Your Week In Review

For the week of April 22nd, through April 28th, this is your week in review.

Another busy birding week brought birders out in force once again. At times like these I seem to do more blogging than actual birding. I’d be birding tonight if it wasn’t for the workshop tomorrow and all the stuff I have to ready. So I’ll stay home and compile this extremely long list of parks and neighborhoods where birders reported from. So without further ado here’s the list of the parks where birders visited this week: Gilmore Ponds, East Fork S.P., Magrish Riverland Preserve, Armleder Park, Avoca Park, Hueston Woods S.P., Brookville Lake, Winton Woods Park, Lost Bridge, Smith Tract Park, Campbell Lake Preserve, Cincinnati Nature Center, Shawnee Lookout, Burnett Woods Park, Caesar Creek Gorge, and Ellis Lake/ West Chester Wetlands.

Neighborhoods reporting in include: Winton Place, Deer Park, Felicity, East Walnut Hills, Goshen, Newtown, Anderson Twp., Newport, Kenwood, Clifton, Southern Clermont County, Franklin County, Finnytown, Monroe, Sharonville, Latonia, and Westwood.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Bald Eagle
2. Broad-winged Hawk
3. Osprey
4. Cooper’s Hawk
5. Red-tailed Hawk

Pelecaniformes

1. American Bittern
2. Black-crowned Night Heron

Charadriiformes

1. Spotted Sandpiper
2. Least Sandpiper
3. Semipalmated Sandpiper
4. Pectoral Sandpiper
5. Greater Yellowleg
6. Lesser Yellowleg
7. Dunlin
8. Willet
9. Solitary Sandpiper
10. Short-billed Dowitcher
11. Long-billed Dowitcher
12. Bonaparte’s Gull
13. Wilson’s Snipe
14. Common Tern
15. Caspian Tern
16. Forester’s Tern

Anseriformes

1. Blue-winged Teal
2. America Wigeon
3. Northern Shoveler

Strigiformes

1. Barred Owl

Piciformes

1. Northern Flicker
2. Pileated Woodpecker
3. Hairy Woodpecker

Gruiformes

1. Virginia Rail
2. Sora

Apodiformes

1. Chimney Swift
2. Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Passeriformes

1. Acadian Flycatcher
2. Great-crested Flycatcher
3. Least Flycatcher
4. Wood Thrush
5. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
6. Blue Grosbeak
7. Orchard Oriole
8. Baltimore Oriole
9. Pine Siskins
10. Red-eyed Vireo
11. White-eyed Vireo
12. Blue-headed Vireo
13. Warbling Viroe
14. Yellow-throated Vireo
15. Rusty Blackbird
16. Eastern Phoebe
17. Eastern Kingbird
18. Horned Lark
19. Bobolink
20. Savannah Sparrow
21. White-throated Sparrow
22. White-crowned Sparrow
23. Meadow Lark
24. Lark Sparrow
25. Vesper Sparrow
26. Swamp Sparrow
27. Grasshopper Sparrow
28. Field Sparrow
29. Scarlet Tanager
30. Summer Tanager
31. Indigo Bunting
32. Palm Warbler
33. Northern Parula
34. Prothonotary Warbler
35. Common Yellowthroat
36. Yellow-throated Warbler
37. Nashville Warbler
38. Cerulean Warbler
39. Kentucky Warbler
40. Blackburnian Warbler
41. American Redstart
42. Black-throated Green Warbler
43. Prairie Warbler
44. Louisiana Waterthrush
45. Northern Waterthrush
46. Yellow-breasted Chat
47. Ovenbird
48. Worm-eating warbler
49. Black and White Warbler
50. Blackpoll Warbler
51. Pine Warbler
52. Hooded Warbler
53. Tennessee Warbl
54. Barn Swallow
55. Cliff Swallow
56. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
57. Tree Swallow
58. Purple Martin

For a detailed listing of the weeks postings, please go to www.cincinnatibirds.com

So as we end this week in review, keep on birding, and don’t forget to post your sightings.

