Fulton County, Ohio wild bird sightings,
through2005.
20053/20/5 Wauseon
Reservoir First COMMON LOON
I've seen this season, plus 8 Common Mergansers, 14
Scaup/RingNecked Ducks, 6 RingBilled Gulls-- fewer birds than I
expected! Archbold Reservoir A dozen Mallards, a dozen
Ringbilled Gulls, a Bufflehead drake, a Lesser Scaup drake.
U/SR34 Hundred or so RingBilled
and Herring Gulls in the field. 3/29/5
Denny S. told me about the Ridgeville Corners Sewage
Lagoons so I had to check: zilch. Archbold Reservoir
Different story here: 39 RED-BREASTED
MERGANSERS (my first of season), 50 Lesser Scaup, 10 RingBilled
Gulls, 2 pair of Redheads, 2 pair of RingNecked Ducks, 1 Canada Goose
on the south pond. The north pond had only 10 Scaup and another
Canada Goose, loudly calling for the other. Following 66 north out of
Archbold to the intersection of county roads J/23
where a tiny pond on the right held TWENTY Wood
Ducks, 6 Blue Winged Teal, 4 Mallard, 1 GreenWinged Teal drake. Not
far down the road in a mere flooded field was a huge congregation of
ducks: 5 GreenWinged Teal, 12 PINTAIL DUCKS, 6 American Wigeon, 4
RingNecked Ducks, 12 Canada Geese, and 100 Mallards (exactly!). By
contrast, the usually productive huge "perfect" marsh at
SR66/Turnpike was empty. L/22
had lots of swamp mowed and much more dry than
normal-- and much fewer birds than normal too: 2 Wood Ducks, 20 or so
Mallards, 4 BlueWinged Teal. StateRoute2/CountyRoad 20
heavy traffic didn't permit more than a quick stop:
Wigeon, Shoveler, Hooded Merganser, Mallard, Bufflehead...
Wauseon Reservoir So huge and also amazingly
deserted: 100+ Scaup/RingNecked flock, 10 Redhead pairs, and a pair
of Bufflehead. Rusty Blackbirds were mixed in with Grackles,
Cowbirds, Starlings and RedWinged Blackbirds in almost all blackbird
flocks. 3/30/5
Jon Diller on OhioBirds@Envirolink: "Observed one
Common Loon at the Archbold
Reservoir and one at the Wauseon
Reservoir today. Both birds were in their summer plumage.
There were 3 to 7 Horned Grebes on both reservoirs also-mixed
plumages." 73-degree day begged for a walk after work at
Goll Woods, where I walked only the
deciduous loop. Birds were few and far between but WOW!: excellent
viewing of a male YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER. Hearing a
triplet-woodpecker call approaching I watched as a male PILEATED
WOODPECKER flew into view, landing just eight feet off the ground!
Beautiful bird that I watched for a long time, admiring its white
wing patches as it went to the ground and then back up the tree
several times. Had to write him off when a family with several loud
children approached on the trail, but WOW! Also, my first two
PHOEBES of the season called each
other and flitted close, oblivious to my presence.
Harbinger-of-Spring was the only wildflower in bloom, and Anglewings
were flying about the woods, with lots of harder-to-identify flies,
wasps and millers. Fox Squirrels barked at Wild Turkeys. Western
Chorus Frogs ran their thumbs over combs all over the woods. Other
more common birds: BARRED OWL chased by a Crow, GoldenCrowned
Kinglets, a Turkey Vulture, 2 RedWinged Blackbird, a Grackle, 2
Titmice, Chickadees, Downy/RedHeaded/RedBellied Woodpeckers,
Flickers, WhiteBreasted Nuthatches. Enroute home, I saw my first
flock of 50 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS in the flooded field at
H/22.75. 4/9/5 CoRd J /23
Tiny Pond held 30 BlueWinged Teal, a Great Blue Heron
and 6 pair of Wood Ducks. The flooded field next to it had 10
Bonaparte's Gulls, 16 RingBilled Gulls, 2 Shovelers, 8 BlueWinged
Teal, 14 Mallards, 3 Canada Geese, Pectoral Sandpipers somewhat
hidden in the grass. Also my first-of-season Lesser
Yellowlegs. 6/1/5 An Ovenbird sang loudly
near the road near Goll Woods. Archbold
Reservoir Absolutely nothing here, until I sighed, and a Great
Blue Heron, a RingBilled Gull and 20 Canada Geese suddenly flew in!
Still not much, but hey, lotsa stuff in bloom now: Hairy Beardtongue,
Virgina and LargeLeafed Waterleaf, Yarrow, Wild Parsnip, Black Locust
(yum!), Oxeye Daisy, Yellow Wood-Sorrel, Moneywort, Alsike, Hop,
White, Red, and Yellow Sweet Clover, Yellow Goatsbeard, Butterwood,
Star of Bethlehem, Blackberry, Mousear, Star and Common Chickweed,
and English Plantain (hey when is a wildflower just a plain old
weed?!!), plus first (for me)-of-season butterflies like Silver
Spotted Skippers, Monarchs, RedSpotted Purples, American Painted
Ladies, and European Skippers. 7/14/05
Archbold Reservoir Just a PiedBilled Grebe
(juvenal) Wauseon Reservoir 3 Canada Geese and Tree
Swallows 66/Turnpike In shocking contrast to
WmsCo 16/c, this place is bone dry. A flock of about 50 Killdeer had
a look of shock, "There USED to be water here, I swear!"
8/15/05 Archbold and Wauseon
Reservoirs Empty SR66/Turnpike
was totally overgrown with tall weeds! Dry, way too
dry for any shorebird. And no shorebird habitat at all (for opposite
reasons-- way too much water) at Williams
County's16/C. 8/19/05 Fri The local
shorebird sites just aren't coming through this year (Williams
County's 16/C is inexplicably too wet,
while Fulton County's SR66/Turnpike
is far too dry), 8/31/05
Archbold Reservoir, Wauseon Reservoir, 66/Turnpike
All totally empty Goll Woods
Nothing extraordinary, just Jewelweed and Tall
Bellflower. 9/13/05 Archbold/Wauseon
Reservoirs empty 10/7/05
Archbold Reservoir/Wauseon Reservoir Empty. Strangely
no gulls anywhere locally! 12/11/5 From Toledo
Rarebird.org "My dad reported seeing a large flock of Sandhill
Cranes north of Delta this afternoon.
Not sure of the exact time but I would put it between noon and 2pm.
He said they were relatively low leading me to suspect they may have
been landing. Unfortunately I'm still in school down here in WV. He
also reported seeing a Northern Harrier and a mixed flock of Buntings
and Larks north of Delta as well. --Joe Hildreth 20 Delta, OH/
Morgantown, WV" 12/17/05 Joe Hildreth and
I covered a section of Goll Woods
for the Goll Woods Christmas Bird Count today, the
best bird of which had to be the HERMIT THRUSH
found by eagle-eye Joe, allowing for great viewing
right by the trail! This was of course during the only half-hour I
was without my cameras. Also during this half-hour FOUR SANDHILL
CRANES flew overhead just above the treetops, the last
dragging a leg. At the corner just outside of Goll Woods was a
wonderfully cooperative ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
(light male) that perched overhead, then flew low
beside the car showing us every identification point
possible! After lunch we joined up
with Jon Diller to cover the Boy Scout Camp near Lake Harrison State
Park. Some numbers for our group's section were only one Canada Goose
(the reservoir was frozen), 6 Mallards (only because of the warm pond
at the water treatment plant), 4 Northern Harriers, 3 Cooper's Hawks
, 10 RedTailed Hawk, 3 Kestrels, 3 Pheasants, 4 Sandhill Cranes, 84
Mourning Doves, 96 Rock Doves, 5 RedBellied Woodpeckers, 4 Downy
Woodpeckers, 3 Flickers, 20 Blue Jays, 13 Crows, 17 Larks, 7
BlackCapped Chickadees, 6 Tufted Titmice, 11 WhiteBreasted
Nuthatches, 4 Brown Creepers, 1 Carolina Wren, 7 Eastern Bluebirds, 1
Hermit Thrush, 150 Starlings, 2 Cedar Waxwings, 9 Song Sparrows, 1
WhiteThroated Sparrow, 15 Juncos, 2 Lapland Longspurs, 217 Snow
Buntings, 16 Cardinals, 37 House Finches, 6 Goldfinches, 240 House
Sparrows. Team Doug & Micki Dunakin discovered FOUR lingering
TURKEY VULTURES at Harrison Lake.
For a full list see the Black
Swamp CBC webpage. 12/18/05
" Hi John, These are the two pics I took of the
Sandhill Cranes in Fulton County yesterday, North of St. Rt. 20 on
County Rd. 12 about 3/4 of a mile...--Marc P."
20041/3 From OhioBirds@Envirolink: "Karin
Tanquist and I (Pat Coy) drove from Milwaukee, WI to Peninsula, OH
today, and stopped for some birding and hiking at Goll Woods State Nature
Preserve in
northwestern Ohio, in Fulton County. Goll Woods is 300 acres of the
last essentially undisturbed remnant of the primeval forest that once
graced the Black Swamp territory of NW Ohio. The trees in
Goll
Woods are among
the largest in Ohio, some reaching 400-500 years old with diameters
of six feet. It is a magical place, as the numbers of RedHeaded
Woodpeckers seemed to suggest: RedHeaded Woodpecker 13, Downy
Woodpecker 7, RedBellied Woodpecker 5, Hairy Woodpecker 1,
WhiteBreasted Nuthatch 14, RedBreasted Nuthatch 1, BlackCapped
Chickadee14, Carolina Wren 6, GoldenCrowned Kinglet 1, Junco 5,
Cardinal 21, Goldfinch 4, RedTailed Hawk 1.Goll Woods is just 2 miles
south of the Turnpike, right off the exit for Rte 66 and Archbold,
OH. It makes a great stop on a long drive across the Midwest...BTW,
on the drive from Wisconsin to NE Ohio today, we also had 29
RedTailed Hawks from Chicago to Peninsula.--Patrick Coy Peninsula,
OH" 1/7/4 Off work at 4pm, took
Wms/FultonCo LnRd (American Tree Sparrow, Starlings, Horned Larks,
Juncos, Cardinals, RedTailed Hawk) to Archbold Water Treatment Plant
(only 20+
Mallards), then through back streets watching feeders (Mourning Dove,
House Sparrows, House FInches, Goldfinches) to Archbold Reservoir
(only Canada
Geese, Rock Pigeons), then to Sauder's, continuing on SR66 to Ohio Turnpike (Harrier) then to
Goll's Woods
by 5:20. Best
bird by far was BARRED OWL, but heard a GREAT HORNED OWL there too.
