Williams County Ohio Birding
through 2005
(Except for CoRd 16/C <--click
here for 16/C reports)
2005 2/6/5 Jon & Cindy
D. reports SEVEN LONG-EARED OWLS at their usual spot at
Lake LaSuAnn. 2/14/516/CSemi-thawed-- 75 Canada
Geese, 75 Mallards. The first GRACKLE and COWBIRD of the season.
2/27/5 Lake LaSuAnn
Made the annual pilgrimage to see the LONG-EARED
OWLS (35 miles away), also running into 26 Wild Turkeys
and 10 RedWinged Blackbirds. 4/5/5 Audubon
Sanctuary Only wildflower found in my short visit was Harbinger
of Spring. Birds were fairly normal (10 BlueWInged Teal, 20 Wood
Ducks, Bluebirds, Phoebes, Tree Swallows etc), except for a rail that
flushed and flew into the sun, which I presume (based on a deep water
marsh and the date) to be a Sora, my first of
the year 4/9/5 Dunlap Woods
Joined the Black Swamp Audubon Society to tour the
Sanctuary here. Lotsa Flickers, a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers. Spring
Beauty and Purple Cress were new for the season for me, as well as
the Red Admiral. Harbinger of Spring and SharpLobed Hepatica were in
bloom as well. Also seen: Robin, Crow, WhiteBreasted Nuthatch, Field
Sparrow, Turkey Vultures, Killdeer, Song Sparrows, and a pair of
RedTailed Hawks. Western Chorus Frogs sang. 4/10/5
Stokely Pond (westernmost) Embarrassed to say that I
just saw my first Horned Grebe
of the season here, with a pair of RingNecked Ducks,
and 2 pairs of Mallards. The easternmost hada about 20 RingNecked
Ducks. All four Stokely Ponds had Canada Geese. Sewage Lagoons
South was empty, but north had 4 pair of
BlueWinged Teal, 3 pairs of Shovelers, 3 pairs of Ruddy Ducks, 2
pairs of RingNecked Ducks, 2 pairs of Mallards. Paulding
Reservoir 11 RedBreasted Mergansers, all female, 5 Coots, 5
Gadwall and 3 Bufflehead. Nature Center
Canada Geese St Paul Cem Pond
Canada Geese Thomas Marsh
Mallards, Blue WingedTeal, 2 pairs of GreenWinged
Teal, 2 Solitary Sandpipers, and my first Greater Yellowlegs
of the year. And from OhioBirds@Envirolink: "
Migration continues here as elsewhere. Yesterday, we saw our first
flock of Pectoral Sandpipers at the Thomas Wetlands, and this morning
my wife spotted a pair of Tundra Swans flying over our place
northeast of Antwerp. This is our only April record for this species!
Reminds me of the final line of that great ol' Sci Fi movie "The
Thing from Outer Space:" "Watch the skies! Keep watching the skies!"
Good advice, especially for UFO nuts and birders! Bird long and
prosper, Doug & Micki Dunakin, Antwerp, O." 4/12/5
Stryker Jail Inspecting a woodduck
house, Denny and I find four Raccoon kittens nursing! 4/17/5
Black Swamp Audubon Sanctuary at Antwerp
Home again, pick up two companions and walk the
paths: lots of firsts-of-the-year since I've been gone:
Catbird, Wilson's Snipe, Barn Swallow, Swamp Sparrow,
BlueGray Gnatcatchers, Bloodroot, Toothwort,
Spring Beauty, Common Blue and Downy Yellow Violets, Yellow and White
Trout-Lily, Sessile Trillium, Early Meadow Rue, Spring Azures,
Cabbage Butterflies, Tree Frogs and four-inch Tadpoles! Some I have
to go back and check on are Dutchman's Breeches and Kidney-Leaf
Buttercup. Other neat stuff included
a pretty tame pair of Greater Yellowlegs, lots of Leopard Frogs all
around the marsh, five Whitetailed Deer watching us watch them. Even
the mundane are so nice Wood Ducks in all the duck boxes (except for
one with a Screech Owl in it), BlueWinged Teal, Canada Geese on
nests, lots of Tree Swallows, Bluebirds, Phoebes, Robins,
Chipping/Field/Song Sparrows, Turkey Vultures. 4/28/5
B50/23.5 A Cooper's Hawk nabs a
Horned Lark in an open field!
4/29/5 1 Stryker Jail
Denny S. (and the local Cooper's Hawk) spied the
returning RedHeaded Woodpeckers. 4/30/5 Black Swamp
Antwerp Sanctuary Yellow, Black-and-White,
and Palm Warblers, BlueHeaded and Warbling Vireos, RubyCrowned
Kinglets <blush> were all new for the season here. Also
of note were a YellowBellied Sapsucker, a Belted Kingfisher,
Large-Flowered Trillium, Shepherd's Purse, Black and Garlic Mustard,
and Swamp Buttercup. 5/2/5 Stryker Jail
Parking Lot Pond This tiny pond held lots
of Purple Martins and Barn Swallows, and a Solitary Sandpiper which
allowed our golf cart close enough access to count the spots on its
back. Denny S. had seen two Marsh Wrens here earlier in the day.
5/4/5 Stryker Jail
Solitary Sandpiper. A hen Wild Turkey crossing the
road leaves an approaching driver boggled! SR576/B50 Pussytoes droop
after the heavy frost. 16/C Down to a dozen
each Dunlin and Pectoral Sandpipers. Still a Coot, the Ruddy drake,
and two DoubleCrested Cormorants. 5/11/5
Stryker Jail My second and third Great
Crested Flycatchers are here, another Turkey at 20/C.
6/1/5 Denny S. reports VEERY and
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS probably nesting in his yard near
SR191/B50. CR B50/C. Bobolinks
6/8/05 Back home again, stumbling
upon my first Dickcissel at Williams
County's 10/I: Now in bloom are
Multiflora Roses, Asiatic Dayflower, Larger Blue Flag and CANADA
ANEMONE (at Nettle Lake-- I don't ever remember
seeing this one before). 6/10/05 RedHeaded
Woodpeckers at the Stryker Jail
and B50/SR191--they must be gonna stay to
breed. A field full of Dickcissels on County Road D between
County Roads 16 and 17, all along the runway at
the airport. Williams-DefianceCoLnRd/Wieland A Wood Thrush
and a Brown Thrasher by the road, the Thrush singing its beautiful
song. Blooming today is Hedge Bindweed (beautiful bloom for such an
ugly-behaved plant), Lucern Alfalfa (beautiful hay?), Pasture Rose,
Common Mallow, Japanese Honeysuckle, White-top and Daisy Fleabane
(ugh). 6/13/05 B50/22 My first
Northern Mockingbird of the year.
Scott Rd from SR66 to SR15 nothing. 6/15/5
Pat M. sent me a picture of a pair of House Finches
at his hummingbird feeder
6/19/05 Jeff Grabmeier
on OhioBirds@Envirolink: "I spent this weekend (June 18-19) birding
in Williams County, in the far northwestern corner of the state. The
birds were seen at Lake Lasuan
WA unless marked differently: Dickcissels: I counted
six singing males (and there were undoubtedly more) at John Yochum's
haunt, the marsh at the intersection of County Roads 16 and C. Also
found several on CR H, just west of SR 576. Henslow's
sparrows: Found on several areas on CR S. and CR H. Also
Grasshopper and Vesper Sparrows at many locations in the county.