 

Notes From The Field

Ellis Lake/ West Chester Wetlands, Gilmore Ponds, Lost Bridge, Shawnee Lookout boat ramp, & The Oxbow

Sometimes the best made plans don’t necessary go a wry, they’re delayed till a more advantagous time. Reports out of Indiana concerning the Smith’s Longspurs, our target bird for this road trip, have been slim to none. Our connection in Indiana for this elusive bird has been in contact with Jon and they’re still a no show according to him. So the prospect of a 2 1/2 hour drive to dip on this bird didn’t make too much sense.  What we were looking for was some activitty that the birds were passing through on migration. We opted to bird locally.

We meet at Ellis Lake/ West Chester Wetlands just as the Sun started to lighten up this gray, overcast morning. The previous evenings rain left several sky pools on the open field as you pulled into Ellis Lake. Scanning with the spotting scope revealed several ducks and a lone Lesser Yellowleg. A FOS for me.

Ellis Lake on a gray morning.

We walked around the lake, pausing while we listened and looked for any and everything. Yellow-throated Warblers have been showing up in good numbers this past week, so we weren’t disappointed when we both heard one just out of sight, behind a row of trees. Another FOS for both of us. After retracing our back from the lake we walked the bike path towards the stone foundation of the old ice house and the pond where the ice was harvested. It was along this path where we discovered a Great Horned Owl perched pretty close to the path. He was all fluffed up drying his feathers. Unfortunately I didn’t have my spotting scope so I couldn’t digiscope a picture. And trying to take a picture through my binoculars proved difficult with poor results.

This was the best I could do.

Our next stop was Gilmore Ponds Metropark. These two parks are in close proximity to each other, and share a common feature. The Miami-Erie Canal which flowed along the border of the parks. This canal became quite an obstacle if you choose to cross it. It’s just wide and deep enough to persuade anyone from crossing. And we wanted very much to cross it and have a look into the flooded fields that are on the airport property. However in between the fields and us sit railroad tracks. Now the logical, and illegal thing to do would be walk the gravel path that runs along side of the tracks, but if caught we could get in big trouble, let alone maybe killed. Trains are ALWAYS going by. So we opted to walk the trail that runs parallel to the canal, that runs parallel to the train tracks. We hiked several hundred yards till we found a spot where we could get across an not get too muddy. We walked up to the tracks and peeked over, not crossing in fear of getting busted, to a large expanse of flooded fields.

 

We scanned for only a few minutes as we added up species seen. What struck me were all the Swallows. Tree and Northern Rough-winged buzzed around continually over these sky pools. After returning to the park we visited the wildlife blind which was close by. This elaborate blind sits about 10 feet up and offers some good views of the lake in the middle of the park. It also offers a nice place for a pair of Eastern Phoebe’s to nest. The pair were within feet of the blind waiting for us to leave so they could commence with building their nest.

You can see the nesting material in it’s beak.

We left Gilmore Ponds to get something to eat and to figure out where we were heading next. We stopped at a fast food joint so Jon would get something to eat and I could get some nasty tasting coffee. With still a good portion of the day left we decided to visit Lost Bridge and the Shawnee Lookout boat ramp area.

It was at this time when Jon received a phone call. He sat in his car for about 10 minutes talking as I waited. After he hung up he told me it was out Indiana contact, and he told us that the Smith’s Longspurs were there. You’ve got to be kidding. We debated our options and the temptation to pack it in and go was enormous. This is a life bird for the both of us and the decision not to go was a tough one to make. First it’s a 2 1/2 hour drive and it’s already going on to noon. Our contact said they’re going to be here all of April and it gives us time for the males to change into their breeding plumage. Which in turn makes it easier to spot them in a field of corn stubble. So in 2 weeks (If Jon’s schedule permits) we’re heading over to Crawfordsville Indiana and meetup with our contact who will lead us to our prize. It will be a long 2 weeks.

The rest of the day was spent traveling from Hamilton to Lost Bridge, to the boat ramp at Shawnee Lookout park, to the Oxbow, picking up species along the way. The Great Miami River was up so there was no exposed mud flats under  Lost Bridge, however there were a few wading birds feeding in some sky pools before you crossed the bridge. The boat ramp was pretty much a bust with only a few birds to speak of that we picked up.

After we left the boat ramp we drove to The Oxbow along Rt. 50. We had a nice fly over of a Merlin before we made it into Lawrenceburg. Now the Oxbow can be a difficult place to drive, especially after it’s been raining. It floods so easily that the dirt roads become impassable. We were lucky today, the recent rains left the roads open. Yellow-rumped Warblers were on the move as we watched large numbers overhead and in the lower vegetation that run along the road.

