Field Day!

Saturday, January 4, 2014

I had been making plans for an all day birding expedition on the west side of Cincinnati for some time now. I had planned to begin at the Miami-Whitewater Wetlands in western Hamilton county and hoped to include Fernald Preserve for raptors, waterfowl and whatever else interesting I might find there. I was also looking for field birds such as horned larks, Lapland longspurs and snow buntings. I had planned to drive rural roads in western Hamilton and Butler counties in Ohio. The longspurs had not been reported since mid-December in our area, and snow buntings had yet to be reported. I looked at recent reports of sightings on the internet and found that Tundra and Trumpeter Swans were both reported at Lost Bridge near Elizabethtown, Ohio. Additionally, a Great Black-backed Gull had been reported at Dunlapsville Causeway at Brookville Reservoir in Union county, Indiana. A dark Red-tailed Hawk subspecies known as "Harlan's" Hawk was also reported and photographed in the Brookville Lake Region. So these locations had entered into my plans.

When I left the house, the ambient temperature was 15 degrees Fahrenheit. The sky was clear and I could see Orion and the Big Dipper in the morning sky. I decided that I would drive down Boudinot Avenue on my way to Blue Rock Road because I'm aware of the vast open fields in that area that may contain a few field birds or a Snowy Owl. Snowy Owls have recently been reported widespread across the northern two thirds of Ohio and also in Indiana and Kentucky. The last time Hamilton county had a Snowy Owl was in the early 1980's when one appeared in the Mosteller Road area. I was hoping to get to my first destination before dawn to try to find owls or waterfowl. However, when I was driving down Blue Rock Road at 7:12 a.m. I looked out my driver's side window to see that clouds and blue sky were now visible. The sun would be up soon, so I decided that I would make Fernald Preserve my first stop.

I began this outing with 21 species on my 2014 year list.

Fernald Preserve (7:25 a.m. - 8:52 a.m.)

I arrived at Fernald Preserve at 7:25 a.m. Civil twilight had already begun, and I drove to the first obersvation deck overlooking the grassland, adjacent to Lodge Pond, in hopes of finding the recently reported Rough-legged Hawk and possibly some Short-eared Owls. There was virtually no activity in the fields, save for a handful each of Song and American Tree Sparrows. There were a couple of pine stands within a short walk from the visitor center parking lot so I decided to go through at least one of them in hopes of finding Long-eared and/or Northern Saw-whet Owls. It didn't take long walking through one of these pine stands before two Barred Owls flushed out of it several feet ahead of me. Usually owls see the observer before the observer sees them. I walked a bit further and a Great Horned Owl flew out, gliding low over the snow-covered opening to a nearby pine stand. Both species were skittish. My hopes of finding a Long-eared or Northern Saw-whet Owl in this pine stand were greatly diminished now.  However, I had added several new species of birds to my new year list when all was said and done. When I walked out of the pine stand, a male American Kestrel was another highlight, as was a ghost male Northern Harrier. Male harriers are called "ghosts" because they are a pale bluish-gray above and white below, giving them a "ghost-like" appearance.  These are truly beautiful birds! Before leaving I checked Lodge Pond and found a small patch of open water at the back of the pond containing 2 Mute Swans, 10 Green-winged Teal, 1 American Coot and one pair of Mallards.

Kestrel count 1. New birds for the year are Barred Owl, Blue Jay, White-throated Sparrow, Great Horned Owl, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Kestrel, American Goldfinch, Northern Harrier, Northern Flicker, Mute Swan, Green-winged Teal, American Coot and Mallard. Year list is now 35. 

En route, Fernald Preserve to Miami-Whitewater Visitor Center

It was difficult to keep track of all birds seen en route while I was driving, but I did make note of locations where I saw American Kestrels and new birds for the year. I left Fernald Preserve and decided to drive past Crosby Elementary School where a small group of Wild Turkeys had been viewed regularly across the road. Near the intersection of New Haven and Crosby roads, just before the school to my west, there was a female American Kestrel sitting on the wire at 8:55 a.m. As I drove past the fields across from the school, there were no turkeys there. Strike one!

Kestrel count 2.

Miami-Whitewater Visitor Center (9:35 a.m - 9:40 a.m.)

