industrial park off Simonson Road, at the end of Dry Fork Road near I-74, has a combination of large open fields and roads with essentially no traffic. I found about 20 Lapland Longspurs mixed in with over 200 Horned Larks, some within a few feet of the car. I did not find any Snow Buntings.
Next, I cruised around some of the roads in northwestern Hamilton County. There were numerous Horned Lark flocks on Willey, New Haven and Atherton Roads. Unfortunately, bird flocks and places to pull off didn't coincide, for the most part. I did find a flock along Atherton that had at least two Snow Buntings with it, but they were about a hundred yards away from the road.
My final stop was at Fernald, which I expected to be completely frozen. I was nearly right - a pair of Mute Swans was keeping a spot open that wasn't much bigger than they were. One unexpected bird there was a Red-breasted Nuthatch, in a pine tree about half way from the entrance to the visitor center.
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: armledder
Reporter: john zahnen
Other Birders: ruhikant
2-3 PM. Nothing much on the LMR except 2 pippits feeding on the edge ice. The local merlin came by and made a half-hearted pass at them. Landed right across from me. No ducks, but lots of dog walkers in area.
3 PM while getting ready to leave pking lot, Mr. Ruhikant pointed out a male harrier in the North meadow. It later came south for better viewing. Also a birding couple from Batavia got to see it also. While watching, a skein of maybe 50 canadas flew along the LMR & about 7 or 8 meadowlarks started feeding near us.
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Location: Ohio River Newport to Mehldahl Dam (upriver)
Reporter: Jonathan Frodge
Other Birders:
Thinking that the recent freeze-up would concentrate waterfowl along the river, I decided to check some spots along the Ohio today. Started slow at the mouth of the licking river w/ 3 ring-necked ducks. Under the 471 bridge pilings a lone fem. ruddy duck out in the open water made my heart race for a minute, but its small size and obscure markings could not be turned into anything more exciting. A stop at St. Anne's Convent was a pleasant surprise. At the lower visitor's parking lot a warm water outflow into the creek and vicinity yielded a HERMIT THRUSH, 3 C. Grackle (fly over), a RUSTY BLACKBIRD, and an immature Brown-headed cowbird 'shadowing' the Rusty. The next stop, Mehldahl Dam, was not as interesting as I'd hoped it could be, but did yield a few additional birds. There were 100's of Ring-billed Gulls, about 2 Dozen Herring Gulls, 10~ Black Ducks, several Mallards, a drake Canvasback, 2 hen Gadwall, a Pied Billed Grebe, & Canada Geese. The best bird of the day for me was almost at home. A storm drain outflow behind Riverview Academy in East End usually has some ducks. As I scanned here flocks of Canada Geese took off from the far shore flying upstream. Among one flock was a single GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE.
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: East Fork
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders: Michael Sweeney
The highlight of this trip Saturday afternoon were 6 Bald Eagles - 3 immatures soaring together, in addition to the same trio spotted numerous times by others - 2 adults and an immature. I've never seen 6 out there at once.
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: Cincinnati Nature Center Rowe Woods
Reporter: Michael Kravitz
Other Birders: 9 bird walk participants
A cold and snowy, yet beautiful calm morning was the backdrop for pleasant birding. Highlights were a few American tree sparrows at the Visitor Center feeders and a great view of a pileated woodpecker landing on a tree and poking his head above the trunk as rays of sunlight highlighted his red crown. Other species seen or heard (h) were red-shouldered hawk (h), mourning dove (h), red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, northern flicker, blue jay, American crow, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, Carolina wren, American robin, European starling, eastern towhee, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow, dark-eyed junco, northern cardinal, house finch, and American goldfinch.
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: Centre Pointe Drive, West Chester
Reporter: Laura Keene
Other Birders: Cathy Geering
The mixed flock of Horned Lark (~50) and Lapland Longspur (~5) were present again this morning from 9:50 to 10:20. The longspurs were a life bird for Cathy! They moved between the field and the area between the West Chester library and Union Center Blvd.
http://www.so-keene.com/IMG_7342.jpg
http://www.so-keene.com/IMG_7248.jpg
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: Eastgate area
Reporter: Kathi Hutton
Other Birders:
At the second round-about where Ferguson turns into Ivy Point, an AMERICAN KESTREL perched on the "Road Closed" sign.
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: My Yard in Loveland
Reporter: Dee Durham
Other Birders:
Two eagles directly over our house. Flew over several times.
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: My Home in Loveland
Reporter: Dee Durham
Other Birders:
Northern Yellow-shafted flicker at my suet feeder. Beautiful bird. First time I have ever seen one in my yard.
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: Camp Dennison/Avoca/Armleder
Reporter: Kirk Westendorf
Other Birders:
I was out from about 10am - 1pm.
Camp Dennison (just in the small open area at the AIM building except the geese):
200+ Canada Geese
2 Gadwall
3 A. Wigeon
14 Mallard
1 Green-winged Teal
3 Ring-necked Duck
2 Bufflehead
1 Pied-billed Grebe
24 A. Coot
Avoca Park:
12 Mallard
2 Hooded Merganser
Armleder Park:
100 Canada Geese
16 Mallard
5 Green-winged Teal (3M, 2F)
2 Bufflehead (both F)
2 Common Goldeneye (1M, 1F)
20 Horned Lark
1 A. Pipit
20+ Northern Cardinal on almost every trip there lately
12 Red-winged Blackbird
1 E. Meadowlark
3 Savannah Sparrows
The ducks were all in the bend of the river just south of the overlook. I've also been getting lots of raptor lessons at Armleder this winter. Today's lessons included the maybe-immature eagle, a small immature accipiter with a rounded tail and an A. Kestrel that seemed so dark gray on the back and streaky in the breast that I would have called it a Merlin had I not seen tail-pumping, hovering and the distinct AK facial markings.
Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge Gravel Pit Pond
Reporter: Joe Kappa
Other Birders: Paul Wharton & several unknown birders
Snow Goose 1
ROSS'S GOOSE 1
CACKLING GOOSE 3
Canada Goose 2,500
Greater White-fronted Goose 2
Redhead Duck 3
American Black Duck 25
Common Merganser 1
Great Blue Heron 3
Ring-billed Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 35
Mourning Dove 9
Belted Kingfisher 1
Northern Flicker 1
Horned Lark 100+
Lapland Longspur 40
Bald Eagle 1
Harrier 1
Coopers Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Kestral 1
Song Sparrow 20
Tree Sparrow 30
Cardinal 4
Crow 23
Date: Friday, January 8, 2010
Location: Spring Grove Cemetery
Reporter: Lori Brumbaugh
Other Birders:
One merlin in section 30, overlooking the lake.
Thanks to the kind soul who filled the feeder.
Date: Friday, January 8, 2010
Location: Armleder and nearby
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders: Eric Birkholder and friend
Eric and his friend spotted a big raptor flying over U.S. Bank but hard to I.D. in strong snowfall - likely immature Bald. These 2 expert birders also sighted the Merlin, which I missed along with missing the big raptor.
My sightings among others - 3 American Pipits, 6 Cardinals, 15 Tufted Titmouse, 250+ Robbins in a pack.
Date: Friday, January 8, 2010
Location: Centre Pointe Drive, West Chester
Reporter: Laura Keene
Other Birders:
At lunch today I spotted a nice mixed flock of about 50 Horned Larks with at least 5 Lapland Longspurs in the field on Centre Pointe Drive (off Union Center Blvd) in West Chester. I parked in the new West Chester Library parking lot - they stayed in the area of the field nearest the library but flew quite a bit. It was difficult to sort through the group as it was snowing quite a bit, but I was able to see 5 longspurs at one time and there may have been more. I had lucked out with them in this same area in the past after a decent snow, so I had my camera along just in case and got several pictures. Bird #58 for January!
Date: Friday, January 8, 2010
Location: near armleder
Reporter: Dan Striley
Other Birders: my dog
I have had two fat Fox Sparrows at my
backyard feeders all week these are the first I have seen on the in almost 2 years they are in a mixed flock of about 15 White Throated, 8 American Tree, 7 White Crowned and 10 Song Song Sparrows,+5 Easten Towhee.but NO JUNCOS:( KEEP WARM THIS WEEKEND FOLKS and good birds to all:)
Date: Friday, January 8, 2010
Location: Crooked Run State Nature Preserve adjacent to Chilo Lock 34 Park
Reporter: Suzanne Clingman
Other Birders:
The best bird this morning was a Hermit Thrush below the middle bird blind on the estuary trial.
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010
Location: Crooked Run State Nature Preserve adjacent to Chilo Lock 34 Park
Reporter: Suzanne Clingman
Other Birders:
The best birds for the Preserve today: a Brown Thrasher along the river trail, a Pied Billed Grebe at the mouth of Estuary and a Bald Eagle. The eagle had a white head and tail but still had the dark band through it's eye. It was perched on the Kentucky side directly across from the Preserve.
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010
Location: Ohio River - East End
Reporter: Jonathan Frodge
Other Birders:
Had a new bird this afternoon for my little local area, a hen N. Pintail. Other birds: 28 Mallard, 1 GBH, 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Canada Geese, Ring-billed Gulls
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge
Reporter: Joe Kappa
Other Birders: 2 unknown duck hunters
Arrived at 4:30 this evening and watched thousands of geese fly from both the gravel pit pond and from fields East of the gravel pits to the field on the other side of the road. We estimated 10,000 plus geese.
Total list identified:
Canada Geese 10,000
Gr Wh-fronted Geese 2
Snow Geese 1 (blue phase, white phase seen two days earlier)
Mallard 800
Am Black Duck 45
Am Merganser 2
Gr Blue Heron 3
Bald Eagle 1 (jeuv)
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010
Location: Norwood front yard
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders:
The bird feeder experiment is going well. I had not expected such a wide variety of birds, but just today I saw at least 2 Downy Woodpeckers (1 male, 1 female), a Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatches, Dark-eyed Juncos, Cardinals, Starlings, Tree Sparrows, Chickadees, House Finches, American Goldfinches and Song Sparrows. One feeder contains black oil sunflower seed, the second one has thistle, the third one has suet.
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010
Location: Backyard, New Richmond, OH
Reporter: Donald Morse Jr.
Other Birders:
~50 or more Red-winged Blackbirds are also moving, they flew west.
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010
Location: Backyard, New Richmond, OH
Reporter: Donald Morse Jr.
Other Birders:
A flock of about ~300 ! Common Grackles briefly descended on the yard/feeders. They moved on, flying south.
Trip List: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker 5, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker 1, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, European Starling, Eastern Towhee 3, American Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle 300, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010
Location: Winton Woods (dawn to 10 am)
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders:
I started at the Parcours Trail as it was getting light, and saw only a couple of Carolina Chickadees.
On the paved hike/bike trail, on the way to the Great Oaks Trail, I saw a Pileated Woodpecker fly over toward the lake. Also saw two White-breasted Nuthatches.
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010
Location: backyard in Kings Mills near LM River
Reporter: Mike Lair
Other Birders:
2 RB Nuthatches, 14 Cardinals, 26 Goldfinches, 10 House Finches, 2 Purple Finches, 10 DE Junco, 13 White Throated Sparrow, 16 Pine Siskin, 4 Song Sparrow, 4 Lincoln Sparrows, 10 Timouse, 10 Chickadees, 1 Coopers Hawk looking for a meal - Saw 2 Robins fly over, 1 Mockingbird with very short tail? Yesterday saw the Mute Swans, Gadwalls, RingNecks, and 2 Lesser Scaups with about 20 Ring Billed Gulls at the P&G Mason Business Center pond.
Trip List:
Date: Monday, January 4, 2010
Location: Sugar Creek, Gallatin Co., KY
Reporter: Frank Renfrow
Other Birders: not my sighting
I just noticed that 2 Long-tailed Ducks were observed on Monday along the Ohio River near the split-off of US 42 and US 127. This is just a little south of Big Bone Lick SP in southern Boone Co.
Date: Sunday, December 27, 2009
Location: VOA
Reporter: Jason Cade
Other Birders:
Just a quick note i forgot to post from last Sunday. Heading home from a friend's house we passed by VOA about 6 pm & i saw 1 Short-eared Owl fly over the road! Glad to see they're still around that area.
Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Location: P & G Research Center Mason-Montgomery Rd
Reporter: Jason Cade
Other Birders:
I noticed alot of waterfowl in a hole in the ice on the pond in front of the P & G building so i pulled in briefly to look. Some surprising birds in this busy area. Highlights: 2 Mute Swans seen from the road, 80 Mallards, 15 Gadwall, 35 Ring-necked Ducks.
Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Location: Caeser Creek, Roxanna New-Burlington Gravel Pits
Reporter: Jason Cade
Other Birders:
Well i thought due to all the frozen ponds maybe the waterfowl would head to an open lake....I was wrong! Not much waterfowl but still a good day. At Caeser Creek the highlight was def 2 immature Bald Eagles working the lake! I did manage to find 25 Canada Geese, 1 Horned Grebe, & 3 Common Goldeneye but that's it for waterfowl on the lake. Better birds were on the land. A large group of sparrows at the boat ramp by the beach including a Fox Sparrow. A big surprise mixed in here was a good look at a GRAY CATBIRD. Good bird for winter & unexpected. One perched Merlin off Compton Rd, a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker, & a male Purple Finch off Harveysburg Rd rounds out the highlights at Caeser Creek. A quick stop at the Roxanna New-Burlington gravel pits yielded 250 Canada Geese, 2 CACKLING GEESE mixed in, 1 Mute Swan sticking out of the group, 40 Mallards, 5 American Black Ducks, 1 Ruddy Duck, & 15 American Coot.
Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Location: Winton Woods (KIngfisher Trail) 4:00 to 5:00 pm
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders:
Encountered a variety of birds at various points on and around the trail, including 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker, 3 Downy Woodpeckers, 3 Mourning Doves, 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet (near the sinkhole), numerous Robins,Chickadees,Starlings,Cardinals, 1 Carolina Wren, 2 Tufted Titmice, 3 American Tree Sparrows, 1 Dark-eyed Junco. This is more than I usually encounter on Kingfisher, though no one else was on the trail.
Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Location: Anderson Township Krogers Beechmont
Reporter: Janet Heywood
Other Birders: -
Today at 3 pm 15 Ring-billed Gulls hanging out at the Beechmont Krogers at Anderson Town Center -- crowded on light fixtures and jumping on any dropped food scraps. These gulls are not regulars at this shopping center -- a first on my Anderson Center Krogers list.
Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Location: Armleder Park
Reporter: Jack Thier
Other Birders:
Trip List: Red-shouldered Hawk 1, Red-tailed Hawk 4, American Kestrel 1
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Location: Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge
Reporter: David Carr
Other Birders: Mike Clay, Bob Barber
Sorry for the late post, but here are my sightings from the Muscatatuck Christmas Bird Count on 1 January, 2010. Our best species was Lapland Longspur. We had about 15 longspurs mixed in with a flock of Horned Larks at about 5 pm, just east of the refuge at the junction of County Roads 325 S and 700 W. The day was very cold, most of the water was frozen, and our numbers were low, but we managed 48 species overall:
Canada Goose 20, American Black Duck, 3, Mallard 20, Ring-necked Duck 1, Hooded Merganser 2, Wild Turkey 10, Great Blue Heron 1, Northern Harrier 2, Sharp-shinned Hawk 1, Red-shouldered Hawk 2, Red-tailed Hawk 8, American Kestrel 1, Rock Pigeon 50, Mourning Dove 45, Eastern Screech Owl 3, Barred Owl 3, Belted Kingfisher 1, Red-bellied Woodpecker 10, Downy Woodpecker 11, Hairy Woodpecker 5, Northern Flicker 7, Pileated Woodpecker 2, Blue Jay 10, American Crow 22, Horned Lark 25, Carolina Chickadee 36, Tufted Titmouse 21, Red-breasted Nuthatch 4, White-breasted Nuthatch 14, Brown Creeper 4, Carolina Wren 8, Winter Wren 1, Golden-crowned Kinglet 2, Eastern Bluebird 23, Hermit Thrush 1, American Robin 41, Brown Thrasher 1, European Starling 160, Yellow-rumped Warbler 15, American Tree Sparrow 18, Fox Sparrow 2, Song Sparrow 8, White-throated Sparrow 8, Dark-eyed Junco 47, Lapland Longspur 15, Northern Cardinal 26, Purple Finch 1, American Goldfinch 70
Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Location: Oxbow
Reporter: Allan Claybon
Other Birders:
Observed 2 large groups of American Tree Sparrows numbering 40-50 in each group feeding along the roads. Looking back in the database I was surprised to see that this would be the highest reported sighting for Oxbow. As they were about 1/2 mile apart, I did not think it was the same group seen twice.
Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Location: Kilby Road Lakes, Lost Bridge
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders:
At Kilby,
500+ Canada Geese
2 adult Bald Eagles
1 Redtail Hawk
2 Pintail ducks
4 Cardinals, a Blue Jay and numerous sparrows
At Lost Bridge
700+ Canada Geese
15 Herring Gulls
1 RedtailHawk
Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Location: armleder
Reporter: john zahnen
Other Birders:
2-3 PM. Along river:
52 mallards
7 g.b.herons
1 kingfisher
1 red-tail hawk
2 white-crowned sparrows
1 song sparrow
2 wb nuthatches
1 flicker
1 gold crown kinglet
various backyard birds
In field: 1 merlin & whatever it was chasing. This was between the south meadow & the brush above the LMR. Came by twice. Definately not the kestral who also hangs out in area. Usually see the merlin just east of the dog run.
Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Location: just west of Meldahl Dam along Hwy 52
Reporter: Suzanne Clingman
Other Birders:
Two immature Bald Eagles flew just to the left of me as I drove west along Hwy 52 toward Neville. They cut toward the river before the Indian mound which is east of Neville.
Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Location: Crooked Run State Nature Preserve adjacent to Chilo Lock 34 Park
Reporter: Suzanne Clingman
Other Birders:
The best bird I saw in the Preserve this morning was a Phoebe. In our yard in the Preserve.