Driving further in the The Oxbow we came across large fields of bottom land that have yet to be plowed.

Further back in this field was a small sky pool that was a frenzy of activity with Great Blue Herons and hundreds of Swallows. It was at this time we started to notice all the Double-crested Cormorants flying in. They would fly over in small waves of a dozen or less, but it was constant. We lost count at 150. So we walked back to the truck and drove on looking to see if we could re-locate them. We did find a good many perched in a group of trees.

We drove around some more, stopping and getting out to check certain areas that might be promising. The road eventually winds up behind one of the casino’s so we opted to backtrack to Jon’s car and head home for a nap. It had been a long day.

Notable birds for the day include:

1. Field Sparrow
2. Canada Goose
3. Red-winged Blackbird
4. American Robin
5. Red-bellied Woodpecker
6. Mallard
7. Lesser Yellowleg
8. Greater Yellowleg
9. Killdeer
10. Blue-winged Teal
11. Green-winged Teal
12. Common Grackle
13. American Kestrel
14. Merlin
15. Turkey Vulture
16. Black Vulture
17. Red-tailed Hawk
18. Northern Cardinal
19. Song Sparrow
20. Swamp Sparrow
21. White-throated Sparrow
22. Savannah Sparrow
23. Brown-headed Cowbird
24. Wood Duck
25. Yellow-throated Warbler
26. Yellow-rumped Warbler
27. Wilson’s Snipe
28. Downy Woodpecker
29. Northern Flicker
30. Great Horned Owl
31. Blue Jay
32. American Goldfinch
33. Tree Swallow
34. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
35. Barn Swallow
36. Eastern Phoebe
37. Mourning Dove
38. Tufted Titmouse
39. Carolina Chickadee
40. Carolina Wren
41. House Finch
42. House Sparrow
43. Eastern Towhee
44. Great Blue Heron
45. Double-crested Cormorant
46. American Coot
47. Pied-billed grebe
48. Bufflehead
49. Northern Shoveler
50. Gadwall
51. American Crow
52. Pectoral Sandpiper
53. Belted Kingfisher
54. Ring-necked Duck
55. White-breasted Nuthatch
56. Horned Lark
57. Rock Dove
58. Bonaparte’s Gull

Your Week In Review

For the week of March 25th, through March 31st, this is your week in review.

Early migrants are still the dominate birds, making a strong showing as we continue with the unseasonably warmer weather. Wading birds are starting to been seen in small numbers in the usual hotspots familiar to tri-state birders. There’s so much good bird action going on that this blogger is having a difficult time keeping up. This could turn out to be a fast and furious Spring, that I’m sure everyone is excited about.

Area parks where our birders visited include: Caesar Creek S.P., East Fork S.P., Hueston Woods S.P., Miami Whitewater Forest, Fernald Preserve, Grand Valley, Spring Valley Wildlife Area, Sharon Woods, Winton Woods, Ellis Lake/ West Chester Wetlands, Chilo Lock #34, Armleder Park, Gulley Park and California Woods.

Neighborhoods reporting in include: Felicity, Newtown, Clifton, Goshen, New Richmond, and Miami Twp.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Rough-legged Hawk
2. Northern Harrier
3. Red-tailed Hawk

Falconiformes

1. American Kestrel

Strigiformes

1. Barred Owl
2. Barn Owl

Charadriiformes

1. Pectoral Sandpiper
2. Greater Yellowleg
3. Lesser Yellowleg
4. Wilson’s Snipe
5. American Woodcock

Ciconiiformes

1. American Bittern

Gruiformes

1. Sora

Pelecaniformes

1. Great Egret

Piciformes

1. Northern Flicker
2. Red-bellied Woodpecker
3. Downy Woodpecker
4. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Gaviiformes

1. Common Loon

Anseriformes

1. Wood Duck
2. Northern Shoveler
3. Bufflehead
4. Blue-winged Teal
5. Red-breasted Merganser
6. Hooded Merganser
7. American Wigeon
8. Red Head
9. Ring-necked Duck
10. Ruddy Duck
11. Surf Scoter
12. Gadwall
13. Greater White-fronted Goose

Passeriformes

1. Blue-headed Vireo
2. Yellow-throated Warbler
3. Louisiana Waterthrush
4. Barn Swallow
5. Hermit Thrush
6. Tree Swallow
7. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
8. Brown Thrasher
9. Eastern Phoebe
10. Yellow-rumped Warbler
11. Marsh Wren

For a detailed listing of the weeks postings, please go to www.cincinnatibirds.com

So as we end this week in review, keep on birding, and don’t forget to post your sightings.

