Bird Brief

Serving the Tri-State with all your birding news.

With all the recent activity in the area focusing on the skulking, elusive, and vocally identifiable Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii), this author thought a little brief  update is in order. For the past several weeks now this hard to see bird has been either seen or heard at Ellis Lake/ West Chester Wetlands, Gilmore Ponds, Smith Tract County Park, and near Rapid Run Park.

With it’s very distinctive song, you will find this bird in low and mid level thickets frequently bobbing it’s tail. They have obvious white spectacles that are broken in the front and back, and 2 white wing bars, with the lower one being more prominent. There are 4 sub-species that become progressively greener above and yellower below as you travel from West to East.

Become familiar with it’s unusual call as you travel about birding. It’s rather unmistakeable and was the first thing I heard as I was hunting down this bird both this year and last at the same location. And remember it’s not a very large bird at only 4 3/4″.  Each year more and more of these birds are showing up in our area. Is this a sign of them losing their habitat out West, or another victim of Brown-headed Cowbirds? I guess that’s what the pros at Cornell have to think about. For us it’s still good birding for Ohio.

Your Week In Review

For the week of April 29th, through May 5th, this is your week in review.

28   That’s the number of total Warblers identified this week throughout the tri-state area. One might call this a fall-out, and you’d probably be correct in that statement. Once again it was another phenomenal week birding. With some of the heavy rains we’ve been experiencing, the effects in regards to the different species of birds is apparent.

Area parks where birders visited include Withrow Nature Preserve, Boone County Cliffs,  Ault Park, Spring Grove Cemetery, Burnett Woods, Miami Whitewater Forest, Shawnee Lookout Park, Ellis Lake/ West Chester Wetlands, Smith Tract Preserve, Magrish Riverlands Preserve, Armleder Park, California Woods, East Fork S.P., Chilo Lock #34, Mt. Airy Forest, Fernald Preserve, and Ferbach-Werner Nature Preserve.

Neighborhoods reporting in include: Newtown, Clifton, Westwood, Lost Bridge, Owensville, West Chester, New Richmond, Milford, Price Hill, Kenwood, and Williamsburg.

Notable birds for the week include;

Accipitriformes

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

Falconiformes

1. American Kestrel

Charadriiformes

1. Wilson’s Snipe
2. Solitary Sandpiper
3. Pectoral Sandpiper
4. Greater Yellowlegs
5. Lesser Yellowlegs
6. Long-billed Dowitcher
7. Short-billed Dowitcher
8. Spotted sandpiper
9. Least Sandpiper
10. Semipalmated sandpiper
11. Dunlin
12. Semipalmated Plover

Piciformes

1. Hairy Woodpecker
2. Downy Woodpecker
3. Pileated Woodpecker
4. Red-bellied Woodpecker
5. Northern Flicker

Gruiformes

1. Sora
2. Virginia Rail

Caprimulgiformes

1. Common Nighthawk

Passeriformes

1. Red-eyed Vireo
2. Warbling Vireo
3. Blue-headed Vireo
4. Bell’s Vireo
5. Acadian Flycatcher
6. Least Flycatcher
7. Willow Flycatcher
8. Great-creasted Flycatcher
9. Wood Thrush
10. Hermit Thrush
11. Veery
12. Eastern Phoebe
13. Grasshopper Sparrow
14. Savannah Sparrow
15. Henslow’s Sparrow
16. White-throated Sparrow
17. White-crowned Sparrow
18. Chipping Sparrow
19. Song Sparrow
20. Lincoln Sparrow
21. Summer Tanager
22. Scarlet Tanager
23. Rose-breasted grosbeak
24. Blue Grosbeak
25. Baltimore Oriole
26. Orchard Oriole
27. Sedge Wren
28. Dickcissel
29. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
30. Bobolink
31. Cedar Waxwing
32. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
33. Blue-winged Warbler
34. Black and White Warbler
35. Nashville warbler
36. Cerulean Warbler
37. Yellow Warbler
38. Pine Warbler
39. Yellow-throated Warbler
40. Yellow-rumped Warbler
41. Black-throated Green Warbler
42. Prothonotary Warbler
43. Chestnut-sided Warbler
44. Palm Warbler
45. Magnolia Warbler
46. Tennessee Warbler
47. Northern Waterthrush
48. Louisiana Waterthrush
49. Hooded Warbler
50. American Redstart
51. Blackpoll Warbler
52. Wilson’s Warbler
53. Cape May Warbler
54. Prairie warbler
55. Kentucky Warbler
56. Canada warbler
57. Black-throated Blue warbler
58. Yellow-breasted Chat
59. Ovenbird

