BIRDING-Defiance County OH

through 2005. Doesn't include my Sherwood feeders, Oxbow Lake WIldlife Area or Independence Dam State Park, which have their own pages.

2005 January 2 YELLOWBELLIED SAPSUCKER at Riverside Cemetery. 1/8/5 Work requires 7am to 7pm commitment indefinitely, so was relieved when the weekend finally arrived-- only to find flooding and deep snow had closed both Oxbow Lake and Independence Dam. There were over 100 Robins and Cedar Waxwings in a mixed group at the Kettering Golf Course SR424/Carpenter. 1/24/5 Went into work at 5am and home at 8pm per usual this month, but a funeral this afternoon at least allows me to see the sun for a few hours: SNOW BUNTINGS were everywhere in small groups along the 10 miles of SR18 between Sherwood and Hicksville, the best being 3 separate flocks of about100 each at Cicero/SR18. Didn't see any on Jericho, but another 20 or so on Breininger near the Paulding County Line near the Cemetery (isn't it terrible to bird during a sad funeral procession?). Also SR 49 at the Paulding County Line had another 50 Snow Buntings.1/25/5 SR66/WilliamsCoLineRd Two Pheasants in the snow SR15/Evansport At least 75 Wild Turkeys near this busy highway. 1/26/5 Nice to be off work while there's still daylight, admiring Larks and Harriers, and a MEADOWLARK at Buckskin/Mulligan's Bluff 1/27/5 Power Dam 3 MUTE SWANS with lotsa gulls (mostly Herring), Canada Geese, and a few Mallards and one Black Duck. There was a flock of ROBINS flying across SR18 at Slough Rd. 1/29/5 Jericho/127 14 Wild Turkeys Rosebrock/Lockwood A flock of Robins! 1/30/5 2 1/2 inches of additional snow, but did find 4 MEADOWLARKS at Buckskin/Glenburg, SR15/Evansport had the usual 66 Wild Turkeys, and 4 cock Pheasants were by the road at Schick/Trinity. At dusk, I made the final check of short-eared owl sites for the Winter Atlas: at the NeyWmsCtrCecilRd/FountainStreetRoad site were 7 Pheasants. At the Jericho/FarmerMarkRoad site were 17 Pheasants; Jericho/Rosedale 30 Pheasants; Jericho/Breininger 4 Pheasants. No short-eared owls. 1/31/5 Blosser/SR127 RoughLegged Hawk Glenburg/Lockwood The FOUR SHORT-EARED OWLS have returned. 2/1/5 Trinity/Lockwood A cock and 3 hen RingNecked Pheasants 2/3/5 Lockwood/Glenburg The ShortEared Owls are awake already at 4:20pm. 2/4/5 SR424/SR281 A strange sight for highway drivers were 10 Great Blue Herons standing in a line on the river, frozen for miles in either direction. Power Dam Lotsa Canada Geese but only 3 of the Rouen-mix ducks that are usually so common here. Under 10 gulls and one Great Blue Heron. 2/5/5 An Eastern Meadowlark at SR18/Coy and another at SR18/Ashpacher. A flock of Robins on US 24 just west of the SR66 exit. Power Dam About 200 Gulls, all Herring except for a small pod of 10 RingBilled. 3 Mallard mixes (robbed continually by the gulls), 3 Great Blue Herons, 9 Mallards, and a few (50?) Canada Geese. 2/7/5 Lockwood/Glenburg RoughLegged Hawk SR18/Bend A wet, disheveled Cooper's Hawk was being harrassed by a furious Kestrel. 2/8/5 300+ Gulls sat in the field opposite SR424/SR281 (GM hot water outlet), 200+ sat in the field by the river at SR66/Downs, 50 at Bronson Park, 200+ in the air at Power Dam. It was too late in the evening to comb through them for hoping for oddities. I counted TWO-HUNDRED-THIRTY-FIVE MALE ROBINS at Canal Rd. 2/9/5 4 Wild Turkeys at Baker/US127. 2/13/5 2 RoughLegged Hawks at Glenburg/Lockwood. 2/15/5 RoughLegged Hawk SR18/Rosebrock 2/17/5 Hundreds of Gulls (RingBilled and Herring) in the flooded field opposite the river (SR424 under SR281) with 100 or so Canada Geese and 20 or so Mallards. On the river was my first PIED-BILLED GREBE of the season. Oxbow Lake still frozen. Bend Bridge promising habitat! but no birds...2/19/5 Amazingly enough enroute home, found AN ADULT BALD EAGLE with a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK and female Harrier on the ground in a field at Glenburg/Lockwood! Never saw one there before! And 37 Wild Turkeys in a new spot, too: SR18/Flickinger! 2/20/5 Checked for the short-eared owls unsuccessfully in the western spots-- just Pheasants in the rain. Power Dam nothing at all. 2/24/5 Enroute home I found some winter birds still here: a flock of LAPLAND LONGSPURS on Lockwood east of the Bend Road. Scoping them was great but hard to tell how many there were with no snow cover. 2/25/5 SR 424 Audubon Sanctuary at Carpenter Rd This was a great place to pull over out of the way of traffic and admire the courtship of the HOODED MERGANSERS. 6 males surrounded one female comically threw their hoods at her as if to impress, then hid the whiteness when one suitor would be attacked by another. Another pair of Hooded Mergansers serenely sailed unmolested almost directly to the car. A pair of Mallards lounged on the island bank, immune to the display not ten feet away. Six Canada Geese and a few Herring/RingBilled Gulls completed the island inventory. Power Dam had gulls sitting above the dam; the water was too rough for anything else below the dam. The Eagles have moved their nest much closer to SR111. Combed thru blackbird flocks, succeeding only in documenting thousands of Starlings, 4000 in one flock on SR66/Flory. I did find a single RedWinged Blackbird at Ashwood/SR24. 2/26/5 It's another one of those odd spring/winter-birds-collide-days: Bend/WmsCoLine 2 Snow Buntings SR18/Cicero My first TURKEY VULTURE of the year! 2/28/5 A flock of Wild Turkeys at US127/Baker; a small flock of Grackles at the northern edge of Evansport. 3/1/5 Only one inch of blowing snow in spite of predictions, but it was enough to bring out the winter birds: RoughLegged Hawk at 66/WmsCountyLine, a flock of 100 Snow Buntings at Christy/Corressel, and a field full of Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings at Bend/Lockwood. 3/2/5 Tried a different route home to test for Buntings and was not disappointed. Scott/Glenburg A pure flock of at least 200 Snow Buntings (these were the ones that flew). Scott/Trinity A field full of Snow Buntings (50%), Horned Larks (25%) and Lapland Longspurs (25%), or perhaps it so appeared cuz the Buntings are so easy to see. Scott/Mulligan's Bluff 2 Lapland Longspurs with 6 Larks. Mulligan's Bluff/Mud Creek 5 Robins looking miserable in a small tree by the road. Mulligan's Bluff/SR15 A mile from Ney and far from any river, an adult BALD EAGLE! 3/4/5 HOODED MERGANSERS were plentiful at the Black Swamp Audubon Sanctuary on SR424/Carpenter-- SEVENTEEN MALES and only two females. With them were 5 Wood Ducks (3 male, 2 female), a pair of Mallards and 6 Canada Geese. Common Mergansers were, well, common but in widespread pairs from this point downstream to Independence Dam, which was empty. A Grackle was at Flory/SR66, 10 RedWinged Blackbirds at Lockwood/Glenburg, Cooper's Hawk at Lockwood/Trinity. 3/5/5 Six Lesser Scaup joined the Hooded and Common Mergansers at the Black Swamp Audubon Sanctuary on SR424/Carpenter. 3/9/5 Canada Geese, Common and Hooded Mergansers continue at Preston's Island, while a MUTE SWAN put in an appearance above Power Dam. There were also hundreds of gulls in the air as a juvenile Bald Eagle soared among them.3/11/52 Wild Turkeys just off SR66 on Hogenvald. RoughLegged Hawk and Harrier at Trinity/Ashpacher. 3/12/5 While watching for new birds on Preston Island (only Common Mergansers visible), a deer swam from the island, clambered up the bank onto SR424. She looked at me, looked at the island, looked at me, and then back, as if she wanted to go but was waiting on something, when a second deer emerged from the river! I was so astounded at the first, I had missed the second deer swimming across. Fortunately the raceway traffic here missed both of them. Bambi is being heavily promoted in area stores... A previously invisible RedTailed Hawk then flew from the island to the used-every-year nest near Kettenring Hills. 3/14/5 Bend/Bradshaw A dozen Canada Geese and four drake GREEN-WINGED TEAL in this remote farm pond in the middle of nowhere. 3/15/5 10 SANDHILL CRANES while enroute to work at SR15/Evansport with many deer and turkeys! After work, Preston Island had 25 Turkey Vultures circling overhead with a juvenile Bald Eagle harrassing them. Also 2 Crows and many Hooded Mergansers (ten males and one female in one group!). 3/16/5 Hooded Mergansers were there per usual at Preston Island. A SHORT-EARED OWL lingers, flying like a bat, barely visible in the twilight of 7:15pm. 3/18/5 SR66/WmsCoLn At least 50 Turkeys Preston Island Hooded Mergansers Independence Dam Common Mergansers and 3 Bufflehead Power Dam above it, 2 pair of Wood Ducks, 2 pair of Mallards and a smattering of Gulls. 