Reports through 2005 for Oxbow Lake, 5miles North of Defiance OH on State Route 15 at Schick Road. Notes for birders: Heavily hunted and fished in season, otherwise pretty deserted, with hundreds of pheasants released every year, amost none ever making it through hunting season. Many BlueWinged Warblers and Willow Flycatchers nest here; often Robins, Bluebirds, and YellowRumped Warblers overwinter here. Ospreys and Warblers pass through both spring and fall. Great Horned and Screech Owls are easy to find, but never have seen or heard Barred here. Best birds here: Both Cuckoos, Greater White Fronted and Snow Geese, Common Terns, and a RUDDY SHELDUCK, although waterfowl don't stick around long because of all the fishermen's boats, and then ice in the winter. I don't bird here often: may be things just waiting for discovery! 20051/2/2005 TheRUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE lingers.2/17/5 Still frozen. 2/20/5 Day Three of GBBC: Oxbow Lake FIRST BIRDS OF THE DAY were THREE SANDHILL CRANES! Evelyn Schlachter and I couldn't believe our eyes. The snow storm put a crimp in the rest of our birding though: American Tree Sparrow 3, BlackCapped Chickadee 4, Blue Jay 5, Canada Goose 5, Cardinal 4, Downy Woodpecker 2, Harrier 1, House Sparrow 21, Junco 11, Kestrel 2, Mourning Dove 1, RedBellied Woodpecker, ROBIN 2, RoughLegged Hawk 1, Song Sparrow 3, Starling 2, WhiteBreasted Nuthatch 3/6/5 frozen 3/25/5 6 Wood Ducks and 6 Canada Geese Schick/SR15 Cock Pheasant 4/6/5 Oxbow Lake Bruce H and I walked a short bit: only Hepatica for wildflowers, best birds GoldenCrowned Kinglets, Towhee and WhiteThroated Sparrows. Beautiful 75+ degrees though! 5/11/5 Twenty minutes at Oxbow Lake as the sun rises, walking the inside of BlueWinged Triangle results in just that: My first-of-season BlueWinged Warbler right where it always is every year. The only other new warbler is a Magnolia, but there are other things to make me very happy on a wonderful spring day: Great Crested Flycatchers and Indigo Buntings are new for the season, and Russian Olives are perfuming the air with their bloom. The Wild Plum, Cleavers, Golden Alexanders, and Birdsfoot Trefoil aren't bad either. After work, walking the paved areas only after a sudden downpour. Wonderful walk seeing FOUR White-Eyed Vireos (I usually feel blessed to even hear one around here, let alone actually see one; this is another first-of-year). 4 DoubleCrested Cormorants, 1 unusually light. A Swainson's Thrush, a dull female Cape May Warbler, an Orchard Oriole, Least Flycatcher, Yellow Billed Cuckoo are first of season for me. Another Cuckoo called from far away as I glassed this one. The Flycatcher was being pelted by Yellow Warblers for some odd reason. A large Dogwood tree I never realized was here was in full bloom! Gorgeous! Tailed-Blues (first of season) were everywhere, too.! Blooming Hop Tree, False Solomon's Seal everywhere, Bullfrogs, Painted and Slider Turtles also contributed to a great two hours. I found a second BlueWinged Warbler bee-buzzing where I 've never found them before here: beside the ranger station. BEST BIRD OF THE DAY: PILEATED WOODPECKER-- only the second I've seen in Defiance County! 5/12/5 A few minutes before work: while listening to a YellowThroated Vireo, a deer and a hen Turkey walk by without seeing me. Of course, the loud blustery wind (in the forties!) may have helped. Only new birds for the season: RedEyed Vireo, Willow Flycatcher, Veery. Almost no warblers. 5/15/5 Nothing new here, but why should there be? Lots of fishermen and trap and skeet shooters. Did find Wild Flax, Solomon's Seal, and Philadelphia Fleabane in bloom, plus a Garter Snake. It's still so cold! 43 degrees! 5/19/5 Oxbow Lake Warblers showed up! but nothing new for the year. Highbush Cranberry, Amur Honeysuckle, and what I think was Coral Honeysuckle (never noticed it here before) are in bloom. 