Too late for Woodpeckers, or anything but Cardinals, but many deer
walking around in the moonlight. 1/15 Archbold Reservoir A dozen Mallards kept the last
open water from freezing with constant paddling. 1/18 Wauseon Reservoir
Completely
frozen. 1/19
Archbold
Reservoir 2
Canada Geese Goll Woods Dave M. & I covered the trails; only
ONE RedHeaded Woodpecker, and only ONE GoldenCrowned Kinglet. )VER
ONE THOUSAND SNOW BUNTINGS with about 100 Larks at SR2/CR25. I could only pull 7 LAPLAND
LONGSPURS out of the crowd. Snow Buntings landed on the road
extremely close to the road for a very enjoyable experience!
1/23/4 Archbold Reservoir
empty
Wastewater Plant
a dozen
Mallards.2/5/4
Archbold
Reservoir 8
Mallards keep a tiny sliver of water from freezing
over.3/5/4 Archbold Reservoir
a pair of
Goldeneye (I don't think I've ever seen them in Fulton County!), and
5 RingBilled Gulls. 66/Turnpike 75 Mallards, 17 Canada Geese. I was
expecting much more. Archbold Water Treatment Plant
4 Canada Geese.
State Route 34
at the Henry/Williams County Line 27 Mallards, 5 Lesser Scaup and a Wood
Duck. 3/6/4
Enroute to
Michigan, we stopped off at the Archbold Reservoir 28 Lesser Scaup, 5 Goldeneye, 2
RingNecked Ducks, 1 Mallard, 1 Canada Goose, 1 Great Blue Heron.
Wauseon
Reservoir Appeared empty but the scope revealed
about a hundred birds bouncing on the chop stirred up by the strong
wind, making visibility tough: Scaup, RIngNecks mostly but also a few
Bufflehead, RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS (my first of the season), and two
Canada Geese. No Gulls. 3/17/4 Archbold Reservoir This vast expanse was wasted on
just two Canada Geese and a RingBilled Gull. Turnpike/66 Thirty Wood Ducks at least, on
one fallen branch in the little swamp. 3 Hooded Mergansers (one hen),
2 pair of Shovelers, a pair of BlueWinged Teal, 8 Mallards and 7
Canada Geese on the big swamp: not much for such a huge area.
Wauseon
Reservoir 212
Scaup (didn't scope every bird, but every one I did was Lesser), 23
RingBilled Gulls, 4 Redheads, 4 Hooded Mergansers, and 1 RedBreasted
Merganser drake. 3/28/4 SR66/Turnpike Shovelers, BlueWinged Teal, Mallards,
Scaup (under ten of each) and 4 Canada Geese. Best bird here: my
first-of-the-season Great Egret. Wauseon Reservoir 30 RedBreasted Mergansers, 12
RingBilled Gulls, 8 Ruddy Ducks, 4 Canada Geese, 3 Horned Grebes, 2
Mallards, a Hooded Merganser, and 5 of my first-of-the-season
Bonaparte's
Gulls in winter
plumage.
4/1/4
Archbold
Reservoir 5
Ruddy Ducks and 34 RingBilled Gulls. Was surprised by a big flock of
PIPITS
(first-of-season for me) at the intersection of W and 25, at the
Fulton/Williams/HenryCo corner. 4/4/4 Wauseon Reservoir 2 Common Loons, 2 RingBilled
Gulls and 9 Ruddy Ducks. SR66/Turnpike A dozen RingNecked Ducks, a dozen
Mallards, one Great Egret. Archbold Reservoir A pair of Bufflehead, and single
drake RingNecked Duck and a Lesser Scaup drake.4/1/4 Archbold Reservoir
5 Ruddy Ducks
and 34 RingBilled Gulls. Was surprised by a big flock of
PIPITS
(first-of-season for me) at the intersection of W and 25, at the
Fulton/Williams/HenryCo corner. 4/4/4 Wauseon Reservoir 2 Common Loons, 2 RingBilled
Gulls and 9 Ruddy Ducks. SR66/Turnpike A dozen RingNecked Ducks, a dozen
Mallards, one Great Egret. Archbold Reservoir A pair of Bufflehead, and single
drake RingNecked Duck and a Lesser Scaup drake. 4/10/4 Delta Reservoir Joe H was home and saw 2 Wood
Ducks, 6 BlueWing Teal, 3 Mallards 2 Kingfishers 4/11/4 Delta Reservoir Joe H was home and saw 6
Bufflehead. He also reported Blue and Green Winged Teal at
Turnpike/66,
and added a
Solitary Sandpiper at H/18. 7/13/4Archbold Reservoir (just Canada Geese)
SR66/Turnpike
Marsh (just
Great Blue Herons)7/15/4
SR34/CR26 Judy L. reports
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS are STILL coming to her feeders!
9/6/4 SR66/Turnpike
Weedy and flooded, not suitable habitat for
shorebirds: a Kingfisher, a Great Egret, 2 Turkey Vultures, 6
DoubleCrested Cormorants, 5 Killdeer, 12 Mallards, 24 Chimney Swifts
Wauseon Reservoir Just a
Cormorant.10/4/4Wauseon Reservoir
Empty but for six Killdeer, odd birds for this
place.10/6/4 Archbold
Reservoir 3 DoubleCrested Cormorants. Wauseon
Reservoir A RIngBilled Gull 66/Turnpike
3 Great Egrets, 5 Mallards, a peep, lotsa Killdeer,
Great Blue Heron.10/7/4Archbold Reservoir
A trackmeet... 66/Turnpike
A LESSER YELLOWLEGS still hanging
around.10/8/4 Archbold Reservoir
zero 66/Turnpike
75 Mallards and 3 Great Blue Herons.10/23/4 SR66/Turnpike
Enroute to Detroit stopped off to find a pair of
Greater Yellowlegs and a pair of Lesser Yellowlegs.11/8/4 Archbold
Reservoir Expected much after yesterday at Hurshtown
Reservoir-- nothing here however. 66/Turnpike 2 drake Hooded Mergansers
in perfect light, simply beautiful.11/9/4
Archbold Reservoir Four Ruddy Ducks and 12
Canada Geese. 66/Turnpike 3 Great Blue Herons,
period. sigh.
12/18/4 Fulton County
SR 2/SR66 Audrey G. showed us all a
new pond here which contained quite a group of Mallards and Canada
Geese... and two SNOW GEESE (one blue, one white)
Archbold Reservoir held 3 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Am
Black Ducks, 2 Gadwalls, about 500 Canada Geese, 1000 Mallards...and
3 CACKLING GEESE. The CBC here also found ROBINS: 4 in
Archbold, 9 at Camp
Palmer plus more.20031/6/3 Archbold Reservoir was not iced but still birdless.
A stroll through Goll Woods found all the woodpeckers except the
target area specialty, pileated. Consolation prize: excellent views
of a BARRED OWL. The deer were extremely plentiful, and best was a
nice 8-point buck that slowly strolled by, looking over his shoulder
at me. I left there at 5:30pm, and enroute home1/8/3 Archbold Reservoir 16 Mallards and a Great Blue
Heron. Startlingly red sunset enroute home on Lockwood Rd but no owls...1/9/3 Archbold Reservoir was blocked by a train,
Wauseon
Reservoir was
frozen over.
1/10/3
Archbold
Reservoir the
South is still totally unfrozen and the North is half-frozen. In the
North pond were almost exactly 100 Canada Geese and 5 RingBilled
Gulls. 1/27/3
25/E
A huge pure
flock of SNOW BUNTINGS, at least 250! and close by a flock of 100
Larks, that I pored through finding ten LAPLAND LONGSPURS before the
farmer came out to see if he should call AAA for my car! <grin>
25/B
Another flock
of Snow Buntings-- about 75. Goll Woods All the woodpeckers INCLUDING PILEATED!
Yeah! And a ROBIN! No owls, however, not even on Lockwood Rd enroute
home. 3/5/3
Archbold
Reservoir Just
a small melted pool in the middle of the North reservoir, and still
just two drake Lesser Scaup. 3/6/3 Archbold Reservoir Still just a small melted pool
in the middle of the North reservoir, and still just two drake Lesser
Scaup. Wauseon
Reservoir also
had a melted middle, but no birds. 3/11/3 Archbold Reservoir 36 Canada Geese and a single
drake Lesser Scaup. 3/19/3 Dave G. from work said he saw 3 Tundra
Swans at the 66/Turnpike marsh last night, so I decided to stop by
after work: only 2 species were there: 9 TUNDRA SWANS and 158+
RingNecked Ducks. Archbold Reservoir 48 Gulls (Herring, RingBilled),
36 Scaup, 29 RingNecked Ducks, 8 Redhead, 8 Mallards and a Black
Duck. 3/22/3 Today's highlights were my first
Bonaparte's Gulls of the year, in 3 places. Archbold Reservoir 2 RedBreasted Merganser (my first of year), 2 Canada
Geese, 3 Canvasbacks, 5 Bonaparte's Gulls, 6 Mallards, 21 RingNecked Ducks,
22 Redheads, 26 RIngBilled Gulls, 50 Lesser Scaup. 66/Turnpike 200 RingNecked Ducks, less than
10 each of: Pintails, Gadwall, Wigeon, GreenWInged Teal, Redhead,
Lesser Scaup, Mallard, Canada Goose Wauseon Reservoir 1Mute Swan, 2 Bufflehead, 2
Canvasback, 3 Tundra Swans, 4 Redhead, 7 Canada Geese, 12
RedBreasted
Merganser, 22
RingBilled Gulls, 25 RingNecked Ducks, 50 Lesser Scaup,
68 Bonaparte's
Gulls 3/22/3 CoRd L between 22 and 23
was very good however! Lots of Mallards, Pintails,
Wigeon, GreenWinged Teal, Shovelers, RedHeads, Scaup, RingNecked
Ducks...and lots of my first BLUEWINGED TEAL
of the year. Wauseon Reservoir
68 Gulls, mostly RingBilled with only a couple
Herring and Bonaparte. About 75 Ducks, mostly RingNecked with only a
couple Lesser Scaup and Redheads.Turnpike/66
About 50 RingNecked Ducks, a huge flock of Cowbirds
and that's about it! 3/26/3 Archbold Reservoir 3 Mallards, 3 Northern
Shovelers, 4 Redheads, 9 Bufflehead, 9 RingBilled Gulls, 12
RedBreasted Mergansers, 12 Canada Geese, 18 Lesser Scaup, 29
RingNecked Ducks Turnpike/66 Tree Swallow, 2 American Wigeon, 2 Great
Blue Herons, 4 Canada Goose, 4 Mallards, 26 RingNecked Ducks
Wauseon
Reservoir 1
Coot, 1 Horned Grebe, 2 PiedBilled Grebes, 2 Bufflehead, 3
Bonaparte's Gulls, 250 Scaup/RingNecks 3/28/3 Archbold Reservoir
4 RingBilled
Gulls, 6 Canada Geese, 6 Bufflhead, 37 in a group of Lesser
Scaup/RingNecked Ducks Turnpike/66 8 Canada Goose are the only birds visible!