3/21/5 Preston Island Hooded Mergansers Independence Dam Common Mergansers, PiedBilled Grebe Switzer/Dowe DARK RedTailed Hawk. Combing through the new blackbird flocks find nothing exceptional. Find a flock of Robins with a single blackbird-- dark purple gloss to the head, smaller bill, non-grackle tail. Wish I were in California again, had an avid birder to confirm, or a female bird beside him, but appears to be a classic BREWER'S BLACKBIRD! 3/23/5 Preston Island Two pairs of Hooded Mergansers argued with each other, throwing hoods. 3/25/5 Glenburg/SR15 35 Wild Turkeys trot slowly across an open field.3/26/5 Coy/SR 18 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK less than a mile from home. Lockwood/Ashpacher Another RoughLegged Hawk. Preston Island Hooded Mergansers Independence Dam Common Mergansers Flickinger/Lockwood a pair of SHORT-EARED OWLS linger. 3/29/5 US24/Egler An adult Bald Eagle flew up from the side of and over the highway, almost 4 miles north of the river and his nest at Independence Dam. 3/12/5 Above Power Dam were the usual Gulls, Mallards and Canada Geese, plus 2 stray Peking Ducks and my first DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT of the season. A second Killdeer was on SR 2 at the Welcome to Indiana sign. A DARK-PHASE RoughLegged Hawk was a t SR18 and Ashpacher. 4/1/5 SR18/Coy Less than a mile from home, a huge flock of Cedar Waxwings take advantage of crabapples. 4/3/5 Jericho/Rosedale Hundreds of Pectoral Sandpipers in the air drew my attention to a newly-constructed marsh here, which also contained 3 pairs of GreenWinged Teal among other waterfowl. The marsh won't be visible long, after the crops grow...4/7/5 Preston's Island 15 Double-Crested Cormorants. Sherwood Juncos and Chipping Sparrows mix at the feeders, but not a tree sparrow in sight. 4/19/5 Preston's Island 5 Cormorants and FIELD SPEEDWELL (first of year for me) 4/25/5 Preston's Island The same 5 Cormorants and my first OSPREY of the year. 4/28/5 Bend/Lockwood Exactly 60 AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS (first of year for me) were in this open field not far from the road. 4/29/5 SR15/Struble A tom Wild Turkey displayed for all the morning commuters and his harem. 5/2/5 Buckskin/Bend My first Hummingbird of the year, on my windshield <frown> Lockwood/Bend Wild Turkey tom. Carpenter/Stadium An unusual Grackle hanging with other Grackles in a front yard. Tried to casually videotape at dusk, without arousing anger in the homeowner. 5/7/5 At Hicksville (Casebere-Miller/SR18) was an adult male Harrier, harrassed by blackbirds. Awakened in Sherwood to a calling first-of-season Wood Thrush. 5/9/5 Behnfeldt/Scott Cooper's Hawk 5/11/5 Bend/Lockwood 3 Turkeys and a Coyote with mange. Rethmel/Evansport RedHeaded Woodpecker. Lockwood/Rosebrock Lone Turkey. Lockwood/Glenburg Bobolinks and Pheasants sing and crow, although I can't see either. 6/14/05 More Dickcissels on Stever Rd south of BannerSchool Rd. Also Rough Avens.6/15/05 Enroute home from work at Christy/Biderwell I jammed on the brakes after I heard several and finally spied one VESPER SPARROW (first of season for me, finally!) running quickly, hiding behind tiny bean sprouts! From the woods at the other corner of the wood came the long, clear, loud song of a Wood Thrush. 6/17/05 Enroute home from work another Mockingbird flew in front of the car on SR18 at Ashpacher. As I turned around to view it better, I heard Dickcissels singing in the field on the opposite corner. Blooms new to me for the year: Queen Anne's Lace, Common Mullein, Canada Thistle, Gray Dogwood, Common Milkweed, Indian Hemp. 6/18/05 Enroute elsewhere I found Dickcissels at Jericho/Openlander 6/21/05 Rosebrock/SR18 The morning greeting in Chinese history was from a Savannah Sparrow singng, "chiaaaaaaang, kaiiiiiiiii, shek!" Dickcissels were common on the morning drive in to work-- especially Lockwood/Kleinhen,Lockwood/Glenburg, Lockwood/Trinity. 7/8/05 Hicksville Power Walk #5, in the [too] well-manicured park surprised me by yielding Turkey Vulture, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Barn Swallow, Bluebird, Robin, Catbird, Starling, RedWinged Blackbird, Grackle, Cedar Waxwing, Chipping & Song Sparrow, Cardinal, Cowbird, Goldfinch, House Sparrow (18sp, 35", singletrack) even at our very fast pace. 8/17/05 Preston Island Dale Becker, Bruce Heater and I canoed over tonight and found no BIG surprises: YellowBilled Cuckoo, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, Robin, Kingfisher, WhiteTailed Deer, Turkey Vulture, etc but it was very nice and profoundly relaxingly quiet. Monarch caterpillars swarmed the Swamp Milkweed with up to 10 caterpillars per plant! And Monkeyflower was a nice find. And a Sycamore that took all three of us to put our arms around-- a circumference of about 18 feet! 10/20/05 Power Dam not a single bird. 10/22/5 Glenburg/Lockwood 300 Blue Jays overhead, 2000 Common Grackles on the ground, both almost pure flocks. 11/3/5 Baker/US127 With this field harvested, a dozen Wild Turkeys were visible. 11/5/5 US127/Jericho big flock of Wild Turkeys now visible US24/Baltimore Rd Small flock of Wild Turkeys11/16/5 Power Dam No birds. 100 Crows over downtown Defiance reminds me that I seldom see this bird around here...11/18/5 Penney Marsh Nothing on the water. 12/6/05 Christy/Schultz A light-phased ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK! At Coy/Lockwood (only two miles from home) was a small flock of about 40 Larks, 5 Snow Buntings, and 5 Lapland Longspurs 12/7/05 Bronson Park A Cooper's Hawk. I finally found some ducks in this county but not at Independence Dam, Power Dam, Oxbow Lake, 66/Downs, or Sherwood Lagoons! Same group persists in the same numbers at the same place, but allows the car much closer approach 12/8/05 Flickinger at the Defiance/Williams County Line A flock of about 50 Snow Buntings. 12/10/5 Cicero/SR18 A flock of about 25 Snow Buntings. SR2/Indiana Line A few Snow Buntings, mixed with Larks. 12/13/5 Bronson Park 150 Canada Geese Power Dam At least 100 Canada Geese and 100 Mallard/Rouens.12/17/5 Enroute home I found FIVE SHORT-EARED OWLS in the mile of Buckskin Road between Trinity & Glenburg. A SIXTH SHORT-EAR was sitting on a telephone pole at Buckskin/Flickinger.12/19/05 Under 30 Canada Geese at Independence Dam, under 30 at Power Dam, even fewer at Bronson Park, none at SR66/Greenler. It was very dark (6pm) when I passed Trinity/Buckskin but a ShortEared Owl flashed his white underside at my car.12/20/05 6 Meadowlarks flew up, and my car slid on the shiny slippery surface sideways down Lockwood Rd near Mulligan's Bluff as I slowed to take a closer look. On US127/Buckskin, 25 Snow Buntings flew up from the roadside. 12/23/05 Enroute home from work, 4:10pm to 5:10pm: 24 Snow Buntings (on Brandt west of Moser) and 24 Wild Turkeys (on Allen west of Moser). 15 American Tree Sparrow, 50 Starlings, 38 Horned Larks, 5 House Sparrows, 6 Juncos, 31 Mourning Doves, a RedTailed Hawk, 3 Song Sparrows , 30mi in extreme NE section of Oxbow Lake Count area 12/26/05 Returned home in time to get an hour of birding in, from 4pm to 5pm. The SHORT-EARED OWLS were still in the Buckskin/Trinity fields. RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS are in the woods on Switzer east of Kleinhein. RingNecked Pheasants, 2 at Trinity/Lockwood, 3 at Buckskin/Mulligan's Bluff. 4 American Tree Sparrows, 1 Blue Jay, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 73 Starlings, a Harrier, 34 Horned Larks, 6 House FInches, 20 House Sparrows, 4 Juncos, 5 Kestrels, 60 Mourning Doves, 2 RedTailed Hawks. 35mi in southern NW section of Oxbow Lake Count area, to Blosser inclusive. Independance Dam-- duck hunter on island by the dam. Lotsa deer. 12/27/05 After work 4:20pm to 5pm, 20mi in the southern half of the bird-forsaken northeast quadrant of the Oxbow Lake Christmas Bird Count area: a BlackCapped Chickadee, Cooper's Hawk (Flory west of Adam's Ridge Road), a Cardinal, 69 House Sparrows, a Kestrel, 48 Mourning Doves, 188 Starlings. Then 5pm to 5:20, 12 miles in only the rural parts of the eastern section: 2 American Tree Sparrow, 114 Canada Geese, 1 Great Blue Heron, 30 Mallards, 3 Mourning Doves, a RedTailed Hawk, 2 Song Sparrows. Of course, it is the worst time to bird, but the only time I have... 12/29/5 4:15pm to 5:10pm 33mi 3 Bluebirds, 1 Cardinal, 2 Cooper's Hawk (Evansport, Schultz/Christy), Hairy Woodpecker, 36 House Sparrows, 3 Kestrels, 4 Mourning Doves, 4 RedTailed Hawks, 133 Starlings, Nuthatch, north central section.12/30/05 After work 4:20pm to 5:30pm, 40mi in the southwest quadrant of the Oxbow Lake Christmas Bird Count area. Notable were the misses, since the bald eagles weren't on their nest at SR111 and no short-eared owls or even harriers were on the perfect-looking fields of Powers Rd: 62 Canada Geese, 1 Mallard (flyovers), a Kestrel, a RedTailed Hawk and 38 Starlings.

