Your Week In Review

For the week of February 19th, through February 25th, this is your week in review.

An explosion of some great bird activity has made this one of the busiest weeks we’ve had in a long time. It’s very much a domino effect when great birds start to show up, birders get out of the house to chase them. Such is the case as we look into this past week of tri-state birding. And as you’ll see waterfowl were the big winners, species wise this week.

State parks were the most visited parks this week as birders posted their sightings from Caesar Creek S.P., Paint Creek S.P., Cowan Lake S.P., Rocky Fork S.P., East Fork S.P., Whitewater S.P., Brookville Lake, Armleder Park, Indian Creek Wildlife Area, Hisey Park, Grant Lake Wildlife Area, Miami Whitewater Forest, Spring Grove Cemetery, and Muscatatuck N.W.R. Neighborhoods reporting in include Lake Lorelei, New Richmond, Anderson Twp, Aurora In., and Ewing Bottoms.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Bald Eagle
2. Northern Harrier
3. Rough-legged Hawk
4. Red-shouldered Hawk
5. Red-tailed Hawk
6. Cooper’s Hawk
7. Sharp-shinned Hawk
8. Turkey Vulture
9. Black Vulture

Falconiformes

1. American Kestrel

Strigiformes

1. Barred Owl
2. Long-eared Owl

Charadriiformes

1. Franklin’s Gull
2. Wilson’s Snipe
3. American Woodcock

Piciformes

1. Downy Woodpecker
2. Northern Flicker

Anseriformes

1. Tundra Swan
2. Surf Scoter
3. White-winged Scoter
4. Common Goldeneye
5. American Wigeon
6. Northern Pintail
7. Mallard
8. Canvasback
9. Lesser Scaup
10. Greater Scaup
11. Bufflehead
12. Hooded Merganser
13. Common Merganser
14. Ruddy Duck
15. American Black Duck
16. Gadwall
17. Ring-necked Duck
18. Green-winged Teal
19. Redhead
20. Wood Duck
21. Northern Shoveler
22. Blue-winged Teal

Gaviiformes

1. Common Loon

Gruiformes

1. Sandhill Crane
2. Whooping Crane

Passeriformes

1. Northern Shrike
2. Horned Lark
3. Fox Sparrow
4. Swamp Sparrow
5. Yellow-rumped Warbler
6. Common Grackle
7. Eastern Towhee
8. Song Sparrow
9. Field Sparrow
10. White-throated Sparrow
11. White-crowned Sparrow
12. American tree Sparrow
13. Pine Siskin

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 February 12th, through February 18th, this is your week in review.

This will be the second week in a row that I’m writing my week in review early. This time I’m skipping Friday and Saturday’s sightings because I’m driving to Michigan on Friday to visit my daughter for the weekend. And despite the fact that there’s not too many sightings being posted, they certainly quality birds for us. We’re getting some northern visitors in the form of Surf Scoter, White-winged Crossbill, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Common Redpoll. This is exciting stuff. And to think I drove all the way to Toledo to locate the last two birds. Hopefully with these great birds in the tri-state this might motivate more birders to get out and bird.

Parks where area birders visited include Lake Isabella Park, Caesar Creek State Park, Hisey Park, Armleder Park, and the Oxbow. Neighborhoods reporting in include White Oak, Middletown, Maderia, and Campbell County KY.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Northern Harrier
2. Red-shouldered Hawk
3. Black Vulture

Falconiformes

1. American Kestrel

Strigiformes

1. Great Horned Owl
2. Long-eared Owl

Charadriiformes

1. Lesser Black-backed Gull

Piciformes

1. Pileated Woodpecker

Anseriformes

1. Surf Scoter
2. Snow Goose
3. Canvasback

Passeriformes

1. White-winged Crossbill
2. Common Redpoll
3. Tree Sparrow
4. Fox 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 January 15th, through January 21st, this is your week in review.

As our bizarre weather continues through the weekend, this week wasn’t too bad except for some torrential rain that nearly flooded my basement again. We did have some birders make it out and do some reports for us and honestly it’s a pretty good list with some good waterfowl sightings. I think the excitement over the LEOW has subsided with only one report of the owl. If you’re still inclined to venture out in pursuit of this bird, please be respectful and try to keep your distance.