Osprey: nesting at Lake Lasuan.
Red-headed woodpeckers: nesting at Lake Lasuan. Least, Acadian,
Willow, Flycatchers, Eastern Wood-peewes, Eastern Kingbirds, and
Great-crested Flycathers, Veery and Wood Thrush, White-eyed vireos
Warblers: Blue winged,
Yellow, Yellow-throated, Cerulean, American Redstart,
Prothonotary, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded, Yellow-breasted
Chat -- all nesting at Lake Lasuan.--Jeff Grabmeier
Columbus" Denny S. has Mr RoseBreasted Grosbeak bring his fledling to
the feeder. 6/21/5
Stryker Jail Denny S. and I watch a
YellowBilled Cuckoo. 6/23/5 Stryker Jail
Denny S. and I stumble on a Garter Snake with no
yellow stripes, but with red-spotted sides. New bloom: Bull Thistle
6/29/05 Pat M. sends a
pic of one of his yard babies, a Killdeer:8/22/05
C/B50 A black-headed Vulture by
the side of the road-- could it be a Black Vulture? Naw, as the two
parent Turkey Vultures fall from the sky to feed their baby.
9/6/5 Stryker Jail
A pair of incompatible Phoebes stop in at this
unlikely place. 9/7/05 Stryker Jail
Lotsa warblers descended on this unlikely place
today, but no binoculars! Magnolias for sure! 10/20/05 Stryker Jail
Denny S and I stir up an AMERICAN WOODCOCK.
110/25/05
Stryker Jail Denny S and I found lots
of migrating birds in just a few minutes-- GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS,
my first BROWN CREEPERS of the season, mixed in
with a Carolina Wren, WhiteBreasted Nuthatches, Titmice, BlackCapped
Chickadees, Downy and RedBellied Woodpeckers-- there were too many in
one place to get an accurate count of anything. A Cooper's Hawk flew
across the road to the woods. Lotsa Bluebirds at B50/CR24.
10/26/5 Stryker Jail
Same spot, no birds. The Queen Cooper's Hawk did
chase what appeared to be a flock of Starlings, catch a Junco, drop
it by the front door and then do that weird angry call from the snag
in the parking lot. 10/31/05
Stryker Jail As Denny put it, how
appropriate for a Creeper to show up on Halloween. 11/2/05
SR191/US 6 A third-year
Bald Eagle was chased by crows to
this spot. 16/C Usual Stryker Jail
The flocks of Juncos and Goldfinches are gone from
yesterday, leaving only the regulars: Carolina Wren, WhiteBreasted
Nuthatches, 3 Red Squirrels, Jays, RedBellied and Downy Woodpecker,
etc. 11/3/05 16/C
Same State Route 576/County
Road C Among all the Canada Geese was my first-of-the-year
TUNDRA SWAN! 11/4/05
16/C Ditto State Route
576/County Road C SWAN still there.
Stryker Jail 2 Creepers and 2 Bluebirds
join usuals. SR576/US6 Huge flock of blackbirds
here were almost all Starlings, but a small flock of 100 kept to
themselves in one corner consisting of RedWinged Blackbirds (juvenile
males were great) and a few Cowbirds-- couldn't locate any
yellow-eyed ones. Tundra Swan just visible through the locked gates.
Still from straight video. 12/11/5 From
OhioBirds@Envirolink: "Had about 18 Sandhills flying straight
down St. Rt. 576 in Williams County (NW corner of OH) about
mid-afternoon Sunday at about 300 ft., maybe looking for a place to
land. Tough foraging with nearly a foot of snow on the ground. I
should have hopped in the car and followed them to see what they
would do, but I didn't. Lach Ohman, Bryan, OH" 12/28/0516/C Mallards and
Canada Geese in heavy fog.12/29/05
Stryker Jail The Wild Turkeys and Hera
the Cooper's Hawk continue as usual, but the TURKEY
VULTURE overhead was new (thanks Denny!).
2004 1/8 State Route 34/WmsCoRd 22.75
ROUGH-LEGGED
HAWK on this busy road. SR191 Stryker 3 Snow Buntings in a horde of Larks.
1/14
Enroute to work
unsuccessfully sought owls, but at 22.75/B50 a Red Fox trotted by looking for all the
world like a native New Yorker despising another tourist, "Gawd, not
another owl-watcher!"1/21 Bryan Lach O. reports on OhioBirds@Envirolink a
TURKEY
VULTURE over
his house.1/31ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (DARK PHASE) at
SR49/D50. 20 Wild Turkeys on SR49 at the
southern
corporation limits of Edgerton. Lake LaSuAnn Fran, Dave and I walked around the nominal
lake (the largest) on a very cold day with lots of snow! Very few
birds, but there was the LONG-EARED OWL at the usual spot (plenty of
whitewash and pellets!), plus a PILEATED WOODPECKER, and Pheasants.
2/3/4
Bryan
Closest I got
to birding today was a pair of Mallards and a Black Duck in the
parking lot pond at Walmart <grin> 2/12/4 Today's birding was limited to
the Stryker Jail
Cooper's
Hawk
2/13/4
US 6/SR 191
An EASTERN
MEADOWLARK flew in front of the car enroute to work! 2/19/4 Today's birding was limited to a
Stryker Jail
ROUGH-LEGGED
HAWK. 3/10/4
Carolyn K. saw
her lifer Bald Eagle on US 6 at CR 20! I've never seen an eagle there
before...3/13/4 Lake La Su Ann Don K. stumbled upon
SANDHILL
CRANES "...9 on
a small wetlands plus 4 others in a group shortly after that flying
north overhead (different birds I'm sure). I also saw several species
of woodpeckers (one Pileated), some Wild Turkeys, 2 skunk, 3 deer, a
handful of Nuthatches, couple Chickadees and Cardinals, and a Great
Horned Owl." 3/14/4 Walmart's pond at SR 15/C held the first three
BLUE-WINGED TEAL
of the season
for me, two drakes. 3/16/4 Stryker Jail Denny S. and I watched a
strange spectacle on the tiny pond as a drake Wood Duck defended a
hen Mallard from her perplexed husband! 3/24/4 Stryker Jail Denny S., Dennis S. and I are totally
amazed: the drake Wood Duck persists in guarding his hen Mallard from
the drake Mallard in our little pond! The drake Mallard is perplexed
but patient as his wife has her fling (totally cooperative with the
Wood Duck drake!). He persists from five feet away, even though the
Wood Duck viciously attacks him when he comes too close. We first
noticed this odd trio on the 16th! " The Mallard (Anas
platyrhynchos), which tends to hybridize more than any other duck,
has hybridized with about 50 species of ducks and geese (Gray, 1958;
Johnsgard, 1974). The Wood Duck comes in second, with hybridization
records for about 26 other species. The Mallard's proclivity for
hybridization stems from a number of factors: it is abundant; it has
many close relatives; and in city parks and sanctuaries it often
suffers from an oversupply of males, who then consort with females of
other species (Michael Price, personal communication)... Some Mallard
hybrids cross genus lines but most of these occur in captivity,
including crosses with the Merganser, Eider, Mandarin, Wood Duck,
Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Tufted Duck, Canvasback, and others, as
well as several species of geese (Heintzelman, 1978; Johnsgard,
1965)" - http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/ducks.html 3/30/4 Stryker Jail The drake Mallard has given up
and left the Wood Duck drake and the Mallard hen to their own
devices.4/27/4Stryker Jail Denny and I found at our small parking lot
pond the Wood Duck drake, first-of-seaon GREEN HERON, Yellow-Rumped and PALM WARLBERS (at last!) and an amazingly
early MAGNOLIA
WARBLER. My Sherwood feeders I counted 15 Chipping Sparrows
under the feeders, while the gorgeous gurgling of the Brown Thrashers
continues. 4/29/4Stryker Jail The songs of the many Black-Throated Green Warblers
were not wasted
on Denny and I. 5/19/4 Stryker Jail My first Bobolink seen here, as the grass
was being mowed (sad face). Also first SilverSpotted Skipper and
Giant Swallowtail of the season. C/24.75 Huge tom Turkey by the
road.6/1/4
a fawn at the Stryker
Jail was a nice find:
6/4/4 On the Bend Road
just past Scott Road I found a colony of
Purple Martins in white gourds. Two cock Pheasants looked as if
they'd been sparring at CoRd C/CoRd A.