20041/6 StateRoute18/Bend Rd Pheasants out in the open trying to find food in all the hard snow. 1/8 Oxbow Glenburg between Buckskin and Lockwood was Hawk City today with Kestrel, Harrier (including an adult male), and RedTails galore. One particularly interesting juvenile RedTail would not leave her rabbit dinner so that I could pass. Finally, when I crept within 10 feet, she took the rabbit with her to the other side of the roadside ditch. This pic is thru' the windshield. I shot my camera batteries on these hawks and then found FOUR SHORT-EARED OWLS in one tree. RingNecked Pheasants were running willy-nilly, obvious against the blank white fields, evidently anxious to get enough food to get through the night. 1/9/4 Glenburg/Lockwood Two bright white SHORT-EARED OWLS were flying around with a darker SEOW in bright sunlight, never landing for my fully-charged camera. In Hillsdale County (the closest Michigan county), January 5th, Jack Reinoehl reports 7 SHORT-EARED OWLS, seen along Tripp Rd, between Prattville Road and Burt Road (mich-listers@envirolink.org), while the nearest Indiana county (Allen) also reported them: " 2 SEOWs in the field on the east side of CR63 in extreme southern DeKalb County (one-half mile north of the Allen/DeKalb County line- DeLorme page 29, just north of A-11)." -- IN-BIRD-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU. A hen Pheasant scratched nearby: 1/11 This morning I started out about 10am and Glenburg/Lockwood rewarded me almost immediately with EIGHT EASTERN MEADOWLARKS. Even a daylight Short-Eared Owl. Power Dam Another adult Bald Eagle sat here, watching the dozen RingBilled Gulls, the six Mallard mixes (one is white with black wings!), and the eight Canada Geese. A dozen Snow Buntings mixed with the plentiful Larks at US24/Elliott Rd. Enroute home, at Rosebrock/SR18 were four hen Pheasants, scratching a living out of the ice-covered snow. 1/12/4 Fortunately, I checked the e-mail that my server screened as spam: "Hello, I live by Ayersville and a month or two ago there were 2 Bald Eagles across from my house. I have 3 pictures that I took, they aren't the best but you can tell they are eagles. One picture even has the Ayersville water tower in the background. I thought maybe this would be of interest to you. Thank you." --Carmen Stout tstout@defnet.com. Yes indeed this is of interest to me! Thanks, Carmen! After work the skies were already dark, leaving owling the only promising birding activity: Three Short-Eared Owls on Rosedale Road off Jericho, two Short-Eared Owls on Farmer-Mark Road off Jericho, one Short-Eared Owl on Fountain-Street Road off Williams-Center-Cecil Road. 1/13/4 Tried several spots at heavily-hunted Oxbow Lake, but couldn't get a Screech Owl-- just a VERY angry pair of Nuthatches. Walked the pines looking for signs of owls unsuccessfully. On whim enroute home, I got an immediate Screech Owl response from the farmhouse near the bridge on Glenburg Road near State Route 15. 1/16/4 Too dark before and after work of course for any surprises, but did catch a few "binocu-cammed" shots of the ShortEared Owls and Pheasants at Glenburg/Lockwood I also found a Bat that had evidently fallen or been pulled out of hibernation. When I put it in my bathouse here at home, out flew a Nuthatch! 1/18 US24/SR66 Cooper's Hawk flew as I fueled. Birthday-family kind of day, so the extent of my birding was Crows, Rock Pigeons and RedTailed Hawks along I-75 and a Carolina Wren in Detroit! 1/19 Sherwood 200+ Buntings at Vine/Coy, nearly in the corporation limits! 1/22 Sherwood At the spot where the Maumee River kisses US 24 (a bit east of The Bend Road) were three more adult Mute Swans with at least 100 Canada Goose (dangerous pull-off). 1/24 Sherwood US 24/Emerald Road 6 Wild Turkeys and a small group of Larks/Snow Buntings. 1/25 Sherwood Two Mute Swans and only about 50 Canada Geese at the US 24/Bend river kiss. Snow Buntings on both ends of Sherwood, at US 127/Sausman (about 250) and SR18 at Rosebrock (about 100). Hicksville My sister reports 4 ROBINS feeding on berries at her Haver Drive home. Power Dam Hundreds of Canada Geese and Mallards gathered on the decreasing amount of free water, as the water is not coming over the dam. 1/28 Power Dam Hundreds of Canada Geese and Mallards. Bronson frozen. SR18/Rosebrock 4 Pheasants. 1/30 R18/Rosebrock 4 Pheasants. 1/31 Hicksville 8 ROBINS on Haver Drive MOCKINGBIRD at Scott/Rosedale, as always. 2/2/4 R66/Elliott A little too citified for 25 Snow Buntings. 2/5/4 Pheasant at Rosebrock/SR18. 2/6/4 Stadium Drive/Carpenter A second juvenile Mute Swan put down close to all the busy traffic going by (which didn't even notice!) just a block behind the mall and K-mart! US127/Defiance-WilliamsCoLnRd A Bald Eagle 10 miles North of Sherwood?!! They can be found every day 15 miles East of Sherwood at the Dam, but this was spectacular enough to make the front page of the Bryan Times (WilliamsCounty) yesterday: 2/8/4 SR18/Rosebrock 1 cock and 8 hen/juvenile Pheasants.2/11/4 Maumee at US 24 near the Bend Road Only 2 Canada Geese. Maybe the swans usually here moved to Power Dam. Power Dam The thaw has allowed for hundreds of Canada Geese, Mallards (many mixed Mallards looking more like Rouen than Mallard!), two Great Blue Herons, FOUR MUTE SWANS here too (one Juvenile), with a single DRAKE RING-NECKED DUCK, a single MALE REDHEAD, a single hen BUFFLEHEAD, a pair of PINTAIL DUCKS, a singing Carolina Wren, a RedTailed Hawk and an Eagle.2/14/4 Power Dam Audrey G. started the day right by showing us (Dean F, Jon D, Pat S and I) the fabled Eagle's nest here-- and a juvenile Bald Eagle was there to greet us. 2/15/4 Power Dam 630 Canada Geese, 62 Mallards (many of which were mixed heritage), 4 Mute Swans (one of which was juvenal), and 2 Black Ducks. 2/17/4 SR18/Rosebrock One cock and 8 brown Pheasants. US127/Buckskin Cooper's Hawk sitting calmly in a tree watching the traffic go by only a few feet away. 2/18/4 Usuals plus six Canvasbacks at Power Dam. 2/21/4 Power Dam water was so high, fast and furious there were no birds at all. 2/23/4 Fran & Dave called to say that they saw the Wild Turkeys at their usual SR15/Evansport Road area, but also another 100+ Wild Turkeys at Evansport/Whisler. Independence Dam they said held only a half-dozen gulls, and a SHORT-EARED OWL was at Jericho/Farmer Mark Rd. At their home in Hicksville were Robins and Cedar Waxwings eating the berries, with many Bluebirds. 2/22 The mule farm a mile north of Florida eagle nest (no eagles present) hosted hundreds of my first-of-the-season GRACKLES, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and COWBIRDS.2/24/4 State Route 18/ Ashpacher Two ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS (light phase) hunting in spite of the traffic. A few miles away, at Glenburg/Lockwood were two DARK-PHASE ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS with a third light phase. 3/7/4 Power Dam had water roaring over it, so no birds at all-- except for TWENTY-THREE WILD TURKEYS. I've never seen Turkeys here before! 3/10/4 A pair of cock Pheasants held up traffic at State Route 15 and Glenburg. new Penney Marsh empty. I haven't seen anything on the Penney Marsh since its inception. 3/12/4 Power Dam water is low but no birds at all, even following the Auglaize River all the way south to Junction at 5-Span bridge. Sherwood had Pam A. reports four SHORT-EARED OWLS on the DefiancePauldingCountyLineRoad at GierRd/PauldingCoRd 123. 3/14/4 Lockwood/Glenburg a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK light-phase. 3/18/4 Power Dam empty 3/20/4 SR66/US24 Meijer's Dean F. reports Wild Turkeys even here! Lockwood/US 127 Cock Pheasant 3/21/4 18/Rosebrock Cock Pheasant Glenburg/Lockwood ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, a very nice adult male light phase, so black and white he was almost polka dot! At 6:50pm there were an even dozen Harriers cavorting and playing tag in a very entertaining manner at FarmerMark/Jericho, while the 3 SHORT-EARED OWLS stayed clear of the commotion. Fountain Street Road/WilliamsCenter-Cecil Road Here were 19 Harriers (!), 3 of them adult males, not nearly as playful as the others, and only 1 SHORT-EARED OWL, and a cock Pheasant. 3/27/4 Power Dam Empty. 3/29/4 Penney Marsh Drake Shoveler, drake BlueWinged Teal, pair of Mallards. 4/4/4 Sherwood (SR18/US127) A flock of about 100 LAPLAND LONGSPURS, inside the corporation limits! 4/5-7/4 Power Dam empty. 4/8/4 GlenburgRd/SR18 Very sadly, a Great Horned Owl was dead on the road, next to a dead hen Pheasant, which seemed to tell the whole story until nearby I saw a Skunk, purportedly the owl's favorite food. It was bright-eyed and alert, but far too unwary to be okay. Also at this weird group was the polka-dot ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, usually a mile away at Glenburg/Lockwood.4/10/4 Enroute to join Fort Wayne Audubon's field trip, a SHORT-EARED OWL flew in front of the car at Jericho/Wonderly. 4/14/4 Glenburg/Lockwood 2 Harriers and the RoughLegged Hawk still hanging on.4/16/4 Lockwood/US 127 A small flock of Lapland Longspurs. 4/17/4 Bands of WhiteCrowned Sparrows at Rochester Cemetery 4/18/4 ElliottRd/SR281 Barbecue at a friend's house found a Pine Warbler in the many pines at his home. 4/25/4 Jericho/Breininger A DARK-PHASE ROUGH LEGGED HAWK seen by Bruce H. and me perched on a telephone wire. Beauteous! 5/3/4 Evansport Don't those Wild Turkeys know it's hunting season?! Big Tom strutting himself for 6 hens, RIGHT BESIDE THE ROAD! 5/5/4 Harriers tarry at Bend/Bradshaw and Jericho/Lake/Clemmer. 5/8/4Glenburg/Lockwood We stopped by to see if the BOBOLINKS were back, and they certainly were! 5/9/4 Jericho/Rosedale almost hit a Bobolink with the car 5/14/4 Jericho/WmsCtrCecilRd skypond 1 Solitary Sandpiper, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers and a Brown Thrasher-- unlikely combo! 5/19/4 Hicksville Dave Martin reports Bobolinks in his backyard, at SR18/CasebereMiller. 5/24/4 Power Dam a new eaglet at this new nest! 6/3/4 Jericho/Breininger Spindler Cemetery I was distracted by the constant crowing in the surrounding fields, and as I left a hen pursued by a cock Pheasant flew the length of the entire field! 6/5/4 On Jericho near Lake Rd was another colony of Purple Martins in gourds 6/27/4 FruitRidgeRd/SR18 A Mockingbird!.7/24/4Trinity/Lockwood Hen pheasant creeps across the road, neck down, only a few paces at a time. Good strategy for grassland hiding, but could get her hit-- very comical! RedHeaded Woodpecker too. 8/13/4 Baker/US 127 4 Wild Turkeys. 8/14/4 SR49/Jericho A hunting Harrier reminds me I haven't seen them all summer. 8/21/4 Flickinger/SR18 Another Great Horned Owl struck by a car, a female Cowbird mysteriously dead beside it.8/22/4 Riverside Cemetery in beautiful downtown Defiance Dale B. reports 3 Great Egrets and 3 Bald Eagles at this unlikely spot, while canoeing down the great Maumee River. 