6/1/05 I found a female Ichneumon Wasp with a long ovipositor-- much longer than her body! Overturned 6 logs and found 6 salamanders-- 3 dark-phase and 3 regular RedBacked Salamanders 6/12/05 Moth Mullein, Wild Madder, Field Pennycress, and Elderberry blooming 7/1/05 A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, the first I've seen in Defiance County! What a sight! Also in bloom Early Milkweed, WhiteSweet Clover, Clammy Ground Cherry, St Johnswort, Wild Bergamot, Purple Coneflower, BUTTERFLY WEED. On another power walk at 7pm with the Exercise Guru, heard/saw some common birds as we whizzed by: Canada Goose, Mallard, Mourning Dove, Turkey Vulture, Downy Woodpecker, Flicker, Willow Flycatcher, Peewee, Eastern Kingibrd, Blue Jay, Horned Lark, Barn Swallow, WhiteBreasted Nuthatch, BlackCapped Chickadee, House Wren, Bluebird, Robin, Catbird, Yellow, and Bluewinged Warblers, Ovenbird, RufousSided Towhee, Chipping, Song and Field Sparrow, Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, RedWinged Blackbird, Grackle, Cowbird, Goldfinch, House Sparrow (32sp 40" singletrack).9/16/05 An OSPREY fished while 3 very tame Mallards (a drake and 2 hens) begged for food on the shore. 10/22/5 More hunters than I've ever seen here! And lotsa spaniels! 11/18/5 Nada2004 1/3 Christmas Bird Count started off at 7:30am and 59 DEGREES! The lack of ice is usually a portent of low species count and today there was a dearth of birds! First-time birders Fran/Dave/Mom and I covered the NW section of country roads finding only ONE American Tree Sparrow, 15 Black-Capped Chickadees, ONE Bluebird, 29 Blue Jays, 5 Cardinals, 2 Carolina Wrens, 6 Crows, 7 Downy Woodpeckers, 3 Flickers, ONLY FIVE Goldfinches, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 14 Harriers, ONLY SEVEN Horned Larks, 14 Juncos, 8 Kestrels, 27 Mourning Doves, 7 RedBellied Woodpeckers, 11 RedTailed Hawks, 6 Rock Pigeons, 3 Tufted Titmice, 8 WhiteBreasted Nuthatches, but 103 House Sparrows and 174 Starlings in this all-rural area! And it was worse after lunch when Pete/Nate and I walked the entire Riverside Cemetery and found only a Red-Bellied Woodpecker! Power Dam was empty. The rest of the afternoon we found only 8 American Tree Sparrows, 4 Blue Jays, 96 Canada Geese, 3 Cardinals, a Carolina Wren, 4 Great Blue Herons, 1 Harrier, 21 House Finches, 23 House Sparrows, 12 Juncos, 2 Kestrels, 3 Mallards, 11 Mourning Doves, 2 RedBellied Woodpeckers, 5 RedTailed Hawks, 13 Rock Pigeons, 65 Starlings, and 1 WhiteBreasted Nuthatch. Enroute home a Short-Eared Owl at Glenburg/Lockwood was added. Other teams (Lach/Don, Audrey/Micki, Doug/Nate/Pete) fortunately found other species like Robin, RubyCrowned Kinglet, Black Duck at Independence Dam, Wild Turkey, WhiteThroated Sparrow at Girl's Scout Camp, YellowRumped Warbler, SharpShinned Hawk at Oxbow Lake, RedHeaded Woodpecker. Not good, but at least it was great fun. Last I heard, there were NO GULLS, no screech or great horned owls, no waxwings, no longspurs or buntings, no pheasant, no rough-legged or cooper's hawk, no red-breasted nuthatch-- only two species of duck! 1/8 WhiteThroated Sparrows were about top bird. 1/13 Unbelievably, there WAS a Great Blue Heron at very frozen Oxbow Lake. 1/17/4 Just three ice fishermen and an ice skater (no hunters), so I decided to risk a tromp around. Four hours of tromping hadn't turned up anything remarkable when the freezing rain bid me get to mine car (although I did find a Pheasant that survived hunting season, a Great Blue Heron in spite of the frozen Big and Small Oxbow Lakes, and the dazzling blue of the many Bluebirds and Blue Jays in the white was alone well worth the effort). As I debated crossing the frozen(?) Tiffin River what to my wondering eyes should appear but a WINTER WREN chased along the bank by an obviously upset Carolina Wren. Then the YellowRumped Warblers that hadn't turned up here-to-fore. Then the SharpShinned Hawk that had been on the Christmas Count put in an appearance. Enroute home, SEVEN EASTERN MEADOWLARKS flew in front of the car on Glenburg Road between Flickinger and Mulligan's Bluff. Disappointing misses include cedar waxwings, whitethroated sparrows, robin. I also found a Flicker in the crotch of a small tree. Could've been it fell there by chance after being shot, and then partly devoured by mice? Or would a shrike attack a bird this big and put it in his larder? 