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

Shawnee Lookout & Lost Bridge

Nothing wears me out faster than a 6 plus hour day of birding. But it’s a good kind of tired, and the full list of birds that makes the day complete. The day started bright and early at 7 am as I began my drive towards Shawnee Lookout Park to meet up with both Jon and his wife Samantha. Arriving first at the boat ramp I was given some early time by myself as our newlyweds were running behind from a faulty alarm clock.

Sitting high upon a hill over looking the Ohio River in the far Southwesteren part of Ohio sits (in my humble opinion) the crown jewel of the Hamilton County Park system. With over 1.000 acres to play in, and besides being on of my favorite places to bird, especially this time of year, it’s also one of the farthest. On a good day it will take me an hour for the drive over.

As with most birding trip I normally bring along one of two cameras, however today I had the feeling that birding by ear was going to be the norm, and having Jon along was going to be a big plus. Besides being younger than  myself with those younger ears, he’s also better at identifying bird songs than I am. I’m a fast learner, but my problem is picking out the different song or call amongst all the others, especially if their louder.

Not once did I break out the camera. Birding was difficult with all the trees leafed out, and even though Warblers were plentiful, seeing them was another thing. We heard plenty of Northern Parula, but we only saw a couple. The same could be said about Cerulean Warblers. We heard at least 7, but only got good looks at one. But that’s how you have to bird sometimes.

Our first stop was right in the middle of the road. Jon heard a Blue-winged Warbler. This was one of our target birds for the day and a lifer for Samantha. We pulled in to a parking lot where the Little Turtle Trail started. We unloaded and headed into the woods on this beautifully maintained 2 mile trail. The Blue-winged Warbler has a very high pitched trill that is hard to hear if your not accustomed to it. We were no more than 5 minutes into our hike when we started to here them. Then we saw one. And not just a glimpse, but a real good look as it sang from a branch 10 feet away.

Shawnee Lookout is a prime location for Warblers in the Spring, and we were working hard to pick out as many as we could. Not all came as easy as our first Blue-winged Warbler. A lot of them were by call only, but once you learn the call you become more attuned with your surroundings as you start to pick out the bird calls.

As we continued to move from location to location our day list also grew as well. While Jon was having a couple of Cheese Conies from Skyline for his lunch, I checked out a cut out area where some high electrical towers run across the park. The White-eyed Vireos were very vocal, and seeing one was my mission. They get into these dense tangles of vegetation and sing away just enough to drive you crazy as you try to find them. Satisfied with seeing 2 of the 3 Viroes I clambered down the side of the hill and continued birding with Jon.

Our last hike was the Miami Fort Trail which is situated at the end of the park road. This is Cerulean Warbler country, and while standing in  the parking lot we were able to make out some faint calls. Our decision to head off into the woods paid off when we heard at least 7 different Cerulean Warblers during our 1.7 mile hike. We probably would have heard even more if it wasn’t for some park employees who thought Sunday was a good time to do a little lawn mowing.

We ended the day with a quick drive by of the gravel quarry at the end of Lost Bridge, and found practically nothing. Now I’ve put in long hours of birding before but yesterday was a tiring day. Hiking over 4 miles while birding put a hurtin’ on the body and mind. But it was a good kind of hurtin’.