The Dickcissels persist. 6/10/4
Both sides of CR2425 at
B50 had singing Dickcissels, easily called in with tape,
while B50 at C had plenty of Grasshopper
Sparrows, also easily called in (very angry!). Dickcissels continue
at 16/C. 6/27/4
From OhioBirds@Envirolink: "I was in Williams County
this weekend doing some survey work and came across a family of
SANDHILL CRANES (two adults and one
young). They were west of the village of Cooney on P50 Road about a
mile west of Rte 49. I also found a singing
LARK SPARROW in an area closed to the
public. It was in the western end of the
county. I also ran into some of the other expected Williams
County birds such as HENSLOW'S SPARROW, WESTERN
MEADOWLARK, Dickcissel, and CERULEAN WARBLER. --John
Pogacnik" 7/11/4 From the Toledo
Rare Bird report ( http://www.rarebird.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=329&PN=1): "Steve
Stockford and Tom Kemp ran an Ohio big day from Williams County to
Mohican State Forest and found 141 species, perhaps a new monthly
record for the state. Of local interest were...widespread Sedge wrens
and Henslow' sparrows in Williams Co..."7/19/4 SR34/CoRd D
A Mockingbird flew in front of the car enroute to
work. 8/12/4 Co Rd C's dead-end at
23.50 14 Wild Turkeys.8/17/4 Highlight was
this HICKORY-HORNED DEVIL from the Stryker Jail: 
8/24/420/C
A Cooper's Hawk, and another in the front yard when I
arrive home 8/31/4 Doug M. at work told me
today of a SNOW GOOSE that has been hanging with 800+ Canada Geese at
SR576/CR C but a visit there tonight
before the opening of goose season tomorrow found that someone had
mowed, leaving only 10 Canada Geese, a few Mallards and BlueWinged
Teal, lotsa Killdeer, hundreds of Mourning Doves, a HARRIER, and even
a few Cedar Waxwings on this treeless lot! 9/9/4 My third visit
to SR576/C found no geese, only many
Mourning Doves, a few Killdeer and another Spotted Sandpiper.
9/21/4 SR576/C A Kestrel, a
Harrier, 3 Turkey Vultures, 8 Wood Ducks, and another 200 Canada
Geese 9/22/4 Another pair of Wild
Turkeys a mile up the road at 21/C. 16/C, SR576/C,
Orchard Hills Golf Course almost repetitious,
similar to recent days. 9/30/4
576/C Usuals: Canada Geese,
Mallards, Wood Ducks, juvenile Harrier, Kestrel etc 10/1/4
Denny S. reports a VARIED THRUSH from this home at
B-50/SR 19 These shots are from video
he took, the whole of which is available on ohiobirds.org
10/2/4
SR191/B-50 Continued the vigil at
Denny's but found only a Cooper's Hawk in the morning and two
Goldfinches in the afternoon. A mile east, where B-50 curves to meet
C, there were hundreds of Robins, with a VESPER SPARROW that walked
all the way up to the car for a personal inspection. 10/3/4
SR191/B-50 Continued vigil; more
birds than previous days in Denny's yard, but still pretty darn
slow. 10/29/4 US 6/CR15 adult Harrier
11/3/4 State Route 576/County
Road C Usually at least 100 Canada Geese here, but only 2
Mourning Doves here today, one with white wing and tail tips:
12/18/4
LaSuAnn Jon D. tells me the
LONG-EARED OWLS are back at their traditional spot-- FIVE of them.
2003 1/2/3 Heavy snow all the way home from work, so
the only birds I saw were at the Stryker Jail: a Cooper's Hawk, a Harrier and 3 Rock
Doves.1/7/3
A BIG ol'
Cooper's Hawk was quite prominent in the tree behind the house at
1307 S Defiance St in beautiful downtown Stryker. Worth the drive in the drifting blowing
snow was finally my first ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK of the season, on SR 2
halfway between Goll Woods and Stryker. 1/9/3 Stryker Jail 7:45am Dave G, James H, and I watch 20+
Wild Turkeys drop from their roosts in the tallest trees back of the
jail! I've never seen turkeys so very high as in these very tall
trees in the woods! The Cooper's Hawks were back, as well as 2
Harriers harrying near the watertower. 1/22/3 Today at the Williams County Stryker Jail, one of the Wild Turkeys was
dead in the adjoining field. 1/25/3 Today decided to go to Lake LaSuAn in Williams
County to see
the LONG-EARED
OWLS. That was
fine, but also got to see grey-phase Screech Owl, and enroute back at Rosedale/Scott in Defiance
County a
Northern
Mockingbird. I
know this bird nests at this intersection but didn't realize it
stayed all winter. Rosedale/Jericho at 5:45-- excellent close views
of a Short-Eared
Owl, and very
close to home in Sherwood, at Openlander/Fountain Street
5:55pm,
excellent close views of another Short-Eared Owl as it crossed in front of my car, then
flew a quarter of a mile ahead of me, down the road. Also saw my
first Sherwood
crow after
seeing Pam. There were plenty of crows at LaSuAn, strangely enough.
2/19/3
Stryker
Jail and Bryan Ohio Walmart in Williams County both had female Cooper's Hawks
today. 2/24/3
ROBIN at
SR66/US6 in
Williams County. 3/5/3 As if to confirm my suspicions about the
blackbird flock in Sherwood yesterday, a solitary Rusty Blackbird is
at SR34/CR
24.25
3/12/3 At US 6/WilliamsCountyRd 22 was a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK perched
on a telephone wire. 3/13/316/C Had to get the car's brakes fixed, so
passed here surprised to see it was thawed, let alone held 27 Canada
Geese, 163 Mallards, a drake Lesser Scaup and a Great Blue Heron.