1/19 30+ Wild Turkeys at the edge of the Evansport Road side.2/21/4 Dad and I toured Oxbow Lake (over 70 Wild Turkeys at 15/Evansport, with 2 cock Pheasants) 3/10/4 Empty 3/18/4 Oxbow Lake Wildlife Area has my first-of-the-season, beautiful, breeding-plumaged COMMON LOON and at very close range! And that's all that was there. 3/21/4 Cock Pheasant, 15 Canada Geese, a pair of Mallards, and the first-of-the-season KINGFISHER 3/23/4 24 Canada Geese, period. 3/29/4 2 PiedBilled Grebes and lotsa fishermen. 4/4/4 my first Double-Crested Cormorant of the year, with about a dozen Canada Geese. 4/5/4 A pair of Bufflehead with 2 PiedBilled Grebes, and 8 Canada Geese. 4/7/4 10 Canada Geese, 10 Scaup, 2 PiedBilled Grebes. 4/8/4 3 PiedBilled Grebes 4/9/4 2 PiedBilled Grebes and my first-of-season OSPREY! 4/14/4 A lone Coot and 8 Canada Geese with lots of fishermen. 4/19/4 The OSPREY and PiedBilled Grebes continue. 4/23/4 Towhees,White Throated Sparrows, RubyCrowned Kinglets-- about it. 4/25/4 3 Coots and 2 drake Mallards. A miracle of waterfowl for this place. Did add a Red Admiral and a Comma. 5/5/4 A walk around Little Oxbow and thru' the maple/beech woods near the parking lot revealed very little (Towhees, distant Scarlet Tanager, Gnatcatcher, a Coot, a Wood Duck, a Woodcock that kept flying up further on the path, WhiteThroated Sparrows, seeming thousands of Catbirds), the only warblers being the resident Yellow and BlueWinged ones on the Triangle. 5/19/4 Oxbow Lake As I listened to a WhiteEyed Vireo, trying to catch sight of it, a PILEATED WOODPECKER appeared! The FIRST I have ever seen in Defiance County period! 7/18/4 At the entrance to Little Oxbow: a loud singing Common Yellowthroat, SIX Indigo Buntings at one time (only one a female, all upset with my presence), 2 Grasshopper Sparrows, a RufousSided Towhee, a Bluebird, a Blue Jay, a Cardinal, 2 Barn Swallow, 2 Canada Geese, 1 Eastern Meadowlark, 3 Mourning Doves, a Kestrel, 2 RedTailed Hawks, 8 Killdeer, 1 Robin, 2 Song Sparrows, a Rabbit, and two 3month-old Raccoons, while standing around in one spot. 7/23/4 A quick buzz-by here enroute to work finds five half-grown RingNecked Pheasant chicks! Wood Thrushes sang in the woods-- a very pleasant start to the day. 7/25/4 Rain quickly puts an end to this foray: lots of nice viewing of Common Yellowthroats, BlueWinged Warblers, Willow Flycatchers, RufousSided Towhees in the short half-hour, though, with zillions of Catbirds.12/1/4 ridiculously empty. 12/21/4 A beautiful 45-degrees with the day off and no plans!, then on to Oxbow Lake. Walking along Mud Creek from the Trinity Road bridge east to the Shick Road bridge was like a great spring walk. 9 minutes into the walk up popped a beautiful male PURPLE FINCH affording perfect lengthy viewing. At the same place was a WINTER WREN, and a small group of common birds. 19 minutes into the walk, 2 Carolina Wrens argue with another WINTER WREN in a small group of common birds. Next came the BROWN CREEPERS, in a group with Chickadees and Titmice, then a band of GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS with more CREEPERS. Near the Schick Road bridge, the GREAT HORNED OWL. I was relieved it was still there after seeing so many dead owls on SR18 this summer. Along the shrub hedge row at the extreme eastern edge of the Wildlife Area: WHITE-THROATED and American Tree Sparrows. Still beautiful, sunny and warm. THEN I hit the wrong side of Oxbow Lake, where the strong bitter winds made it feel like what it was-- the first day of winter. What a contrast! No birds all the way to Little Oxbow Lake (well, unless you count Cardinals, and a Song Sparrow-- which maybe we should cuz I think we zeroed on Song Sparrows last year here, and this year on the Goll Woods count). At Little Oxbow I was totally amazed and shocked and awed to see a flock of common birds accompanying a huge (24+!) flock of PURPLE FINCHES, calmly munching on some kind of Maple seeds (Box Elder?), totally oblivious to me and my hunter orange. This was the western-most point of Little Oxbow, a short direct walk west from the new parking lot at the Trinity Road deadend. They were stupendous. 