Brief stop to check the lake for recently reported Cackling Geese amongst hundreds of Canada Geese. No geese. Lake was completely frozen. On the way back to the car from checking the lake, I looked up at several birds to my right coming over the treeline. They were Black Vultures, 8 of them, another new bird for the year.

Black Vulture is # 36 for the year.

En route, Miami-Whitewater Visitor Center to Whitewater Township Senior Center 


En route again, I was headed to Simonson Road to search for Horned Larks and Lapland Longspurs. On the way, at the Dry Fork and West Road intersection, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, new for the year, landed at the base of a telephone pole and a Northern Mockingbird, not new for the year, flew by. At Simonson Road, I waited for a few minutes with windows rolled down to listen, but did not find any field birds here. My next stop was the Whitewater Township Senior Center on Dry Fork Road, south of Harrison Avenue, where a Merlin had been reported. A few minutes of searching the area, but no luck. I had a Merlin fly over my house in December, but I needed one for my January 100 list this year. The January 100 list is a challenge among Ohio birders begun a few years ago to see who can reach 100 or more species in the month of January. It is fun and may be rewarding at times.

Red-bellied Woodpecker is #37 for the year.

Lost Bridge (10:18 a.m. - 10:53 a.m.)

I had hoped to find the recently reported Tundra and Trumpeter Swans here, but instead found a small group of Ring-billed Gulls, new for the year, on the south side of Geist Road, and lots of open water at the gravel pit, along with hundreds of Canada Geese, on the north side of the road. My thoughts soon turned to Cackling Geese and any other waterfowl I might find here. I first decided to identify and attempt to count the various species of ducks that were on the water before sorting through the Canada Geese. The wind had picked up a bit since this morning and it was a challenge to try to keep the scope steady while trying to identify the ducks. Upon first approach, most of the birds flew up and circled the area before landing back in the water again, this time a little further away than when I arrived. I was a bit surprised to find a fair number of Canvasbacks mixed in with the Redheads. There were 19 Canvasbacks and 40 Redheads in this raft, floating slightly ahead of the masses of Canada Geese. I also spotted 4 Green-winged Teal at the far back end of the gravel pit, and a perched Red-tailed Hawk led me to the discovery of 6 Ruddy Ducks in a single-species raft at the far edge of the pit. Now that I had identified all of the ducks, and estimated the Mallards, which were mixed in with the Canada Geese throughout the flock, to be 100 birds, it was time to estimate the Canada Geese and scan carefully for a Cackling Goose. A conservative estimate for the Canada Geese would be about 500 birds, but I would put the range of birds to be within 400-700. Mallards were also conservatively estimated and may have been up to 200 birds. I scanned carefully with shaky scope, one scope-view at a time, and then, in about the middle of my scan, there it was! A goose that was much smaller in comparison with the Canada Geese, with a shorter neck and stubby bill. This was a CACKLING GOOSE, not only a first for the year, but a first for the county, and my first Cackling Goose since the AOU split. (Note: I had seen one about a decade earlier in northeastern Ohio while driving on an exit ramp when it was still considered a subspecies of the Canada Goose complex. In my notes I noted that the bird was a "Richardson's" Canada Goose, darker and smaller than a Canada, in flight. "Richardson's" is now considered to be a subspecies of the Cackling Goose). While I was scanning the Canadas and finding the Cackling, I also found three Northern Pintails swimming with them. These are one of my favorite puddle ducks. Beautiful birds. Before leaving I spotted a Pied-billed Grebe close to the near shore, new for the year.

New for the year are Ring-billed Gull,  Canvasback, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Cackling Goose, Northern Pintail and Pied-billed Grebe. Year list now at 44.

En route, Lost Bridge to Miami-Whitewater Visitor Center via S. R. 50 & S. R. 128

Several Bald Eagles, as many as 15, had been recently reported along a "circle" route of the Great Miami River from Miamitown to New Baltimore via S. R. 128 and East Miami River Road. So when I left Lost Bridge, it seemed natural to take S. R. 128 to make my way back to the Miami-Whitewater Visitor Center. I drove S. R. 128 all the way to New Haven Road without seeing any Bald Eagles, just a herd of about 20 White-tailed Deer south of Miamitown. I turned left on New Haven Road from S.R. 128 in hopes of trying once again for the turkeys at Crosby Elementary School. Strike two!