Notable birds for the day include

1. Yellow-throated Vireo-FOY
2. Red-eyed Vireo-FOY
3. White-eyed Vireo-FOY
4. Eastern Phoebe
5. Wood Thrush-FOY
6. House Wren-FOY
7. Wood Duck
8. Blue Jay
9. Summer Tanager-FOY
10. Scarlet Tanager-FOY
11. Eastern Towhee
12. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
13. American Goldfinch
14. Song Sparrow
15. White-throated Sparrow
16. White-crowned Sparrow
17. Field Sparrow
18. Chipping Sparrow
19. Great-crested Flycatcher-FOY
20. Carolina Wren
21. Brown Thrasher
22. Brown-headed Cowbird
23. Eastern Bluebird
24. Indigo Bunting-FOY
25. Mourning Dove
26. Common Crow
27. Killdeer
28. Great Blue Heron
29. Tree Swallow
30. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
31. Barn Swallow
32. Red-winged Blackbird
33. Common Grackle
34. American Robin
35. White-brested Nuthatch
36. Carolina Chickadee
37. Canada Goose
38. Mallard
39. Rock Pigeon
40. Northern Cardinal
41. Cooper’s Hawk
42. Yellow-rumped Warbler
43. Prothonotary Warbler
44. American Redstart-FOY
45. Cerulean Warbler-FOY
46. Common Yellowthroat-FOY
47. Louisiana Waterthrush
48. Yellow-throated Warbler
49. Blue-winged Warbler-FOY
50. Northern Parula
51. Black-throated Green Warbler-FOY
52. Pileated Woodpecker
53. Northern Flicker
54. Hairy Woodpecker
55. Downy Woodpecker
56. Red-bellied Woodpecker
57. Caspian Tern-FOY
58. Turkey Vulture
59. Black Vulture
60. Red-tailed Hawk
61. Broad-winged Hawk
62. Red-breasted Merganser-FOY

FOY-First of the Year

Your Week In Review

For the week of April 15th, through April 21st, this is your week in review.

Spring migration is in full bloom as more and more of our beautiful Spring migrants arrive around the Tri-state in our typical hotspots. But you better be prepared to know your bird calls since the majority of the trees are leafed out. Being able to ID a Warbler in the top of a totally leafed out tree will require both sight and sound skills. The Ferruginous Hawk is still being seen over at CVG with no sign of it leaving, so if you’ve not seen this bird as of yet, plan a trip before it leaves. We also had 48 hours of excitement as a Black-necked Stilt was sighted at Ellis Lake. And once again this blogger was able to see it and get some pictures as well. Also Caesar Creek had it’s own excitement as both Lesser Black-backed Gull and Surf Scoters were seen earlier this week.

This has got to be the largest “location” list I’ve typed for this column ever and this is just a prelude of what it”ll be like in weeks to come. So to quote Samuel L. Jackson in the movie Jurassic Park, “Hold on to your butts”, here’s the list of where our birders visited this week. Shawnee Lookout, Crooked Run Nature Preserve, Fairview Park, Ault Park, Magrish Riverland Preserve, California Woods, East Fork S.P., Caesar Creek S.P., Hueston Woods S.P., Cowan Lake S.P., The Oxbow, Miami Whitewater Forest, Winton Woods, Smith Tract Park, Fernald Preserve, Eden Park, Spring Valley Wildlife Area, CVG, Ellis Lake/ West Chester Wetlands, Armleder Park, Sharon Woods, Grand Valley, Avoca Trailhead Park, Lake Isabella, and Glenwood Gardens.

Neighborhoods reporting in include: Felicity, Kenwood, Landen, Lawrenceburg Road, Milford, Newtown, Clifton, Maderia, United American Cemetery, Owensville, Oxford, West Wood, Morrow, and Williamsburg.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Bald Eagle
2. Ferruginous Hawk
3. Broad-winged Hawk
4. Osprey
5. Sharp-shinned Hawk

Falconiformes

1. American Kestrel

Pelecaniformes

1. Great Egret
2. Green Heron

Charadriiformes

1. Pectoral Sandpiper
2. Black-necked Stilt
3. Wilson’s Snipe
4. Solitary Sandpiper
5. Lesser Yellowleg
6. Greater Yellowleg
7. Spotted Sandpiper
8. Dunlin
9. Short-billed Dowitcher
10. Forster’s Tern
11. Caspian tern
12. Least Tern
13. Lesser Black-backed Gull
14. Bonaparte’s Gull
15. Semi-palmated Plover

Anseriformes

1. Ring-necked Duck
2. Surf scoter
3. Wood Duck
4. Green-winged Teal
5. Blue-winged Teal
6. Red-breasted Merganser
7. Northern Shoveler

Strigiformes

1. Great Horned Owl

Piciformes

1. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
2. Pileated Woodpecker
3. Downy Woodpecker
4. hairy Woodpecker
5. Red-bellied Woodpecker
6. Red-headed Woodpecker