Date: Saturday, January 2, 2010
Location: East Fork and surrounding areas
Reporter: Joe Bens
Other Birders: East Fork Lake Christmas Count
The East Fork Lake Count was held Saturday, January 2. We found 80 species for the count - a new record. Highlights were 2 Greater White-fronted Geese (fly overs at the lake), 4 Bald Eagles, 221 Turkey, and 34 Red-headed Woodpeckers. There were a good variety of ducks seen. Conspicous by there absence were Cedar Waxwings. None were found. Totals are:
Canada Goose 1678
Greater White-fronted Geese 2
American Black Duck 47
Mallard 603
Shoverler 1
Green wing teal 5
Lesser Scaup 12
Greater Scaup 25
Canvasback 2
RedHead 9
Bufflehead 3
Hooded Merganser 6
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 61
Turkey Vulture 23
Northern Harrier 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 7
Red-shouldered Hawk 23
Red-tailed Hawk 24
Bald Eagle 4
American Kestrel 30
Turkey 221
Coot 21
Sandhill Crane 27
Killdeer 1
Ring-billed Gull 4544
Herring Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 33
Mourning Dove 208
Great Horned Owl 1
Barred Owl 2
Screech Owl CW
Belted Kingfisher 3
Red-headed Woodpecker 34
Red-bellied Woodpecker 112
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 3
Downy Woodpecker 92
Hairy Woodpecker 15
Northern Flicker 62
Pileated Woodpecker 7
Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 259
American Crow 125
Carolina Chickadee 281
Tufted Titmouse 249
White-breasted Nuthatch 47
Red-breasted nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 10
Carolina Wren 45
Winter Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 13
Eastern Bluebird 102
Hermit Thrush 2
American Robin 359
Northern Mockingbird 10
Brown Thrasher 1
Am Pipit 45
European Starling 5397
Cedar Waxwing 0
Yellow-rumped Warbler 24
Eastern Towhee 98
American Tree Sparrow 205
Field Sparrow 2
Fox Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 247
Savannah Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 14
White-throated Sparrow 388
White-crowned Sparrow 25
Dark-eyed Junco 280
Northern Cardinal 578
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Eastern Meadowlark 89
Rusty Blackbird 13
Common Grackle 10
Brown-headed Cowbird 137
Purple Finch 8
House Finch 32
American Goldfinch 213
House Sparrow 179
Date: Monday, January 4, 2010
Location: Armleder 4:35p.m.-5:45 p.m.
Reporter: eric burkholder
Other Birders:
2 Great Blue herons, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 26 Red-winged Blackbirds, 3 Common Grackles, 1 Eastern Meadowlark, and 2 White-crowned Sparrows,
Six of the Red-winged Blackbirds, 3 Common Grackles and 2 White-crowned Sparrows were near the scattered corn close to the overlook. No raptors or owls tonight.
Date: Monday, January 4, 2010
Location: Dayton Riverfront, Campbell Co., KY
Reporter: Frank Renfrow
Other Birders:
At the Riverside Marina there was a raft of 26 Redheads and 2 Ring-necked Ducks along with 200 Canada Geese. Also 15 fly-by Ring-billed Gulls. At the Manhattan Harbour Marina on Saturday the 2nd there was 1 female Wood Duck in with the Mallards.
Date: Saturday, January 2, 2010
Location: Road over the dam @ East Fork lake
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders:
Wasn't an airplane, but my first in- flight sighting of a Trumpeter Swan in full voice flying right over the dam.
Date: Monday, January 4, 2010
Location: Camp Dennison
Reporter: Robert Foppe
Other Birders:
I down there at first light, most interesting was a single Sandhill Crane that was in the water and later seen flying around calling. 2300+ Canada Geese were present with nothing unusal with them at all! Still a decent amount of open water. Below are my estimates.
Trip List: Canada Goose 2300, Mute Swan 6, Gadwall 15, American Wigeon 30, American Black Duck 15, Mallard 400, Canvasback 12, Redhead 9, Ring-necked Duck 250, Greater Scaup 1, Lesser Scaup 10, Bufflehead 25, Hooded Merganser 30, Ruddy Duck 20, American Coot 400, Sandhill Crane 1
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: Joyce Park/Hamilton Riverfront
Reporter: Mark Gilsdorf
Other Birders: Charlie Saunders, Bob Lacker, Sam Fitton
I joined Charlie, Bob and Sam this morning to see if we could relocate the Wilson’s Warbler that Charlie found yesterday. No luck finding it, but still had a pretty good day. The spot along the effluence from the water treatment plant is definitely a birdy place. At one point we had five Golden-crowned Kinglets literally at our feet.
After checking out the area around Joyce Park, Charlie, Bob and I headed over to the riverfront. Highlights included a Common Merganser and two Common Goldeneyes on the Great Miami, American Pipits just north of the dam, a Herring Gull (in the spot where Mike and Charlie have seen the Least Sandpiper), several Killdeer and three adult Bald Eagles perched in the same tree on the banks of the river.
I’m probably missing a few birds, but this is the roughly what we saw:
Joyce Park:
Mallard – 30
Killdeer – 2
Belted Kingfisher – 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 3
Downy Woodpecker – 6
Hairy Woodpecker – 2
Northern Flicker – 4
Pileated Woodpecker – 1
American Crow – 10
Carolina Chickadee – 30
Tufted Titmouse - 10
White-breasted Nuthatch – 3
Brown Creeper – 2
Carolina Wren – 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 8
European Starling – 75
American Tree Sparrow – 3
Field Sparrow – 1
Song Sparrow – 12
White-throated Sparrow – 5
Northern Cardinal – 10
Red-winged Blackbird – 1
House Finch – 2
Hamilton Riverfront:
Canada Goose – 1500
Gadwall – 5
Mallard – 300
Bufflehead – 2
Common Goldeneye – 2
Hooded Merganser – 5
Common Merganser - 1
Pied-billed Grebe – 1
Bald Eagle – 3
Red-tailed Hawk – 1
American Kestrel – 1
Killdeer – 1
Ring-billed Gull – 40
Herring Gull – 1
Rock Pigeon – 50
Northern Mockingbird – 1
American Pipit – 2
American Tree Sparrow – 6
Song Sparrow – 4
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: Symmes Twnshp Camp Dennison nature trail
Reporter: Aaron Sussell
Other Birders: J. Shire
Birds active right next to the parking lot in a sheltered south-facing spot in the mid-afternoon sun. Very cold day! Seen from car:
Yellow-bellied sapsucker
Tufted titmouse
White-breasted nuthatch
Golden-crowned kinglet
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: Grand Valley, Camp Dennison
Reporter: Aaron Sussell
Other Birders: J. Shire
On the ponds (from perimeter):
Bald Eagle (feeding)
Ring-necked duck
Hooded merganser (12+ pairs)
Greater scaup
Pied-bill grebe
Coot
Canada geese (200+ on ice)
Kingfisher
Ring-billed gull
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: Okeana backyard
Reporter: Bob Schlake
Other Birders:
Purple Finch coming and going all day. At one point in the afternoon we had 10 female & 5 male on the feeder and in the tree.