Miami-Whitewater Visitor Center again, & lunch at the Dry Fork picnic area in the park (11:30 a.m. - 11:43 a.m. )

 I stopped for a quick restroom break at the visitor center and did not find anything new for the year, but did add three Red-tailed Hawks to my raptor count (2 along Mt. Hope Rd. and 1 at the visitor center). I stopped for lunch at the Dry Fork Road picnic area in the park and added White-breasted Nuthatch to my year list. A Fox Squirrel also dashed out in front of the car while I sat in it eating my lunch. I think these are beautiful squirrels and they only seem to be on the extreme western side of Hamilton county. I've lived in West Price Hill for 13 years and I've only seen Gray Squirrels on or near my property. I chose this picnic area to eat at because I once saw Wild Turkeys there but no luck here either.

White-breasted Nuthatch is new for the year, raising my year list to 45.

Miami-Whitewater Wetlands (11:58 a.m. - 12:54 p.m.)

I started out walking along the treeline, finding several Song Sparrows in the frozen pond. There was a lot of songbird activity here adjacent to the Baughman Road parking lot and I found three Eastern Bluebirds, new for the year, here. I was carrying my scope, binoculars and shoulder bag with a copy of Sibley and National Geographic, 6th edition, field guides, and the Ohio Birds Record Committee checklist. I chose to leave the camera in the car at this location. I wish I hadn't. After seeing a Hairy Woodpecker, new for the year, a male "Yellow-shafted" Flicker, with its black moustache, yellow underwings and tail, spotted buffy breast, tan crown with red nape, sat on a low branch for about two or three minutes, giving me a wonderful photo opportunity if I had only carried the camera into the field. I had another photo opportunity with a young White-crowned Sparrow, seen later, eating berries. I wanted to go to the wildlife viewing shelter to scan the lake for waterfowl, but soon realized that it would be a shorter walk if I turned around and walked along the path adjacent to Baughman Rd. and the pond to get to the Shaker Trace all-purpose trail. A few Yellow-rumped ("Myrtle") Warblers were chipping and coming down low for good views. When I arrived at the viewing shelter, I discovered that the lake was frozen. Hopes of finding other waterfowl now depended on finding another area of open water. I scanned the wetland vegetation for Swamp Sparrows, but did not find any from here. Later on, as I was walking back to the car, I did manage to find 2 Swamp Sparrows, new for the year, in the pond adjacent to Baughman Road with several Song Sparrows. As I was leaving the Baughman Road parking lot, a male American Kestrel was perched on a wire.

Kestrel count 3. New for the year are Eastern Bluebird, Hairy Woodpecker, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Tufted Titmouse, White-crowned Sparrow, and Swamp Sparrow. Year list is now 51.

Rural roads in western Hamilton and Butler counties

It is difficult to keep track of birds en route while driving, but I made note of kestrels and other noteworthy birds on my way to Oxford, Ohio. I decided to use my Ohio Delorme atlas and my GPS to find rural roads away from highways and other high-traffic areas while looking for Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings. At 1:13 p.m. I had found the 4th American Kestrel for the day near the T-intersection with Weaver and Hamilton-Scipio Roads in Butler county, Ohio. A Northern Harrier was patrolling the fields along Springfield Road, near Indian Creek Road. As soon as I turned onto Indian Creek Road, I found several birds circling above the treeline adjacent to a field at a bend in the road, consisting of 10 Turkey Vultures, new for the year, 5 Black Vultures, 1 Cooper's Hawk,  and 2 Red-tailed Hawks. Also another 8 American Tree Sparrows nearby. The second Cooper's Hawk of the day was seen in downtown Oxford over High and Locust Streets at 1:38 p.m. I found a Kroger on my GPS and filled the gas tank for the journey over to Brookville Lake in Indiana. I punched in the intersection of Contreras Road and IN-101 into the GPS. I found this intersection on the Indiana Delorme atlas. Contreras road looked like a rural road that was the most direct road to the Dunlapsville area of Brookville from Oxford. Contreras road had not been plowed or salted and was mostly snow covered and a bit icy. I had planned to drive this road slowly, looking for field birds. There was a car following closely behind me, preventing me from looking for field birds. When I found the right opportunity, I rolled down my window and waved the driver around. After that I did not have anymore tailgaters the rest of the way to IN-101. Soon after letting the driver around, I finally found 2 Horned Larks. I was somewhat satisfied, but hoped to find large swarms of them to increase the chances of longspurs and buntings. Then, about 1.7 miles from IN-101 along Contreras Road I found a flock of 20 Horned Larks feeding along the roadside. There was nowhere to pull-off and I did not want to get out of the car to scan the fields looking for more birds for fear that another car would come along on this icy road. These were the only field birds I was to see all day and was very disappointed that I did not find the longspurs. Where were they? More on that later. I had finally reached IN-101 and turned right to go to Dunlapsville Causeway in search of the reported Great Black-backed Gull.