12/22/4 Oxbow Lake Still no snow yet, so walked around Big Oxbow Lake. This usually unproductive route was totally birdless, except for the private pond immediately south of the southernmost point of Big Oxbow Lake (viewable from the park). At this private pond were all the common birds (ie Bluebirds, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, Flickers, Goldfinches etc) as well as a HAIRY WOODPECKER and a ROBIN. 12/30/4 walked the BlueWing triangle-- no surprises except for the first bird: Cedar Waxwing.12/31/4 Weird things happened playing the screech owl tape today: a white-footed mouse appeared at home in Sherwood; a vole at my feet at the Bend Bridge, a Screech Owl at Glenburg/SR 15 and a TOWHEE at Oxbow Lake. Glad I had my video camera with me! I walked Mud Creek west to SR 15 and back, with Brown Creepers, GoldenCrowned Kinglets and Winter Wrens Couldn't find any shorteared owls on Glenburg or Powers Roads... Shook down all the pines I could find at Oxbow and found no sawhets either. 2003 1/14/3 Arrived home to find a big COOPER'S HAWK chase a lot of birds into the front yard from the back yard where the feeders are!1/18/3 Oxbow Lake It was minus 2 degrees last night so bright and early I decided to take the 2-hour walk. Nothing except the most common of birds and hunters, and close encounters of the deer, rabbit and squirrel kind. I thought my essential hunter orange garb was keeping the birds away until I arrived at the far SE corner, where the roses run parallel to Evansport Road: I had half-expected to find yellow-rumped warblers, white-crowned-throateds, but instead awakened a very unhappily cold ROBIN. At the same moment, a RedTailed Hawk chased a GREAT HORNED OWL into the woods near the Schick Road bridge just down the way in very bright daylight. When I arrived at the bridge, I found Flickers at a nest hole and a picture postcard from God: bluer-than-blue Bluebirds feeding on oranger-than-orange bittersweet in the very tall dark green junipers. In the high field back inside the Wildlife Area were six sunny Cedar Waxwings chirping at the tops of the new trees. Enroute back, at the most obvious spot where Little Oxbow Road deadends at Big Oxbow Lake, was another ROBIN considerably more cheerful than the first. 1/28/3 Since the month and Winter Atlassing is almost over and I haven't run across any SCREECH OWLS by accident, I used my CD to call until answered (but no longer) at Independence Dam and Oxbow Lake.1/26/3 Started off with the idea to walk Oxbow, but the blowing snow and high winds were keeping birds down. Did see my first Oxbow Crow, though. 3/16/3 Oxbow Lake was still frozen, with ice fisherman perched on it. 3/21/3 Likewise, Oxbow Lake was thawed only enough for 9 Canada Geese. 3/22/3 Oxbow Lake was almost completely thawed today! --but still only 9 Canada Geese, a drake Bufflehead and a Kingfisher. 3/24/3 Oxbow Lake no ice and no birds, unless you count 4 pairs of Canada Geese. Lots of fishermen. 4/12/3 3 RingBilled Gulls at Oxbow Lake. 4/16/3 Oxbow Lake 6 Canada Geese, a PiedBilled Grebe, and a RufousSided Towhee that wasn't the least bit shy 4/19/3 A late walk at Oxbow Lake (5 to 7pm) found wildflowers in bloom. This is quite like Bill Murray's movie "Groundhog Day" having seen the same flowers in bloom April 4 in Cincinnati, April 12 in Dayton, and now finally here in Defiance! BIrds were sparse, the only waterbirds being 3 pairs of Canada Geese, a drake Mallard and a Great Blue Heron (none on Oxbow itself, so peppered with fishermen). RufousSided Towhees and Brown Thrashers were there though, as well as my first-of-season Hermit Thrush, BlueGray Gnatcatcher, and three circling RedShouldered Hawks, unusual around here, as well as 3 BroadWinged Hawks. 