But of course, 3 kids and a big dog walking the
perimeter...
Wauseon Reservoir My first-of-the-year TWO COMMON LOONS, a Horned Grebe, 4 RingBilled
Gulls, a large group of Scaup/RingNecked Ducks bobbing too high and
low on the rough waves to count. 4/1/3 Archbold Reservoir 1 RingBilled Gull, 3
Ruddy Ducks,
6 Canada Geese,
6 Bufflhead, 6 RedBreasted Mergansers, 50 +/- Lesser Scaup
Wauseon
Reservoir
RED-NECKED
GREBE, now
being seen throughout Ohio, 1 RingBilled Gull, 1 Coot, 2 Mallards,
group of 200 +/- Scaup/RedHeads/Ruddy, in too big of a hurry to
actually count. 4/6/3 Wauseon Reservoir
RED-NECKED GREBE
still there per
Joe Hildreth. 4/26/3 Joe Hildreth
writes on Toledo Naturalist's Association website: "A farmer friend
of mine told me he saw a bird and wondered if i could help him id it.
he described the bird as mostly white with some spots of orangish
brown spots with a long skinny neck and long legs about a foot and a
half tall. he said the bird followed him around the field all day
behind the tractor and he once saw it catch a mouse. i began thinking
and came up with cattle egret. i showed him some pics and he said yea
thats the bird. im not sure how rare this bird currently is in nw
ohio but i found it interesting this sighting was in rural south
delta. A different friend told me his grandpa had found a dead bird
that he would like me to identify. he described it and i thought
common moorhen then i confirmed this when i viewed the bird this was
also in the country south of delta. he said his grandma was mowwing
the yard when she flushed the bird from the very small decorative
bushes close by the house and the bird flew straight into a large
white barn and died immediatly. i consider both of these observations
interesting and would like feedback from others on both occurences.
joe" 5/6/3Goll Woods
Walked the Burr Oak Trail and saw only one warbler,
but it was a new-for-the-season Parula, only 10 feet
away and at knee-level! Lots of RedHeaded Woodpeckers!
Turnpike/66 Flooded with nothing
apparent. A lovely day in the Swamp indeed! 5/7/3 Goll Woods
Walked the Toadshade Trail and saw only one warbler,
a loud Ovenbird. A Pileated always makes this walk worthwhile
however! 5/28/3 I found a surprise FultonCo
entry on the Toledo Naturalists' Association page
(http://www.wcnet.org/~tna/ ): "Typical Goll Woods SNP birds were present today, May 25:
Cerulean
Warbler,
Pileated and Red-headed Woodpeckers, Yellow-throated and Red-eyed
Vireos. Virginia and Appendaged Waterleaf, and Wild Geranium are in
full bloom, Surprizingly few mosquitoes.-- Eric Durbin"
7/7/3
StateRoute66/Turnpike Marsh Returned from
the weekend to find a Black Tern, a 21 Least-Sandpiper salute, a
Great Egret, 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, 5 Great Blue Herons and Killdeer at
this site. L/22 Surprised that the marsh
here was now a field of crops! A RedHeaded Woodpecker was on the
telephone pole at least.7/9/3 StateRoute66/Turnpike
Marsh Only Wood Ducks, two Least Sandpipers, and
Killdeer. 25-2/G Yellow-Billed Cuckoo flies
across the road at the bridge. 7/24/3Turnpike/66
Pretty much all the regular shorebirds, albeit less
than ten for each species, except for the numerous Killdeer: Lesser
& Greater (only one) Yellowlegs, Solitary & Spotted
Sandpipers, Least & Semipalmated Sandpipers, Killdeer &
Semipalmated Plovers (only 2), Great Blue Herons, Wood Ducks, and a
YellowBilled Cuckoo. 7/25/3
Turnpike/66 results very similar to last night except
add a dozen Pectoral Sandpipers. 8/7/3 SR66/Turnpike
Water was high, and so not much better birds: a dozen
Semipalmated Sandpipers, a dozen Killdeer, 4 Great Blue Herons, 4
Solitary Sandpipers, 4 Mallards, a BlueWinged Teal, a Wood Duck, 1
Great Egret, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 8/12/3 SR66/Turnpike
2 dozen Semipalmated Sandpipers, a few Killdeer, 18
Canada Geese, 6 Solitary Sandpiper, 5 Great Blue Herons, 2 Least
Sandpipers, 1 STILT SANDPIPER, 1 Wood Duck. 8/20/3661Turnpike
Immediately surprised by a dark BALD EAGLE that flew
up from this site which is littered with huge dead carp. Many
Killdeer, two dozen or so Semipalmated Sandpipers, 4 juvie
ShortBilled Dowitchers, 4 Great Egrets, 3 Great Blue Herons, 2
WhiteRumped Sandpipers, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers, 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, a
Greater Yellowlegs, a Semipalmated Plover, a Green Heron, a Solitary
Sandpiper, AND (best of all) 2 WESTERN SANDPIPERS (well, I have VERY
little experience with these) and wouldn't say anything at all, but
they were preening and grooming with VERY close viewing!
Goll Woods At least 20 Wild Turkeys
floated across the road from the parking lot, amazing graceful
slow-motion.9/9/366/Turnpike
not much different with over 60 each Canada Geese,
Mallards and Killdeer. 2 dozen Pectoral Sandpipers, a dozen or so
Semipalmated Sandpipers, 3 Lesser Yellowlegs, a pair of Great Egrets,
a Greater Yellowlegs, and a Great Blue Heron. 9/11/3
Only an OSPREY
at the Wauseon
Reservoir. 10/3/3 Wauseon Reservoir
3 RingBilled Gulls and a smattering of Tree Swallows
Turnpike/66 Looks like excellent
habitat, but not a single bird! 10/3/3 Wauseon
Reservoir 3 RingBilled Gulls and a smattering of Tree Swallows
Turnpike/66 Looks like excellent
habitat, but not a single bird! 10/6/3 Wauseon
Reservoir 3 Bonaparte's Gulls and 3 drake Ruddy Ducks.
Turnpike/66 5 Canada Geese, 3
Mallards, 3 Great Blue Heron, 10 Crows, and less than 2 dozen
Killdeer.11/6/2003 Archbold Reservoir
5pm 82 Canada
Geese, 30 Ruddy Ducks, 12 Bufflehead, 10 Lesser Scaup, 8 Redheads,
and 2 RingNecked Ducks. SR66/Turnpike 5:15pm Perfect habitat, no birds.
Wauseon
Reservoir 5:30pm 60 Ruddy Ducks, 33 Bonaparte's Gulls, 6
Gadwall, 4 RingBilled Gulls, 1 RedBreasted Merganser. 11/7/3 Wauseon Reservoir
This place is
so huge that often it looks empty when the birds are just so far
away: tonight it really was empty! 11/11/3 Archbold Reservoir and 66/Turnpike
were empty,
with only a RingBilled and 39 Bonaparte's Gulls at the
Wauseon
Reservoir.12/20/2003 Goll Woods Christmas Bird Count with 50 species and
2648 birds, according to compiler Jon Diller. Nine people in four
teams, great time. Nathan, Pete and I on one team, Micki and Doug on
another, Don & Lach, and finally Jon and Audrey. The very first
birds we saw were two PILEATED WOODPECKERS that called and showed off
in the morning sun as we all met in the parking lot! Then Nathan,
Pete and I found that there were only RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES on the
west side of the road, while Micki and Doug found only WhiteBreasted
on the east. We found two Cooper's Hawks, while Jon & Audrey
rousted a Sharpie. Still in Goll's Woods, we also found BROWN
CREEPERS. Doug & Micki found 2 PINTAILS on the Archbold Reservoir
with the usual Mallards, Canada Geese and RingBIlled Gulls. At
Harrison Lake, Pete and I found a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER,
Bluebirds, SNOW BUNTINGS and the most fascinating Wild Turkeys that
one-by-one flew slowly in front of us, and over a tall row of trees.
Sheer beauty and grace from these gawky birds! There were also SEVEN
Flickers in one small copse in a field there! Best birds for me were
Lach & Don's flock of 100+ SNOW GEESE near West Unity.
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK reported by two groups (Jon/Audrey, Lach/Don).
Fifty species all total, with most birds being Starlings, House
Sparrows or Rock Pigeons most certainly. 20021/8/02 US6/SR 66 (p25 D5) Cooper's Lockport Sharpie, judging from
flap-flap-flap and no neck Archbold Reservoir ((p25 D5) had about 500 Mallards
and 300 Canada Goose, struggling to keep a bit of open water going.
