Notes From The Field

Magrish Riverland Preserve, California Woods, Fly Ash Pong, Ellis Lake, Zoo Farm

The forecast called for rain later on today around dinner time, so with Kathy and David at work, and Ethan spending some time with a friend in Springfield Ohio, it was no better time to get some early morning birding done before the rain came.

With the tremendous luck Jon and I had last Saturday at Shawnee Lookout I needed to see if the Warblers were still as plentiful. Traffic was light as I made my way down I-71 towards my first stop for the day, Magrish Riverland Preserve. 

Seasonal flooding can make this park almost impassable along some of the lower trails, however today the trails were open and the song birds were active as I pulled into the parking lot. And it’s from this parking lot that some of the best birding can be found. Prothonotary Warblers breed here and are always a delight as flashes of yellow catch the corner of your eye. 2 early Blackpoll Warblers were singing and giving some decent views from the parking lot as well. I meet a friend of a friend who is also a birder, so we hooked up for about 30 minutes. After which he left to take care of some work and I made my way slowly through the park and back towards my car for the short 3 minute drive to my next stop. California Woods and my hopes of catching a Louisiana Waterthrush.

At 113 acres this little gem within the confines for Cincinnati offers some great birding. It has some very nice hiking trails and a stream which attracts the Waterthrush. I normally just stick close to the road and the stream where the most activity is. However today I decided to take a hike and enjoy the solitude of the woods.

The beginning of Trillium Trail

The wild flowers were in bloom as I made my way up the trail to the top of the ridge, where it winds about and then slowly descends.

Vireos and Gnatcatchers were keeping me company as fewer and fewer Warblers were seen, let alone heard. The trees were really leafing out making it harder to see anything in the canopy.

After reaching the bottom I started to walk back towards my car. Across from where I parked there is this small open area where birds will sometimes feed making it easier to see them. A bridge spans the stream and terminates at this open area. That’s when I heard the Waterthrush. It was staying one step ahead of me as I chased it down the stream towards the entrance to the park. It finally came to rest long enough for me to snap this poor photo.

He’s right in the center with this leaf blocking it’s head.

Now I’m happy. And with that recent addition to my year list it was time to head off North to my next stop, Ellis Lake. However on the way I made a quick stop at this series of small, fenced in ponds that local birders call “Fly Ash Pond”. They’re not very nice to look at and because it has a fence around might be a good thing. Who knows what could be growing in there. But it can be a hot spot for birds, and today it was for me, because out of the corner of my eye a flash of blue zipped by and perched on the fence. My first thought was Indigo Bunting. But being my lucky day it turns out to be a Blue Grosbeak.

A truly sad picture, but one where you can use it to ID the bird.

Happy once again with yet another new bird for the year I drove up the highway towards Ellis Lake to see if any more shore birds were there. With the afternoon wearing on and chores facing me when I get home this stop and the next were short. A small flock of Least Sandpipers were seen feeding along the edge of one of the larger sky pools that dotted the field at Ellie Lake. More wading birds were there than has been in the past few visits, so maybe things will turn around especially with this coming rain.

My last quick stop was the Cincinnati Zoo Farm near my home. Yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpipers were the only wading birds here, so after scanning the ponds for about 30 minutes I made my way home and the impending mowing of the lawn.

Notable birds for the day include:

1. Turkey Vulture
2. Red-tailed Hawk
3. Cooper’s Hawk
4. Northern Parula
5. Yellow Warbler
6. Blackpoll Warbler
7. Yellow-rumped Warbler
8. Prothonotary arbler
9. Common Yellowthroat
10. Louisiana Waterthrush
11. Palm Warbler
12. Pine Warbler
13. Yellow-throated Vireo
14. Red-eyed Vireo
15. Warbling Vireo
16. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
17. Chipping Sparrow
18. Field Sparrow
19. White-throated Sparrow
20. Swamp Sparrow
21. Song Sparrow
22. Gray Catbird
23. Northern Cardinal
24. Carolina Chickadee
25. Tufted Titmouse
26. American Robin
27. American Goldfinch
28. Mourning Dove
29. Blue Jay
30. Indigo Bunting
31. Carolina Wren House Wren
32. Pileated Woodpecker
33. Red-bellied Woodpecker
34. Downy Woodpecker
35. Northern Flicker
36. Brown Thrasher
37. Blue Grosbeak
38. White-breasted Nuthatch
39. Eastern Towhee
40. Canada Goose
41. Great Blue Heron
42. Killdeer
43. Common Grackle
44. Red-winged Black Bird
45. Solitary Sandpiper
46. Pectoral Sandpiper
47. Spotted sandpiper
48. Least Sandpiper
49. Greater Yellowleg
50. Lesser Yellowleg
51. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
52. Mallard
53. Wood Duck
54. Blue-winged Teal
55. Eastern Phoebe

Notes From The Field

Fly Ash Pond/ Magrish Riverlands Preserve/ Armleder Park

I needed to go birding and with the beautiful weather we’ve had these past few days I was still undecided where to go. A text from Jon saying that he was going to bird locally made up my mind. We were going to meet at Fly Ash Pond to check on any wading shorebirds.

I’m not sure what the purpose of Fly Ash Pond is, or why it has a chain link fence surrounding it, however it does have a reputation of attracting some good shorebirds. Located next to Luken Airport, and easily accessed via a gravel path leading from a parking  near the bike path, I arrived first despite the best efforts of rush hour to slow me up. There wasn’t too much action until I laid eyes on  a smallest sandpiper with a longish bill that gave the appearance of a slight droop at the end. As I was trying to rule out all the possibilities Jon walks up, he sights in the bird, and says that looks like a Western Sandpiper. Which was what I thought in the first place but didn’t want to commit until Jon showed up. As with all good things it flew over to another part of the pond where we lost it.

