June Summary

 

July 2nd      

          June was a strange month for our Ohio Birding Big Year.  We were out of the state for the majority of the month.  The first part of the month we were visiting family on Long Island and in New Jersey.   We also spent a couple of days in Manhattan seeing the sights and going to a show.

          When we returned, Mike and I were ready to do some birding and were able to see three very rare Ohio birds.  The first was a Tricolored Heron which we saw at Howards Marsh Metropark.  This bird is normally found year-round along the gulf and Atlantic coasts. 

        Three days later we drove to the Hebron Fish Hatchery east of Columbus and chased a Black-bellied Whistling Duck.  This bird was way out of its range.  It is found in Florida and Texas and is very rare in Ohio but has been expanding its range northward. 

That same day we stopped at Glacier Ridge Metro Park a little northwest of Columbus to look for a Western Kingbird.  That bird hadn’t been spotted for several days.  We had no luck and figured it had probably moved on.  The next day, two different birders found the kingbird at the same location.  So, the crazy Gordons went back again, and this time we were successful.  The Western Kingbird was an Ohio Life Bird for us, so it was worth the trip.

Our total for the year is 275 species in Ohio.  The big listers which includes us (at least this year) keep track of their sightings on ebird.  The top Ohio birder has a total of 280 and we are currently in second place with 275.  We are proud of our efforts and plan to keep birding and searching for new species in July.   

On June 20th we left for a trip to the Canadian Rockies.  I have included our Alberta Birding Adventures on the blog.  While we were there, we saw a total of 138 species including 35 new species for the year.   The scenery was beautiful and we had a wonderful time.

Our total number of species for the year which includes Florida and Alberta is 343. 

Comments

  1. Judy DyeJuly 2, 2022 at 5:58 PM

    Really enjoy reading about your adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. John SobetzerJuly 2, 2022 at 6:06 PM

    Your blog is great Cathy. Congrats to you and Mike on your 275 so far.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 3, 2022 at 8:12 AM

    Congratulations on a great 6 months!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 4, 2022 at 1:46 PM

    Great trip and pics!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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