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Wednesday March 29th - Cattle Egret

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  Wednesday March 29 th – Cattle Egret           Wednesday morning Mike and I decided to take a quick trip out to Howard’s Marsh and were able to find several new FOY birds. These included a flock of Dunlin, a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers and a single Caspian Tern mixed in with a flock of gulls.             We were a little short on time, but decided to take a run through Metzger’s Marsh.   We hadn’t seen anything unusual and were leaving when a woman coming the other way rolled down her window and asked if we had seen anything special.   We said no and she said, “There’s a Cattle Egret right over there with the gulls”.   I thought to myself – yeah, right!   I assumed that she had misidentified a Great Egret, but I was wrong.   There really was a little Cattle Egret in breeding plumage right there.   This is a pretty rare bird in Ohio especially this early in the Spring.   Mike reported the bird, and it made the Ohio Rare Bird Alert.   This was definitely the highlight of our mor
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Tuesday March 28th - Sounds in the Night at Irwin Prairie

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  Tuesday March 28 th – Sounds in the Night at Irwin Prairie           Today was a nice sunny Spring day with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees in the afternoon.   After finishing dinner and cleaning up, I convinced Mike to go to Irwin Prairie at dusk to look for snipe and woodcocks.   We arrived about 8:00pm and started walking out on the boardwalk and were greeted with a loud chorus of spring peepers.           Spring Peepers are tiny frogs only an inch long and their sleigh bell-like sound is a harbinger of Spring.   The male peepers begin calling to find a mate.   The stretchy vocal sack under their chin produces the sound.   Scientists believe that the females listen to the speed of the calls.   A faster call probably comes from an older larger male.   The female gives the male a little nudge to let him know he has been chosen.   Below is a recording of the Spring Peepers.   Click on the link below to hear their sound. https://youtu.be/lXfmubmx-qw           We walke
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March 18-27th - Early Spring Migrants

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  March 18-27 th – Early Spring Migrants           The Spring migration is underway even though the weather is still chilly, especially along the lakeshore.   Here is a list of some of the new Spring migrants that we have seen recently along with some photos:           Blue-winged Teal (Howard Marsh)         Eastern Meadowlark (Oak Openings)           Tree Swallow (Magee Marsh)                  Field Sparrow (Oak Openings)           Great Egret (Metzger Marsh)                   Eastern Phoebe (Oak Openings)           Lesser Yellowlegs (Howard Marsh)                    Greater Yellowlegs (Howard Marsh)           Osprey (Howard Marsh)                                            Field Sparrow                                                    Great Egret                                            Greater Yellowlegs                                                      Osprey                                            Eastern Phoebe                                            C
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Saturday March 25th - Black-legged Kittiwake

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  Saturday March 25 th – Black-legged Kittiwake           A Black-legged Kittiwake had been hanging around at the Spitzer Riverside Marina in Lorain, Ohio for more than a week and was seen by many birders.   Mike and I had actually gone to chase this bird the previous Sunday without success.   Since so many people had found the bird, we decided to give it one more try.           We drove 1 ½ hours to Lorain, pulled up to the marina and immediately saw the kittiwake floating by itself really close by.   Mike was able to get some great pictures, and it was worth the trip.   This is only the second time we have seen a Black-legged Kittiwake in Ohio.   The previous time was in 2015.           A Black-legged Kittiwake is a type of gull that gets its name because of the shrill sound of its call “kittee-wa-aaake”.   A kittiwake is a small gull and the breeding adults are pale gray above with black wingtips, white below and a yellow bill. The legs are jet black.   Juveniles are quite st
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Saturday March 18th - False Alarm and Missed ID

  Saturday March 18 th – False Alarm and Missed ID           On Friday someone had reported a Pacific Loon complete with several faraway photos at the Findlay Reservoir about an hour south of us.   Although the photos were fuzzy, we noticed a light gray nape on the Loon’s neck.   This is usually a diagnostic feature of a Pacific Loon.   This bird would have been an Ohio lifer, so Saturday morning we went to chase it.           The conditions were miserable.   It was cold, very blustery and when we arrived a light drizzle was falling.   Findlay Reservoir is actually two twin very large reservoirs.   We walked along the elevated dikes, and the wind was howling.   I felt like I was going to get frostbite on my face.   We spotted some ducks and several Common Loons but nothing that looked like a Pacific Loon.   The wind was buffeting our scope, so it was hard to focus on anything.   At one point Mike said, “I’m tearing up, can you look at these birds?”           We were frozen and h
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Tuesday March 14th - Florida Summary

  Tuesday March 14 th – Florida Summary           Today we are heading home after a nice visit with my in-laws.   We had great weather, lots of fine dining and saw plenty of great birds.   Mike and I had a total of 70 species in Florida of which 47 were new birds for the year and that included the Tricolored Munia which was a lifer.   Many of these birds will be heading north for the summer and we will see them again in Ohio, but some are Florida specialties.   We have been birding in Florida for many years, but it is always a treat to see these special birds.                         
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Monday March 13th - Tricolored Munia

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  Monday March 13 th – Tricolored Munia           Today is our last full day in Florida.   We never made it to the golf course but that left more time for birding.   We left the house early and headed north on the backroads because of major congestion on the Florida Turnpike.   Our destination was Belle Glade Marina and Torry Island which is just south of Lake Okeechobee.             Once again, we were searching for a lifer.   This time it was a Tricolored Munia.   This is a small finchlike bird that is native to places like India and Pakistan.   It has been introduced to several Caribbean countries probably as an escaped cage bird.   It has become established locally in South Florida and was added to the ABA “accepted” list in 2020.   The birds in South Florida probably got there from Cuba. Tricolored Munias are seedeaters found is weedy, grassy areas of tropical lowlands.   The adult has a very large, pale blue or whitish bill and distinctive tricolored plumage: black hood an
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