8/24/4 SR18/Ashpacher Another Great Horned Owl dead, hanging from a transformer, as another flies over the field...9/8/4 Slough/SR18 Harrier Scott/Bend Cooper's Hawk 9/11/4 Defiance County Walked Independence Dam State Park with nothing noteworthy, but on US 24 just west of the SR15/18 exit was a WHITE RED-TAILED HAWK! 9/12/4 Defiance County A different trail at Independence Dam State but same results: no warblers. Fortunately, still same results at US24/SR18 where I obtained another 26 seconds of video of the WHITE RED-TAILED HAWK in spite of furious semi traffic, even this early in the morning. 10/16/4 Enroute home from the Black Swamp Audubon's trip to Lovejoy's Rehab Center, 16 Wild Turkeys crossed the road in front of me on US 127 at Mud Creek Road 10/29/4 SR15/Evansport Cooper's Hawk Power Dam nothing 11/7/4 Harriers (an adult male and a juvenile) at PauldingCoLn/CoRd 45, and eight RUSTY BLACKBIRDS at Jericho/CoRd 45. James H. reports 20 SNOW GEESE on SR 111 near the Paulding County Line.11/17/4 Lockwood/Glenburg TWO ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS have returned to the area! Eight Wild Turkeys were at the very east edge of Evansport close to the road. 11/19/4 Lockwood/Evansport RUSTY BLACKBIRDS (about 2 dozen) mixed with Starlings and Killdeer in the field here. Under the east "Welcome to Evansport" sign were four Wild Turkeys again, right by the road. Lockwood/Glenburg With the two RoughLegged Hawks were a Harrier and a RedTailed Hawk today. 11/21/4 Power Dam The water was way too fast for ducks. SR18/Rosebrock Scanned a huge blackbird flock for rusties but found only Starlings and a handful of lingering RedWinged Blackbirds. Another dead Great Horned Owl at SR18/MudCreekRd.11/27/4 Jericho/Wonderly 45 RingBilled Gulls are in the field with a large mixed flock of Horned Larks and LAPLAND LONGSPURS (my first of the year), and two Harriers (a male and a non-male). 11/28/4 Stadium/Carpenter 5 Wild Turkeys behind K-mart/Defiance College, new for me at this location.12/2/4 Behnfeldt/McCavit YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER (glad I stopped among all those deerhunters cruising the backroads in their pickups). 12/13/4 Rosedale/Jericho Pheasants in this field. Behnfeldt/Jericho A ShortEared Owl finally appears. 12/21/4 Buckskin Rd at Mulligan's Bluff What a way to start-- I stopped at the stop sign for minutes watching a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK hunt here Power Dam was totally frozen, as was most of the river. I headed home, watching for short-eared owls unsuccessfully on Powers Road. Slough/Rosebrock A Cooper's Hawk springs from a branch along the road. How can a bird weighed in ounces appear so powerful? 12/24/4 Enroute to Fort Wayne for last minute gifts found 5 small flocks of SNOW BUNTINGS between Sherwood and Hicksville on SR18-- 100 at SR18/Lake, under 50 at SR18/Rosedale and the others smaller. 12/25/4 Enroute to Mom's for Christmas: Jericho/Wonderly 53 Snow Buntings in a flock FarmerMark near Jericho TWENTY-FIVE PHEASANTS feeding on the white field here Williams-Center-Cecil Road/Fountain Street Road a group of five Pheasants. 12/26/4 Trinity/Lockwood 3 Hen Pheasants debate whether to cross in front of my car or in front of 3 racing snowmobiles. They fortunately made the right choice. 2/29/04 SR18/Ashpacher Three Pheasants in the snow 12/30/4 Trinity/Lockwood 3 Hen Pheasants debate whether to cross in front of my car or in front of 3 racing snowmobiles. They fortunately made the right choice. BannerSchoolRd between Stever and Evansport Rds 3 RingNecked Pheasants. 20031/4/3 Not far away (Henry County Line between Flory Rd and L1) were a flock of over 100 Snow Buntings! Enroute home on US 24 north of Defiance at the Tiffin River were four more Wild Turkeys. 1/5/3 Southside Defiance Found 2 Black Ducks with the hundred or so Mallards at Bronson Park; a Great Blue Heron and giant-grey-goose-with-an-orange-bill amidst the 1500 or so Canada Geese at 66 South Bridge; Power Dam had 2 Great Blue Herons, 2 Ring Billed Gulls, and lots of Mallards. 1/6/3 Defiance County a GREAT HORNED OWL swooped down from a telephone pole about a half-mile east of Lockwood/Glenburg. About a mile away (Lockwood/Kleinhein) a SHORT-EARED OWL appeared! Then (Lockwood/Mulligan's Bluff) another GREAT HORNED OWL swooped down from a telephone pole! I sometimes see them at 18/Ashpacher (still reasonable, only a mile south and 4 miles east), but never here. The time? Only 6:15pm! 1/10/3 Bronson Park in Defiance had about 25 Canada Geese, about 25 Mallards and 2 Black Ducks still. 66S Bridge in Defiance had only about 10 Canadas with the two Chinese Geese. Power Dam about 100 Mallards. SR111/DefianceCounty Line 100+ Canada Geese. Took Paulding Co Ln Rd home but not a single owl or hawk. 1/15/3 Power Dam was similar, with lots of (over 1000) Canada Geese and (over 100) Mallards, but little else, with the river frozen all the way to Oakwood but flowing below the dam past Bronson Park. 1/21/3 I was so disappointed Archbold Reservoir was frozen over that I decided just to drive around looking for longspurs. That mission was unsuccessful, but surprised myself finding waterfowl when I thought all the water was frozen locally. US 24 just before Bend Road at least 20 Canada Geese, 20 Mallards, and at least a pair of Black Ducks (dangerous viewing).1/22/3Christy Road at the Williams/Defiance County Line had a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (probably the same bird seen at 66/6 by Lach and John D, and again by Micki and Doug Dunakin at Christy in Defiance Co), with a Kestrel, and 2 brown Harriers (one with a juvenile orange belly) in the same spot. Bronson Park had 50 or so Canadas, 25 or so Mallards, the loud Kingfisher and TEN ADULT MUTE SWANS. Although I traveled Powers Road/Fountain St Rd/Jericho at the right time, no harriers or short-eared owls -- puzzling. 1/23/3 Defiance's Power Dam The waterfalls frozen in time, there were 1000- Canada Geese, 100- Mallards, 5 RingBilled Gulls, 5 Harriers (one adult male, one orange-bellied juvenile) in the area, and a RINGNECKED DRAKE.Defiance's Bronson Park Amidst the 100- Canada Geese, 50- Mallards, and few Black Ducks were still the 10 adult Mute Swans from yesterday. Defiance's 66S bridge Although the river is frozen here, 150 Canada Geese were gathered in the adjoining field, with more small groups arriving from surrounding fields to gather for the night. 1/24/3 Mallards were up to 350 at Power Dam. 1/26/3 Power Dam and Bronson Park were just too dangerous to try given the weather conditions and traffic. Did see that the 10 Mute Swans were still there with the hundreds of Canadas and Mallards and Black Ducks... 1/28/3 Leaving out the usual hundreds of Canada Geese, Mallards and Black Ducks: Power Dam had its own Mute Swan and orange-billed-knobbed Goose. Bronson Park still had its 10 Mute Swans plus TWENTY-SIX GREAT BLUE HERONS in the adjoining cornfield! A Cooper's Hawk was on Eastside Defiance at Hickory/Hopkins Streets. 2/14/3 Bronson Park ONE THIRD-YEAR BALD EAGLE sitting on the ice (I have never seen an eagle at this location before; evidently the adults chased this bird from Independence, where I have seen it building the nest!), 12 adult Mute Swans, 50 Mallards, 100 Canada Geese Power Dam 8 Great Blue Herons, 8 Mallards, 53 Canada Geese. The water here is icing over since the flow over the dam has reduced to a trickle. Ashwood/24 2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS sitting on the twigs at the top of small trees, white black-banded tail and all field marks clear and easily visible. 6 Harriers, a Kestrel, 6 Rock Doves, and 850 Starlings.2/16/3 Defiance County Bronson Park a Kingfisher,12 adult Mute Swans, 50 Canada Geese Power Dam TWO BALD EAGLES, one a Third Year, the other a Second Year eating on the ice 1884 Starlings, 275 Mallards, 55 RingBilled Gulls, 53 Canada Geese, 14 Larks, 6 Black Ducks, 3 Commmon Mergansers, 2 REDHEAD DUCKS, 2 RedTailed Hawks, and a Crow. Ashwood/24 2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS both hovering over the fields, showing off the black wrists, black bellies and white black-banded tails, all field marks clear and easily visible. 3 Harriers. At 1pm, a herd of 15 deer were ambling nonchalantly alongside the road at the Bend/PauldingCoLnRd. 2/19/3 Brought a camera, so of course the roughlegged hawks weren't at Ashwood Rd-- only 4 Harriers, 2 Kestrels, and a RedTailed Hawk. 2/21/3 Power Dam was practically empty of everything. Bronson Park still had the 12 adult Mute Swans. 2/26/3 The piles of snow make viewing difficult here as well as at Bronson Park and Power Dam: a dozen Mute Swans, 8 RingBilled Gulls, 2 Herring Gulls amidst the usuals. 2/28/3 The Mute Swans at Bronson/Power Dam made the local paper (Defiance Crescent-News): 3/1/3 RingNecked Pheasant at US 127/NeyWmsCtr Rd. 3/2/3 State Route 18/Ashpacher Road 22 MEADOWLARKS (my first of the year) in a field with 125 Canada Geese (6KT0 green band), 12 Crows (lucky to see 1 in Defiance County all winter), 5 Rock Doves, a dozen or so hard-to-say-how-many Larks, and a Starling. Power Dam 18 Redheads, 6 Mute Swans and 15 RIngBilled Gulls joined the usuals here. JIm Krall talked with me here, saying that 200 of the Mallards usually here (and there were still probably 200 here) were at his pond a mile away (PowerDamRd/Wilhelm). It was also eye-opening to realize that he raises Mute Swans and Rouens, and lets a few go wild every year... <sad sigh>3/5/3 Stopped by Whetstone/US 24 to look for the roughlegged hawks, but instead found 2 RedTailed Hawks copulating. It must be Spring! 3/6/3 Power Dam almost nothing! just a few Mallards and Canada Geese. Bronson Park impossible viewing. way too much traffic and way too much piled snow. 3/8/3 We found a Cooper's Hawk at SR424/HenryCoLn and /AdamsRidge. 3/10/3 Power Dam was so turbulent with water pouring through the dam in torrents. Nevertheless 2 pairs of Mallards and 5 drake Common Mergansers tried to navigate it. Bronson Park No waterfowl except 21 Canada Geese in the adjoining cornfield. Just too fast water. 3/11/3 The field at SR18/Ashpacher was full of male RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, singing MEADOWLARKS, and Canada Geese. 3/14/3 Enroute home at Ashpacher/Lockwood was another large blackbird flock I coasted into: mostly RedWInged (didn't see a single female), but a few Grackles, male Cowbirds, Starlings, and Rusty Blackbirds as well. 3/16/3 The flooding of the river at Delaware Bend forced the closing of the road there, so I walked over to see what birds had taken advantage. On the east side of the Bend Rd were 98 Canada Geese and a Wood Duck drake. On the west side, 35 Canada Geese, 24 RIngNecked Geese, 2 pairs of GreenWinged Teal, and a single Bufflehead. 