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge / Gravel Pits 2:30 p.m.
Reporter: Bruce Leonhardt
Other Birders:
The gravel pit pond closest to Lawrenceburg road Was loaded with Canadian Geese, and more continued to stop in. Spotted 1 Peregrine Falcon along the SW bank of the river. 5 Red-tail Hawks circling above the cornfield across the road from the beehives. 2 Mature Bald Eagles perched near the red crane on the gravel pit property. They took flight circling the sky as they made their way south towards the Ohio River. I have photos in my eagle gallery for those that have my gallery web address.
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: Our home near Owensville
Reporter: David Johnstone
Other Birders: Jo Johnstone
We are very excited to have five adult and one immature Red-headed Woodpeckers coming to our suet and peanut feeders in our yard!! Also saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch make a quick stop at the suet. No sign of Siskins yet.
Date: Monday, December 28, 2009
Location: Grant Lake, Mount Orab
Reporter: Joshua Eastlake
Other Birders:
1 Eastern Phoebe and 1 Pied Billed Grebe at the spillway
Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010
Location: Lost Bridge & Hidden Valley Lake
Reporter: Joe Kappa
Other Birders:
Lost Bridge:
Greater White-fronted Goose 2
Snow Goose 1
Canada Goose 2500
Ring-billed Gull 20
Herring Gull 1
Mallard 500
American Black Duck 5
Lesser Scaup 1
Red Head Duck 3
Ret-tailed Hawk 1
Tree Sparrow 15
Hidden Valley Lake
Turkey 7
Canada Geese 142
Bufflehead 3
Coot 4
Ring-neck Duck 2
Mallard 25
Common Goldeneye 8
Red Head Duck 5
Ruddy Duck 5
Many of the ducks at Hidden Valley were staying close to shore and out of the wind. This made them difficult to locate since much of the shore line is blocked by houses.
Date: Saturday, January 2, 2010
Location: Joyce Park/Fairfield Water Treatment plan
Reporter: Mike Busam
Other Birders: Charlie Saunders
Charlie Saunders sent me a note today to say that he found a Wilson's Warbler in Fairfield, along the bike trail south of Joyce Park. Charlie writes that "the Wilson's Warbler was first seen by the Fairfield water treatment plant, as I looked down on the bird from 15 feet away. I later saw it along the frosted ground by the efflux from the water treatment plant. The bird, a male, was strikingly colored against the winter background. It had a solid black cap, bright uniform yellow from throat to tail, no wing bars or streaks, pink legs."
I thought this was a neat record for January.
Date: Saturday, January 2, 2010
Location: Okeana backyard
Reporter: Bob Schlake
Other Birders:
Purple Finch
6 female 2 male
First of season at the feeder on the deck. The number is a little higher than in the last few years.
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Location: Armleder Park -- around dusk
Reporter: Kirk Westendorf
Other Birders:
1 Eastern Phoebe along the LMR at the canoe landing
12/29/09
2 Great Horned Owl
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Location: Glendale
Reporter: Nancy and Mike O'Connor
Other Birders:
Heard and saw a big flock of sandhill cranes heading south and flying fairly low over Sharon Road in Glendale about noon today. Beautiful sight and sound ringing in the new year.
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Location: Grand Valley, Camp Dennison, Ohio
Reporter: Samantha Sayre
Other Birders: Jonathan Frodge
Today we went for a quick visit to Grand Valley. Highlights include Gadwall 3 N. shovlers and Am. Widgen. All in all we saw:
coots
bufflehead
ruddy duck
redhead
canvas back (4)
greater scaup (2)
lesser scaup (2)
N. shovlers (3)
hooded merganser
mute swan (6)
widgen (15)
gadwall (6-8)
ring-necked duck
mallard
pied-billed grebe
C. goose
ring-billed gull
bluebird (5+)
belted kingfisher (1)
robin
cardinal
goldfinch
chickadee
song sparrow
white-throated sparrow
red-tailed hawk
Am. kestrel
Starling
Am. Crow
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Location: California KY
Reporter: Debbie Walton
Other Birders:
In backyard at birdfeeder 1 male Eastern Towee with 2 juveniles or females.
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Location: Hamilton Riverside Natural Area/Great Miami River
Reporter: Mike Busam
Other Birders: Charlie Saunders, Steve Pelikan
The American White Pelican hasn't been seen since Wednesday or so, and we didn't relocate it, either. I'll resist an obvious joke . . .
The Least Sandpiper was interesting. Since November, there have been one or more Least Sandpipers on a thin gravel bar in the river, though the gravel bar will disappear for days at a time when the river rises. We had one Least Sandpiper on the OHHF CBC on December 19. Charlie had 2 the next day. Last week, Charlie said the gravel bar was underwater. Today, the bar was back, as was a Least Sandpiper. Given that, it was odd not to find a Killdeer, which are usually around this stretch of river in January.
Here's the entire list. It's a short one:
Canada Goose 500
Gadwall 10
Mallard 40
Hooded Merganser 2
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 3
American Kestrel 1
Sandhill Crane 4
Least Sandpiper 1
Ring-billed Gull 15
Rock Pigeon 8
Mourning Dove 15
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Carolina Chickadee 5
Carolina Wren 2
American Robin 1
European Starling 20
American Pipit 2
American Tree Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 6
American Goldfinch 1
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Location: My backyard in Delhi
Reporter: Joe Kappa
Other Birders: Wife (Cathy)
Just saw 120 Sandhill Cranes circling over my house before heading South. Great way to start the New Year.