3/14/3
Stryker
Jail After work
while Denny told me in the jail parking lot about the Cedar Waxwings
that showed up at his house a few miles away, a flock of Cedar
Waxwings landed in a near-by crabapple! 3/18/3 A female RingNecked Pheasant tried all day
to get into the jail via the breakroom windows! 3/26/3 Stryker Jail
Noisy today with 6 Tom Turkeys displaying for a hen,
lots of other Wild Turkeys not far away. 3/28/3 Stryker Jail
a male albino RingNecked Pheasant! 4/11/3 My first Chipping Sparrow
of the season
at Stryker
Jail.
4/28/3At work at the Stryker Jail I was surprised to find a PINE WARBLER singing in the mimimum dorm
quad! 4/30/2
Stryker Jail
Our amazingly
small pond was amazing host to 3 Solitary Sandpipers, a Spotted
Sandpiper, a pair of Canada Geese, a Killdeer and an amazing pair of
MARSH
WRENS!! Our
golf-cart served as a blind, and we were amazingly close for easy
no-binoculars-necessary viewing! still closed due to flooding, butI
walked the trail from the marina to the first pavilion. Only migrants
were Veery, Swainson's Thrush, a single Tennessee Warbler. The Wood
Thrush was nice too. 5/2/3 Stryker Jail A Bald Eagle flew over today!Vireos and
warblers arrive at the jail, but none new for the year. A mile or so
away, stopped off at Denny S.'s place to see the 7 White-Crowned Sparrows
and
Rose-Breasted
Grosbeaks that
are coming to his feeder (my first of the year). County Roads
5/1/3 Stryker Jail First-of-the-year baby
Killdeer (Killdeerettes?) up and around. 5/6/3 Stryker Jail
Denny and I saw Palm and heard Magnolia
Warblers, with 2 RoseBreasted
Grosbeaks. 5/7/3 Denny S.
Stryker YellowRumps. 5/8/3 Stryker Jail
still just YellowRumps 5/10/3 LaSuAnn Joe Hildreth understandably listed his
highlight from a trip there as Cerulean! 5/11/3 SR191/C south of
Stryker, a Mr Sloan advises in the Bryan Times that a pair of Mute
Swans flew into his farm pond over a week ago and have remained ever
since. Easy to see on drive-by, also a photo in the newspaper.
5/27/3
Jeff Grabmeier
on OhioBirds@Envirolink: "At the Nettle Lake Sewage Lagoon on May 25, Eric Durbin and I
found five swallow species flying over the pond: Purple Martin, Tree
Swallow, Bank Swallow, Cliff Swallow and Barn Swallow. At the
intersection of County Roads 8.50 and 8/M on May 26 I found a singing
VESPER SPARROW and GRASSHOPPER SPARROW I also went to Lake La Su An Wildlife
Area on May 25
with Eric Durbin and May 24 and 26 alone. Highlights: Common Loon,
breeding plumage adult, on Lake La Su An (May 25) Osprey, pair on
nest (May 25) Barred Owl. Two adults and possible nest site found.
One adult spotted on tree with frog legs dangling from beak! (May 24)
Alder, Willow, Least, Acadian flycatchers all found. I believe all
nest there. (May 25) Henslow's Sparrow (May 25) White-eyed vireo (May
24) Black-billed cuckoo (May 26) Wild Turkey (May 26) Red-headed
woodpecker (May 25) The following warblers which I believe are all
summer residents or nesters, all seen on May 25 unless noted: Blue
Winged, Northern Parula (rare summer residents), Yellow Warbler,
Yellow-throated (rare summer residents), Cerulean, Black and White
(rare summer residents) (May 26) American Redstart Prothonotary. I
found three singing males in ponds where they have nested in the
past. Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded (rare summer residents),
Yellow-breasted Chat. I found four singing males. (May 26) Migrant
Warblers found: Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Blackburnian (May 26)
Black-throated Green (May 26) Mourning, Canada. Thanks for reading
this far! Jeff Grabmeier, Columbus, OH."6/1/3 SR34/CR20 A hen Wild Turkey ambled across the road,
then flew to the nearby creek. 6/2/3 SR34/CR20 RedHeaded Woodpecker 6/3/3 Tonight Jim Cunningham showed me some
great photos he took of BARRED OWLS and BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON (as
well as other more common birds) at Harrrison Lake. Theresa and her mother were a great find
as well. B50/2350 RedHeaded Woodpecker StateRoute34/20 the second bridge east, was a
MOCKINGBIRD. 6/15/3 Jeff Grabmeier on OhioBirds: "While
Dickcissels have seemingly sprouted up all over Ohio, I could not
find them in many Williams County spots I have reliably found them in
previous years. However, there were two singing on County Rd. H just west of SR
576.
Lake La Su
An had the
usual good stuff: Alder, Willow, Acadian and Least flycatchers,
Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Prothonotary Warbler,
among them. 6/18/3 Stryker Jail
4 RedHeaded Woodpeckers return today near the largest
Buckeye tree I've ever seen (80' high, 40' wide crown, 8'
circumference. Just up the road at 24/B50 I heard a
Dickcissel while leaving work, turned around, played a tiny part of
the tape, and from the far back side of the field flew a male
directly to the telephone wire overhead.6/20/3 There were plenty of Grasshopper
Sparrows however at the NE corner of WmsDefCoLnRd and
Bostater 6/21/3 CR7/US6 The western meadowlark still
has not returned to his traditional spot. 7/9/3 E50/24.25 RedHeaded Woodpecker. But best
flying find of the day was this fantastic Regal Moth Denny S. and I
found today at the Stryker Jail:
Second best flying
object was this Cecropia Moth:
7/22/3
but at the
Stryker Jail
three more
Royal Walnut Moths, a Rosy Maple Moth, and a Tiger Moth showed up.
8/1/3
CountyRoad
18/StateRoute 34 Six adult Wild Turkeys and many very small
poults in the grass around them. 8/21/3 at the Stryker Jail was a very strange fungus,
Dog
Stinkhorn:
As if the view itself
wasn't funny enough, the informative yet hilarious webpage
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/july99.html
(Tom Volk's Fungus of
the Month) could only have one rolling on the floor!: "If you don't
know the reason for this [name] I don't think you're ready for me to
explain it to you...The phallic-looking fruiting body emerges over
the course of just a few hours. As it becomes erect the black slimy
mass of spores on the cap begins to mature-- and begins to smell like
rotting meat. This attracts flies, which think they're getting a
great meal of roadkill orsomeother animal...The stinkhorns seem to be
absolutely dependent on the flies for the dissemination and mating of
their sores; unlikemost basidiomycetes, there is no wind dispersal of
spores...DICTyophora species all have a veil-like
structure hanging down, while Phallus species lack the veil. Phallus impudicus
is probably the
most famous of the stinkhorns-- it certainly has the most descriptive
name!..Mutinus
elegans...saclike structure at the base from which
the rest of the fruiting body emerged. Mutinus species lack a cap at the top of the
stalk. The slimy spore mass is borne directly on the pointed
apex...Surprisingly there are some human uses for members of the
Phallales. You're probably not going to believe this, but some of
these members of the Phallales, especially Phallus and Dictyophora are considered a delicacy in
China! As you might guess (especially if you're familiar with the
doctrine of signatures, where the ailment cured by an organism is
related to its shape), you won't be surprised that both of these are
considered aphrodisiacs!" and from http://www.bluewillowpages.com/mushroomexpert/mutinus_elegans.html :"As far as eating them goes, I would suggest waiting a
few hours while the slimy tips work up a nice, foetid funk in the hot
sun, then reconsidering." 10/3/3 Stryker Jail
I counted over 75 Blue Jays in the jail courtyard in
just a few seconds before a unit marching to chow scared them on.