Just the usual CanadaGoose,EuSt,HoSp,RockDoves,MourningDove
otherwise. FultonCo 22.75/H (p25 D5)A flock made up entirely
of Snow Buntings-- at least 1000! An amazing spectacle as they
wheeled, landed, flew high against the slate grey/blue sky,
disappeared as their background became snow low, bright and great as
they landed on dark, bare field. A flock of 50 Horned Larks near the
road, and a flock of 50 or so Starlings with a single Mourning Dove
in it, all seperate yet in the same field. 1/14/02 Joe Hildreth tops this with a
YellowBellied Sapsucker at Goll Woods! 1/22/02 Joe Hildreth and I explored the Toadshade
Trail at Goll
Woods and found
remarkably little (Downy/RedBellied Woodpeckers, Flicker,
WhiteBreasted Nuthatch, BlackCapped Chickadee, Cardinal, Mourning
Dove, Goldfinch) but finally at the west parking lot, we heard the
distinctive call of the PILEATED WOODPECKER and soon thereafter heard the
distinctive flight call of the same bird as not one, but two(!), flew
by. We had the best viewing of this beautiful bird as it explored the
tall trees of the area,our appetite completely satiated, and then
even better wonderful viewing of it as it flew overhead, the amazing
wing pattern fully visible. Then we walked the Burr Oak Trail,
finding very little except a Carolina Wren. Mysteriously absent were
the redheaded woodpeckers. We then decided to call owls, finding a
BARRED OWL
at the Ranger's
Station. Back at the main parking lot, another Barred Owl was
calling. 2/1/02
Joe Hildreth
reports a Common Goldeneye and 10 Canada Geese at Delta Reservoir,
while
Wauseon
Reservoir had 3
Scaup and 25 Gulls (Ringbilled/Herring) 2/6/02 Preoccupied with family matters this last
week, it should have felt good to be out again, but only Canada Geese
and Mallards (at least 100 of each) at Archbold Reservoir, oddly enough on the North pond
instead of the usual South. Wauseon Reservoir had 39 Canada Geese and a lone
Herring Gull. Joe Hildreth, coming by 20 minutes later, counted 42
Canadas out on the ice. 2/10/02 Joe Hildreth makes a wild goose discovery
that is intriguing at Fulton Pond between Swanton and Delta. Couldn't get
away today, but want to check it tomorrow right away. This he
photographed (er, digiscoped) through his binoculars using a
digicam:
He saw three of these
at Fulton Pond and two at Delta Reservoir. Can't wait for
tomorrow!
2/11/02 Archbold Reservoir enroute to see the unusual geese
today, held only a pair of Common Goldeneye and 4 RingBilled Gulls.
Wauseon
Reservoir had
about 50 gulls, evenly split between Herring and RingBilled.
Fulton Pond's
geese were
still there today, fortunately. Amidst the perhaps 20 Canada Geese
were 4 unusual geese: Goose #1 looked like that illustrated in
Sibley's as a Canada/WhiteFronted cross, except that it had a large
thick white breast band as well as the white end. The white cheek
patch of the Canada was evident, as well as an eye-ring of white. It
was as large as the largest Giant Canada there. Feet and bill were
orange. Goose #2 looked almost exactly the same, except that the
white cheek patch was irregular and swallowed the eye. There was a
black eye-ring on this guy. Goose #3 was smaller, about the size of
our short-necked migrant Canadas that are only here in the winter.
His neck was chocolate brown where a Canada should be black, and his
cheek patch was tan instead of white. His bill was also a tan-grey
instead of black. There was no opportunity to see his feet. Up to
this point, it appeared we had Canada/WhiteFronted Crosses, but Goose
#4, whom we found last on a walk around the pond, was extremely large
(larger than any of the Canadas) and very obviously domestic. Not
knowing my domestic geese real well, I would say it was a Greylag,
although it looked nothing like the Greylag illustrated in Peterson's
(oddly enough, the chocolate brown goose did look like Peterson's
greylag somewhat, in that when he swam away one could see obvious
striping on the back of his neck). It was definitely not Chinese, or
African, or Barred, or Egyptian, etc but had lots of white with black
striping on the grey throat. Bill was bright orange, as well as its
feet. This last discovery made me think that perhaps here was one of
the parents of the other three. Discoverer Joe Hildreth also had
photos of two similarly unusual geese he found on nearby Delta
Reservoir. We also saw several large flocks of blackbirds, one of
which appeared to be totally made up of Grackles!
2/12/02 JOE HILDRETH VISITS
FULTON POND TONIGHT AND FINDS A SAWWHET OWL. His batteries went dead
on his digital camera, of course, but his dad brought some from home
and he gets GREAT PICTURES THROUGH HIS
BINOCULARS--EXCELLENT:
2/13/02 Joe failed to find the Sawwhet Owl, but
did see 9 flyover Sandhill Cranes near Fulton Pond. 2/14/02 Joe and I walked Fulton Pond failing to see sawwhet, sandhills, or any
canada geese hybrids. We did see a Cooper's Hawk, though, very
cooperatively turning to show us her fine rounded tail, the white
spot on the back of her head, her bright yellow legs, her
black-tipped beak, her rusty checked breast. So cooperative she was
still there when we left. There were also 1 hen and 2 drake Mallards
keeping the little remaining bit of water from turning to ice.
Archbold
Reservoir had 2
gulls and the pair of Common Goldeneye. Wauseon Reservoir had 10 gulls. Delta Reservoir had one pair of Giant Canadas
and four pair of short-necked small Canadas, while 24/108 only had Canadas as
well. 2/21/02
joe Hildreth
finds 18 Lesser Scaup at Wauseon Reservoir, as well as a few gulls at
Archbold
Reservoir.
2/25/02
Joe reports a
Turkey Vulture overhead at home in Delta. 2/27/02 Joe Hildreth reports 15-20 Lesser Scaup
at Wauseon
Reservoir, 3
Ringneck Ducks at 109/FultonCo H pond, 3 Robins and 10 Snow Buntings
outside of Delta. I too notice Snow Buntings and Larks in
large numbers by the side of the road, out of the snowy
fields. 2/28/02 Joe reports 18 Scaup (1 of them
Greater) at Wauseon Reservoir with 6 Canvasbacks.
Delta Reservoir
only 30 Canada
Geese and 4 Mallards.3/2/02 Joe reports an American Wigeon at the
smallest of the
Delta Reservoirs.
3/2/2
Joe found
another GREYLAG hanging with the 37 Canada Geese and 3 Mallards at
Fulton Pond.
Angola/Centenniel (Hidden Harbor Subdivision) he found 8 Redheads, 4 Ringneck
Ducks, 6 Mallards & 5 Gulls, Pearson Metropark Window on Wildlife
Cowbirds,
Grackles, Cardinals, Titmice, House Sparrow, House Finch, Mourning
Dove and a PURPLE FINCH; Metzger Marsh 100 Redheads & a couple of Common
Mergansers; the resident Great Horned Owl at Maumee Bay ; Bayshore
had
Bonaparte's, Great BlackBacked, Herring Gulls as well as Common
Goldeneye and large (2000!) flock of RedWinged Blackbirds containing
at least 5 Rustys. Salisberry Quarry had only Canadas. 3/4/02 Archbold Reservoir had 6 Black Ducks (the first
I've seen in a long time), 18 Mallards, and a dozen RIngBilled
Gulls. The
Turnpike/SR66 still had open water with 100 Canadas, and
10 male Hooded Mergansers chasing each other. Wauseon Reservoir
had 6 Canada
Geese, 4 pair of RingNecked Ducks and about 18 Lesser Scaup,
beautiful to see these ducks again. Independence Dam still had both Eagles at the
nest, with at least 70 Wild Turkeys below. There were also Canada
Geese, Mallards, and Gulls (about 50 of each), but nothing else. Also
at the 66/Turnpike site was a RedShouldered Hawk, something else I haven't seen
in a good long time. I thought it was unique until I got home and
found an e-mail from Joe Hildreth with an excellent photo of one from
Sylvania
(King/Bankcroft) yesterday:
3/5/02
Joe Hildreth
reports: Delta
Reservoir 2
Hooded Mergansers, 11 Ringneck Ducks and 4 Canadas. 109/H had 43 Canadas on the ice. "and i checked
out a couple ponds that were so called private property on archbold
whitehouse road one had 20 canadas and the other had approx 30
mallrds some ringnecks and i think a couple of redheads this was in
the snow way across the pond" 3/6/02 Archbold Reservoir had 20 Lesser Scaup and 48 Gulls
(mostly Herring, a few RingBilled). Archbold at the Turnpike was negligible-- a single pair
of Canada Geese and a RedTailed Hawk.3/8/02 "3 Scaup at Wauseon Reservoir and a gull; 4 canadas 3
mallards and 2 shovelers at Delta Reservoir" --Joe Hildreth. There were only a
pair of Canada Geese and a large group of about 50 ducks, half
Mallards and half of them RingNecked Ducks. Gulls numbers were
greatly increased to perhaps 150, all RIngBilled Gulls that I could
see.
3/10/02 "Wood
Duck and a PiedBilled Grebe at Delta Reservoir with 9 canadas" --Joe
Hildreth 3/11/02
Delta
Reservoir 35
Canada Geese, and 2 PiedBilledGrebes looked like a couple.