Your Week In Review

For the week of December 25th, through December 31st, this is your week in review.

Let’s start this review with a re-cap of Cincinnati’s Christmas Bird Count. Jay Stenger posted the results just the other day and with 106 field participants they were able to come away with 89 species. I’m not sure if this is a record but a solid effort for all involved with the count. For a detailed listing of all the birds seen during the count, go to Cincinnati Bird Club web sight and click the “sightings” link on the side tool bar.

It was a pretty busy week for folks, with the holidays and everything else going on, we came away with an impressive list of birds. I’m sure having the CBC going on this week helped with the overall species count, but none the less it sure does fill up some blank spots we’ve had for the past couple of weeks.

Area parks that were visited this week include: Fernald Preserve, Armleder Park, Brookville Lake, Miami Whitewater Park, The Oxbow, Winton Woods Park, White Water State Park, and Gilmore Ponds. Neighborhoods reporting in include: Dayton KY., Sharonville, United American Cemetery, and Lost Bridge.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Cooper’s Hawk
2. Sharp-shinned Hawk
3. Red-tailed Hawk
4. Red-shouldered Hawk
5. Northern Harrier

Falconiformes

1. Merlin
2. Peregrine Falcon
3. American Kestrel

Charadriiformes

1. Bonaparte’s Gull
2. Wilson’s Snipe

Strigiformes

1. Short-eared Owl

Podicipediformes

1. Pied-billed Grebe
2. Horned Grebe

Anseriformes

1. Canada Goose
2. Cackling Goose
3. Snow Goose
4. Mallard
5. American Wigeon
6. Gadwall
7. Northern Shoveler
8. Northern Pintail
9. Green-winged Teal
10. Canvasback
11. Ring-necked Duck
12. American Black Duck
13. Lesser Scaup
14. Greater Scaup
15. Hooded Merganser
16. Long-tailed Duck
17. Bufflehead
18. Ruddy Duck

Piciformes

1. Northern Flicker
2. Downy Woodpecker
3. Hairy Woodpecker
4. Pileated Woodpecker
5. Red-headed Woodpecker
6. Red-bellied Woodpecker
7. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Gruiformes

1. Sandhill Crane

Galliformes

1. Wild Turkey

Passeriformes

1. Chipping Sparrow
2. Savannah Sparrow
3. American Tree Sparrow
4. Fox Sparrow
5. White-throated Sparrow
6. White-crowned Sparrow
7. Swamp Sparrow
8. Song Sparrow
9. Eastern Towhee
10. Pine Siskin
11. Red-breasted Nuthatch
12. Brown Thrasher
13. Winter Wren
14. Golden-crowned Kinglet
15. Horned Lark
16. Purple Finch
17. Common Yellowthroat
18. Pine Warbler
19. Yellow-rumped Warbler
20. Hermit Thrush
21. Rusty Blackbird
22. Brewer’s Blackbird

For a detailed listing of the weeks postings, please go to www.cincinnatibirds.com

So as we end this week in review, keep on birding, and don’t forget to post your sightings.

Notes From The Field/ # 291

Gilmore Metropark & Caesar Creek State Park

A friend of mine recently reminded me about “best laid plans”, which was the case this Saturday. Certain chores had to get done, so I made the best of it, an accomplished everything before noon. Which left my afternoon open. It’s very much out of character for me to go birding other than in the morning. It’s my nature to get up early and head out into the field. And with my change of plans, East Fork was out of the question. It’s just a wee bit too far for never having birded there before. So I headed over to Gilmore Metropark to see what I could see. I’m really glad I made the decision to go. It couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes after I arrived that I finally spotted my nemesis bird, the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.  If you don’t see one either during the Spring or Autumn migration, you’ll probably won’t see one around here. I was extremely lucky, and fortunate today. I guess somethings were meant to happen.

I walked back to Cattail Marsh to see if any water was there, and hopefully some shore birds. The last time I was there there was at least some water, however this time it was practically dry, with only a few spots of water too small to even see without a scope. No shore birds except for some Great Egrets and some Great Blue Herons.