" Stryker Jail A Case Manager called me so I
could see the SHARP-SHINNED HAWK eating a bird in the middle of the
jail courtyard, ignoring those walking by as if knowing walking on
the grass was forbidden and he was thereby safe. It could have been
safely identified by sound alone as it flew over the parking lot,
calling loudly, happy with its full stomach.10/28/3 The Hera of all Cooper's
Hawks landed on the only large tree in the Stryker Jail Parking Lot
today 11/29/3 From OhioBirds@Envirolink:
"LONGEARED
OWL on the
trail around Lake La Su An Wildlife
Area, 3
separate flocks of SANDHILL CRANES. The largest was a flock of 40 directly
over Lake La Su An. I also saw flocks of 19 and 6 while driving
around the county. 32 Bufflehead at the Nettle Lake Sewage Pond. Remarkably, there were
absolutely no other waterfowl on the pond, and none on Lake La Su An.
2 YellowRumped Warblers at Lake La Su An, 1 Swamp Sparrow, dozens of
American Tree Sparrows and Golden-Crowned Kinglets. --Jeff Grabmeier,
Columbus, Ohio.
12/4/3
Stryker Jail
SR66/US6 A band
of Wild Turkeys caused minor traffic snarls at shift change as
Corrections Officers watched them in the field across from the jail.
I snapped their pic quickly through my dirty car window as my turn to
pass by came up:
12/14/3 Bryan Lach Ohman on OhioBirds@Envirolink: "We
had a Catbird
in the spruce
tree, all puffed up to ward off the snow. Seems like he must have
missed the last bus south." 12/20/3Stryker Jail Mike C. reports 50+ SANDHILL CRANES flying
over the courtyard while taking J200 to chow about 11:15am, while
Jeff W. reported 150+ SANDHILL CRANES about 2:30pm a half-mile west
of the jail..2002
1/22/02 At the jail, were 2 Cooper's
Hawks, large females, but again, the red-headed woodpeckers were
mysteriously absent. 3/13/02 Joe found 2 ROUGHLEGGED HAWKS at Lake
LaSuAnn in Williams County. 3/19/02 Last night at the Black Swamp Audubon
Society meeting in Defiance I heard that Williams County's LaSuAnn
held LONG-EARED
OWLS. Got off
work at 3:30 and had barely enough time to rush to the opposite
corner of Williams County and back for a 6pm Union Meeting, but it
was worth it! There were about 150 RIngNecked Ducks (well, I counted
only 148) in this one lake alone, with two pair of Canada Geese, and
five or six of
these LongEared Owls!:
4/2/02
Enroute to work
this morning about 6:45am there were FIFTY WILD TURKEYS in the field
by the Stryker Jail (CCNO) at Williams County B-50/CoRd 2425. Two
huge toms displayed openly, fighting over the hens, easily viewed.
4/5/2 At work at the jail, the Mourning Doves
have built their nest and laid eggs where they usually do every year,
inside one of the busiest courtyards. 4/15/2 Back in Williams County, at work at the
Stryker jail today RoughWinged Swallows again commenced nestbuilding
in the generator exhaust. Every week it blows their nest out, but the
rest of the week they rebuild it, every year. Sigh. 4/30/02 Denny S. reports a pair of
RoseBreasted Grosbeaks at his Stryker, WilliamsCounty feeders with
about a 100 Goldfinches that are eating him out of house and home via
the thistle feeder. He also showed me my first Indigo Bunting of the
season: a dead male that evidently ran into the razorwire at the
Stryker Jail (CCNO). RedHeaded Woodpeckers have also returned to the
jail. 5/3/02 A SOLITARY SANDPIPER was at CCNO
(Stryker, WilliamsCo OH jail) 5/6/02 At Williams County B-50/US 6 was my first
MOCKINGBIRD of the season. 5/16/02 Denny & I spotted (and heard, grin) 2
RedEyed VIreos and a Warbling Vireo amidst the usual Orioles and
Indigo Buntings at WilliamsCo CoRd 2450/State Route 34. Star of
Bethlehem (evidently escaped) in bloom everywhere. 5/17/02 I found another MOCKINGBIRD at
Williams County E-50/23.50. Denny reports FEMALE Hummingbirds have
arrived at his feeders near SR191/US6. 6/8/2 In Williams County, the Columbus group
found a singing WESTERN MEADOWLARK at the corner of US 6/Rd 7 in
the SW corner, and an UPLAND SANDPIPER along SR 49 between Rds L and M in the
NW. 6/16/02 Jeff Grabmeier in Williams County on
Ohio-Birds@Envirolink: "-- A pair of adult Sandhill Cranes were found in a farmer's field on County
Rd. P.5, just west of SR 49. This is the same location I found them
last July with two young. I hope to find them with young next
month.-- The Western Meadowlark remains singing persistently at
the intersection of County Rd. 7 and SR 6.-- A single Northern
Harrier was found flying along County Rd. H, about 2 miles west of SR
576.-- I found at least three singing Dickcissels on County Rd. H,
just west of SR 576. This was the only spot I found them this year;
the last few years I had found them occupying at least three other
locations in the county.-- I saw a double-crested cormorant flying
over in the western part of the county -- a strange site away from
any major bodies of water.-- On Saturday June 15, Eric Durbin and I
found a singing Chestnut-sided Warbler in western Williams County. Its
persistent singing suggested to me that it may be unmated. This is
the first summer
resident I have found in my several years of birding the
county."
6/23/02 Had an eye-opening outing with Toledo
Naturalist's Association's Eric Durbin and 11 others (among them
Delta's Joe Hildreth; I don't have permission to list the others) to
William's County's Lake LaSuAnn, a place I have almost no experience
in. I think the list was of about 71 species, but who can believe 10 warblers in
late June?!!
Yellow, Common Yellowthroat, BlueWinged, okay, but Mr Durbin first
led us to this soupy swamp where we saw PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS, and
heard Hooded!
OVENBIRD was
still there, as well. Plus an OSPREY flew over carrying a large
stick! Unusual flower on the trail-- Wild Four O' Clocks perhaps?