109/H
had 25 Canadas,
1 Canvasback and 3 Scaup. Wauseon Reservoir had 10 gulls. Archbold
Reservoir had 6
Mallards and approx 50 Gulls mostly in the air. 66 and Turnpike had approx 15 Hooded Mergansers
20 Canada Geese, 4 Mallards and 7 TREE SWALLOWS, also 2 Redtails.
Harrison
Lake there were
some gulls and a couple Turkey Vultures and a Great Blue Heron. --
thanks Joe, for an exhaustive report! 3/17/02 Joe Hildreth reports from Fulton County:
Delta
Reservoir 1
Bufflehead; 109/H 3 Canadas 10 Redhead 3 Scaup;
Wauseon
Reservoir 25
Gulls 4 Mallards; SR66/Turnpike Killdeer (flock of approximately 20),
Pipits 5 , Scaup, Mallards, Canadas, 1 Pied-Billed Grebe, 2 Great
Blue Heron, a Redtail that has mastered the art of wiresitting;
FultonCoRd
L/Tiffin River 30-40 Swallows i think some may have been
roughwinged but mostly tree maybe all Tree; FultonCoRd G/Tiffin River Mallard, Canada, many Wood
Ducks, a lone Hooded Merganser. 3/18/02 Joe Hildreth reports from Fulton County:
Delta
Reservoir 3
PiedBilled Grebes 4 Canadas; SR109/FultonCoRd H 10 Redhead 3 Scaup;
66/Turnpike Mallards, 2 Hooded Mergansers, 5 Scaup;
L/22 5 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 1 YELLOWLEGS many
killdeer; 20a
and 10-3 marsh
20 Ringnecks, Canadas. also heard a Phoebe at Delta Reservoir and Pipits still at
66/Turnpike. 3/24/2 Joe reports from Fulton County:
"Delta
Reservoir 2
Canada Geese, 6 Wood Ducks, 2 PiedBilled Grebes, 2 Herring
Gulls. l and
Tiffin River Gadwall, Wood Duck, Mallard, Canada Geese,
Wigeon, Bluewing Teal L/22 had 8 Snipe, 2 Killdeer,many ducks
66
/Turnpike Scaup
and 15 Hooded Mergansers."3/27/02 Joe Hildreth of Delta,OH reports:
"Delta
Reservoir: 15
Horned Grebes, 200+ Scaup, 4 Coots, 2 PiedBilledGrebes, 35 Canada
Geese, 10 Mallards, 2 Common Loons, 7 Hooded Mergansers, 10 Gulls
(Herring/RingBilled). Wauseon Reservoir: 300+ Scaup, 2 Horned GRrebes,
2 PIPITS; Archbold Reservoir: 30 Gulls (Herring, Ringbilled
and at least 1 Bonaparte's), 10 Bufflehead, 2 Hooded Mergansers, 2
Scaup, 2 Ruddy, 6 Mallards; Swanton Reservoir: 3 GreatBlue Herons, 2 Mallards,
2 Gulls; Hidden
Harbour 30
Redheads 20 Canadas 60 Ringnecks 60 Scaup;SR295/Angola Road 6 RingNecked Pheasants.
Meanwhile, stuck at home, I watched the antics of 5 male RedWinged
Blackbirds, and the 3 Fox Sparrows at the feeders. 3/28/02 Joe Hildreth reports:
Delta
Reservoir 1
Loon, 2 Pipits, 4 Ringbilled Gulls, 30 Bufflehead, 5 Canadas, 6
Redheads, 25 Scaup, 4 RedBreasted Mergansers, 2 Hooded Mergansers, 1
PiedBilled Grebe, 2 Ringnecked Ducks; SR66/Turnpike 6 Mallards, 4 Hooded Mergansers
FultonCoRd
L/Tiffin River
20 Blue Winged Teal, 100 Mallards, a GreenWinged Teal, 35 Wood Duck, 20 Canadas, 2
Shovelers. Joe took this picture through his binoculars:
4/2/02 Joe Hildreth reports from Fulton County,
"There were 7 Loons, 7 Bufflehead, 6 PiedBilled Grebes, 4 Coots and
YellowRumped Warblers at Delta Reservoir." 4/3/02 Joe Hildreth at Delta Reservoir: 3 Common Loons, 2 Redbreasted
Mergansers, 2 Pied Billed Grebes. 4/4/2 Joe H. reports 1 Loon, 2 Bluewinged Teal,
6 Coots and TEN PiedBilled Grebes at Delta Reservoir.4/5/02 After work headed 10mi north to
the Archbold
Reservoir 10
RedBreasted Mergansers, a Coot, 2 Mallards, and 50 Gulls, mostly
RingBilled, but a few Herring too. 66/Turnpike Swamp. Great birds, but no place to
pull over or park to view them! 6 male and 8 female Hooded
Mergansers, a Horned Grebe, Great Blue Heron, many RingBilled Gulls,
perhaps a dozen Canvasbacks, maybe 25 Redheads, maybe 50 Lesser
Scaup, very few Gadwall, GreenWinged and BlueWinged Teal, and a
single American Wigeon drake. A;so many many Tree Swallows. I stopped
off at Goll
Woods, but
found out I was not dressed warmly enough to walk far or stay long,
in spite of the apparent sunshine. There were 25 Wild Turkeys and
Golden-Crowned Kinglets everywhere in the pines, maybe 100 of them!
Enroute to Wauseon on State Route 2, at Fulton Co Rd
17, was a
flooded field with a pair of Bufflehead, a pair of Mallards, a pair
of Canada Geese, and 8 BlueWinged Teal. Wauseon Reservoir had extremely nice viewing of
about two dozen Canvasbacks, about 75 Redheads, 3 dozen Lesser Scaup,
3 dozen Ruddy Ducks, and 2 Coots. 4/14/02 I thought the YellowBellied Sapsucker at
my Sherwood
feeders would
be the best bird of the day. I couldn't possibly plan on a phone call
from Joe Hildreth at 1pm. Unfortunately I was headed out the door to
my sister's Second Anniversary dinner. I rushed from Fort Wayne IN to
FultonCo H/State
Route 108 arriving about 7pm to see a
MALE
BREEDING-PLUMAGED SURF SCOTER in a flooded field close to the road!:
taken through Orion scope about 25x
with a digital Sony Mavicam
Joe took some 35mm SLR
pictures that will be developed soon. We drove on to the next flooded
field in the mile and found 4 pairs of BlueWinged Teal, a pair of
Wood Ducks and a pair of Mallards. At the Turnpike/66 marsh were lots of Canada Geese and
Mallards and 4 Redheads. I'd never been there before but Joe led me
to Fulton County
L/22, an
extremely nice marsh with tons of Mallards, many pairs of GreenWinged
and BlueWinged Teal, many American Wigeon, a pair of Black Ducks, a
pair of Wood Ducks, and overhead a flying SANDHILL CRANE. 4/16/02 Joe took the Magee tour today,
so I covered Fulton County while he was gone: Archbold Reservoir
had 2
Cormorants. Wauseon Reservoir had a few Scaup and lots of
Ruddy Ducks. Turnpike/66 had a pair of GreenWinged Teal, a pair of
Wigeon, and a few pairs of Mallards-- in a word, most of the ducks
have left. In their place however are hundreds of sandpipers, all
Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpipers that I could
see. Of course, there is no pull-off here so I didn't do a thorough
search. L/22
ducks were
greatly reduced, but still about 100 Mallards. Turning onto L, there
were 40 Greater Yellowlegs loudly vocalizing, 10 Lesser Yellowlegs, 6
Pectorals (easy to count since there were far fewer, far closer to
the road, and far less weeds for them to hide in). 4/20/2 Joe at Delta Reservoir: "2 Chimney Swifts, 2 Swamp Sparrows, and
a Green Heron which has been there for a week." 4/22/02 In anticipation of the coming
warblers, birding today was very lackluster and mundane.
Archbold
Reservoir had
hundreds of Barn and Tree Swallows, a dozen RingBilled Gulls, a
single RedBreasted Merganser and a Mallard. Turnpike/66 was almost empty, with 3 RingBilled Gulls,
a PiedBilled Grebe, and a few Pectoral Sandpipers. 4/24/02 Turnpike/66 was totally deserted today.
Goll Woods
wasn't a lot
better, but there were lots of deer to keep me company. Six strolled
nonchalantly ahead of me on the trail, evidently scaring all the good
birds away <grin>. I did see the specialty of the region
however, the Pileated Woodpecker, (Micki recently told me of finding
one in Paulding County though, and Craig T. told me today of finding
one at his feeders on Buckskin Road not far from Oxbow Lake this
winter) and lots of Hermit Thrushes, Wood Ducks and Mallards. I also
saw my first Purple Martins inexplicably overhead and a fleeting
glimpse of my first Winter Wren of the season. No warblers at all, but
some interesting first blooms of the season including what I guess to
be dwarf ginseng. I don't think I ever saw it before. Also in bloom
were spring cress, the first of the wild geraniums, wild ginger,
jack-in-the-pulpit, hispid buttercup, white violets, an d a violet I
will have to look up-- large and white with a purple
throat. 4/25/2
Joe, at
Delta
Reservoir, had
a Catbird, Green Heron, Blue Heron, BlueWinged Teal, Phoebe,
Yellowrumped Warblers. 4/29/2 Joe reports 75 more Cormorants at
66/Turnpike.
5/3/02
3 Greater
Yellowlegs, 3 Spotted Sandpipers, 2 BLueWinged Teal and a Mallard at
FultonCo
H75/22.75.
and 3 Lesser
Yellowlegs at FultonCo 69/180, I discovered while doing errands after
work. 5/6/02
Fulton County Trying to mix a little birding in with
some after-work chores, I stopped by the Archbold Reservoir , which was full of Barn
Swallows and a single first-summer Common Loon. 66/Turnpike Just a single Solitary
Sandpiper. Fulton Co 22/L A Spotted Sandpiper, 4 Lesser Yellowlegs,
4 Pectoral Sandpipers, and about 25 each of Mallards, BlueWinged Teal
and Greater Yellowlegs. Joe Hildreth reports from Delta Reservoir:
"YellowRumped,
Yellow, Yellow throated, OrangeCrowned, Tennessee, ChestnutSided,
Magnolia, BlackThroated Blue, Palm, Black&White, Louisiana
Waterthrush 5/8/02 Joe Hildreth InstantMessaged me that he
also went out very late and saw some warblers ( Common Yellowthroat,
Palm, Yellow, YellowRump) and an OSPREY at Delta Reservoir. 5/15/02 Joe Hildreth reports from
Delta Reservoir
a Common Loon!
Peterjohn says immatures appear May 5-15 with individuals staying
through the end of the month. 5/17/02 Driving around Fulton County while doing chores: Archbold Reservoir
nothing but
Swallows, all I binoculed being Tree and Barn. 66/Turnpike 4 Great Egrets, 100 Gulls, all I
binoculed being RIngBilled. L/22 a pair of Black Ducks, a pair of Green
Winged Teal, 6 BlueWinged Teal, 6 Canada Geese, 30 Mallards.