I left Cattail Marsh and made my way to South Pond. This is another pond that I’ve not been to, so I was anxious to see if it was dried up as well.

The gravel road/trail that heads towards South Pond.

As you can tell by the above picture the vegetation was real dense on both sides, which was good cover for Warblers. And if I spent more time there I’m sure I would have added a few more species to the list. And not only were Warblers  active, Flycatchers were also abundant as they flew across the trail. I walked down to South Pond only to find a field of green., and one lone Wood Duck box.

This was once a large pond, and the observation deck I’m standing on will attest to the fact that this park has seen better days. I’m just grateful that it’s open to the public.

As I was leaving Gilmore Metropark I was able to find this Acadian Flycatcher that would sit still long enough for me to get a quick digiscoped picture.

After leaving Gilmore Metropark, I traveled to Caesar Creek State Park. First to the beach with hopes of finding some shore birds feeding. However upon arriving I noticed a large gathering of people as if it was a family reunion. So needless to say I didn’t stay long other than to run down to the beach to see if anything was feeding. Other than a lone Killdeer there were 100+ Ring-billed Gulls. So my only hope for any shore birds were the Mounds Road mud flats. These mud flats are at the Northern most part of Caesar Creek Lake past the turn off to Spring Valley Wildlife Area. As I neared the end of the Mounds Road I noticed that the gate was open. Since this portion of the road is on park property they feel the need to keep vehicles out of this area. However at the end of the road there is a nice turn around and the start of the trail. Now the last time I was here the water level was up, and hence no mud. However today luck was on my side. As I stepped out and spooked a immature Bald Eagle, I was greeted with a nice size hunk of mud from which could be found plenty of shore birds.

Osprey with fish

Even though there wasn’t a lot of variety of shore birds, there were plenty of them. This is a small undisturbed corner and was kind of surprised when i noticed a couple on guys in a boat float slowly by. Probably fisherman.

A Great Egret from quite a distance.

This may be a crappy picture, however one will see a Lesser Yellowleg, Pectoral Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, and Killdeer

It was a great day with a new life bird and no rain despite the forecast. I finished the day at 5:30 and the notable birds for the day include:

1. Willow Flycatcher
2. Acadian Flycatcher
3. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
4. Northern Cardinal
5. Indigo Bunting
6. Great Blue Heron
7. Great Egret
8. Double-crested Cormorant
9. Mallard
10. American Redstart
11. Nashville Warbler
12. Wilson’s Warbler
13. Carolina Chickadee
14. Gray Catbird
15. Killdeer
16. Ring-billed Gull
17. American Crow
18. Osprey
19. Bald Eagle
20. American Robin
21. Northern Flicker
22. Downy Woodpecker
23. Field Sparrow
24. Turkey Vulture
25. Red-eyed Vireo
26. White-brested Nuthatch
27. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
28. Cedar Waxwing
29. Belted Kingfisher
30. Sharp-shinned Hawk
31. Red-shouldered Hawk
32. Blue Jay
33. Common Nighthawk
34. Greater Yellowleg
35. Lesser Yellowleg
36. Mourning Dove
37. Least Sandpiper
38. Pectoral Sandpiper
39. Spotted Sandpiper
40. Semipalmated Plover
41. Canada Goose
42. Solitary Sandpiper
43. Green Heron

Gilmore Ponds

I knew that Gilmore Ponds was to re-open this Summer. I’ve been waiting for this moment for some time. So how did it slip my mind? I don’t know, but I’m grateful for Mike Busam, local birder, to post from there after visiting a couple of times this week. Re-named Gilmore MetroPark, I owe this park a good all day visit. Mike has reported some very good habitat for wading birds. Unfortunately what he did discover was an abundance of Silver Maples growing around some of the ponds which will make viewing difficult.

This 268 acre park is a must see for any birder in the Tri-State area, and we need to make sure if we do visit, that we have a Butler County MetroPark pass. I’ve only visited the park once, while it was closed, and I felt uncomfortable about what I thought was sneaking onto private property. So I never went back and really discovered it’s secrets. So now with a spring in my step, a map in hand, and a pass hanging from my rear view mirror, hopefully my next outing will be Gilmore MetroPark. So stay tuned for more.