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Location: Cleves Park
Reporter: Ned Keller
Other Birders:
Greater White-fronted Goose 2
Snow Goose 1
Canada Goose 70
Mallard 70
Ring-billed Gull 3
Mourning Dove 25
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 3
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 5
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 2
American Robin 1
American Tree Sparrow 15
Song Sparrow 25
White-throated Sparrow 5
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 9
Northern Cardinal 20
House Finch 1
The geese were on the Great Miami River.
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010
Location: Felicity
Reporter: Kathi Hutton
Other Birders:
My FOS White-crowned Sparrows showed up to help celebrate New Year's Day. Both the adult and the immature ("brown crowned") versions are here, along with cardinals, blue jays, house finches, starlings and house sparrow, downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, juncos, titmice, chickadees, wb nuthatches, and my first bird of 2010, American Goldfinch.
Date: Thursday, December 31, 2009
Location: Camp Dennison and Fernald
Reporter: Frank Frick
Other Birders:
Went looking for waterfowl this last day of the year.I was able to find a little diversity today with 13 species of ducks. At Camp Dennison 93 Ring-necked Ducks,5 Redheads,3 Lesser Scaup,16 Bufflehead,4 Canvasback,8 Hooded Mergansers,50 Ruddyducks,7 Northern Shovelers,1 American Wigeon, 2 Gadwall. Besides the ducks,2 Horned Grebes,4 Pied-billed Grebes,6 Mute Swans and many American Coots. And at Fernald 1 Canvasback, 14 Green-winged Teal,50 Ring-necked Ducks, 3 Redheads, 5 Black Ducks, 6 Northern Pintail,3 Greater Scaup,1 Buffelhead, about 50 Gadwall, and Mallards. Also 7 Mute Swans.
Date: Thursday, December 31, 2009
Location: Kilby Road Lakes
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders: MaryAnn Morris
Happy to report that the Bald Eagles, whose nest on the Miami Whitewater was blown away over a month ago, have built a new nest about 1/2 the size of the other, but,who knows, they might increase it. One adult was perched in the nest, while the other sat nearby in a sycamore.
Date: Thursday, December 31, 2009
Location: St. Rt. 747 and Merckle sp? dr., West Chester, OH
Reporter: Donald Morse Jr.
Other Birders:
Decided to check out this cool looking field and pond adjacent to the Mill Creek and a railroad track. Glad I did.
1 Peregrine Falcon, 3 American Kestrels, 3 Red tails, 6 Eastern Meadowlarks, 4 Wilson's Snipe, Mallard, 2 Black duck, Canada geese and an assorted mix of Song, American Tree, and White-crowned sparrows. Meadow voles have trails on the ground and many were scrambling underfoot.
Video of Peregrine diving on doves is at: http://donaldthebirder.blogspot.com/2009/12/nice-way-to-end-out-bad-year.html
Date: Thursday, December 31, 2009
Location: Sharonville backyard
Reporter: Albert Scruggs
Other Birders: my Macaw
My FOS red-breasted nuthatch just showed up at my feeder.! happy new year!
Date: Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Location: Milford, Grand Valley
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders:
3:30-5:00pm
Adult Bald Eagle high in a sycamore above Little Miami 300 yds north of Milford bridge on SR126.
Lots of birders at south lake of Grand Valley. On farthest north lake, 6 Mute Swans(which I errantly reported before as Tumpeters), 20+ Hooded Mergansers, 3 Buffleheads, 7 Mallards, 30+ Coots, and at least 50 other ducks ?? - grey skys and poor visibility(outside the property).
Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Location: Kilby Ponds
Reporter: Bob Schlake
Other Birders: sam
50 Sandhill Cranes flew over around 12:30. A pair of Hooded Merganser. A flock of (19) Eastern Meadowlark. A Northern Harrier briefly.
Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Location: Cincinnati Christmas Bird Count
Reporter: Jay Stenger
Other Birders: 112 Total Participants
The 63rd Cincinnati Christmas Bird Count was conducted on Sunday December 27th. A mostly clear and fairly mild day contributed to a pleasant day a field. We had 112 total participants, 95 in the field and 17 at feeders. Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to the success of this event.
Our count total stands at 83 species. This total is down from our recent 6-year average of 90 species and the lowest mark since 2000 when we had 82 species. We did manage to add a new species for this count, Cackling Goose (4), which brings the number of total species seen on this count over the past 63 years to 152. We also set individual highs for two species, Bald Eagle (3) and Peregrine Falcon (3). Other highlights included Snow Geese (3), Horned Grebe (2), Eastern Phoebe (6), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1), American Pipit (1), Savannah Sparrow (6), and Rusty Blackbird (1). The data on this count has not been “finalized” but the preliminary results listed below should stand.
Our unofficial results:
Snow Goose 3 (1 white, 2 blue), Canada Goose 950, Cackling Goose 4, Mute Swan 8, American Black Duck 4, Mallard 303, Northern Shoveler 2, Canvasback 5, Redhead 12, Ring-necked Duck 2, Lesser Scaup 6, Bufflehead 26, Hooded Merganser 16, Ruddy Duck 83, Wild Turkey 48, Pied-billed Grebe 16, Horned Grebe 2, Great Blue Heron 46, Black Vulture 24, Turkey Vulture 41, Bald Eagle 3, Northern Harrier 1, Sharp-shinned Hawk 13, Cooper’s Hawk 17, accipiter species 2, Red-shouldered Hawk 19, Red-tailed Hawk 96, buteo species 2, American Kestrel 15, Peregrine Falcon 3, American Coot 450, Killdeer 1, Ring-billed Gull 776, Rock Pigeon 628, Mourning Dove 494, Eastern Screech-Owl 6, Great Horned Owl 6, Barred Owl 3, Belted Kingfisher 13, Red-bellied Woodpecker 224, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 23, Downy Woodpecker 283, Hairy Woodpecker 45, Northern Flicker 71, Pileated Woodpecker 40, Eastern Phoebe 6, Blue Jay 258, American Crow 911, Horned Lark 25, Carolina Chickadee 1282, Tufted Titmouse 712, Red-breasted Nuthatch 4, White-breasted Nuthatch 239, Brown Creeper 27, Carolina Wren 309, Winter Wren 2, Golden-crowned Kinglet 51, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1, Eastern Bluebird 107, Hermit Thrush 6, American Robin 3397, Northern Mockingbird 76, European Starling 15775, American Pipit 1, Cedar Waxwing 11, Yellow-rumped Warbler 28, Eastern Towhee 104, American Tree Sparrow 90, Field Sparrow 37, Savannah Sparrow 6, Fox Sparrow 4, Song Sparrow 554, Swamp Sparrow 8, White-throated Sparrow 755, White-crowned Sparrow 60, Dark-eyed Junco 202, Northern Cardinal 1328, Red-winged Blackbird 152, Eastern Meadowlark 26, Rusty Blackbird 1, Common Grackle 60, Brown-headed Cowbird 39, House Finch 201, American Goldfinch 592, House Sparrow 552.
Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Location: Cold Spring, KY
Reporter: Glenn Williams
Other Birders:
A busy day at the feeders in our small backyard was interrupted by the appearance of a young Sharp-Shinned Hawk. She sat atop one of the feeders for about 10 minutes before heading back to the wooded cover behind our home.
Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Location: Camp Dennison, along SR 126
Reporter: Ken Phillips
Other Birders: Many others ...
Eagle perched conveniently along 126 opposite a pull-off. Seven other autos stopped to look in the 30 minutes that I was there. Photo link on message board.
Date: Monday, December 28, 2009
Location: Grand Valley
Reporter: Laura Murphy
Other Birders: Mike Murphy
Had exceptional luck yesterday. The bald eagle was sitting in the trees along 126. We were able to take great pictures of it. It stayed in the tree for a good fifteen minutes.
Date: Sunday, December 27, 2009
Location: Highland Stone Gravel Pit/Highland County
Reporter: Rockin Birder
Other Birders:
Sandhill Cranes are still hanging around. Approximately 150 hanging around the fields near the pit.
Other birds of interest
Northern Harrier - 1
Snow Geese - 8
Date: Monday, December 28, 2009
Location: Backyard, New Richmond, OH
Reporter: Donald Morse Jr.
Other Birders:
4 American Tree Sparrows (FOS)
Date: Sunday, December 27, 2009
Location: Fernald Preserve area
Reporter: Neill Cade
Other Birders: Andy & Jeff (briefly)
A late start and little time still netted a few decent birds.
Among the more expected ducks at Fernald were 3 Greater Scaup (1 male, 1 female, 1 ?). The ? looked female but I couldn't see any white around the bill.
Another odd thing is the immature swan hanging around with the adult Mute Swans. It looks to be the same bird as last year, but it really couldn't be...could it? I mean, how long do swans retain their "immature appearance" as far as facial features are concerned? And is it a Mute Swan or not? It seems to have the long tail and some of the right facial features but the thinner, straighter neck, too-pink facial bare-parts coloration, and long-billed and flat-headed look make me wonder if it has Trumpeter Swan genes commingled somehow (a Fernald experiment gone horribly wrong?!).
While in the area, I checked the fields around the intersection of Blue Rock & New Haven Roads. I did not see the Harris's Sparrow.
Date: Saturday, December 26, 2009
Location: Grand Valley
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders:
2:00 - 4:00
Among 50+Coots, were 13 Buffleheads, 18 SMEW(what!!!), 4 Golden Eyes, 4 Scoters, 7 Red Ducks, 11 Ruddy Ducks, 6 Mallards, 30+ Gulls, 9 Canadiens
Also 100+ Crows, 3 Redtails, 1 Adult Bald Eagle soaring south along the ridge line
Date: Saturday, December 26, 2009
Location: Cowan Lake - correction
Reporter: Allan Claybon
Other Birders:
Correction to prior posting.
It's a Common Merganser, not a Common Loon.
Date: Saturday, December 26, 2009
Location: Cowan Lake
Reporter: Allan Claybon
Other Birders:
Water level down about 3 feet to winter level. Followed a Common Loon from the beach area to far across from the South Marina. 32 Ruddy Ducks were the only other waterfowl I saw. 4 Bonaparte's Gulls in a group of about 250 Ring-billed Gulls. Also about 12 Killdeer and 4 Great Blue Herons.
Heavily cropped Loon pictures at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsxbirder/sets/72157622459302942/
Date: Saturday, December 26, 2009
Location: Hamiliton Great Miami
Reporter: Andy Bess
Other Birders:
White Pelican still present. Also went to St Joseph Cem. and saw one of the Merlins around 3:30.
Date: Saturday, December 26, 2009
Location: Hamiliton Great Miami
Reporter: Andy Bess
Other Birders:
White Pelican still present. Also went to St Joseph Cem. and saw one of the Merlins around 3:30.
Date: Saturday, December 26, 2009
Location: Clifton Backyard
Reporter: William Hull
Other Birders:
Barred Owl calling in the backyard at 5:30AM.
Date: Friday, December 25, 2009
Location: eastern Cincy
Reporter: Jonathan Frodge
Other Birders:
I stopped by a Hamilton Co. Parks property on Elstun Rd. near Beechmont levee today. From the road: Chipping Sp. Tree Sp, Field Sp, Song Sp, E. Towhee, Sapsucker, Red-tailed Hawk. There's a flooded wetland area in the grassy fields that looked promising as well, but was not prepared to get muddy. Yesterday at the south end of Luncan near the gravel parking lot: 3 Killdeer.
Date: Saturday, December 19, 2009
Location: Hamilton-Fairfield NAS CBC
Reporter: Mike Busam
Other Birders: CBC Participants
Here's the list for the Hamilton-Fairfield CBC, held last Saturday. Our species total, if I've added them correctly, is 67 count day species, with a Charlie Brown-esque 18 count week species (noted as "CW" with numbers where applicable), including 14 waterfowl and 1 coot, which were recorded Friday evening at a gravel pit in Trenton to which we could not get access during the count day. We're easily in the 80s with the addition of just that one pit, and assuming that most of the birds seen on Friday afternoon would have been present on count day--from past experience, that's a pretty safe assumption. Other highlights are scattered about, below. It was a difficult day for counting birds, given the all day snow and rain. Thank you to all the participants. I think it was a good day, all in all, and I believe everyone had fun. The pelican was interesting, and we're all glad it hung around for the count day.