5/18/02
Joe Hildreth
reports the same drive I took last night: 4 Great Egrets and 10 Great
Blue Herons stil there, but Black Ducks and GreenWinged Teal missing,
and in their place FIVE BLACK TERNS. 5/19/02 Fulton County Joe Hildreth and I called SORA
at Fulton County
L/22 and
although we didn't see any well, we did have at least 4 answer the
CD. Semipalmated Plovers and 2 way-out-in-the-open Green Heron were
particularly memorable, but lots of other birds were there including
over 100 RingBilled Gulls. Joe was very patient with my back problem,
and we decided to bird near-by Goll Woods. Pulling up in the parking lot, I
immediately was glad for the decision: The huge buckeye immediately
over the car was in full bloom, with at least EIGHT hummingbirds
taking full advantage. The Phoebe nesting under the Informational
Booth was a pleasant surprise, as well. Our warbler list was pretty
small: BlueWinged, Redstart, Nashville, Ovenbird, but then we had
lots of RedEyed Vireos, as well as a single Yellow-Throated VIreo and
a single Warbling Vireo. Least Flycatcher, Veery, Swainson's
Thrushes, Woodcocks were good, and of course there were tons of
common birds that I regrettably easily overlook (Downy Woodpeckers,
Gnatcatchers, Catbirds, BlackCapped Chickadees, Chimney Swifts, House
Wrens, Blue Jays, Eastern Kingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher, Turkey
Vulture, Goldfinches, Indigo Buntings etc). May Apples are finally in
bloom. 5/21/02
Changed clothes
after work at Goll Woods, but not enough time to walk the trails.
From the parking lot were Indigo Bunting, Barred Owl, Swainson's
Thrush, Phoebe, Hummingbirds in the Buckeye. Couldn't join Joe
Hildreth to go see the Garganey at Mallard Marsh so had to settle for
birding Fulton
County L/22 before my union meeting: 40 Dunlin, 10
Semipalmated Plover, 1 Least Sandpiper, a way-out-in-the-open Green
Heron and 5 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS-- classic and close to the road
making all points visible, including the side marks, the wings past
the tail and even the white rump.5/24/02 Joe Hildreth found 100 Dunlin and 10
Semipalmated Plover around Fulton County 22/L. 5/27/02 Joe Hildreth reports Nighthawks
over his Delta home, as well as 4 late Ruddy Ducks at Delta Reservoir. Here is a great digiscope he
took today:
6/1/02
Joe mentioned
that last night he had a FEMALE WILSON'S PHALAROPE at Fulton County's Turnpike/SR 66
marsh.
6/9/2
Turnpike/66 in Fulton County according to Joe Hildreth had "2 Spotted 1
Solitary Sandpiper, 2 Semipalmated Plovers and 3
Killdeer."
7/10/2 Fulton County: Joe Hildreth and I met up at
SR66/Ohio
Turnpike and
had some very pleasant surprises! There were of course lots of
Mallards, Wood Ducks, Blue Herons, Killdeer, Great Egrets, Spotted
and Solitary Sandpipers, but also a single Bonaparte's Gull, two Dowitchers
(Short-Billed
probably since longbilled aren't expected until August)
, a Cormorant, a
female Hooded Merganser, a couple Lesser Yellowlegs, and about ten
Least Sandpipers. and Joe messages me to tell me I forgot
about the pair of BlueWinged Teal. 7/13/02 Not much time for birding: random thoughts
from stops at stop signs enroute to somewhere: Dickcissels at
FarmerMark/Jericho and SR18/Evansport Rd. Amazingly cooperative
Grasshopper Sparrow at Evansport/Airport Runway. From twenty feet screaming his
song into my face, plenty of time to view the ochre in his face and
the bend of his wing, his clear breast and sides, the stripe down the
top of his head. This was the time one knows cameras should be in all
cars all the time. 7/16/02 SR66/Ohio Turnpike There were of course lots of
Mallards, Wood Ducks, Blue Herons, Killdeer, Great Egrets, Lesser
Yellowlegs, Spotted, Solitary and Least Sandpipers, but just a few
Pectoral Sandpipers. Much less exciting than when I was there
on July 10.
7/19/2 Quick
stop at 66/Turnpike before leaving for Michigan found TWO BALD
EAGLES (one adult and one third-year bird) sitting on the sand eating
something bloody. Nevertheless hundreds of shorebirds were all
around, with ducks, albeit just the usuals. 7/22/2 A quick stop at 66/Turnpike: much the same report! 7/25/2 Meanwhile I stopped in Joe's
Fulton County at 66/Turnpike near Archbold after work and instead of merely
checking for unusual birds, decided to do a count. The 2 Bald Eagles
are still there, for the ninth straight day. I had never seen eagles
there before that time. 500 undercounted Killdeer, 66 Pectoral
Sandpipers, 34 Lesser Yellowlegs, 27 Least Sandpipers, 20 Mallards,
12 Canada Geese, 12 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 9 Wood Ducks, 4 Spotted
Sandpipers, 3 Rock Doves, 3 Tree Swallows, 3 Great Blue Herons
(usually many more), 2 Stilt Sandpipers, 2 Great Egrets (usually many
more), a Green Heron, a Greater Yellowlegs, a Semipalmated Plover, a
RingBIlled Gull, a Yellow Warbler, a Common
Yellowthroat. 7/28/2 Today's Toledeo Naturalists'
Association butterfly walk was cancelled due to the rain, so I used
the extra time to number the birds at Fulton County's Turnpike/66
Wetlands (did
my best, but rounded most since accurate numbers just aren't
possible): 75 Pectoral Sandpipers, only 30 Killdeer, 30 Semipalmated
Sandpipers, 20 Lesser Yellowlegs, 12 Wood Ducks, 10 Least Sandpipers,
9 Greater Yellowlegs, 8 Mallards, 7 Great Egret, 3 Great Blue Heron,
3 Semipalmated Plovers, only 2 Solitary Sandpipers, only 2 Spotted
Sandpipers, 2 Stilt Sandpipers, 1 RingBilled Gull. 7/31/2 Fulton County's sr66/Turnpike marsh:
1 Stilt
Sandpiper, 2 Rock Doves, 3 Semipalmated Plovers, 4 Spotted
Sandpipers, 4 Least Sandpipers, 5 Wood Ducks, 5 Greater and 11 Lesser
Yellowlegs, 12 Mallards, 69 Pectoral Sandpipers, 51 Canada Geese, 48
Semipalmated Sandpipers, 350 Killdeer. Zero bald eagles, great egrets
or herons...8/6/2 The MetLife blimp chose this moment to go
over the marsh at Fulton County's SR66/Turnpike--
birds were
everywhere in the air! The best bird was immediately visible:
BlackBellied Plover in intermediate plumage, a plumage that kept the
black belly, and put a black smudge through the eye on an otherwise
pretty white face. When they settled, I counted: 1 Green Heron, 1
Least Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Sandpiper, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 3
Solitary Sandpipers, 5 Wood Ducks, 8 Great Blue Heron, 9 Semipalmated
Plovers, 16 Lesser Yellowlegs, 33 Mallards, 100 Semipalmated
Sandpipers, 125 Pectoral Sandpipers, 250 Killdeer. A county employee
stopped to tell me that the Eagles nested nearby, but a semi was
coming up behind him fast to give me an exact
location! 8/7/2 Return to SR66/Turnpike finds the same birds as yesterday, down to
the very same Black Bellied Plover. Only discernible change: 7 Great
Egrets that weren't there yesterday. 8/10/2 Joe Hildreth assures me that
SR66/Turnpike
Wetland in Fulton County is still pretty much the same with the
usual birds in the usual numbers, including the BlackBellied Plover.
8/12/2
Fulton
County's SR66/Turnpike Wetland has changed drastically! It has been so
hot and dry that the only shorebirds are limited to the very edges of
the wading pools that are left, so numbers are drastically down.
Birds there include (from least to most numerous): an adult Bald
Eagle, 1 Wood Duck, a single Greater Yellowlegs (close to the road
for great viewing!), 2 adult RingBilled Gulls, 2 BlueWinged Teal, 3
Semipalmated Plovers, 4 Rock Doves, 4 Crows, 4 Least Sandpipers, 6
Lesser Yellowlegs, 6 Semipalmated Sandpipers (down from the usual
hundred), 8 Great Egrets, 18 Great Blue Herons, 33 Pectoral
Sandpipers (down from the usual hundred), 175 Mallards (definitely up
from the usual 25!), 300 Killdeer. 8/16/2 Stopped by Fulton County Turnpike/SR 66 Wetland
around noon in
the rain. Amidst the usuals were two great spangled juvenile
SANDERLINGS.
8/18/2 Afterward I stopped at Fulton County's 66/Turnpike
Wetland. It was
greatly dried up, making counting very easy: 1 Semipalmated Plover, 4
Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Wood Ducks, 16 Canada Geese, 13 Great Blue
Herons, 24 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 26 Pectoral Sandpipers, 250
Killdeer. 8/19/2 I thought it was slow yesterday
with 350 birds at Fulton County's
66/Turnpike,
but today after the big rains there were only 36 birds!: 15
Semipalmated Sandpipers, 9 Killdeer, 8 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Great
Egret, 1 Dowitcher, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, and 1 Wood
Duck. 8/20/2 66/Turnpike was back up to large numbers of
birds, the most exciting of which was a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER in full
breeding plumage. 8/21/2 Fulton County 66/Turnpike birds were pretty much the same,
the star still being a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, but today it's a bird
that's molting into winter plumage. 8/23/2 Fulton County 66/Turnpike was way down as it is very dry: 200 Killdeer, 38 Great
Blue Herons, 11 Pectoral Sandpipers, 7 Great Egrets (no bands), 4
Wood Ducks, 4 Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Semipalmated Sandpipers.
8/26/2
Fulton
County's Turnpike/66 was very low on shorebirds. It gets drier
and drier as Paulding Sewage Lagoon fills! 435 Killdeer, 5
Semipalmated Sandpipers, 4 Great Blue Heron, 3 Crows, 2 Pectoral
Sandpipers, 2 Great Egrets, a Wood Duck, a BlueWinged Teal, and best
bird, a Sanderling. 8/27/2 Fulton County's
Turnpike/66 was
even drier: 450 Killdeer, 10 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 8 Great Blue
Herons, 6 Least Sandpipers, 5 Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Great Egrets, 4
Crows, 2 Canada Geese, 2 Wood Ducks, a Greater Yellowlegs, a
Dowitcher, a RingBIlled Gull, and a Pectoral Sandpiper.