ACADIAN
FLYCATCHERS
were abundant, and a pine grove was pointed out as the nesting area
of least flycatchers. At the bridge nearby were REDSTARTS, and CERULEAN
WARBLERS. Some
heard yellow-throated warblers and chats! Wasn't that enough? No, he
further shared his experience for free by pointing out several
birding spots. Between R and S was one of the most cooperative
HENSLOW'S SPARROWS ever! And Sooz in Pioneer? Number one, I don't
think I've been to downtown Pioneer. And number two, where can you
get a chicken or meat loaf dinner with blueberry pie, salad bar and
iced tea for under $7?!! With the company of 11 of the 12 others
after a great day in the field? Priceless.
Henslow's Sparrow,
snappys taken from 8mm video
9/11/2
At the
Stryker Jail in
Williams County today we had to call a wildlife rehabber
(Nature's Nursery in Whitehouse) to pick up a GREAT HORNED OWL. We are uncertain whether it
had West Nile Virus or had been stunned by a car strike, but the
rehabber noted that they had 30 Owls now, with one being picked up
only 5 miles away the Four-County Vocational School. Postscript: The
Owl died 2 weeks later, not of West Nile, but probably from being
struck by a car. 9/22/3 John Pogacnik on OhioBirds@Envirolink:
Williams County
"Lake La Su Ann Wildlife Area. Two flyby sandhill cranes were seen along
the eastern end of the wildlife area." while Alan Anderson on InBird:
" In the northeast portion of Indiana, along I-80/90 Indiana Toll
Road, I was
very pleased to find a few Sandhill Cranes. There were 2 in a field
on the north side of the Toll Road about mile 126, and three flying a
bit farther west. Later I observed 2 more in a field at mile 103.5
(north side) and 2 more in a field at mile 96 on the south side.
There might have been three more cranes in a field at mile 63, but I
wasn't sure these were cranes or not." May be the 5 that are
constantly being reported in OH/MI/IN corner: "9/5/2 My sister had
her first baby so I did no birding! but Ed S. from work reports what
sounds like the same family of SANDHILL CRANES just off the freeway
near Fremont
IN. 7/29/2 Joel S. saw a family of
five SANDHILL
CRANES at the
corner of Ohio/Michigan/Indiana, just barely into
Michigan."
11/7/2 Best
bird of the day was an odd RingNecked Pheasant at the Williams County Stryker Jail
where I work.
Denny and I drove right up to a flock of about 30 Wild Turkeys, with
which was a single cock, with the usual red bare skin spot on a white
head, white primary feathers, and a uniform red body and tail without
markings. Website searches indicate Ringnecks have 30 subspecies, as
well as mutant variants, and there is the possibility that perhaps
this was some odd molt. 11/8/2 Although I see deer nearly every day, the
largest buck with the biggest rack yet was seen with a doe enroute
home from work, near Stryker. Not shy at all, he stood by the side of
the road watching me watch him from inside the car. 11/29/2 But a
Cooper's Hawk almost got a Pheasant at the Stryker Jail. Joe Hildreth had a PEREGRINE FALCON
at the Delta
Reservoir in Fulton County.12/1/2 Lach & Joann Ohman, near
Bryan, WIlliams
County had
better luck: " At about 5:30 pm Sunday, just after sunset, I watched
a big, tight flock of 60 to 80 Sandhill Cranes pass over at about 400
feet, going west, doing a lot of cackling, probably looking for a
place to settle in for the night. By the time I had raced into the
house to alert my wife and come out again they were gone. I drove the
roads to the west of us (we're three miles northwest of Bryan, in the
very northwest corner of Ohio) but failed to find them. It was the
biggest flock of Sandhills I've seen around here." --from
Ohiobirds@Envirolink 12/5/2 The unusual male RingNecked Pheasant
(white head) was with a leucistic female today at the jail near
Stryker, almost coming in the front door! The female was so white
that she blended in with the snow, and was hard to see until she
moved. Light tan streaks were among the white feathers, though.
12/14/2
LongEared Owls were reported back, as well, by John
Diller at Williams County's Lake LaSuAnn.
12/14/2
LongEared Owls were reported back, as well, by John
Diller at Williams County's Lake LaSuAnn.
12/16/2
Joel S. tells
the story of a big Cooper's Hawk at the Stryker Jail entrance, walking round and round a bush,
chasing a screaming sparrow with people only 15 feet away!
12/18/2
Stryker
Jail, Williams Co a male and a female Cooper's Hawk at the
entrance!
12/19/2 Stryker Jail Williams County
MALE REDWINGED
BLACKBIRD in the field opposite the jail entrance. 12/20/2 Stryker Jail Williams County
The Cooper's
Hawk ate the white RingNecked Pheasant hen today... in plain
view.12/26/2
The female
Cooper's Hawk continues at Williams County Stryker Jail,
sitting today in the cherry tree 10 feet
from the entrance door. 12/27/2 The female Cooper's Hawk
continues at Stryker Jail. LaSuAnn in Williams
County
was monitored by Jeff Grabmeier, reported on OhioBirds@Envirolink:
"..I found a Long-eared Owl roosting in a pine tree and enduring the
scolding of a collection of Black-capped Chickadees, Golden-Crowned
Kinglets, White-breasted Nuthatches and a Downy Woodpecker. Along
County Rd. 7.25, there were 5 Snow Buntings feeding along the road,
mixed in with a larger flock of about 15 Horned Larks.
2001
2/9/01 State Route 34 at
Williams/Henry Co Line Rd were 10-drake-and-one-hen RingNecked Ducks
with about 5 Canada Geese in a trickle of a creek that has turned
into a lake. 2/16/01 State Route 34 and US 6
just over the Defiance County line in Williams County was a flock of
about 25 Wild Turkeys. 3/12/01The extremely
small pond at the jail in Stryker had 2 pairs of Mallard and a pair
of Canada Geese. 3/14/01 2 Turkeys stood by the
road at Stryker Jail. 3/15/01 22 Turkeys
stood by the road at Stryker Jail. 3/20/01 Stryker Jail
Denny & I watched two tom Turkeys spread their tails, strut their
stuff, and chase each other over the attention of two nearby
hens.3/22/01 A cock RingNecked Pheasant
tried to get through the security yard fence at Stryker
Jail.4/17/01The jail pond, at Stryker
OH, had 2 Gadwall, 4 BlueWinged Teal (3 drakes and a hen) and a pair
of Canada Geese. 4/18/01 The jail pond was exactly
as yesterday. Harrison Lake was a too-tidy recreational park with
only the birds most insensitive to human encroachment-- 3 Ringbilled
Gulls, a Great Blue Heron and a Canada Goose. County Road 24 at the
Ohio Turnpike, very nearby, had 11 Bonaparte's Gull, a RingBilled
Gull, about 50 BlueWinged Teal, 50 Northern Shoveler's, a pair of
Mallards, a single GreenWinged Teal, Tree/Barn/RoughWinged Swallows,
a Coot, both Yellowlegs (hard to count in the tall grass), thanks to
the flooding of the Tiffin River into the nearby fields.