4/28/3 Oxbow Lake After work just a few minutes and what a difference! Tons of YellowRumped and YELLOW WARBLERS, and a single BLACK-and-WHITE. Baltimore Orioles, House Wrens, (first of season for me) were there with tons of Towhees and Field/White-Throated Sparrows and a single RED-EYED VIREO as well. 4/29/3 A few minutes before work found plenty of warbler activity, but only one new species for the year: BlueWinged. After work warblers were few and far between, with only Yellow and Palm seen after an hour! 5/8/3 Oxbow Lake at 7am was a very paradise, albeit a dark, cloudy, misty, foggy one! There weren't really any new-for-the-season birds, except for a Yellow-Throated Vireo, but what lacked in specie variation was made up for in sheer numbers and sound volume! Most numerous warbler was definitely Yellow (chasing BlueGray Gnatcatchers!), followed by Common Yellowthroat, then YellowRumped and BlueWinged. Black&White, BlackThroated Green, Tennessee, Nashville, Parula were well represented, too. One particular Nashville close enough to view his chestnut cap and other details without binoculars was singing only the first half of his song. 3 RoseBreasted Grosbeaks in one spot (including my first female of the year) were particularly gorgeous. I think the reason I really appreciated this morning was my emergence from the dearth valley that was Goll Woods the last few days. Remarkable how only one county south is experiencing many more warblers than us in Defiance, while one county north has almost zero. 5/15/3 Oxbow Lake at 7am dark rainy morning with lots of birds singing, mostly residents like Yellow and BlueWinged Warblers. It looked like the highlights were going to be Spotted Sandpipers, Cedar Waxwings, Wild Turkeys and a singing Wood Thrush, but then I got my first GreatCrested Flycatcher of the season, and suddenly from a tangle came the unmistakeable song of a MOURNING WARBLER. Glimpses were unsatisfying but almost late for work-- even tried a tape but without good response.10/10/3 Oxbow no waterbirds at all 12/8/3 No waterbirds.12/11/3 No waterbirds.12/15/3 Open but empty water. 12/31/3 Just a Great Blue Heron. 2002 1/8/02 Joe Hildreth and I decided to do Oxbow Lake (p.34-5 B4) although there was very little of this winter day left. ATSp,Card,DoWo,EuSt,3 male Harriers,Kest,MoDo and that was about it, until we decided to call in a SCREECH OWL. We would have had one all the way in but a ranger stopped in to see what we were doing. By then it was dark and time for supper anyway. 1/13/02 Oxbow Lake parked at the ranger station and walked the creek around both Big and Little Oxbow Lake, then followed the creek back to the ranger station. Just a usual list result, with the projected waterfowl count realized, ie zero: American Tree Sparrow, Brown Creeper, BlackCapped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Cardinal, Crow, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebird, European Starling (I combed three large flocks for other blackbirds but found nothing but starlings), Flicker (3 flew from one spot!), G, Junco, Mourning Dove, RedBellied Woodpecker, RedTailed Hawk, Tufted Titmouse, WhiteBreasted Nuthatch. Ice fishermen and hunters everywhere, but I only ran across 9 personally. 3 of these that I talked to were from Toledo! I didn't see a single rabbit (except for the cottontails some hunter hung from trees as some kind of weird trophy), or pheasant (in spite of the huge number released here). 