8/29/2
Fulton
County Turnpike/66 had 330 Killdeer, 7 Lesser Yellowlegs, 7
Semipalmated Sandpipers, 7 Least Sandpipers, 7 Great Blue Herons, 3
Great Egrets, 2 BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS (too close to the road to
overlook!), 2 Ringbilled Gulls, 1 Semipalmated Plover, 1 Wood Duck.
Very dry. 9/3/2
After work I
had opted to explore the 66/Turnpike Wetland in Fulton Co:
51 Great Blue
Herons, 22 Great Egrets, 6 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 3 Pectoral
Sandpipers, 2 Semipalmated Plovers, a RingBilled Gull and 138
Killdeer. More dry than ever, the huge bloated carp carcasses are
even more visible.
9/4/2
After work
visit to 66/Turnpike in Fulton County:
1 Mallard, 1
Ringbilled Gull, 1 Least Sandpiper, 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper, 3 Great
Blue Herons, 4 Pectoral Sandpipers, 10 Great Egrets, 94 Killdeer.
What water remains has to be absolutely putrid with so many carp
carcasses! 9/6/2 Still no rain, so 66/Turnpike was much the same: 225 Killdeer,
22 Great Egrets, 5 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 3 Great Blue Heron, 1
RingBilled Gull, 1 Crow, 1 Stilt Sandpiper, 1 Semipalmated Plover.
9/11/2
Fulton
County's Turnpike/66: 25 Great Blue Heron, 20 Great Egrets, 7
Killdeer, 3 Semipalmated Sandpipers. That is all! 9/17/2 Fulton County's 66/Turnpike
was really dry.
How dry was it? It was so dry there were only 62 Killdeer and a
Semipalmated Sandpiper. In the period after work and before the Union
meeting, I tried Goll Woods but found precious little, until almost
the end of the trail, where I found a small group of birds including
3 BlackCapped Chickadees, a RedEyed and a WhiteEyed (!) Vireo,
several Nashville and Tennessee Warblers, a Wilson's Warbler, a
BlackThroated Blue, and a Blackpoll!!!! I was truly amazed but
couldn't stick around without being late. My stroll previous to this
was pretty darn boring, so boring I was even counting mammals!:
Barred Owl, Black Squirrel, 6 Blue Jays, a Cardinal, a Catbird,
Chipmunk, 3 Chickadees, Flicker, 2 Peewees, 2 Pileated Woodpeckers,
RedBellied Woodpecker, Red Squirrel, 4 Robins-- I did get really good
looks at a Wood Thrush that either wouldn't leave its claim on a
Pokeberry patch, or was too drunk on Pokeberry to leave...
9/22/2
Fulton
County's 66/Turnpike was nearly dry: 100 Canada Geese and 3
Crows. 10/4/2 FultonCo Archbold Reservoir and
Turnpike/66 were deserted by anything avian in the
driving rain. 10/26/2 Archbold Reservoir had a Cormorant, a RingBilled
Gull, 4 Ruddy Ducks, 4 Lesser Scaup, and 100 Rock Doves.
Wauseon
Reservoir had
no birds at all, just lots of fishermen and would-be duck hunters.
Henry County
US24/SR108 just
about 5 Canada Geese.11/2/2 Joe Hildreth, FultonCo, Delta
Reservoir:
Today there were 3 Hooded Mergansers , 4 Wigeon, 6 Mallards, 3
Gadwall.11/4/2
Fulton
County's Delta Reservoir "3 Gadwall, 2 Wigeon, ~100 Canada Goose, 2
Cormorants, 7 Mallards" --Joe Hildreth Archbold Reservoir had 5 Ruddy Ducks, a Redhead,
and almost exactly 200 Canada Geese. 66/Turnpike was still dry and barren, while
Wauseon
Reservoir had
only about 20 Ruddy Ducks and about 20 Bonaparte's Gulls. They hugged
the far shore next to the decoys, silly birds, probably because the
last fisherman was hauling his boat into this truck as I pulled up.
Henry County's
24/108 pond was
empty. 11/5/2
Archbold
Reservoir 6
Ruddy Ducks and a pair of Mallards Wauseon Reservoir 12 Bonaparte's Gulls
11/6/2
Archbold
Reservoir 5
Ruddy Ducks and a Redhead. 11/9/2 Wauseon Reservoir only had six or so Bonaparte's
Gulls. 11/19/2
Archbold
Reservoir 5
Mallards, 2 RingBilled Gulls; SR66/Turnpike zero; Wauseon Reservoir 9 Bonaparte's Gulls, 2
RingBilled Gulls 12/5/2 70 Mallards, a Canada Goose but also 9
SNOW BUNTINGS that ate on the ground just outside my car door at
Archbold
Reservoir (#4). At least 100 more SNOW BUNTINGS were at
Fulton County Roads 16/D, and at the Wauseon Reservoir (#7) were about 25 more SNOW
BUNTINGS. 12/14/2 Goll Woods Christmas Count
found nine
birders (Jon Diller, Micki & Doug Dunakin, Lach Ohman, Don Kyle,
Professors Reed and Lightner, Audrey Recently-Up-From-Florida, and
myself-- but few birds! 12/19/2 Archbold Reservoir 300 Canada Geese, 50 Mallards
Wauseon
Reservoir 25
Canada Geese, and a few ducks (my scope wasn't along) 20011/9/2001 Archbold OH a Cooper's Hawk flew beside the car from
the McDonald's all the way to the Marathon gas station. Nice views, I
thought as I tried to watch it and the traffic.1/22/01 A rather tame Cooper's Hawk
posed at FultonCoRd 26 and D. 2/8/01 SharpShinned Hawk (male) at Defiance/Oak
Streets in Archbold. 2/20/01 Goll Woods had all the usual woodpeckers (Downy,
RedBellied, RedHeaded, Flicker, WhiteBreasted Nuthatch, Brown
Creeper, Titmice) but I flunked out and failed to see the pileated,
nor did i see the barred owl although many Crows were chasing
something. A RedTailed Hawk was in the area, too, as well as the
usual Cardinals, Blue Jays, etc. A Raccoon slumbered, awakened as I
walked by, scratched his ear with his hind leg like a dog, and went
back to sleep. 3/14/01Archbold Reservoir had 1 Horned Grebe, 2 Mallards,
3 RingNecked Ducks, and 10 RingBilled Gulls. Wauseon Reservoir
was much better
with 200 RingBilled Gulls, 35 RedBreasted Merganser, 13 Lesser Scaup,
5 Common Mergansers, 4 Bufflehead, a Great Blue Heron, and 1 Horned
Grebe.3/21/01
Goll Woods
walk was sunny
and warm. Failed to see the Pileated but did see lots of RedHeaded
Woodpeckers and a Barred Owl. Archbold Reservoir had 4 RedBreasted Mergansers, 2
RingBilled Gulls, 1 Lesser Scaup drake and a Great Blue Heron.
Wauseon
Reservoir was
much more full: at least 200 RingBilled Gulls, 50 RedBreasted
Mergansers, 50 Lesser Scaup, 50 Redhead Ducks, 16 Canvasbacks, 5
Common Mergansers, 2 RingNecked Ducks, and a Mallard.3/22/01Archbold Reservoir
had 50 Ducks
(divided pretty evenly between Redhead Ducks and Lesser Scaup), 2
RingBilled Gulls, and a Horned Grebe. Tried again for the Pileated at
Goll Woods
but again only
got the Barred Owl and RedHeaded Woodpeckers. Beautiful day for a
walk, though. 3/23/01 Goll Woods Barred Owl, yes; RedHeaded Woodpecker,
yes; Pileated, once again, no. Two pockets of RedBreasted Nuthatches.
3/26/01
Archbold
Reservoir had
10 RingBilled Gulls, 6 Lesser Scaup, 3 Horned Grebes. Wauseon Reservoir
had 200
RingBilled Gulls, 100 Lesser Scaup, 50 RedBreasted Mergansers and 2
Mallards. 4/5/01
Goll Woods
had RedHeaded
Woodpeckers and Barred Owl, per usual, and per usual failed to see
the Pileated <grin> Wauseon Reservoir had lots of fishermen so didn't
get much opportunity to get accurate counts of the usuals-- about 20
RingNecks, 50 Ruddys, 50 RedBreasted Mergansers, 50 Bufflehead, 150
Scaup, 200 Ringbilled Gulls-but the best bird by far was an
ADULT BREEDING
PLUMAGE LAUGHING GULL. I had seen a winter-plumage Laughing Gull
earlier this winter at a Fort Wayne mall, and winter-plumaged adults
on trips to Florida, but this is the first black-headed adult I've
ever seen! and the first Laughing Gull I've seen in Ohio. Also, there
was a WINTER
PLUMAGE BONAPARTE'S GULL. first I've seen this year.4/9/01 Wauseon Reservoir
had about 50
each Ruddy Ducks, Lesser Scaup, RedBreasted Merganser, Ringneck
Ducks, RingBilled Gulls and Bonaparte Gulls (in all plumages), but no
laughing gull. he's gone. There were also 6 Common Loons in summer
plumage, a single Bufflehead, and an almost fully summer plumaged
Horned Grebe. 4/6/01 Since I didn't have the cameras with me
yesterday, I returned to Wauseon Reservoir to get a picture of the Laughing
Gull. Yesterday it flew within 10 feet of the car. Today it was
always on the opposite side of the Reservoir. No pictures. Had to
rush off to Illinois.4/18/01Wauseon Reservoir had huge earth-moving equipment
working on the dikes, and yet 10 Bonaparte's Gull, 50 Ruddy Ducks, 20
RedBreasted Mergansers, 4 Bufflehead, and 2 Coot chose to hang around
still. Archbold
Reservoir had a
track team running its perimeter, but still a mixed flock of
RingBilled Ducks and Lesser Scaup (about 50 total?) and about 20
Canada Geese. I couldn't help but feel that the birds had their backs
to the wall with humans everywhere closer and closer-- the Turnpike,
the track team, campers and huge machinery.5/4/01 Tried Goll Woods. Walked alot, and was rewarded finally by a
lone Phoebe, and finally a Blue-Winged Warbler that posed for as long
as I wanted to watch, singing the whole time. I appreciated it, but
again I thought, "What must be going on at Crane Creek?" Nothing
else, not even barred owl or redheaded woodpecker. 9/14/2001 I had business in Archbold after
work, so stopped by Goll Woods and immediately picked up a Barred Owl and
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 9/21/2001 Very quiet, not a bird at Archbold
Reservoir.