I was there for over an hour when we decided it was time to change locations. Magrish was next. 5 minutes later were in the parking lot scanning the trees that border the lot. Magrish Riverlands Preserve can be a hit or miss place. The majority of the time it’s a miss, and the feeling that we were going to have a repeat was quickly dispelled as I noticed a large bird, brown over a white un-streaked belly high up in the trees feeding. Cuckoo! But which one. I had to get Jon on it in case he had a better angle. Black-billed Cuckoo. We get them in our area, but they’re not as common as their Yellow-billed cousins. Things were looking up as we came upon a small group of Tennessee Warblers. We watched closely in case there were other species of warblers with them. It was about this time that Jon received a phone call from his friend he works with. Jon had told me about his friend previously who is new to the area and that he’s sort of a beginner to birding. Well he’s going to join us. As we continue to bird waiting for Jason (that’s the guys name) we come across another small pocket of Tennessee Warblers, however this time there is a Canada Warbler with them. Very cool, one of my favorites.

Jason finally joins up with us and we continue to cover Magrish. That’s when Magrish let’s a person down. It got pretty quiet. The group consensus was move on to Armleder before it gets too dark.

Here’s another place where I’ve not been since the Spring. We drove over and parked in the Southern part where Duck Creek flows into the Little Miami River. My knee was starting to ache a little and walking on level, paved ground was what I needed. Chimney Swifts were everywhere. Hundreds of them covering the sky feeding on insects as they dart6ed back and forth across the sky. Then occasionally we’d spot a Common Nighthawk as more and more of them are showing up in good numbers as they migrate through.

It was a great night birding with Jon and Jason. Good company. Good conversation. Good Birds. All we needed was some beer.

Notable birds for the evening include:

1. Western Sandpiper
2. Spotted Sandpiper
3. Semipalmated Sandpiper
4. Black-crowned Night Heron
5. Great Blue Heron
6. Green Heron
7. Killdeer
8. Mourning Dove
9. Cedar Waxwing
10. Blue-gray gnatcatcher
11. Downy Woodpecker
12. Carolina Chickadee
13. Tufted Titmouse
14. Tennessee Warbler
15. Canada warbler
16. Black-billed Cuckoo
17. Northern cardinal
18. Brown Thrasher
19. Carolina Wren
20. Indigo Bunting
21. Chimney Swift Barn Swallow
22. Common Nighthawk
23. Wood Duck
24. Gray Catbird
25. Eastern Kingbird
26. B-17 Flying Fortress (on display at Lunken Airport)

Notes From The Field

Armleder Park & Lunken Sewage Treatment Ponds (A.K.A. Fly Ash Pond)

It’s been sometime since I’ve gone out birding during the week. There’s either stuff going on, or I’m too tired from work. So what sparked my interest was all the shore bird action going on over at Armleder Park, and by the sewage treatment ponds near Lunken Airport. And since my friend Jonathan lives minutes away from there, he’s the one doing most of the postings. So I made plans to meet him at 7pm last night.

The parking lot where I was meeting him at, also is used for the bike/hike trail that circles the airport. A gravel path leads back towards a chain link enclosure with a locked gate. On the other side were 2 sizable ponds with the one closest to us being the most active with birds. It wasn’t much to look at, so I decided not to take a picture of the pond. And anyway I would have to shoot through the fence, so it wouldn’t have turned out decent anyway.

It seemed that most of the action was on the farthest side so spotting scopes were a must. Wood Ducks were plentiful and we were able to spot a rather small Green Heron rookery with several juveniles still around with some adults. The sun was so low, which made the lighting for pictures of the Green Heron nest almost impossible to shoot. However we moved to a different location so we could get a closer look at some small peeps when I was finally able to get a few shots off. So with uneven ground, through a chain link fence, with the sun glaring off the water, here is my C.R.A.P. (Completely Ridiculous Awful Photography). C.R.A.P. was borrowed from Greg Miller @ www.gregmillerbirding.com

Lesser Yellowleg and Killdeer

Lesser Yellowleg

This picture shows 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 1 Least Sandpiper (behind the Killdeer) and a Lesser Yellowleg

Semipalmated Sandpiper

After we left this place, we drove a mile down the road to Armleder Park. The bean field (it’s really not a bean field, this is a code name for a private piece of property that has a tendency to flood, and has on occasion had very good shore birds) has had some activity lately, so off we went through the field of giant ragweed. I’m not kidding. The paved trail that leads away from the pavillion towards the Little Miami River, has giant ,10 feet tall ragweed plants.

After hiking through the brush to reach our destination, I was a little disappointed, as there  were hardly any birds there. We only saw 1 each of a Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, and 1 Killdeer.

Anyway, I had a real good time and made it home just as it was getting dark. As Autumn approaches with shorter daylight hours, I need to make a better attempt at trying to get out at least once during the week. Migration is going to start to pick up and I’m not going to miss out on any of the fun if I can help it.

Notable birds for the evening include:

1. Greater Yellowleg
2. Lesser Yellowleg
3. Killdeer
4. Solitary Sandpiper
5. Pectoral Sandpipper
6. Least Sandpiper
7. Semipalmated Sandpiper
8. Semipalmated Plover
9. Spotted Sandpiper
10. Green Heron
11. Great Blue Heron
12. Wood Duck
13. Mallard
14. Indigo Bunting
15. Mouorning American robin
16. Northern cardinal
17. Northern Mockingbird
18. Barn Swallow
19. Common Yellowthroat
20. Orchard Oriole
21. Eastern Kingbird
22. Song Sparrow
23. Red-winged Black Bird
24. Dickcissel