1/21/02 Oxbow Lake was the place today since there were no hunters or any one else there for that matter. Last night's snow beautified the place immensely, "I love thy rocks and rills, thy woods and templed hills..." or however "America" goes, it was very scenic today, walking the woods behind Little Oxbow. The usuals: American Tree Sparrow, BlackCapped Chickadee, BlueJay, Bluebird, Brown Creeper, Crow, Downy Woodpecker, Flicker, Goldfinch, Harrier, HouseFinch, HouseSparrow, Junco, Kestrel, Mourning Dove, RedBellied Woodpecker, RedTailed Hawk, WhiteBreasted Nuthatch, until turned the corner nearest the Airport when YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (a group of about 10) suddenly appeared, with 2 Brown Creepers, 2 Downy Woodpeckers, and a family group of Chickadees. The next best spot on the walk was at the Schick Road bridge, where a GREAT HORNED OWL suddenly and silently flew up in front of me. Also here were more Yellow-Rumped Warblers, more Nuthatches, 4 Downy Woodpeckers, and a HAIRY WOODPECKER. I suspect the reason for the activity was the nearby house's feeders. Canada Geese took advantage of the rare open water to stop over, as well. 1/27/02 Highlight of the day was definitely a flock of more than 50 Wild Turkeys that lifted and gently floated across Evansport Road at the SR15 intersection. What an odd sight, also considering that I am at this intersection almost every day, and haven't seen a turkey there before. Yellow-Rumped Warblers were still at Oxbow Lake.3/28/02 Wow! Oxbow Lake actually had waterfowl today: 22 Canada Geese, 10 Ringnecked Ducks, 10 Lesser Scaup, 2 Bufflehead. 3/29/02 Oxbow Lake had only a single pair of Common Mergansers. 3/31//02 Oxbow Lake was also devoid of waterfowl, presumably due to the fishermen dotting its tranquil surface. 4/1/02 Oxbow Lake was totally empty. 4/2/02 The steady rain kept anglers off the lake, so Oxbow Lake had birds tonight: 3 female and 1 male Hooded Merganser, 6 pairs of Canada Geese, a pair of RingNecked Ducks, a single Lesser Scaup drake, and a Kingfisher. 4/3/02 Bad weather means good birds at Oxbow Lake: 5 PiedBilled Grebes, 3 Lesser Scaup, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, and a male Bufflehead. Strangely enough, no geese. 4/4/02 Oxbow Lake had 2 male and 1 female Hooded Mergansers, 5 pairs of Lesser Scaup, 5 pairs of Canada Geese, a Kingfisher and 2 PiedBilled Grebes. 4/12/02 Oxbow Lake 2 PiedBIlled Grebes 4/13/2 Oxbow Lake had lots of fishermen, Fox Sparrows, and Woodcocks. A garter snake lay motionless at my feet, breathing heavily evidently trying to digest a too-big meal. I don't know how long he had been there, but long enough for a bird to have crapped on him, and he still didn't move as I stepped over him. Bloodroot, Spring Beauty, and something i'll have to look up were in bloom though. 4/15/02 Although my heart was in Fulton County, I decided to be loyal and bird Defiance County: Oxbow Lake, Independence Dam and Power Dam were all relatively birdless. 4/18/2 Got my first COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and YELLOW WARBLERS tonight at Oxbow Lake. Both Yellow and Purple Violets were in bloom with Showy and Sessile Trillium blanketing the forest floor. LargeFlowered Bellwort was by far the most interesting bloom, however. 4/20/2 Hoping for a fallout, but Oxbow Lake would only give me a few new birds for the season (Palm Warbler, Solitary and Warbling Vireos) as well as an Osprey. WhiteCrowned, WhiteThroated, Field, Song and English Sparrows continue at the feeders with Cowbirds and RedWinged Blackbirds among the regulars. 4/24/2 I am so glad I stopped at Oxbow Lake enroute home though, catching the best birds of the day, my first four BlueWinged Warblers of the season, in a small group with a Yellow Warbler, 2 Swamp Sparrows and a Field Sparrow. 