9/25/2001 Wauseon Reservoir was bitter, cold and barren of
life. 10/3/2001
Beautiful
weather, but poor birding: Archbold Reservoir had only a single Cormorant, a
single RingBilled Gull, and 10 circling Turkey Vultures.
10/4/2001
Archbold
Reservoir had 2
Cormorants, and a Great Blue Heron, but Wauseon Reservoir had an amazing variety of
waterfowl including my first of the season RUDDY DUCKS (9), REDHEADS
(4), GADWALL (4), PINTAIL (1), and GREENWINGED TEAL (8), as well as
Northern Shoveler (4), Lesser Scaup (4) and a single Coot. The Coot I
found to be especially reassuring since I have been haunted by a
recurring nightmare that the 3 Coots on the Paulding Reservoir 10/2
were actually scoters (I didn't take out my scope to check the coots
out since there were lots of recreational walkers on the path around
the Paulding Reservoir, and I didn't want to block the
path...)
10/5/2001 Archbold Reservoir had 3 Cormorants, a Great Blue
Heron, 9 Ruddy Ducks, 8 Lesser Scaup, and 6 Bonaparte's Gulls.
Wauseon
Reservoir had
Tree Swallows dotting the entire water surface, with a string of 28
Ruddys/Scaup near the far shore. The real surprise however was at the
Archbold exit of the Ohio Turnpike. Just feet north of the exit ramp
is a pretty large flat made evidently from the flooding of the Tiffin
River (almost a creek, actually). When I first pulled up I only saw
two Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret. Then I saw SIX of what were
obvious-even-to-the-bare-eye GODWITS. A quick binocular look revealed
they were HUDSONIAN GODWITS In spite of the pouring rain, impending
darkness and the danger of traffic (I was merely pulled off the
road), I pulled out the scope and viewed to my heart's content. They
were not frightened even as hundreds of Canada Geese poured in from
nowhere. Remembering I had a videocamera in the car, I tried
unsuccessfully to videotape the birds through the scope:
Peterjohn's
Birds of
Ohio had
amazing facts about this bird: Did you know that MARKET HUNTING (who
would eat a sandpiper?!!) almost exterminated this bird, such that
there were only FIVE Ohio sight records between 1900 and 1930?! Or
that adult Hudsonians migrate non-stop from Canada to South America?!
This explains why these six are juveniles! And Peterjohn was already
on to the fact that they appear most commonly between Sept 20 and Oct
15. Eerily Nostradomus-like, he also knew that they almost always
appear as individuals or groups of 6 or fewer (although 143 showed up
at Ottawa Refuge 9/28/1975). Somehow I have the odd feeling he knew I
would see these and where... 10/8/2001 Wauseon Reservoir had only 2 Bonaparte Gulls. The
flat at the
Archbold turnpike exit had only Great Blue Herons and both
Yellowlegs. 10/9/2001 Only Yellowlegs and Great Blue Herons and
Killdeer at Archbold Turnpike Exit. Goll Woods
had a plethora
of RedHeaded Woodpeckers, White Throated Sparrows and RubyCrowned
Kinglets. I also saw my first WINTER WRENS of the season, playing at
my feet! 10/17/2001 Only a single Great Blue Heron at
Archbold
Turnpike Exit, only a single DoubleCrested Cormorant at
Archbold
Reservoir, only
a single Horned Grebe (my first of the season) at Wauseon
Reservoir.
10/23/2001
Took the
Tuliptree Trail at Goll Woods tonight after work. Lots of
WhiteThroated/WhiteCrowned Sparrows, Ruby/GoldenCrowned Kinglets,
YellowRumped Warblers, Titmice, Chickadees, White/RedBreasted
Nuthatches, Hermit Thrushes (4 at once in one spot!), and Woodpeckers
(Downy, Hairy, Flickers, RedHeaded and mostly RedBellied). My first
FOX SPARROW
of the season
was there (of course, I haven't been getting out much), as well as a
Least Flycatcher, both very cooperative and unafraid. BUT BEST OF ALL
WERE THE TWO (not one but two!) PILEATED WOODPECKERS! 10/24/01 2 dozen Dunlin at the
Archbold
Turnpike Exit. 10/29/01 I walked the Toadshade Trail at
Goll Woods.
It was dark by
the time I got home, because of the time change. Much like last time
I was here: Phoebe, Hermit Thrushes (4 in one spot), both Kinglets,
White Crowned/Throated Sparrows, 2 Fox Sparrows, 1 Pileated, a Barred
Owl, Yellow Rumped Warblers, etc boring by comparison. Oh, and I did
rescue a tiny beleaguered Sharpie from a mob of crows by my mere
presence. And a large Cooper's Hawk flew quickly away with agile
grace through the thick pine woods. 11/5/2001 Archbold and Wauseon Reservoirs
had no birds at
all. 11/14/2001
Archbold
Reservoir had
no waterfowl, but there were about 50 SNOW BUNTINGS that careened in
a flurry over my windshield, up over the dike, then back. They were
astoundingly white against the dark steel grey sky, and again when
they landed on the dark green grass of the dike, as close to the car
window as one would only expect Starlings and English Sparrows!
11/27/2001
Rushed around
after work to Archbold Reservoir only to see 6 Mallards.
Archbold's
Turnpike Exit also only had 3 pair of Mallards. That was
better than Wauseon Reservoir, though, which had nothing at
all. The overpass pond at US 24/SR 108 at least had about 30 Canada Geese.
12/6/2001
Archbold
Turnpike Exit had hundreds of Canada Geese, but I
couldn't pick out any unusual geese in the short time I could feel
comfortable scoping with traffic uncomfortably close. Wauseon Reservoir
was absent of
all but loud large construction machinery. 12/9/2001Joe H. reports that Delta Reservoir "only held 20 canadas,
Pond at
Worthington Steel held 50 canadas and about 20 killdeer,
Wauseon
Res. had gulls
but without a scope couldnt tell much.12/15/2001 Dan, Dean, Pete, John, Micki, Doug, Lach
and I joined to do the Goll Woods Christmas Count today. The remarkable birds on
this remarkably warm day (in the 40's!) included RedShouldered Hawk,
4 Great Horned Owls, 2 Pileated Woodpeckers, 2 Eastern Meadowlarks
(up in a tree, singing loudly!). Unusual factoids: no gulls, no
buntings or longspurs, no waterfowl except for Mallard and Canada
Goose. More numbers later.
12/19/2001
Joe Hildreth
reports from: "Delta Reservoir 35 Canada GeeseWorthington Steel 20 Canada Geese Wauseon
Reservoir 15
Mallards, 2 Black Ducks, 1 Great Blue Heron, 125 RingBilled Gulls"
12/20/2001Joe Hildreth reports from: "Delta Reservoir
a Kingfisher,
25 Canada Geese, 2 Mallards and 5 RingBilled Gulls. Worthington Steel
190 Canada
Geese and 2 Mallards Wauseon Reservoir 45 RingBilled Gulls, 1 Bonaparte
Gull, 3 Bufflehead, 1 female Goldeneye, and a flock of 10 Snow
Buntings mixed with 2 Horned Larks. Independence Dam 25 Wild Turkeys. Archbold Reservoir
empty. Lots of
mixed SnowBuntings/Larks throughout the countryside." 12/21/2001Joe Hildreth reports "70 Canada
Geese and 1 Black Duck Worthington Steel 190 Canada Geese and 2 Killdeer
Fulton Pond
Kingfisher and
Pine Siskin Swanton Reservoir PiedBIlled Grebe, 2 Mallards,
and 5 RingBilled Gulls." 12/28/2001 Joe H. reports from Swanton Reservoir
100 Mallards,
from Delta
Reservoir 50
Canada Geese and 20 Mallards, and 15 Pine Siskins from the Window on
Wildlife at Oak
Opening's Mallard Lake. 2000 1/25/00 Archbold
OH has it's
very own downtown Cooper's Hawk, this one in a large spruce at the corner
of S. Defiance St and South St. watching all the traffic go
by.
2/6/00 CR 24/E
outside Archbold
OH now has a
steadily building population of snow buntings--now numbering several
hundred! oh, and a Cooper's Hawk. 2/17/2000 An immature Cooper's Hawk flushed from the
bushes at Sauder
Village in Archbold, probably after the pretty white [Rock]
doves, flying overhead. The Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs are
evidently all gone-- only Horned Larks could be located.
4/25/2000
Broke out of
the mold and went to Goll Woods, walking the 1 3/4 mile Toadshade Trail.
Nothing to report, however. : ) 5/3/2000Goll Woods' Oak Trail was a very eerie Silent Spring walk, with
only Gnatcatchers far above in the canopy. 11/15/2000 Goll Wood's Cottonwood Trail was remarkable. Today was
Woodpecker Wednesday, with many WhiteBreasted Nuthatches, Downy
Woodpeckers, RedBellied Woodpeckers, but MOST of all, many RedHeaded
Woodpeckers everywhere I looked all along the trail. I was surprised
to see a male and a female Flicker still here. MOST AMAZING WAS A
PILEATED
WOODPECKER at
the "1/4 mile to Parking Lot" sign. Amazing sight on the
three-pronged huge bare yellow dead tree. Then it flew directly
overhead. This is only the second Pileated I have seen, and the first
Pileated I have seen in Ohio (the first one was in Florida)! The only
non-Woodpeckers there were Cardinals, Crows and a Cedar Waxwing.
12/16/2000
Short
Goll Woods
walk in the
middle of a cloud so thick I could barely see ahead of me. Lots of
RedHeaded and Downy Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Chickadees, Titmice and
a RedTailed Hawk. No sign of the Pileated. Christmas Count was
cancelled due to the bad roads and extreme fog.
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