Your Week In Review

For the week of March 18th, through March 24th, this is your week in review.

As we celebrate the return of Spring with unseasonably warmer temperatures, we as birders rejoice with the coming of our Spring birds. Birders are out in mass to revel in the latest arrivals from the South as they escape to various corners of the tri-state to find their own personal FOS species. One aspect of this early Spring that has me a little concerned is the leafing out of the trees. As the trees leaf out more and more, when the Wood Warblers finally arrive the difficulty in spotting them in such a thick, green canopy will test even the most experienced Warbler fanatic. I guess we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we.

Area parks that our birders visited include: Spring Grove Cemetery, California Woods, Brookville Lake, Winton Woods Park, Mitchell Memorial Woods, Crooked Run Nature Preserve, Fernald Preserve, Sharon Woods, .Caesar Creek S.P, Spring Valley Wildlife Area, East Fork S.P., and Armleder Park. Neighborhoods reporting in include Anderson Twp., Mason, Afton, Clifton and Felicity.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Bald Eagle
2. Northern Harrier
3. Cooper’s Hawk
4. Red-tailed Hawk

Falconiformes

1. American Kestrel

Strigiformes

1. Barred Owl

Charadriiformes

1. Wilson’s Snipe

Podicipediformes

1. Horned Grebe
2. Pied-billed Grebe

Piciformes

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

Anseriformes

1. Gadwall
2. Northern Shoveler
3. Bufflehead
4. Red-breasted Merganser
5. Green-winged Teal
6. Blue-winged Teal
7. American Wigeon
8. Canvasback
9. Red Head
10. Lesser Scaup
11. Ring-necked Duck
12. Ruddy Duck
13. Hooded Merganser

Passeriformes

1. Eastern Towhee
2. Pine Siskin
3. House Wren
4. Song Sparrow
5. White-throated Sparrow
6. White-crowned Sparrow
7. Field Sparrow
8. Fox Sparrow
9. Savannah Sparrow
10. Vesper Sparrow
11. Chipping Sparrow
12. Louisiana Waterthrush
13. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
14. Tree Swallow
15. Pine warbler
16. Brown Creeper
17. Horned Lark
18. American Pipits
19. Eastern Phoebe
20. Brown thrasher

Gaviiformes

1. Common Loon

Gruiformes

1. Sandhill Crane

Galliformes

1. Wild Turkey

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 26th, through March 3rd, this is your week in review.

When they say that March comes in like a Lion, they weren’t kidding. My heart felt sympathy goes out to all the victims of the recent tornado outbreak. Even in my little corner of Ohio, we had some pretty gnarly weather. And with this topsy-turvy weather, we had an average week of birding. Area parks where our birders visited include Grand Valley, Gunpowder Creek Nature Park, Mitchell Memorial Forest, Armleder Park, Miami Whitewater Forest, Crooked Run Nature Preserve, Lake Isabella, Caesar Creek S.P., and Fernald Preserve. Neighborhoods where birders reported from include Downtown Cincy., Loveland, Campbell County Ky., New Richmond, South Lebanon, Hebron Ky., and Williamsburg.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Bald Eagle
2. Northern Harrier
3. Black Vulture
4. Red-shouldered Hawk
5. Red-tailed Hawk

Falconiformes

1. Peregrine Falcon

Strigiformes

1. Great Horned Owl

Charadriiformes

1. American Woodcock

Piciformes

1. Pileated Woodpecker
2. Red-bellied Woodpecker
3. Downy Woodpecker

Anseriformes

1. Surf Scoter
2. White-winged Scoter
3. Common Goldeneye
4. Lesser Scaup
5. Greater Scaup
6. Mallard
7. Northern Pintail
8. American Black Duck
9. Northern Shoveler
10. Ring-necked Duck
11. Hooded Merganser
12. Wood Duck
13. Gadwall
14. Snow Goose

Passeriformes

1. Eastern Meadowlark
2. Red-winged Blackbird
3. Golden-crowned Kinglet
4. Brown Creeper
5. Horned Lark
6. Tree Swallow
7. Field Sparrow
8. Song Sparrow
9. Swamp Sparrow
10. Chipping Sparrow
11. Pine warbler
12. White-throated Sparrow
13. Common Redpoll

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, an

Your Week In Review

For the week of January 29th, through February 4th, this is your week in review.