4/25/02 Oxbow Lake had the same warblers (BlueWinged, Palm, Yellow, Common Yellowthroat, lots of YellowRumped) and sparrows (Field, Swamp, Song, WhiteThroated) and misc (towhees, kinglets, gnatcatchers, hermit thrush and thrasher) and swallows (Barn and Tree), but I did get my first two Green Herons of the year. Also saw my first Painted Lady of the season, but actually the plants were the best part!: Wild Strawberries, Wood Anemone, Rue Anemone, Early Meadow Rue, PussyToes, as well as White Hepatica were everywhere. Strangest plant was Jacob's Ladder: I didn't realize this was a local possibility! I paid money for this as a garden perennial. Furthermore, Henn's Wildflowers of Ohio says that Jacob's Ladder and Greek Valerian are the same thing. Peterson's says that Jacob's Ladder's stamens protrude and the leaflets are more numerous than Valerian. So now when (if?) I go back in time I have to see which it really was. Also, I found a white-flowering similar plant that I had never seen before. Tentatively, when I got home I identified it as Cuckoo-Flower (cardamine paratensis). A truly unusual plant. I also found a Wild Turkey with her nest, which held two eggs and a third egg that had obviously been eaten by something that poked it many times with its teeth before breaking an end off. 4/26/2 After work, Oxbow Lake was more of the same. Tonight I did Little Oxbow and the woods behind, yesterday I walked around Big Oxbow, and the night before the Triangle, but remarkable how similar the birds were (same warblers, same misc, same swallows). I have never seen so many BlueWinged Warblers however, never over a pair at a time, but many pairs at many locations. Tonight was the first Catbird of the season, the first Black Swallowtail of the season, and Shepherd's Purse. Just as I was ready to leave, Joe came over and good thing, 'cause we found the first Orchard Oriole of the season. Also overhead were Purple Martins, and two Green Herons kept circling overhead as well. Joe had seen a RedEyed Vireo earlier. 5/14/02 Still inspired by the Paulding May Count, I tried the Oxbow Lake triangle today-- with not very good results. The only warblers were a Palm, 2 Yellow, a Redstart, 10 Yellow Rumps, a BlueWinged and a Magnolia. Also a Gnatcatcher, a Blue Jay, an Empid, a Great Crested Flycatcher (with Great Crested Views!), a Grackle, a Brown Thrasher, a Turkey Vulture, a Swainson's Thrush, a Spotted Sandpiper, a House Wren, 2 WhiteCrowned Sparrows, 2 Baltimore Orioles, 2 Cowbirds, 2 Robins, 3 Chipping Sparrows, 6 Goldfinches, 6 Catbirds, lots of Tree and Barn Swallows and Purple Martins-- and the best bird A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. The first of the Trefoil is blooming already! 5/18/02 I awoke with a bad back (felt it coming on last night), but drove to Independence Dam in search of warblers, only to find hundreds of canoeists! Went to McDonald's for my morning coffee and almost got stuck inside there due to back spasms. Took a full minute to get back in the car. Pressed on to look for Defiance County skyponds for sandpipers, but couldn't find any. Dropped by Oxbow Lake, groaning myself out of the car on the hearsay that one just has to press through back pain. First birds I saw: a pair of BlueWinged Warblers. Nice, but very few warblers. Most all of them were Yellow Warblers, with only 3 YellowRumped, a female Redstart,and 2 Magnolia. There were also 3 loudly singing Red-Eyed Vireos and a competing Yellow-Throated Vireo in the same tree, however. Still walking down this road to Little Oxbow I found a FEMALE Towhee-- almost always I find males, and this is the first female I saw this year. A gorgeous bird, or just gorgeous cuz it's been awhile since I've seen one? Next was a female RoseBreasted Grosbeak making a nest, on a very busy path used by lots of fishermen. I'll have to check back to see if she makes it. By this time, I'd almost completely forgotten my back-- it felt fine! So I entered the woods at the end of the road, hearing and seeing 3 Swainson's Thrush, lots of male RoseBreasted Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings, Orioles, and a wonderful Scarlet Tanager, only 12 feet off the forest floor singing his heart out. Great views! Out of the woods, more Yellow Warblers, Great Crested Flycatchers, and Common Yellowthroats. A Veery sang at the stop sign where I originally started. Then 3 Willow Flycatchers, loudly calling. Then the first Cedar Waxwing I've seen since