Local parks where our birders visited were Armleder Park, Grand Valley, East Fork S.P., Hueston Woods S.P., Riverside Park, and Hisey Park. The only neighborhood reporting in wasn’t the most local one, unless you live in Wilmington, and it was Melvin.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Bald Eagle
2. Rough-legged Hawk
3. Red-tailed Hawk
4. Red-shouldered Hawk
5. Cooper’s hawk

Falconiformes

1. Merlin

Strigiformes

1. Long-eared Owl

Podicipediformes

1. Pied-billed Grebe
2. Horned Grebe

Gaviiformes

1. Common Loon

Anseriformes

1. Tundra Swan
2. Red-breasted Merganser
3. Common Merganser
4. Hooded Merganser
5. Cackling Goose
6. Snow Goose
7. Bufflehead
8. Common Goldeneye
9. Black Duck
10. Wood Duck
11. Gadwall
12. American Wigeon
13. Red Head
14. Scaup sp.
15. Ruddy Duck

Piciformes

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

Passeriformes

1. Rusty Blackbird
2. Lapland Longspur
3. Eastern Towhee
4. Brown Creeper
5. Savannah Sparrow
6. American Tree Sparrow
7. Fox Sparrow
8. Song Sparrow
9. White-crowned Sparrow
10. White-throated Sparrow
11. Golden-crowned Kinglet
12. Horned Lark

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/ January 14 & 15

Hisey Park, Caesar Creek State Park, Mounds Station Park, and Grand Valley

This has been a very busy birding weekend so far, and I thought that I’d combine both yesterday and today’s results into one post.

Saturday I started the day not as early as I normally do, leaving the house around 9 am with some set thoughts on where I was birding today. My first stop was Hisey Park to see if I could get a closer view of the now famous Long-eared Owl. This time I was going to digiscope the owl so I wouldn’t have to get too close and disturb the bird any more than it already has. Re-locating the owl was no problem, it was trying to photograph it. I took several shots from a very bad angle and after getting home and looking at them I decided to delete them from the hard drive.

After leaving Hisey Park I made my way to Caesar Creek to check out the normal places despite the fact it’s still duck hunting season. That would explain that there were more decoys than real ducks. I did find a brave little Bufflehead as I hiked towards the bluff that looks over the lake off of Ward Road.

Driving from Ward Road to Harveysburg Road I scared up a group of Horned Larks that were feeding along the side of the road. They moved into this field where I snapped this picture.

Harveysburg Road had hunters holed up in their blind, and after seeing their decoys set up, I avoided going down there and stirring them up. Next stop was the beach and hopes of anything on the water. No luck, however it was at this time when I noticed that my freshly re-charged battery for my camera was almost out of power. The only explanation for this could only be the cold. And believe me it was cold and windy around the lake. Now I’m frustrated and decided to head back home and recharge the battery and go back out later. Which was kind of nice to get home, and some lunch and recharge myself.

Then it was back on the road to the Visitor’s Center to practice my digiscoping technique, or lack of technique. I arrived at 3 pm, went through the lobby and said “hello” to the ranger on duty, and proceeded to set up my gear around back where they have some feeders set up.

There were numerous birds at the feeders and the action was constant as I settled in a took lots of pictures, with only a few making the blog.

Northern Cardinal

Dark-eyed Junco

Eastern Towhee

This bird was a little more challenging to identify. It looks like just another Little-Brown-Job, but after doing some investigating and the use of my field guide I came to the conclusion it’s a female Purple Finch. When you don’t have Purple Finch’s here year-round, you forget.

Today was going to be a shorter day with a definite stop to pick up a back-up battery, especially with our trip to Killdeer Plains next Saturday. I don’t want to deal with a dead battery and a epic bird needing it’s picture taken.

My first stop was Mounds Station Park, a new park under development which has a very large lake that’s now an abandoned gravel pit. Most of it was frozen over except the far end where all the ducks were crowded into.

That black shape is a Double-creasted Cormorant. This bird is about 500 yards away.