Don’t you love it when the weather warms up and the birders start to get busy. Except for yours truly, where work has exhausted me and previously made plans are keeping me close to home. This to will change with the coming weekend. Area birders were out in force for the first time in a while and with the warmer temps we’ve had our first sighting of American Woodcocks. Besides the vocalization they were able to witness their aerial display which in itself is a beautiful sight to behold. Besides the Woodcocks, Raptors, Ducks and Woodpeckers gave a good accounting of themselves this week.

Area parks where our birders visited include: Fernald Preserve, Mitchell Memorial Forest, Spring Grove Cemetery, Spring Valley State Wildlife Area, Caesar Creek S.P., East Fork S.P., Armleder Park, French Park, Grand Valley, Roxanna-New Burlington Quarry Pits, and Crooked Run State Nature Preserve.

Only 2 neighborhood reported in and they include Felicity and New Richmond.

Notable birds for the week include:

Accipitriformes

1. Bald Eagle
2. Northern Harrier
3. Red-shouldered Hawk
4. Red-tailed Hawk
5. Sharp-shinned Hawk

Falconiformes

1. American Kestrel
2. Merlin
3. Peregrine Falcon

Strigiformes

1. Great Horned Owl
2. Barred Owl

Charadriiformes

1. American Woodcock
2. Wilson’s Snipe

Podicipediformes

1. Pied-billed Grebe
2. Horned Grebe

Gaviiformes

1. Common Loon

Piciformes

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

Anseriformes

1. American Wigeon
2. Ruddy Duck
3. Greater Scaup
4. Lesser Scaup
5. Green-winged Teal
6. Bufflehead
7. Common Goldeneye
8. Northern Shoveler
9. American Black Duck
10. Northern Pintail
11. Red-breasted Merganser
12. Hooded Merganser
13. Tundra Swan

Passeriformes

1. White-throated Sparrow
2. White-crowned Sparrow
3. Fox Sparrow
4. Song Sparrow
5. American Tree Sparrow
6. Horned Lark
7. Red-breasted Nuthatch
8. Brown Creeper
9. Purple Finch

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 22nd, through January 28th, this is your week in review.

As you all probably all know we started last weekend with another Ohio Valley ice storm which canceled what would have been a productive field trip to Grand Valley, and all along the Little Miami River Corridor. It also canceled my road trip to Killdeer Plains, (which I’m making up this Saturday) and also kept other birders indoors. And with that said you can tell it’s been a pretty light week with very few birders out and about. And with fewer birders reporting comes the inevitable fewer birds sighted. We did have a couple quality birds spotted, being some Tundra Swans, cackling Goose, and a unconfirmed Common Redpoll.

Area parks where birders visited include Armleder Park, Riverside Park, Miami Whitewater Forest, Spring Grove Cemetery, Fernald Preserve, Mitchell Memorial Forest, Lake Lorelei, and Lake Isabella. Neighborhoods reporting in include Campbell County Ky., Okeana, Neville, and Rising Sun, Indiana.

Notable birds include:

Accipitriformes

1. Red-shouldered Hawk
2. Sharp-shinned Hawk
3. Northern Harrier

Falconiformes

1. Merlin
2. American Kestrel

Strigiformes

1. Short-eared Owl

Charadriiformes

1. Herring Gull
2. Bonaparte’s Gull
3. American Woodcock

Anseriformes

1. Gadwall
2. Redhead
3. Hooded Merganser
4. Tundra Swan
5. American Black Duck
6. Northern Pintail
7. Ring-necked Duck
8. Lesser Scaup
9. Cackling Goose

Piciformes

1. Red-headed Woodpecker
2. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Passeriformes

1. Purple Finch
2. Swamp Sparrow
3. American Tree Sparrow
4. Song Sparrow
5. White-crowned Sparrow
6. Common Grackle
7. Eastern Bluebird
8. Common Redpoll
9. Eastern Meadowlark
10. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
11. Red-breasted Nuthatch

Notes From The Field/ Mitchell Memorial Forest

The local Audubon Society organized today’s Winter walk, and I was certainly looking forward to it. Being my first group field trip of the year, I just really love hiking in the woods on a cold day. Call me insane, I don’t care. Mitchell Memorial Forest was our destination.