3/18/3 Evansport had 50 of some nice birds: 50 Turkey Vultures (first of the year for me) most of which were roosting in the same huge tree, 50 Robins in a single flock, 50 Mallards, 50 Wood Ducks, 50 RingNecked Ducks, 50 Canada Geese in the marsh near the 4-way stop. 3/19/3 The Bend field on the west side of road has drained; east side held 75+ RingNecked Ducks. 3/21/3 Defiance County Power Dam? empty. So I decided to follow the Auglaize River south to Paulding County via Power Dam Road. The very first cove (at Parkview) there was my first HORNED GREBE of the season, in Mardi Gras transitional plumage. He was swimming with a drake Mallard, 2 Peking Ducks, and 4 blacker-that-Black-Ducks (we are talking totally glossy!). The very next cove after that had 2 pairs of Bufflehead, and 2 more pairs of Hooded Merganser. Right at the Defiance/Paulding County Line (Potter Cemetery) were 350 ducks, mostly RingNecked Ducks, but a few Scaup and Redheads sprinkled in. On the other side of the river, headed north on SR111 at 5-Mile Creek Access were about 10 pairs of RedBreasted Mergansers, 4 pairs of Hooded Mergansers, 3 pairs of Lesser Scaup, 4 pairs of Redheads, 2 female Common Goldeneye, 4 unusual Mallard mixes (one was white with a black back and black wings), and lots of RingNecked Ducks (maybe 2 dozen) that kept appearing and disappearing around the corner. A dark Eagle startled me as I passed Power Dam itself. 3/22/3 Power Dam? empty. Followed the Auglaize River south to Paulding County via Power Dam Road. Not much. 3/24/3 Evansport nothing visible 4/6/3 SR281/SR424 no sandpipers here either, just a few Mallards and Wood Ducks. Of course, it was 8pm before I had a chance to go check these spots...4/12/3 SR281/SR424 2 PiedBilled Grebes, as well as a pair of Mallards. 4 RingBilled Gulls at Defiance College, while at SR18/Rosebrock were a pair of RingNecked Pheasants alive, as well as a dead hen. 5/4/3 Bobolinks were back at Glenburg/Lockwood, while I was suprised to find a cock Pheasant and a Mockingbird at Glenburg/Buckskin.6/18/3 Rosebrook/State Route 18 More Dickcissels heard, again readily confirmed by a tiny bit of tape.6/21/3 Rosedale/Scott The perenial permanent Mockingbird remains but... 6/22/3 Birds seen while enroute elsewhere (if heard and not seen played small bit of tape to see) Rosebrock/StateRoute18 A pair of Pheasants in early morning sun-- gorgeous. Lockwood/Bend another pair of Pheasants Lockwood/Trinity Grasshopper Sparrows Lockwood/Glenburg Lotsa Bobolinks mile of Gier Road between US 24 and PauldingCo Line At least 4 male Dickcissels.6/23/3 No time to bird, but took time to confirm a DIckcissel on the south, and Grasshopper Sparrow on the north side of Buckskin Road between Glenburg and Trinity. 7/26/3 StateRoute18/Rosebrock Rd I stop for a hen RingNecked Pheasant to cross the highway, knowing the oncoming speeding car is sure to hit her. Miraculously, the oncoming car misses her and she returns to the grassy roadside and her TEN TINY CHICKS! 7/30/3 did see a RedHeaded Woodpecker at Christy/Schultz. 8/16/3 Jericho/Wonderly Haven't found myself going by here lately, but enroute elsewhere saw 3 Harriers today.9/18/3 Jericho/Wonderly The field has been mowed for the first time in years, in preparation for the construction of the Cooper Megafarm. A Harrier and a cock Pheasant were all that were apparent. 9/19/3SR 15/Huber Cock Pheasant hit and still struggling on the yellow highway line... 9/21/3 Hicksville (State Route 2 at the Indiana Line) A Harrier flies at Mom's house. 9/24/3Eastside Defiance At the doctor's office, low over the road, glided a second-year BALD EAGLE! 10/10/3 US 24 between SR 66 and SR 15 A Great Egret at this usually vacant pond.10/20/3 North of Scott Rd on Bend Rd Group of 300+ blackbirds turned out to be 75% Cowbirds, 20% RedWinged Blackbirds (zero adult males), 5% Starling and a single beautiful winter-plumaged RUSTY BLACKBIRD. Other blackbird flocks were nearly 100% Starling. 10/22/3 Rosebrock/Buckskin Cock Pheasant flew in front of the car enroute home. 10/29/3 Power Dam a Mallard and 4 RingBilled Gulls. Male Harriers at Ashpacher/SR 18, and at EvansportRd/WmsCoLnRd 11/11/2003 Power Dam Just a Mallard and an almost-black drake Mallard-mix11/19/2003 Krouse/PowersRd John Diller reports 6 or 7 juvenile Harriers, and the first ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK of the season. 11/21/3 Power Dam Nothing, no gulls, no geese, no ducks, noherons nothing.12/2/2003 Evansport/Banner School Road A flock of Wild Turkeys were roosting in the tall trees here this morning.12/3/2003 A drive down Fountain Street Road and up Jericho Road finds no short-eared owls yet. 12/4/3 Powers Road to US 127 I found still no short-eared owls. 12/6/3 Large mixed flocks of Lapland Longspurs, Snow Buntings and Horned Larks on either side of the road west of Lockwood/Mulligan's Bluff, and a male Harrier at SR18/Rosebrock. 12/8/3 Enroute home, though, about 5pm at Glenburg/Lockwood were my first two SHORT-EARED OWLS of the season. There was another (5:30 pm) at Fountain Street Road/WilliamsCenter-Cecil Road. 12/12/2003 Cecil-Williams Center Road/Fountain Street Road Still only one SHORT-EARED OWL here, and none between work and home on SR34, US 6, CR D, CR C, Behnfeldt, Coy, US 127, Evansport Rd, Defiance/PauldingCountyLineRoad, Jericho Road (the usual field for these birds is mowed to prepare for yet another megafarm going up) try as I might to find other SEOWs. 12/20/3 Jon also related that a SHORT-EARED OWL showed up at Powers/Ashwood Road finally! 12/26/3 Rosedale/Jericho is the fourth Defiance County location with SHORT-EARED OWLS. 12/30/3 East side of FarmerMarkRd north of Jericho Rd 2 SHORT-EARED OWLS 12/31/3 SR18/Kleinhen MOCKINGBIRD Elliott/Christy Cooper's Hawk 2002 1/6/02 Woke up suddenly at 7:30 and rushed out to Wonderly/Jericho in time to see a ShortEared Owl still awake, and a Harrier just starting his day. Two miles down the road (Jericho/Openlander) (p34 B3) was a mixed flock (200?) of Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, and LAPLAND LONGSPURS. I watched them for some time until the driver of the snow plow, on his second pass, decided to stop and see if I was stuck. Also at this spot (very entertaining spot) were 4 or 5 spotted mules fighting like stallions-- what a sight! Wish I had brought my video camera. Kestrels on the wire were normal, but the Cooper's Hawk that flew out of a line of pine wasn't expected by me on Jericho. Then, a cock Pheasant walked out holding himself very erect, jumping into the air ten or so feet, then landing to walk a few more feet and jump again. Very unusual. At Coy/Buckskin were a half dozen Bluebird, and at Trinity/Buckskin were 3 EASTERN MEADOWLARKS. While watching them, the usual Harriers, Crows, Starlings, Red Tailed Hawk emerged. 1/10/02 Unbelievably 45 degrees outside! Decided to drive around my hometown Sherwood area (p34 B3) with the dog and see what would materialize. I expected to be totally bored with only an hour before sunset, and there were the usual Bluebirds, Starlings, HouseSparrows,MourningDoves,RockDoves. There were quite a few Kestrels and RedTailed Hawks as expected, but only 1 Harrier at the beginning (18/Openlander) until the very end when I found 11 Harriers all in the same field at Zeedyk's (halfway between Jericho and FountainStRd on FarmerMarkRd). Those were the only Harriers I saw. Larks at FtnStRd/FMarkRd. Ring-Necked Pheasants, both males, were seen at Bend/Lockwood and Buckskin/FarmerMark 7 miles apart, and both 3miles from the cock on 1/6. The best birds by far though, I found at 5:30pm at a very unexpected location, my friend Jill's house, at Openlander/FountainStreetRoad: 2 SHORT-EARED OWLS. I hurried over to their usual field at Jericho/Wonderly (which is outside my block) and found one SEOw, one Harrier, and one Kestrel there. Enroute home with darkness coming on fast, at 5:48 one of the SEOwls flew directly in front of my car giving me excellent viewing of this wonderful bird, only 1.1 miles from Sherwood corporation limits, and only 2.5 miles from home. Explains why once I saw a SEOw on the ground at the corner of my block. Not a boring drive at all! 1/11/02 Drove up Coy and down Behnfeldt tonight near Sherwood. (p34 B3) Pretty much the usual: Kestrels/Harriers/RedTailed Hawks, Mourning Doves/European Starlings/Blue Birds/AmericanTree & House Sparrows, Canada Geese. 1/12/02 Riverside Park as close as you can get to downtown Defiance, had a sign showing Nature Funds. This park is big and green and mowed, a football field, a ball diamond, 3 soccer fields, but the river runs back of it. So I explored anyway and was pleasantly surprised that so close to downtown would be Bluebirds, Carolina Wren, Goldfinches, House Finches, Jays, Cardinals, RedBellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, American Tree and House Sparrow, Juncos, lots of Canada Geese and Great Blue Heron. Riverside Cemetery had only Canada Geese and a single Great Blue Heron. About to give up on a good bird-of-the-day, while passing over the river on Harding Road , I slammed on the brakes when I spied a male HOODED MERGANSER in the water below. I parked at the bridge abutment and walked back over the bridge for better views, and also spied a Kingfisher, lots of Canada Geese, and many Mallards (the only ducks I saw all day). The bridge is very narrow and pretty heavily travelled. I thought I was dead a couple times. The magnificent view of the drake below was worth it though. Power Dam had only both gulls. Flickers at the Boy Scout Camp Lakota. Lots of Canada Geese at the SR 66 bridge at Latty, but being a high-traffic area, I didn't get out and look closely. Country roads resulted in only a few Larks, Crows, Kestrels, Harriers, RedTailed Hawk, European Starlings. 1/13/02 Today was Flicker Day, as 3 started the day at Rosebrook/18, Schick/15, Gipe/Glenburg. Also seen on the drive, Crow, RedTailed Hawk, Kestrel, European Starlings, Harriers, Eastern Bluebird, Mourning Dove, House & American Tree Sparrows. Enroute back on Switzer Road Harrier, Crow, Tufted Titmice, Lark, Cardinal. Enroute back home, at Flickinger/Lockwood were three more Flickers! 1/15/02 Took Openlander Road home from work today and saw only a single grey Harrier, a single Bluebird, and two Kestrels! Not even Larks! As I turned on to my street, the huge resident Cooper's Hawk flew out of the big spruce on the corner, intent on some House Sparrows. No one special at the feeders. Set out early hoping for an early supper, but couldn't find the Short-Eared Owls until 5:42pm, at FountainStRoad/CecilWmsCtrRoad, which is unfortunately closed for construction, so I had to admire the pair from afar. The usual Short-Eared Owl field (Jericho/FarmerMarkRoad) had a disabled car in front of it, hazard lights blinking. I allowed the young man to use my cellular phone to call for help and asked if he had seen the owls yet. He replied that he had not but often sees them on the way home from work. At that moment only a single Harrier was hovering over the field. Upon leaving however, I realized that a pair of ShortEared Owls and about a dozen Harriers were in the field "catty-corner" to their regular field, ie in the NE corner, instead of the SW. Even in the near darkness, one could see Larks and deer feeding at the edge of the road there. Sherwood Lagoons had Canada Geese, but I couldn't raise any owls with my calling tape. 1/17/02 Domersville Rd home was all I could muster with plans not allowing any real birding-- just a Kestrel, a single Crow, and a small flock of House Finches... 