5/7/01 Today at work at the jail
pond (Stryker, WilliamsCo OH), Denny and I saw a Great Egret, 2 drake
Mallards, a pair of Canada Geese, and 7 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, very
tame, that didn't mind in the least when we drove our golf cart
within 3 feet of them. 6/1/2001 Friday. A Great
Egret flew over the jail at work. 6/19/2001 Thanks to a hot
tip from Jeff Grabmeier on Ohio Bird's Envirolink, I got the
opportunity to see aWESTERN
MEADOWLARK"At 09:40 PM 6/18/2001 -0400, you wrote:With the help
of Phil Eley, I ran my Breeding Bird Survey route in Williams County
yesterday (6-17). One highlight was a Western Meadowlark found at the
intersection of U.S. 6 and County Road 7. (DeLorme, p. 34). I went
back that afternoon and he was still singing. His favorite spot
seemed to be the telephone pole on the southeast corner of the
intersection. On a related note, are people seeing Western
Meadowlarks in Ohio and just not reporting them? It seems to me I
used to see more reports of Western Meadowlarks in Ohio in previous
years than I have recently.Thanks, Jeff, for the post! This bird was
on top of the same telephone pole, singing so loudly I heard him
while still on US 6 with my windows rolled up and the air
conditioning on high, today (June 19, Monday, 6pm)." 6/22/2001 The
WESTERN MEADOWLARK still sings at Williams CR7/US6. 2 miles south (at
Rosedale/Scott in Defiance County) was a juvenile
adult-sized MOCKINGBIRD spread-winged begging from an
adult! 7/5/2001 At work, at the jail in
Stryker, Williams County, Killdeer have been nesting like crazy. We
have easily seen 5 nests hatch out, a pair of RedHeaded Woodpeckers
with three young-uns, and a RedTailed
Hawk that had a hard time flying and a harder time
landing. His right eye was blind and his right foot was talonless. He
may have tangled with our barb wire, but we called the
rehabbers. A nice Mourning Dove couple hatched out two of the cutest
kids and then immediately set to nesting again, just inside the
barbwire fence above a door the whole jail uses often. RoughWinged
Swallows try again this year to nest in a generator vent that blows
their nest to smithereens every week. 7/11/2001 Spotted
Sandpiper in winter plumage at the Stryker Jail. 8/17/2001Also, a lone
Sandhill Crane flew over the Stryker Jail
while I was at work.RedHeaded Woodpeckers have been everywhere--SR
34/WmsCoRd 25, at home in Sherwood, Kleinhein/Lockwood, the Jail even
has a pair and 3 juveniles... 9/5/2001 Denny reports a
flying squirrel in his bluebird box near
Stryker, named Rocky: 
on the sidewalk after evidently colliding with one of
the Stryker Jail's windows evidently. 10/18/2001 34 Turkeys have
been marching around the Stryker Jail this week. 10/25/2001 Kelly B. relates in the
breakroom at work the sad story of a Canada Goose she saw hit by a
car outside of Stryker yesterday, it's mate lingering at the road's
edge near the body. Enroute home, she says, the two were still
there.10/31/2001 Went to visit Lach at
Bryan to see the birds he reported on Envirolink: "The last couple of
days we have had a nice mix of birds at our backyard feeder including
purple finch, pine siskins, white-winged crossbills,
and red breasted nuthatch," but the best we could
see were Purple Finches. 11/9/2001 Stryker Jail
had 39 Wild Turkeys and a Brown Creeper this morning... 11/16/2001 A
flock of SANDHILL CRANES rests at the Stryker
Jail! 12/9/2001 Lach O. reports a
Mockingbird in his yard near Bryan in Williams County. 2000
1/20/00: Bryan OH at the bank near Ohio Art
on SR 34: I was stopped at the redlight when I saw two crows flying
in from about 3-treetop-high level. One of the crows went into a
steep dive, swooshing up at ground level inches above the head of a
Cooper's Hawk directly in front of the bank's entrance at my
immediate right! The Cooper's was beautiful and huge at this close
proximity, and was sitting on a still-struggling starling! I was so
tempted to stay put although the light had turned green! In the
middle of busy traffic in busy Bryan at lunchtime! 1/24/00 A Cooper's Hawk alternated between chasing starlings and
rock doves today across the street from where I work (Correction
Center of Northwest Ohio) just outside of Stryker OH, near SR66/US6 intersection. The Horned
Larks are very easy to see now with all the snow, and salt on the
side of the road. SNOW BUNTINGS numbering near 100 could be seen a
half-mile toward SR66 from the jail. 3/20/2000 A Sharp-shinned Hawk is persisting just
outside of Evansport OH. Denny Stantz reports they are even coming
to his feeder at CR191/US 6. Denny S. has video of an
immature Yellow-bellied sapsucker at his feeder . It has been
there from Thanksgiving up to 4/24/2000. 2/23/00 At work today
(CCNO-- the local jail) there was a butterfly that since childhood I
have called aglais urticae, simply because my insect books were
limited and that's what this animal encyclopedia called it. MILBERT'S
TORTOISESHELL, it is still called but with a different Latin name
than I remember. Spring! 3/7/2000 Tuesday. At work
(CCNO jail at Stryker, Williams Co OH), were 20+ Wild Turkeys, a
Milbert's Tortoiseshell, and the first Turkey Vulture I've seen this
season.3/17/00 Yesterday's Bryan Times
featured a photograph of 50 Turkey Vultures there the 15th (Hinckley
Buzzard Day), on the front page. 3/28/2000 Sandhill
Crane flew over as I turned at SR66/US6 in Williams Co
near the jail, where I work. 3/29/2000 10 Turkeys just
north of Evansport on Evansport Rd. 3/30/2000 At the jail
were a Blue-Winged Teal and 50 Turkeys. 4/24/2000
Stryker Jail Turkeys still there (as they are every
morning) although today is the first day of Turkey season, I believe.
Denny S. reports 6 Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers (3 of each sex) at his
Stryker home, near the jail. A Robin has built her nest on the
towmotor at work (the jail at Stryker). 4/26/2000 ca.20 Wild
Turkeys were just outside the Bryan city limits today about noon.
ODNR says 20 Turkeys were taken the first day of the season in
DefianceCo, 43 in WilliamsCo, 6 in PauldingCo. Took the 1mi Bur Oak
trail at Goll Woods, and saw 2 Red-Headed Woodpeckers, Mourning
Cloaks, Large-Flowered Bellwort & Miterwort. Enroute home just
north of Evansport on Evansport Road were my first 2 Greater
Yellowlegs of the season, in a flooded farmer's field
<alliteration!>. 4/27/2000 Denny S.
reports Yellow Warblers (1m,2f), and a Green Heron at his rural
Stryker home. The Robin at the Stryker jail has laid her first egg in
her nest on the towmotor, in spite of the fact that the forklift is
used every day! 4/28/2000 Enroute home from work, I
discovered 12 Lesser Yellowlegs (seasonal firsts) had joined the 2
Greaters at the Defiance/Wms Co Line slough just outside Evansport.