I arrived a little before 8 am, and meet up with the trip leader and a couple of other people I recognized from previous trips. All told we had about 13 people with us. Which is a pretty good crowd considering it being Winter and a Sunday morning.

A portion of the group scoping out the Evergreens, which were plentiful, for Winter birds.

Small stone shelter at the overlook.

View of the Great Miami River from the stone shelter house.

I had never been to Mitchell Memorial Forest before, so I was certainly impressed with the park. It wasn’t nearly as developed as Winton Woods, or Sharon Woods, which is kind of nice. Since there isn’t a lot of man-made attractions, it keeps the park a little more pristine. There are picnic areas, and some nice trails which extend back into the woods. There’s even a Mountain Bike Trail for those who enjoy 2 wheel adventure.

One of the hiking trails. It’s so quiet that the only sound you here is the crunch of the snow beneath your feet.

Typical view of the snow covered forest floor.

The park had 2 bird feeders stocked with feed and they were the hot spot for all the woodland birds. I can’t remember seeing so many Dark-eyed Junco’s in one day. And Cardinals were definitely in abundance. As you can tell by the only bird picture I took, there were some Mourning Doves feeding on the ground. Some day I’ll get better taking pictures.

However the best surprise for the day wasn’t my new life bird, it was the amount of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker’s there were. I counted at least 7 different birds. For me, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen them. It re-news your faith in the health of the forest.

Having been so cold for such a long time now, even the small pond at the park was frozen over.

We re-grouped and then proceeded onto another trail which would lead us into a different part of the park. This was the trail that produced so many sapsuckers. There was a small frozen over pond in the back which I’m sure supports some Wood Ducks when the weather is a little more favorable. Hence the name, Wood Duck Trail.

It was a nice loop trail, which had the only running water on it. A small stream which lead down to the small frozen pond. They had built a dam to create the pond, and the spillway had frozen water all over the down stream side.

It would be interesting to see how many animals come to drink from this spot. This was the only water in liquid form we found.

After we returned to the parking lot from this portion of the hike, I had decided to take a side trip over to Lost Bridge to see if anything was happening. There is a gravel pit over there that is owned by Martin-Marietta, and from what everyone says, they don’t take kindly to trespassers. So I parked by the side of the road and stood by the fence and peered in. WOW. Enormous amounts of Canada Geese and Mallards. However, what I was looking for I found. My Common Merganser. Number 365. For a bird with “Common” in it’s name you would think that it’s fairly common. Don’t be fooled. It seems like I’ve been searching for the bird forever. I also had some great side by side comparison of 2 Cackling Geese. Unfortunately I forgot my camera  to record the sight of all those geese. It was a great day though, and whenever I get a new life bird, it’s a happy day.

Notable birds for the day include:

1. Dark-eyed Junco
2. Northern Cardinal
3. Common Crow
4. Red-shouldered Hawk
5. Downy Woodpecker
6. Carolina Chickadee
7. Red-bellied Woodpecker
8. House Finch
9. Song Sparrow
10. American Robin
11. White-breasted Nuthatch
12. White-throated Sparrow
13. Red-breasted Nuthatch
14. Mourning Dove
15. Northern Mockingbird
16. Brown Creeper
17. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
18. Hairy Woodpecker
19. Eastern Bluebird
20. Eastern Towhee
21. Mallard
22. Canada Goose
23. Cackling Goose
24. Northern Pintail
25. Common Merganser-Lifer