Cooper's Hawk and Horned Lark are new for the year. Year list now 53.

Dulapsville Causeway (2:38 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.)

 There were 6 Black Vultures soaring high over the causeway. This portion of Brookville Lake was completely frozen over. I was being followed closely by two other vehicles, so I turned the nearest road at the end of the causeway and turned around, finding a snow-covered parking lot where I parked the car to get out and scope the gulls standing on the ice on the north side of the causeway. These turned out to be Ring-billed Gulls, a count of 8 at this location. Interestingly, I heard a Killdeer, new for the year. A Sandhill Crane was standing on the ice, one of its wings drooped low. It appeared to be broken and the bird was alone. In two days the entire Cincinnati-tristate would be under a wind chill warning with a blast of arctic air bringing ambient temperatures below zero. I wondered what the fate of this bird would be but there was nothing I could do to help. Sandhill Crane is not new for the year. While brushing snow off my car in West Price Hill on January 2nd I had a flock of about 100 cranes fly over my street. I heard them before I saw them, in v-formation, as they flew toward the southwest of my location. While scoping the lake, I heard a Pileated Woodpecker. I was unable to relocate the Great Black-backed Gull.

Killdeer and Pileated Woodpecker are new for the year. Year list now 55.

En route on Indiana Highway 101, once I crossed into Franklin county, I had 3 Eastern Bluebirds and then another American Kestrel on a wire.

Kestrel count 5.

Brookville Dam (3:34 p.m. - 4:10 p.m.)

I wanted to get back to Fernald before it got too dark to see anything in hopes of finding Short-eared Owls there at dusk. However, it was too tempting to drive past Brookville dam without at least checking for open water. This portion of Brookville Lake had open water as far as the eye could see, and there were several rafts of waterbirds. Very close to shore there was a raft of 26 Redheads with a pair of Greater Scaup mixed in. Nearby to this raft I found a Horned Grebe and a female Bufflehead. Out further I found a raft containing four Gadwall and four Mallards. As I was scoping a large group of 35 American Coots at the far end of the near shore, a large bird caught my eye. It was a subadult Bald Eagle! This was a much welcome sight, having missed them on the Great Miami River "circle route" earlier. There were several large flocks of Canada Geese in the air in the distance, and I did check them for Cackling, Snow, Ross and Greater White-fronted, to no avail. These flocks totaled about 230 birds. When I was putting the scope back into the trunk of my car, I saw the young eagle approaching, so I grabbed my camera from the trunk and was able to get two shots off before the eagle soared away to the east.

New for the year are Horned Grebe, Bufflehead, Greater Scaup, Gadwall and Bald Eagle. Year list now 60.


I found another Bald Eagle along highway 101 near Blue Creek Road and another American Kestrel. Kestrel count 6.

On my way back to Fernald Preserve I would find three more American Kestrels - I-74 near exit #164, New Haven Rd. east of the Harrison branch library, and at the power plant across from the Fernald entrance. Final kestrel count is 9. I drove past Crosby Elementary School for one last try for the Wild Turkeys. Strike three! I'm out, for today.

Fernald Preserve, again (4:51 p.m - 6:05 p.m.)