1/20/02 Had decided to do Oxbow Lake but the number of hunters and wearing hunter orange gave me a bad feeling about it, so instead I drove around a bit. Added to the Sherwood list: Crow, European Starling, Lark, Kestrel, RingNecked Pheasant (Lockwood/Glenburg), Oxbow List: Rock Dove, Lark, Kestrel, European Starling, Crow, RedTailed Hawk, Then drove some of the backroads I have missed so far this month. Harriers were sparse (I only saw two), since I drove the north secton, but at McCavit east of Openlander was a large flock (100?) of mixed LAPLAND LONGSPURS and Larks, about 50/50 mix. Then at WilliamsCenterCecilRoad just north of StateRoute 18 was another flock of 100 LAPLAND LONGSPURS, in which I could find only one Horned Lark. Enroute to Hicksville for a birthday party, I passed FountainStRd/WmsCtrCecilRd intersection at 5:52 without seeing Short Eared Owls. I passed their usual field at Jericho/Wonderly and saw none. But at Jericho/Rosedale a ShortEared Owl nearly flew into the side of my car 1/26/02 A walk around Sherwood-- Canada Geese, Bluebirds, RedHeaded Woodpeckers etc etc and three deer, left dead and complete except for their sawed-off antlers (sigh). No turkeys could I find in spite of two broods of 16 each I know about from this summer. Followed the river to all the bridges: SR281/424 and Clinton Street had only RingBilled and Herring Gulls. SR66/Latty St had Canada Geese as far as the eye could see, hundreds, but nothing else at all. Power Dam and Harding Road bridge: zero, not even gulls! US24/Baltimore Rd zilch. The Bend Bridge: zero US127/Sherwood South: zilch, not even the turkeys! Nothing new at the feeders, the brown creeper, cooper's hawk and carolina wren and both white-* sparrows absent, both RedHeaded Woodpeckers feeding heavily in spite of the warm weather. 58 degrees? 1/28/02 ShortEared Owls continue on all corners of the Jericho/Farmer Mark Road intersection, snappily flying in front of the car at odd moments, but I could find none on Fountain Street Road. 1/30/02 Brought Christy Road home hoping to see the 2 meadowlarks that Pam reported last night, but no such luck. Oxbow Lake was totally thawed but relatively birdless with only a pair of Canada Geese. 2/17/02 For the Great Backyard Bird Count, Pam and I toured the Power Dam area and found 32 RingBilled Gulls, 19 Canada Geese, 11 Mourning Doves, 10 Mallards, 4 Crows, 3 RedTailed Hawks, a Harrier, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 Yellow-Shafted Flicker, 1 RedBellied Woodpecker and best of all 14 Common Mergansers, all male. 2/27/02 A Cooper's Hawk at US 24/SR 66 is especially good viewing. 3/2/02 Enroute home from my little niece April's last cheerleading competition (she turns 18 already on the 8th!), about 6:15pm, it was easy to see four Short-Eared Owls at their usual field (Jericho/FarmerMarkRd), but another was unexpected two miles west at Jericho/Rosedale Road. Fountain Street Road had 8 Turkey Vultures (the first I've seen this year) in the same tree. 3/4/2 Enroute home there was a SHORT-EARED OWL at Lockwood/Kleinhein, searching the fields with a brown Harrier. I have never seen one at this location before! 3/13/02 Joe came over this way and watched 4-5 Short-Eared Owls hunt at their usual haunt, the Jericho/Wonderly field. 3/16/02The Tiffin RIver bridge just west of Defiance on State Route 18 had 3 geese swimming with a pair of Mallards. I pass this spot nearly every day and almost never see waterfowl of any kind here, so I tried to pull over on this busy spot and scope the birds, but no pullover spot was satisfactory. They looked like GreaterWhiteFronted Geese, but I never got a really really good fix and didn't want to walk in the neighbors' yards to get a good look. Besides, time was a'wastin'! 3/19/02 Joe had checked out the geese at SR18 west of Defiance and took pics: not GreaterWhiteFronted, just Greylag escapes. 3/20/2 Power Dam only 7 RingBilled Gulls and 7 Great Blue Herons. 3/31/02Power Dam had 3 female Hooded Mergansers. The Bend Road, a half-mile east of the Mulligan's Bluff intersection had a cock RingNecked Pheasant roosting in a tree some eight feet off the ground, dazzling in the bright sunlight. At Jericho/Rosedale was another Pheasant basking in today's sunshine. 4/1/02 Enroute home from work, another cock Pheasant in full display at Lockwood/Mulligan's Bluff. Evansport had 10 BlueWinged Teal and a couple pairs of Canada Geese. 4/2/02 Back in Defiance County enroute home at 3:45pm were five Wild Turkeys in another field, at EvansportRd/Stever Rd. Just north of Evansport was a pair of BlueWinged Teal and Canada Geese in the field-turned-into-marsh there. 4/4/2 SR281/SR424 flooded field did have a pair of BlueWinged Teal, 2 pairs of Canada Geese, and a RingBilled Gull, though. Evansport's swampy field also had a pair of BlueWinged Teal and two pairs of Canada Geese, too. A RingNecked Pheasant rooster was inches away from a pair of Turkey Vultures dining on a roadkilled tiger cat at Lockwood/Mulligan's Bluff Road. A check of the Wonderly/Jericho fields found no short-eared owls, but there were 6 deer and a Pheasant HEN! 4/5/2 Where there had been none, suddenly today at Evansport were Tree Swallows. Just off US 24 on the Bend Road at the Maumee River was a tree with FORTY-SIX Turkey Vultures in it. 4/11/02 Surprised by 75 Pectoral Sandpipers in a flooded field, enroute home from work tonight about 7:30pm at SR66/Kammeyer in Defiance County. The cock Pheasant was looking particularly regal at Lockwood/Mulligan's Bluff. 4/15/2 There were 4 Greater and 12 Lesser Yellowlegs at Evansport. 4/15/02 Although my heart was in Fulton County, I decided to be loyal and bird Defiance County: Oxbow Lake, Independence Dam and Power Dam were all relatively birdless. 4/19/02 Checking the Evansport flooded field, I saw a loose flock of 115 Sandpipers, including both Yellowlegs and Pectorals (the Defiance County side of the WilliamsCoLineRd). 4/20/2 There was a wet cock Pheasant at Buckskin/Glenburg. 4.24.2 Evansport's flooded field was also deserted, except for a pair of Mallards, two Great Blue Herons and 10 Turkey Vultures abusing the corpse of a fox or small dog. 4/26/02 Enroute to work this morning, a Tom Turkey ran alongside the car near Evansport/Shick, two Wood Ducks flew inexplicably into an ex-cornfield, and at the Evansport marshy field was an oxymoron: a group of 3 Solitary Sandpipers, my first of the season. Enroute home, at Glenburg/Lockwood was a cock Pheasant in full regalia right on the road at the corner! Lockwood/Mulligan's Bluff had a cock Pheasant, and 3 HEN Pheasants. Lockwood/Bend had 7 Turkey Vultures all crowded onto the same small evidently-warm rock. 4/29/02 Solitary Sandpiper at Evansport's flooded field 4/30/2 Evansport's flooded field supported a Solitary Sandpiper.5/14/02 There were a pair of RedHeaded Woodpeckers at Lockwood/Ashpacher. 5/15/02 Weird birds of the day however, were enroute to work at SR15/SR18 at the storage center Stop & Drop where four Cormorants stopped and dropped into the pond behind the center, I kid you not.. 5/20/02 Enroute to see the doctor for my back saw ANOTHER MOCKINGBIRD at Flickinger/State Route 18! 5/24/02 Enroute home it was reassuring to find lots of Bobolinks at Glenburg/Lockwood. A lone Spotted Sandpiper at the Evansport flooded field. 5/27/02 Stopping at Wonderly/Jericho, the best I could do was Savannah Sparrows. 6/19/02 RingNecked Pheasant cock at Christy/BannerSchoolRd. 6/27/02 Enroute home from work, a stag in velvet by the side of the road at BannerSchool/Evansport in Defiance County. 6/30/02 Random stop at State Route 18/ Rosebrock Road: Meadowlarks, Dickcissels, Grasshopper and Song Sparrows, all seen and heard. 8/12/2 Two not-adult-male RingNecked Pheasants less than a mile from home shocked me enroute home from work (Coy/SR18). 8/14/2 For the first time in a long time (since the local volunteer fire department cut the dead trees out of the woods for fundraising!), a Screech Owl's trill awakened me this morning, here in Sherwood. 8/15/2 Enroute to work, at SR18/Ashpacher was a GREAT HORNED OWL sitting on a TELEPHONE WIRE-- great start to the day, silhouetted against the morning sky. 8/26/2 Enroute home, I checked Scott/Rosedale Road in Defiance County was a JUVENILE MOCKINGBIRD, begging from an adult. Last year at this same spot, I found a pair of juveniles with an adult. 9/5/2 Couldn't help but notice enroute home myself that at Jericho/Wonderly was a Harrier-- not as many as usual stuck around this summer. 9/6/2 Enroute home, at SR111/Hammersmith Road were 27 American Golden Plovers, and 63 Turkey Vultures.9/7/2 No birding since my sister brought the baby home, but couldn't help noticing the Great Horned Owl at SR18/Ashpacher hasn't caught West Nile and died <grin>.9/9/2 Power Dam had only a Great Egret and 2 RingBilled Gulls.10/21/2Defiance County Dad told me about a place he used to hunt when I was a kid (Arrowsmith/Meuse Argonne) which I absolutely do not remember a thing about, so I visited it tonight. Extremely gorgeous place (unlike 16/C) but not a single living thing visible! Looks like it'd be perfect for wildlife, but no shorebirds or waterfowl. Enroute home, Harriers were everywhere, with 4 at Jericho/Wonderly, 2 juvenal Harriers at WillliamsCenterCecilRd/Fountain St, and another juvenile at 18/Openlander.11/13/2 Power Dam only 150 Gulls, but similar proportions to Independence; 3 very shy Canada Geese.11/28/2 Enroute home from Thanksgiving, found no short-eared owls at the usual field (Wonderly/Jericho), although the time was perfect (5:45pm).12/7/2 I Jericho/Breininger RingNecked Pheasants brighten the day.12/8/2 Enroute home, there was a Harrier at Lockwood/Glenburg, a group of TEN RingNecked Pheasants (half hens) at Lockwood/Flickinger, a tiny SharpShinned Hawk at Lockwood/Bend, and another at Lockwood/Rosebrook. 12/14/2 Enroute home (5pm) found FOURTEEN Harriers, 2 RedTailed Hawks and a Kestrel in one mile of Ashwood between Powers and US 24. As Bruce and I drove past Jericho/Breininger (5:30pm) headed to Fort Wayne, we were startled by our first two ShortEared Owls of the season.12/27/2 Glenburg/Lockwood a SHORT-EARED OWL was fun to watch as it flew, caught something, and landed fairly nearby. SR18/Rosebrock a cock Pheasant and 3 hens. Independence/Elliott Rds 2 cock Pheasants directly beside the stop sign. 12/29/2 Took a quick trip out to the usual short-eared field (Jericho/Wonderly), but no owls at 5:15 (only 2 Harriers), none at 5:30, none at 5:45, when suddenly one SHORT-EARED OWL sprang up near the road at 5:46. I didn't wait around too long to see how many would be there since I'm a news junkie, and a steak supper was being prepared for me at home! 200101/01/01 Power Dam had a single Canada Goose, and about 30 Gulls (RingBilled/Herring). 