2022 Ohio Birding Big Year

  January 30 th           Today was an extraordinary epic journey to successfully find our most sought-after target birds.   We left the house at 6:45am to drive south of Columbus in search of a Ross’s Goose which had been seen at 3:30pm yesterday.   This goose is quite uncommon and has only been seen in the Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati areas this winter.   It took us over 2 ½ hours to get there and we were rewarded with an immediate sighting.   A Ross’s Goose is a smaller version of a Snow Goose and is uncommon east of the Mississippi.   After this initial success, we were trying to decide where to go next.   Mike said, “Maybe we should just drive in Cleveland and try to get the scoter and the white-winged gulls”.   I said, “You’re right. They are our most important targets”                   We got on I-71 and 2 ½ hours later we arrived at a spot along the Cuyahoga River in industrial downtown Cleveland.   This is probably close to where the river caught on fire in 1969!  

  January 29 th           This afternoon after watching our Michigan Wolverine basketball team get trounced by the MSU Spartans, we decided to follow a lead on an Eastern Screech-Owl at Woodlawn Cemetery.   Very recently, someone had seen an owl in Section 13 of the cemetery and we saw a picture of the tree cavity where it was roosting (a very good lead indeed!).   We arrived, looked around, and Mike immediately spotted the owl in the same cavity.   Easy find.           Screech Owls have an undeserved reputation for cuteness, but they are fearsome little predators. They will swoop down, disable a hapless rodent with their claws and talons, and swallow the still alive victim whole.   Screech Owls are non-migratory and like an open wooded habitat since tree cavities are their favored roost and nest sites.   Screech Owls come in several different color morphs including gray, light brown, and rusty red.             Next, we went to look for a Ring-necked Pheasant.   We went to a k

  January 28 th           This morning Mike and I saw an Eastern Towhee at the Windows on Wildlife at Wildwood Metropark.   A towhee is a member of the sparrow family and will sometimes eat seed on the ground under feeders if the habitat is right.   The Eastern Towhee is more common in our area in the Spring and Summer months and can often be heard singing its distinctive song that sounds like “drink your teeeea”.   There are other members of the towhee family found in the western United States including Spotted, Green-tailed, Canyon, California and Abert’s Towhee.   I think the Eastern Towhee is a very handsome bird.   Mike also took a nice photo of a Blue Jay. (1 new species, total 115)           Eastern Towhee                                                                  Eastern Towhee (male)                                                                                   Blue Jay