Gruiformes

1. Virginia Rail

Galliformes

1. Wild Turkey

Apodiformes

1. Chimney Swift
2. Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Podicipediformes

1. Horned Grebe
2. Pied-billed Grebe

Passeriformes

1. Great-crested Flycatcher
2. Horned Lark
3. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
4. Orchard Oriole
5. Baltimore Oriole
6. Brown Thrasher
7. Eastern Kingbird
8. Eastern Phoebe
9. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
10. Wood Thrush
11. Rusty Blackbird
12. Purple Finch
13. Scarlet Tanager
14. Yellow-throated Vireo
15. White-eyed Vireo
16. Red-eyed Vireo
17. Warbling Vireo
18. Brown Creeper
19. Red-breasted Nuthatch
20. Tree Swallow
21. Barn Swallow
22. Norther Rough-winged Swallow
23. Nashville Warbler
24. Yellow-rumped Warbler
25. Common Yellowthroat
26. Cerulean Warbler
27. Prothonotary Warbler
28. Yellow-breasted Chat
29. Kentucky Warbler
30. Black-throated Green warbler
31. Louisiana Waterthrush
32. Black and White Warbler
33. Northern Parula
34. Tennessee Warbler
35. Yellow-throated warbler
36. Pine Warbler
37. Blue-winged Warbler
38. Prairie Warbler
39. Palm Warbler
40. Houose Wren
41. Field Sparrow
42. Chipping Sparrow
43. Savannah Sparrow
44. vesper Sparrow
45. Song Sparrow
46. Swamp Sparrow
47. White-throated Sparrow
48. White-crowned Sparrow

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 April 8th, through April 14th, this is your week in review.

Migrants are on a roll, and this week was showing great promise for some good Waders and Warblers influx. Despite the cooler, or what I should say is average temperatures, and drier than normal conditions, birders are reporting from all over the Tri-state.  The top story is still the Ferruginous Hawk, still being seen over at CVG. And with this probably being a “first” for the State of Kentucky, the Hawk has made it to the ABA Blog. So don’t forget to check out their blog and read up on this now famous bird . Better yet, go check it out for yourself before it’s too late.

Area parks where birders visited include: Avoca Trailhead Park, California Woods, Cincinnati Nature Center, Spring Grove Cemetery, East Fork S.P., Cowan Lake S.P., Rocky Fork S.P., Indian Creek Wildlife Area, Paint Creek S.P., Armleder Park, Fairview Park, Sharon Woods Park, Spring Valley Wildlife Area, Versailles S.P., Kelly Nature Preserve, Lost Bridge, Miami Whitewater Forest, Shawnee Lookout Park, and Crooked Run Nature Preserve.

Neighborhoods reporting in include: Felicity, Union Twp, and Wyoming, Beavercreek, Sycamore Twp., Kilby Road, Covington, and Kenwood.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

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

Falconiformes

1. American Kestrel

Charadriiformes

1. Solitary Sandpiper
2. Pectoral Sandpiper
3. Greater Yellowleg
4. Lesser Yellowleg
5. Wilson’s Snipe
6. Bonaparte’s Gull
7. Dunlin

Podicipediformes

1. Horned Grebe

Piciformes

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

Anseriformes

1. Ruddy Duck
2. Greater Scaup
3. Lesser Scaup
4. Northern Shoveler
5. Wood Duck
6. Blue-winged Teal
7. Common Goldeneye
8. Bufflehead
9. Ring-necked Duck
10. Hooded Merganser
11. Red-breasted Merganser
12. Surf Scoter

Gaviiformes

1. Common Loon

Galliformes

1. Wild Turkey

Passeriformes

1. Eastern Meadowlark
2. Blue-winged Warbler
3. Prothonotary Warbler
4. Pine Warbler
5. Prairie Warbler
6. Northern Parula
7. Louisiana Waterthrush
8. Yellow-rumped Warbler
9. Black & White Warbler
10. Rusty Blackbird
11. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
12. Warbling Vireo
13. Blue-headed Vireo
14. Orchard Oriole
15. Eastern Towhee
16. Barn Swallow
17. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
18. Bank Swallow
19. Tree Swallow
20. Field Sparrow
21. Song Sparrow
22. Chipping Sparrow
23. White-throated Sparrow
24. Grasshopper Sparrow
25. Dark-eyed Junco
26. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
27. Brown Thrasher
28. Eastern Phoebe
29. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
30. Warbling Vireo
31. White-eyed Vireo
32. Savannah Sparrow

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.