1/3/01 A cock Pheasant was at Lockwood/Kleinhein while enroute home. I checked the short-eared owl spot on Jericho Road, but still saw none. I haven't seen them since Christmas Eve. The deep snow is evidently too much for them, as well as the larks, longspurs, harriers and buntings, none of which I have seen locally for quite some time.1/21/2001 The Grackles continue at Pam Adam's Feeders, especially her inside window feeder! 1/6/2001 Saw the first Defiance County larks (only 2) on Behnfeldt near Buckskin Rd.1/8/2001. Kettenring Golf Course had a SharpShinned Hawk flying in short bursts from tree to tree.1/10/2001 Took the long way home from work and saw 3 cock Pheasants at Lockwood/Bend Rd, and 3 Bluebirds at 249/WmsCtrNeyRd. 1/11/2001 Archbold's Cooper's Hawk was seen at Sr 2 and CoRd 25 today, while I saw another fly out from a Spruce at Defiance Hospital on Second Street. 1/12/01 Enroute home, 4 Larks flew up at Elliott/HenryCoLnRd. Very few this year so far. I drove the PauldingCoLnRd home about dusk, but still no short-eared owls. 1/14/2001 At Rosedale/FountainStRd were 3 male Pheasants and about 15 Larks. The snow is melting away in the rain-- hooray, if you're a lark.1/15/2001 50 Canadas at Buckskin & 2 in a field far from water. RoughLegged Hawk at Krouse/24.1/16/2001 25 Canadas in field outside of EvansportOH. 1/17/2001 RoughLegged Hawk at Flickinger/Lockwood. 1/18/2001 3 more Larks at Lockwood/Behnfeldt. 1/19/2001 A Screech Owl (grey phase) was sitting by the side of Stever Rd, near Kammeyer Rd. I got out of the car and took video; he turned his head but did not fly away. I couldn't see any signs of injury, so left him alone on the snow. 1/21/2001 At the "Short-Eared field" at Jericho/Wonderly Roads were no ShortEars, but 2 Harriers, a RoughLegged Hawk, and the first Snow Buntings I've seen this year (small group of seven). 1/22/2001 First Short-Eared Owl of the New Year, at Trinity/Beerbower, with a RoughLegged Hawk. 1/23/01 20 Larks at Bishop/Moser. 20 Larks at Bishop/Moser. 1/24/01 The Horned Larks, Harriers, and Buntings are definitely back in the county now that the snow has receded. At the PauldingCoLnRd/ Breininger Rd intersection was a male Harrier, and from Breininger to SR 49 were at least 75 Horned Larks. At the opposite end of the county, Egler/Overly, were 25 Larks, so I think I'll go back to my old habit of taking them for granted. : ) . About 150 Snow Buntings were at Freytag/Coressel, all in one big flock with only a single Horned Lark that stood out like a sore thumb.1/25/01 Power Dam had 100 Canadas, 100 Mallards, 50 Common Mergansers (roughly), and 2 Black Ducks. Riverside Cemetery had a RoughLegged and a RedTailed Hawk terrorizing the pines, so only the regular Red- and White-Breasted Nuthatches, the House Finches, and the Downy Woodpeckers could be found. There was another RoughLegged Hawk on PauldingCoLineRd at Emerald Rd.1/28/01 At State Route 18 and Behnfeldt were 2 male Pheasants. At Jericho/Wonderly were no ShortEared Owls, but a Harrier, RoughLegged Hawk, and a RedTailed Hawk. 1/30/01Power Dam had only Common Mergansers.2/5/01 Riverside Cemetery had 20 Canada Geese, 20 Juncos, and 30 Cedar Waxwings. Power Dam was also flowing fast with 300 Canada Geese, and Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneye, Redheads, and Canvasback moving and diving so quickly it was impossible to count them. 2/6/01 Brown Harrier at Lockwood/Glenburg.2/7/01 Bostater at Trinity Rd had 50 Canada Geese in this unlikely location. Russell at Evansport Rd had RoughLegged Hawk. 2/8/01 6 Grackles at Jericho/WilliamsCenterCecil Rd. At Jericho/Wonderly Rds there were no ShortEared Owls, but I counted 12 Harriers, at 5:50pm. It may have been too early for the owls, but i've seen them there earlier... 2/10/01 Power Dam was flowing far too furiously for there to be waterfowl present, but behind the dam, at PowerDam/PauldingCoLn Rd were about 10 Common Mergansers. Pam Adams reported Mockingbird, Cowbirds, and the Common Grackle is still showing up. 2/17/01 Power Dam had only about 25 Common Mergansers. Harriers were present at EmeraldRd/US24, US 127/SR 15, Beerbower/Trinity, Ashwood/PauldingCoLineRd (all males), and 3 at SR 15/Watson Rd (1 of which was male). No short-eared owls yet at Jericho/Wonderly.2/19/01 Enroute home at SR 15 just south of Defiance OH was the first TURKEY VULTURE of the season! 2/20/01 At Trinity/SR 15 was my first RedWinged Blackbird male, singing on a wire, posing for me as i binoculed him. 2/20/01 Power Dam (30 Mallards, 30 Common Mergansers, 30 Canada Geese), but the first Wood Duck pair were at SR 281/SR424. Many flocks of RedWinged Blackbirds, but the best flock was at Harding/PowerDamRd where the setting sun lit the scarlet epaulets perfectly as the flock wheeled and landed and rose again and relit. 2/22/01 Glenburg Road between Lockwood and Buckskin Roads had 4 RoughLegged Hawks, 2 Male Grey Harriers, 2 Brown Harriers, a RedTailed Hawk, and a Kestrel, all within one mile! At SR 18/RosebrockRd a SharpShinned flew across the road. 2/25/01 Flickinger/Buckskin, a RoughLegged Hawk. Flickinger/SR18 a male Harrier. 2/26/01 Denny S. reported 2 Snow Geese in a group of Canadas at WmsCoRd C at the flooded creek bridge. Maybe it's the same pair I saw at Oxbow Lake earlierin the week. Pam reports her Grackle is no longer feeding at her feeder. 2/27/01Glenburg/WmsCoLnRd 2 Harriers, one of each color, 1 RedTailed Hawk, 1 SharpShinned Hawk! 3/4/01 Sherwood a huge flock of Ring-Billed and Herring Gulls are in the field behind the house! With a single cock Pheasant! Enroute to Defiance shopping are 2 Cooper's Hawks and a Sharpie. 3/6/01 Enroute to Fort Wayne, we saw several ShortEared Owls with the Harriers at Jericho/Wonderly. I wasn't driving, so I couldn't count them (I never go past that field at 55mph! <grin>). On the other side of the road was a single cock Pheasant.3/7/01 Independence Dam and Power Dam had only Canada Geese, but Riverside Cemetery in downtown Defiance had at least 20 Turkey Vultures taking refuge from the bitter winter weather in the Norway Spruces there!! 3/8/01 Two Mallard pair were on the Tiffin River at Evansport Rd while Oxbow Lake itself had 2 RedTailed Hawks and a Canada Goose. 3/13/01 Riverside Cemetery in Defiance OH had 42 Turkey Vultures, at least. I hurriedly counted as I drove slowly by the spruces, hoping not to spook them. 3/13/01 Power Dam had 5 RingBilled Gulls with 4 pairs of Canadas.3/16/01 At least 50 Turkey Vultures floated silently through the spruces and hemlocks low overhead at Riverside Cemetery, evidently disturbed by a jogger. Power Dam had 12 Canada Geese and 7 Great Blue Heron. 3/20/01 281/424 had a single pair of Northern Shovelers swimming inexplicably very near to the racing traffic. 3/30/01 Fantastic views of 3 Short-Eared Owls at their usual field at Jericho/Wonderly, amazingly close to the road.3/29/01At Glenburg/Lockwood was a male Harrier and the only RoughLegged Hawk I've seen this month, even at Killdeer Plains. 4/3/01Riverside Cemetery now has over 200 Turkey Vultures taking refuge in its spruces. Power Dam had a Cooper's Hawk, a pair of Mallards, 6 Great Blue Heron, lots of Tree Sparrows (first I've seen this season), and lots of Canada Geese. 4/9/01Power Dam was even worse--nothing. 4/13/01 The Sandpipers are still at Behnfeldt/WmsCoRd A in similar numbers. 4/12/01 I could not believe finding 100 Pectoral Sandpipers, 25 Greater Yellowlegs, 10 Lesser Yellowlegs in Defiance County in a flooded field at Behnfeldt/WmsCoRd A. 4/11/01 And two cock Pheasants at Lockwood/Mulligan's Bluff. 4/4/01 Glenburg/Lockwood had RoughLegged Hawk, Kestrel, 2 Harriers, 3 Turkey Vultures. 4/24/01 It's the best time of year, and unfortunately I'm too busy to enjoy it. Tonight I had to have the car's brakes fixed, so I took a walk in the part of the woods they forgot to knock down when they built Super-K and Lowe's near the Mall in Defiance. Although you could still hear the cars whiz by on Clinton, US 24, and that other busy street, I was amazed by the number of deer (and how close they allowed me to approach!), as well as the large number of birds. 99% were Grackles, Robins, Blue Jays, Flickers and Cardinals, all in large numbers, but there were also Swamp, Field and Song Sparrows, RubyCrowned Kinglets, 2 Brown Thrashers, a Hermit Thrush, a RedTailed Hawk, a Killdeer, a RedBellied Woodpecker, RedWinged Blackbirds,a Phoebe and my first-of-the-season BlackThroated Green Warblers (a male and a female). I also shocked myself by coming upon a group of Pectoral Sandpipers, about 75! Oh, and an Anglewing and today's color was blue: Sage, Violets and Phlox in bloom. 4/26/01 At 127/Jericho were about 25 Golden Plovers. 5/4/01Cock Pheasants were at Mulligan's Bluff/Lockwood, and SR18/Rosebrock Rd. 5/5/01Defiance Mall Pond --Great Egret! 6/4/2001 Monday. Enroute home, I stopped and a stop sign at Glenburg/Lockwood and heard the familiar sound of-- BOBOLINKS in Defiance County! 6/22/2001 Instead of speeding home in my usual fashion, I stopped at Huber/FarmerMark, turned off the car and listened. Filtering out the Bluebirds, Eastern Meadowlarks, RedWinged Blackbirds et al, I soon was aware of GRASSHOPPER SPARROW sounds, and soon they were sitting on the telephone wire, walking on the road, and running in the corn, hiding behind the individual stalks. The next mile I stopped again (at Huber/WmsCtrCecil) and did the same. A SAVANNAH SPARROW hopped up on the telephone wire! The next mile (Huber/Openlander)-- Dickcissels! I don't frequent this area of Defiance County at all, so I was very surprised... 6/29/2001 Dickcissels at State Route 18/ Coy Road. 7/7/2001 Enroute to Wolf Lake IN, I was surprised to find only five miles from home, here in Defiance County at Jericho/Wonderly Rds a ShortEared Owl, at 5:30am. This same field often has 8 or 10 short-eared owls in the wintertime, but I don't think I've ever seen them here in the summer: These are snappy's from a video camera I happened to have with me. The bird was always between a quarter to a half-mile away, so quality is low. I only saw one bird, and that night at 10pm it was really too dark to see. Dickcissels and Bobolinks were plentiful in the field, as they are throughout the area this year-- a dickcissel was just above me on a telephone wire, singing the whole time: Also enroute, just outside Hicksville, Defiance County Ohio at the Indiana Line on SR 18 were a pair of Mockingbirds or Shrikes (the traffic would not allow me to stop, although I turned around several times trying to gain enough time to look more closely). 