The Robin at Stryker jail laid it's second egg. 5/1/2000
2 Luna Moths were seen by Denny S. & me at the
Stryker Jail. Some well-meaning soul moved the robin nest off the
towmotor. Although it had 3 eggs in it, they seemed cold, and no
robin was seen near the nest today. LAKE SENECA, SR576 North 2 miles
from SR 20, make left on Lake Seneca Dr from 576, after 1 mile use
the beach parking at the video rental place. Joe Grabmeier reported
(from ohio-birds@) 9/4/1999 Saturday a Buff-Breasted
Sandpiper, with 8 Lesser Yellowlegs, 3 Short-Billed
Dowitchers, 5 Pectoral Sandpipers and Semipalmated Sandpipers (and of
course 30 Killdeer). He reports also 2 Greater Yellowlegs and 2 Stilt
Sandpipers added on Sunday 9/5/99. Pectorals,
Semi-Palmated, Bairds Sandpipers reported there 9/25/99,
along with 3 pipits! 2/6/00 Jeff Grabmeir
reports on Ohio-birds mailserve: I saw a flock of 21 Wild Turkey
foraging on the edge of a wooded area along the north side of County
Rd S, just east of County Rd 8 in Williams County this afternoon.
Nearby was a Ringed-neck Pheasant. Also in Williams County, there was
also a flock of about 30-40 Snow Buntings in a farm field along
County Rd 13. There were a half dozen or so Horned Larks with them,
but no longspurs that I could see. 3/26/2000 In Williams
County Jeff Grabmeier, courtesy of ohio-birds@envirolink.org, reports
LaSuAnn had 4 Bufflehead, 3 Common Mergansers, a resident Osprey and
a Common Loon. Lake Seneca, he also reports: 150 Mallards, 50
Canadas, 50 GreenWing Teal, 20 BlueWinged Teal, 20 RingNecked Duck,
20 American Wigeon, 20 Common Mergansers, 10 Black Duck, 10 Northern
Pintail, 8 Wood Duck, 5 Redhead Duck, 4 Pied-Billed Grebes, 4
Gadwall, 3 Northern Shovelers, and 1 Horned Grebe. 5/15/2000
At the jail in StrykerOH today I saw my first Giant
Swallowtail of the season. Rough-winged Swallows keep trying to build
a nest in the exhaust pipe of the jail's generator, but every time it
comes on the nest is blown onto the ground. 5/16/2000 Surprised to
find Star-of-Bethlehem growing wild in the Stryker Jail woods.
5/19/2000 A mile from the StrykerOH jail in a farmer's flooded field
10 feet off the road were 3 Dunlin.6/8/2000 A dozen baby Wild Turkey
poults have joined the 50 or so adults at the jail outside Stryker
OH. The Rough-Winged Swallows persist on building their nest every
week only to have it blown out the generator exhaust every Wednesday!
6/11/2000 Not getting out much,
obviously, with all the yard work. Today was a lifebird, however,
with Henslow's Sparrow found immediately when I
pulled up to a field at CoRd S and 8 in Williams County near
Michigan. Also there were Bobolinks, Viceroys, and of course
Meadowlarks, Song Sparrows, Barn and Tree Swallows, RedWinged
Blackbirds, Great Blue Herons, Mallards, Goldfinches, etc. Less than
a mile away, over the Michigan line, a pair of summer tanagers were
also reported on the NW OH Rare Bird Alert, but I couldn't find them
among the clouds of Orioles, Robins, Phoebes, Kingfishers, Indigo
Buntings, Red-Bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Yarrow, Vetch, Wood
Anemones. 6/19/2000 Jeff Grabmeir in WilliamsCounty on
ohiobirds@envirolink: A singing SEDGE WREN was found on County Rd. H,
1.5 miles west of SR 15 this morning (June 19). It was in a field
south of the road, just west of the recycling center. I first heard
it while I was running a BBS route. I returned later, it was still
singing, and I got a good look at it. It had food in its mouth, but I
could not find a nest or mate. I heard and saw a NORTHERN PARULA at
Lake Lasuan WA on June 17. I heard it only on June 18. It was along
County Rd. S at the St. Joseph River. This is the first I have ever
seen in Williams County outside of spring migration (April and May).
A YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER was heard at the same
location. I found several DICKCISSELS along the BBS route June 19. On
County Rd P between County Rds. 15 and 16 there were at least 6
singing males. I also found singing males at three locations along
County Rd. H and one site along County Rd. 7. HENSLOW'S SPARROWS were
also found June 19 at two spots along County Rd. H, one site along
County Rd. P, and at Lake Lasuan WA on County Rd. S. I relocated
KING RAILS at Lake Lasuan June 18
along County Rd. S, 0.8 miles west of SR 576. They were where I
originally found them May 16. I also heard begging calls from a
juvenile in the marsh...may have been a rail. There were PROTHONOTARY
warblers at three separate sites at Lake Lasuan. This included a pair
feeding two recently fledged young on June 18. I saw two NORTHERN
HARRIERS -- one along County Rd. P on June 18 and one along County
Rd. H on June 19. 6/25/00 Near LaSuAnn in Williams County. I have
been checking unsuccessfully for Jeff Grabmeir's Sedge Wren (I could
hear it singing daily, but couldn't locate it from the car, and was
afraid to walk across some farmer's grassy field to look for it), and
the Summer Tanager at Territorial/Carpenter just across the Michigan
State Line. Today, I took five steps and carefully watched the trees
for birds, then another five steps etc. I was surprised to find a
Veery staring back at me, singing to me directly in my face, not
afraid at all. I enjoyed watching Pewee's chasing insects from
corn-plant to corn-plant of all things. Lots of Cedar Waxwings and
Orioles, a male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Buntings, but finally
came that two-note call of the Tanager, and suddenly there it was-- a
lifebird, a male SUMMER TANAGER I even got some video,
right by the bridge in the cottonwood by the road. I was so bouyed by
this experience I headed back to WmsCoRd H (even though I had been
there earlier). Enroute I stopped to see the Henslow's Sparrows and
Bobolinks again, and also saw my first Wood Nymph of the year. Back
at the Wren Spot, I heard them again but this time just walked out
into the field and found two SEDGE
WRENS, sometimes from only three feet away, lifebirds. I
wasn't confident about finding them so unfortunately didn't take my
video camera into the field with me, and would hate to disturb them
again in case they are nesting. 8/9/2000 Just north of
Evansport limits were 5 Wild Turkeys back in their usual spot. At
Ashpacher & Lockwood was a beautiful immature Red-Headed
Woodpecker. 10/24/2000 22 Turkeys were parading
at the North end of the Stryker Jail parking lot again, today!
11/25/2000 Jeff Grabmeier from
Columbus was visiting in Williams County: "Highlight was a
NORTHERN
SHRIKE seen on County Rd. S about 0.6 miles west of County
Rd. 13. At the Pioneer Boy Scout Camp I saw a flock of 4
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, a few Golden-crowned Kinglets, 1 Fox Sparrow,
lots of American Tree Sparrows and Juncos and the usual year-rounds
species. Northern Harriers were common in many reas. At my Dad's
house on Lake Seneca, there was a Pileated Woodpecker
(very uncommon around here), a Red-headed Woodpecker,
and a lingering Common Grackle." from ohiobirds@envirolink
listserve.
Report your finds at bijou@smta.cc
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