Odd bird of the count, American White Pelican 1
CW Snow Goose CW 1
Canada Goose 1978
CW Mute Swan CW 2
Wood Duck 3
Gadwall 2
CW American Wigeon CW 4
American Black Duck 9
Mallard 933
CW Blue-winged Teal CW 8 --an interesting and unusual record.
CW Northern Shoveler CW 5
CW Northern Pintail CW 11
CW Green-winged Teal CW 3
CW Canvasback CW 16
CW Redhead CW 22
Ring-necked Duck 17
CW Lesser Scaup CW 6
CW Bufflehead CW 28
CW Common Goldeneye CW 4
Hooded Merganser 9
CW Ruddy Duck CW 45
Wild Turkey 2
Pied-billed Grebe 8
Great Blue Heron 20
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Cooper's Hawk 7
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 19
American Kestrel 9
CW American Coot CW 135
CW Sandhill Crane CW
Killdeer 9
Least Sandpiper 1
Ring-billed Gull 16
Herring Gull 1
Rock Pigeon 1698
Mourning Dove 618
Great Horned Owl 2
Northern Saw-whet Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 9
Red-bellied Woodpecker 26
Yellow-belled Sapsucker 9
Downy Woodpecker 66
Hairy Woodpecker 6
Northern Flicker 21
Pileated Woodpecker 14
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 15
American Crow 3
Horned Lark 98
Carolina Chickadee 157
Tufted Titmouse 36
White-breasted Nuthatch 29
Brown Creeper 10
Carolina Wren 55
Winter Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 16
Eastern Bluebird 43
Hermit Thrush 7
American Robin 1846
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 7
European Starling 8833
American Pipit 10
Eastern Towhee 7
American Tree Sparrow 92
Field Sparrow 3
Fox Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 116
Swamp Sparrow 4
White-throated Sparrow 124
CW White-crowned Sparrow CW
Dark-eyed Junco 77
Lapland Longspur 15
Northern Cardinal 180
Red-winged Blackbird 158
CW Eastern Meadowlark CW
Common Grackle 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
House Finch 107
American Goldfinch 133
House Sparrow 109
Date: Thursday, December 24, 2009
Location: Lake Isabella
Reporter: Allan Claybon
Other Birders:
There were 60+ Hooded Mergansers fishing Lake Isabella, up from about 30 on the 15th. Pictures at http://www.pbase.com/nsxbirder/lake_isabella
Date: Thursday, December 24, 2009
Location: Anderson Township
Reporter: eric burkholder
Other Birders:
This is not a sighting of a rare bird but the sighting of a common bird at an unusual time. While cleaning out my truck I thought I heard a Common Grackle calling in the neighborhood. They usually disappear around the end of September and don't reappear until the beginning of March so one in December would be unusual. Then it flew over my house and it was definitely a Common Grackle. A couple years ago we couldn't find any Grackles in the count circle for the Cincinnati Christmas bird count.
Yesterday I met Kirk Westendorf at Armleder. Still no Short-eared Owls or Northern Harriers. Did see the Kestrel and an immature Cooper's Hawk. The interesting thing was around dusk we had Red-winged Blackbirds coming into the S fields to roost for the night. Usually they are gone by this time of the year.
Date: Thursday, December 24, 2009
Location: Little Miami near Loveland
Reporter: Jan Chambers
Other Birders: Bald Eagle
8:00 this morning..I taped the eagle for about 25 minutes..How beautiful, hope we see the eagle again
Date: Thursday, December 24, 2009
Location: Armleder
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders: Hazel and Rosie (basset hounds)
The hounds were restless (me too), so around noon we went on a little walk. We saw 1 American Kestral hovering over the fields as we arrived, and got a good look at it as it perched in a nearby tree. We saw and heard a Belted Kingfisher fly over the Duck Creek and on the same end of the park saw a Brown Creeper and a Carolina Wren.
At various locations we saw 4 Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, 3 Downy Woodpeckers, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 American Crow, 12 Carolina Chickadees, 1 Tufted Titmouse and 4 White-Breasted Nuthatches.
Date: Thursday, December 24, 2009
Location: Camp Dennison
Reporter: Robert Foppe
Other Birders:
Just stopped to check on some count week birds. 1 Horned Grebe, 6 Mute Swans, Redheads and Canvasback.
Date: Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Location: Oxbow
Reporter: Bruce Leonhardt
Other Birders:
2 mature & 3 juvenile Bald Eagles at the south end of Oxbow Lake. Today they were hungry for duck. -1 Mallard.
Date: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Location: Grand Valley
Reporter: John Hill
Other Birders:
From 2:30 till 4:30
8 canvasbacks
100+ gulls
250+ coots
12 mallards
7 black ducks
4 buffleheads
100+ Canadiens
an osprey fly-over
1 great blue heron
15 bluebirds
100+ robins
1 nuthatch
2 redtails
6 trumpeter swans
Date: Monday, December 21, 2009
Location: Norwood front yard
Reporter: Barb Schwallie
Other Birders:
I've been experimenting with bird feeders, and today I saw a Dark-Eyed Junco in with the Chickadees and Nuthatches. He was a handsome bird.
Date: Monday, December 21, 2009
Location: Fernald
Reporter: Frank Frick
Other Birders:
Seen today about 70 to 80 American Pipits. I've seen these birds on and off for the past week. The same goes for Eastern Meadowlarks. I've seen groups up to 24 birds,but mostly single birds. Also seen today 8 Green-winged Teal, a few Gadwall some mallards and a single Bufflehead.
Fernald also seems to be accumulating a lot of Mute Swans with seven seen recently, but only six today.
Date: Monday, December 21, 2009
Location: 3847 St. Lawrence Ave. Price Hill
Reporter: Bill Zimmerman
Other Birders:
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Older Sightings
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