7/8/2001 Stopped back at the Jericho/Wonderly Rd field about 9:30pm and again saw only one ShortEared Owl, even farther away. This time, the owl was circling fairly high in the sky, barking like a dog. "Typical call heard in breeding season is a raspy, high barking," according to the Nat'l Geo Field Guide. Peterjohn says, "Sightings after April 20-28 may pertain to summer residents...have always been accidental to casual and very sporadic summer residents, averaging 3 to 6 sightings each decade since the 1920s. Many summer records are sightings of single owls whose breeding status is unknown. Confirmed nesting reports are exceptionally rare, usually at or near sites where they congregated during the previous winter. Before 1940, nesting Short-eared Owls were reported from Paulding...and Van Wert Counties...After 1960, breeding Short-eareds were only confirmed in Lucas, Wyandot and Pickaway Counties...young owls normally fledge in June and early July" The Paulding/Defiance County Line is only a mile south: 7/10/2001 The Short-Eared Owl(s) continue/s at Jericho/Wonderly but is/are hunting very close to the road in the mowed grass. I nearly hit one tonight, so I should probably lie low awhile. Hard to tell if there's one or more than one, since he/they appear/s from out of nowhere-- perhaps it/they is/are skimming the ditch and then rising suddenly. 7/29/2001 ShortEared Owl continues at Jericho/Wonderly. 8/6/2001A male Harrier at Glenburg/Buckskin Rd 8/17/2001The ShortEared Owl at Jericho/Wonderly has been joined by a pair of Harriers. RedHeaded Woodpeckers have been everywhere--SR 34/WmsCoRd 25, at home in Sherwood, Kleinhein/Lockwood, the Jail even has a pair and 3 juveniles... 8/19/2001Pam and I did Little Sit's at her Paulding/DefianceCoLineRd farm with windy almost-raining weather: 10:10 to 11:10 under the Big Cottonwood equidistant from the house, and 2 barns. 13 birds: American Goldfinch, American Robin, Barn Swallow, Blue Jay,Cedar Waxwing, Eastern Bluebird, English Sparrow, European Starling, Gray Catbird, House Finsh, Indigo Bunting, Mourning Dove, Turkey Vulture Butterflies: Cabbage White In Bloom: Canada Thistle, Chicory, Common & Giant Ragweed, Queen Anne's Lace, Smartweed, SpringLeaved SowThistle, Purple & White Teasel, White Clover, 11:40-12:40 At the NW corner of the woods, AmGo, BaSw, Chimney Swift, Eastern Kingbird, Field Sparrow, InBu, RedHeaded Woodpecker, Song Sparrow, TreeSwallow, TuVu, YellowShafted Flicker. Butterflies: Cabbage White, Crescent, Monarch, Painted Lady, Tailed Blue, Wood Nymph In Bloom: Bird'sFoot Trefoil, CaTh, Giant Ragweed, QALa, RedClover, SelfHeal, P/WTe, WhCl, White Sweet Clover, Wild Lettuce 9/24/2001 Two Harriers plied the field at Jericho/Wonderly, but alas, no short-eared owl. 9/27/2001 A pair of hen Pheasants flew high across the road at Kammeyer/Evansport Rd in front of my car enroute home from work.10/8/2001 Best bird of the day was an Osprey flying low over US24/SR18 overpass at Defiance. 10/17/2001Nothing at all at Sherwood Lagoons. 10/28/2001 Got a 21-Goose salute at Sherwood Reservoir. Enroute to Defiance, I somehow got my friend Bruce to stop the car and pull over in spite of the traffic-- in a flooded field pool at Glenburg/State Route 18 were perhaps 30 AMERICAN PIPITS! 11/1/2001 Paused to let a stag walk regally across the road, like a schoolgirl with a book balanced on her head, on Mulligan's Bluff Road at Williams County Line. There on the side of the road were 30 Pipits!11/20/2001 Power Dam had a dozen RingBilled Gulls and a Great Blue Heron.11/22/2001 At my sister's house for Thanksgiving in Hicksville Ohio and her feeders had a Purple Finch and a Carolina Wren. 11/28/2001 Continued last night's rush-between-work-and-darkness tonight: Defiance Power Dam had only a Great Blue Heron, a RingBilled Gull and 2 dozen Canada Geese. 12/4/2001 Power Dam had 4 pure white Muscovy Ducks with 8 Canada Geese. 12/11/2001Sherwood Lagoons had 16 Canada Geese. Pretty darn boring birding, until the tour left me just at bewitching time at the usual haunt at Jericho/Wonderly Road, my first of the year, four SHORT-EARED OWLS. 2/13/2001 Joe H and I put the Harriers (maybe 10 of them) to bed at Jericho/Wonderly, rushed over to the New Marsh (61/179) only to see about 200 Mallards and a few small flocks of SnowBuntings and Horned Larks, and then rush back to see 2 ShortEared Owls that finally woke up before it got too dark. Only 1 RedTailed Hawk and none of the usual kestrels were there. 12/21/2001 "While at work today in Defiance Ohio, my partner and I were walking up to the main greenhouse with our arms full of Gerbera daisies when five MUTE SWANS flew over....nice break! Happy Holidays, P.J.Adams" 12/23/2001 7 Sandhill Cranes were in the field immediately north of US 127 and Lockwood Road (1 mile north of Sherwood OH) at 9am, and still there at 11:30am. 12/26/2001 Joe Hildreth reports seeing two ShortEared Owls, one very close to the road, at Jericho/Wonderly in Defiance County, enroute home from seeing the black-throated gray warbler in CentrevilleMI. 12/30/2001 Went back with video camera to get footage of yesterday's RoughLegged Hawk, but it was gone. Also tried to get footage of the falcon that flew up into the missing soffit of the house on Bowman Road, but flunked out there also.20001/2/2000:11 Kestrels (nope, none were merlin); 9 Harriers (nope, none were short-eared owls); 9 Red Tailed Hawks (nope, none were rough-legged); 2 Bald Eagles (nope, none were golden); 1 Cooper's Hawk;5 crows, 1 horned lark, 16 mallards, 1 red-winged blackbird, 1 ring-necked pheasant, and hundreds of (presumably) ring-billed gulls. Not bad for 55 mph. 1/4/00: Cooper's hawk at Northtowne Mall?!! Saw one fly from Office Max to Friendly's Ice Cream, over Beckman's used car lot, into K-mart! 1/5/00: 1 mile from the mall (State Route 66 at Breckler Rd) were 2 harriers and 2 sharp-shinned hawks (which I haven't seen for quite some time!). 1/24/00 6 EASTERN MEADOWLARKS near the Paulding County Line Road at Ashwood just off of US 24 near Sherwood. 2/23 A yard full of Robins at her Defiance/PauldingCo Line Road home. 3/25/2000 Tree Swallows, and a Golden-Crowned Kinglet in her yard. 3/31/2000 Pam discovered in her yard a pink-sided Junco. 4/14/2000 Pam A. reports a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD she saw yesterday near Farmer. Millie C., the homeowner, said it had been there three days total, but it was not there today. 4/15/2000 No time to bird with my sister's wedding tomorrow, but a Common Snipe almost flew into my open car window while going 55mph at SR 18 and Ashpacher Rd between Sherwood and Defiance! Rough-Winged Swallows were first seen by me this year half-a-block away in Sherwood OH. Driving from Sherwood OH to Grand Rapids OH and back a different route, 4/18/2000 Pam A. reports a Mockingbird in her yard,near US24/SR 127. 4/23/2000 Pam A. reports the Mockingbird has left her yard. 4/30/2000 Went to Pam & Phil Adams' Estate where the solitary highlight was a Solitary Sandpiper. 6/18/2000 While at Spindler Cemetery on Breininger/Jericho Rd in Defiance County, I saw not only the obligatory chipping sparrows but many many Dickcissels as well! 8/27/00 Pam reports a MOURNING WARBLER in her yard today!10/25/2000Power Dam in Defiance OH was being worked on by crews of men with loud jackhammers and much equipment, but still 8 Ring-Billed Gulls, 8 Great Blue Herons and 4 Song Sparrows persisted as if they didn't exist. 11/10/00 Five Mile Creek on SR 111 had no waterfowl, except 5 Ring-Billed Gulls. Only the common birds were there: Cedar Waxwings, Goldfinches, Bluebirds, Blue Jays, Juncos etc. Power Dam had many cement mixers and men working, and so no birds.11/28/2000 Defiance's Power Dam still had plenty of loud machines and men working on it, but 2 Great Blue Herons, 10 RingBilled Gulls and about 100 Canada Geese still were hanging around. 12/9/2000 A tour of Paulding found little of interest, even the birds of the field being mere Horned Larks. BUT on Jericho Road, for the entire mile between Farmer Mark Rd and Wonderly Rd were SHORT-EARED OWLS back in their usual spot, flying with the usual neighbors, the Harriers. Two of the owls were on telephone poles directly above the car, while at least 3 more were out dancing their bat-out-of-control flight over the field. 12/9/2000 A tour of Paulding found little of interest, even the birds of the field being mere Horned Larks. BUT on Jericho Road, for the entire mile between Farmer Mark Rd and Wonderly Rd were SHORT-EARED OWLS back in their usual spot, flying with the usual neighbors, the Harriers. Two of the owls were on telephone poles directly above the car, while at least 3 more were out dancing their bat-out-of-control flight over the field. 2 GRACKLES were at Pam Adam's feeders just outside of Sherwood OH. 12/10/2000 Snow Buntings (about 75) were flying with the Short-Eared Owls and Harriers.12/13/2000 9 Wild Turkeys just outside of Evansport, feeding unconcerned, close to the road.12/14/2000 Mockingbird has been feeding at Pam's house! 12/24/2000 Enroute to Christmas Eve party at SR 18 and FarmerMarkRoad was a Short-Eared Owl. 12/30/00 I also saw the Grackle at Pam's feeders again today, including her "in-the-house" window feeder.1999 PAM ADAMS, from her PauldingCo/DefianceCo Line farm near Sherwood has 9/20 Blackpoll, yellow, and magnolia warblers, and common yellowthroat there. 10/9 CONNECTICUT WARBLER and a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO harrassed by a mob of bluejay. 10/11 PALM and YELLOW-RUMPED warblers. 10/18 birds are few as a COOPER'S HAWK hangs around harrassing even the tame pond ducks.10/20/99 Pam reports a PINE GROSBEAK!!!!!!! 10/25/99 Finds the farm barren except for English sparrows, starlings and two Swainson's thrushes.12/19/99 Pam and Phil Adams report watching a Cooper's Hawk hunting sparrows between Taco Bell and Quality Farm & Fleet on Defiance's very busy Second Street! From her rural Cecil yard White Breasted Nuthatch, Blue Jay, Cooper's Hawk, Red Bellied Woodpecker (all one each), Downy Woodpecker, Black-Capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse (all two each), Song Sparrow (3), European Starling (6), Cardinal and Goldfinch at seven each, 9 American Tree Sparrows, and 24 House Sparrows. at the corner of Jericho Road and Wonderly Road are (every year) SHORT-EARED OWLS, and this year is no exception with 3 there 12/12/99.1995 1/29/95 Buckskin/Bend a flock of Meadowlarks.

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Birding

Recent Reports from Northwest Ohio

Birding in general

Outdated Birding Reports from:

Defiance Co (Oxbow Lake, Independence Dam, Sherwood, the Rest of the Co),

Williams County (16/C marsh, the rest of the county)

Paulding County,

Fulton County,

Western Lake Erie spots, and

Elsewhere (other Ohio counties, out-of-state).

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