Well I was able to determine where all the Mallards in the county go on a Sunday. There were about 300 Mallards on this lake with about 1/3 less that number of Ring-necked Ducks. After leaving the park I went to check on our resident Bald Eagles. No sign of them. So it’s back on the road to my next stop Grand Valley, but on the way a large dark shape catches my eye. So I stop and and pull out my gear and snap off a shot.

Black Vulture

Grand Valley was grand today, with lots of waterfowl to look at.

I love the view of the lake from this vantage point. This is the southern part of the lake and it’s mostly frozen, where the northern section wasn’t.

American Wigeons

An awful picture of a Hooded Merganser displaying.

The resident Ring-billed Gulls.

Why is it whenever I want to take a great picture, the ducks fall asleep. This is a group of Redheads and the white one is a Greater Scaup.

I finished off the day a little after 1 pm and some really nice finds. Now off to Best Buy for a new battery.

Notable birds for the weekend include:

1. Pied-billed Grebe
2. Horned Grebe
3. Bufflehead
4. Canada Geese
5. Mallards
6. Gadwall
7. Black Duck
8. American Wigeon
9. Common Goldeneye
10. Hooded Merganser
11. Common Coot
12. Redhead
13. Ring-necked Duck
14. Ruddy Duck
15. Greater Scaup
16. Song Sparrow
17. White-throated Sparrow
18. American Pipit
19. Eastern Bluebird
20. Common Crow
21. Long-eared Owl
22. Red-tailed Hawk
23. Horned Lark
24. House Finch
25. House Sparrow
26. Purple Finch
27. Carolina Chickadee
28. Tufted Titmouse
29. Dark-eyed Junco
30. Northern Cardinal
31. Downy Woodpecker
32. Red-bellied Woodpecker
33. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
34. Eastern Towhee
35. Turkey Vulture
36. Black Vulture
37. Mourning Dove
38. American Robin
39. Killdeer
40. White-breasted Nuthatch
41. Eastern Goldfinch
42. Blue Jay
43. Pine Siskin
44. Carolina Wren
45. Double-creasted Cormorant
46. Northern Mockingbird

Your Week In Review

For the week of January 8th, through January 14th, this is your week in review.

As warmer temps give way for an Arctic chill with a little snow we finally welcome what winter is supposed to be. And with the colder temps it seems only the brave who can tolerate the weather go out and bird.It seems the 2 hot birds this week are still the Eurasian Wigeon who despite great efforts by area birders to get a good view of, still keeps popping back and forth in a cat-n-mouse type manner. The Long-eared Owl is our most popular best kept secret till lately when it made it’s way onto Cincinnatibirds yesterday, which will lead to more and more people going out to Hisey Park to view it.

Area parks where birders visited this week include: Fernald Preserve, Spring Valley Wildlife Area, Caesar Creek S.P., Cowan Lake S.P., East Fork S.P., West Chester Wetlands, and Hisey Park. A few more neighborhoods than in previous weeks, and they include: Amberly Village, United American Cemetery, Campbell County, Downtown Cincy., and South Lebanon.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Red-tailed Hawk
2. Black Vulture
3. Rough-legged Hawk

Falconiformes

1. Peregrine Falcon

Charadriiformes

1. Herring Gull
2. Wilson’s Snipe

Strigiformes

1. Long-eared Owl
2. Great Horned Owl

Podicipediformes

1. Pied-billed Grebe

Anseriformes

1. Gadwall
2. American Wigeon
3. Green-winged Teal
4. Eurasian Wigeon
5. Snow Goose
6. Canvasback
7. Hooded Merganser
8. Cackling Goose
9. Black Duck
10. Ring-necked Duck
11. Black Scoter

Gruiformes

1. Sandhill Crane

Piciformes

1. Red-bellied Woodpecker
2. Hairy Woodpecker

Coraciiformes

1. Belted Kingfisher

Passeriformes

1. Eastern Phoebe
2. Eastern Towhee
3. Eastern Bluebird
4. Purple Finch
5. Yellow-rumped Warbler
6. Chipping Sparrow
7. Lapland Longspur
8. American Pipit
9. Fox Sparrow
10. Tree Sparrow
11. White-throated 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.