 I stopped at Lodge Pond again, and there seemed to be a slight turnover of birds. The pair of Mute Swans were still there, and I counted more Green-winged Teal, this time 13, 92 Mallards (many in flight in distance with Canada Geese), 9 Gadwall, 2 Northern Pintail, and 3 American Coots.  A Great Blue Heron, new for the year, was a surprise while scanning the waterfowl. I spent most of my time looking for Short-eared Owls from the viewing platform overlooking the grassland adjacent to Lodge Pond. I was also still hoping for a Rough-legged Hawk too. Neither of these species made an appearance, and I noted that the harriers were still up quite late, after 5:30 p.m., when Short-eared Owls should have been hunting. I watched one harrier in hopes that it would kick an owl out of the grasses. There were four harriers in the evening, compared to only one being found this morning. Only one was the beautiful adult male. The others were immatures and females. While looking for the Short-eared Owls, a flock of 7 Eastern Meadowlarks flew low overhead. At 5:44 p.m. I heard a pair of Great Horned Owls hooting back and forth. And then, from the viewing platform, I looked out at the big sycamore tree in the field as the light was slowly fading to find a male Great Horned Owl hooting from the tree and seeing his mate join him shortly. Great Horned Owls begin courtship and egg laying as early as December and have been known to incubate in heavy snow. The young birds don't begin to appear in a nest until around March and most fledge in April. They will use an old hawk nest, crow nest or squirrel nest when they nest in stick nests, and will also use a large tree cavity. I wonder if one of these birds is one that I flushed from the pine stand earlier in the day. I left when it became too dark to see anything else.

New for the year are Great Blue Heron, Red-winged Blackbird and Eastern Meadowlark. At the end of the day, my year list was 63.

Raptor count for the day - Barred Owl 2, Great Horned Owl 2, Turkey Vulture 10, Black Vulture 19, Northern Harrier 6, Cooper's Hawk 2, Red-tailed Hawk 6, Bald Eagle 2, American Kestrel 9.

I kept track of my odometer readings for the day upon arrival at each location, not including en route to and from home. My mileage for the day in these travels was 147 miles. Not too bad for staying in a concentrated area on the west side.

I would later learn from the internet that some nearby areas, including one that I had visited, that is, the Whitewater Township Senior Center, would contain flocks of Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings over the last two days. Where were they when I was looking for them? Well, you don't always see everything that you want to see when you go birding. Maybe next time.

Weather and Birds

Note: [I posted this on the message board of cincinnatibirds.com some time ago and now, with the arctic blast we are currently getting, I thought it apropos to include it here on my blog. There is also an interesting discussion on the Ohio-birds listserve about the cold and bird movements at http://birding.aba.org/maillist/OH].

To borrow the term from "Birding" magazine, this may fall under the category of "Building Birding Skills". 

I just finished reading a fascinating article on weather systems and their associated implications on bird migration and vagrancy in the December 2003 issue of "Birding" magazine (Vol. 35, no. 6 - snowy owl on cover). The article, written by Paul Lehman entitled "A Weather Primer for Birders" was very thourough in its explanation and was complimented nicely by several weather maps drawn by Virginia Maynard. In a nutshell, most fallouts of birds occur in what is called the warm sector ahead of a cold front and south of the warm front. 
Although I have always been interested in the effects of weather on birds, this article sparked my interest further, and I decided to search online for historical weather maps. I think I struck gold! I found the following site extremely useful with free historical weather maps from 1871-present: 

http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/dwm/data_rescue_daily_weather_maps.html 

Recalling some high counts of birds from personal observations, I decided to check my computerized records for dates of these high counts, then check the above website for the weather patterns on that date. 

Indeed, a high count of 22 Tennessee Warblers (including one single species flock of 15) at the Cincinnati Nature Center on September 23, 2000 occurred in the warm sector just ahead of a cold front and south of a warm front. The low pressure system on that date was centered over Lake Michigan. 

In another example, a high count of 19 Black-throated Green Warblers at the Cincinnati Nature Center on April 27, 1989 was associated with a low pressure system just south of Indianapolis with an occluded front just to our south! 

With these historical weather maps available, we can look at any of our records and study the weather patterns so that we can be able to predict when and where in our area the next fallout of migrants and/or vagrants may occur. 

Just for curiosity, I looked at maps for dates of a couple of vagrants we have had in our area: the Swallow-tailed Kite in Lawrenceburg,IN on August 18, 1997 and the Groove-billed Ani in Owensville, OH on October 21, 1981. The kite was associated with a high pressure located over western Lake Superior and an occluded front over the KY/TN state line, with the low centered over western Kentucky. The ani was associated with an occluded front bordering the south shore of Lake Erie. 

Basically, whenever you see a weather system approaching with a low pressure system and cold front to our west and a warm front to our north, it is prime time to get out and look for birds because you may be rewarded with a fallout of migrants and possibly a vagrant.