Akron on 3/23!Finally, the best bird of the day: BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, two feet off the ground just past the curve of the abandoned road. Binoculars were unecessary in viewing this fantastic bird, with his black bill, red-lined eye and long tail. Pam had one at her farm three days ago, but I never thought I'd catch view of one so soon. What a sight! What aching back? 5/24/02 Stark contrast to Mallard Marsh, walking the paved roads and the small Little Oxbow woods at Oxbow Lake. If not for the single Redstart and the single Swainson's Thrush, one would think it was summer! How boring was it? See how long you can read this list and keep from yawning: Cedar Waxwings (about 50), Warblers (Common Yellowthroat, tons of Yellow), Vireos (Warbling, RedEyed, YellowThroated), Swallows (Barn, RoughWing), Sparrows (Field, Song, Savannah, Chipping, WhiteThroated), Flycatchers (Great Crested, Willow), Peewees, Brown Thrasher, Green Heron, Gnatcatcher, Indigo Buntings, Towhees, Hummingbird, tons of Baltimore Oriole, Bluebird, Turkey Vulture, RedTailed Hawk, Goldfinch, Tufted Titmice, WhiteBreasted Nuthatch, Woodpeckers (RedBellied, Downy), Meadowlark, Cardinal, Mourning Dove, Robins, Cowbirds, Crow, Grackle, Catbirds,as well as my first Giant and Tiger Swallowtails, Mourning Cloak, Blue and Sulphur (a very white female) butterflies of the season. Cinquefoil is in bloom already. Maybe it is summer.8/27/2 Best bird of the day was an OSPREY at Oxbow Lake. 9/21/2 Oxbow Lake (aka Catbird City) had a Green Heron, 10 BlueWinged Teal, an adult RedTailed Hawk that caught and ate a mouse only 100' away, and a circling Broadwing Hawk.9/29/2 Buoyed by the Dunakin report yesterday, Bijou and I took a walk at Oxbow Lake but alas no warblers, in fact, no bird one couldn't see on any regular summer day. 12/18/2 Oxbow Lake Fifty degree temperatures encouraged me to walk around Big Oxbow after work, but I found less birds than one would find at a feeder with a single glance!: 7 Juncos, 7 American Tree Sparrows, 2 Cardinals, 2 fly-over Canada Geese, and a Downy Woodpecker. 12/27/2 Oxbow Lake frozen almost entirely already. 12/28/2 Christmas Bird Count today with Audrey, Doug & Micki, Lach & I was pretty darn fun, but no great birds. A few highlights: Last day of deer-hunting kept us out of the woods at Oxbow Lake. Remarkably, there were over a dozen Cardinals in one spot! And THREE Flickers all drinking from the creek at the same spot at the same time! Three times we were stopped by officials reminding us that there was hunting in the area, as if all the orange clothing, guns and big trucks dripping blood weren't enough <grin>. Independence Dam Unbelievable, but getting used to it, as duck hunters commandeered the park again making no geese or gulls, and only 2 Mallards in the entire park, but Micki et al did get the YellowRumped Warblers among others. Audrey, Lach and I found the Canada Geese that are usually at the dam (1,700 in one spot back of Riverview Cemetery near downtown Defiance!) with two very large white/grey smeared Geese (African or Chinese mixes?). A buck with huge antlers herded his five does past the group as we watched-- gorgeous with so much traffic passing us at the same time! Then four more does emerged, one of which like a playful impish child ran through the geese, nevertheless barely disturbing them. Near Defiance's Bronson Park not far away were about 100 Mallards and another Carolina Wren. Micki & Doug found a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK on Christy Road. Lach, Audrey and I found an easily-viewed huge Cooper's Hawk watching a feeder closely on Watson Road, as well as a FEMALE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. Golden-Crowned Kinglets and Carolina Wrens were found in several locations. Most funny: Lach, Doug & I stopped on Trinity Rd, got out to use the scope, and were instantly surrounded by about 50 chickens! It's funny enough to see a chicken run, but to watch 50 chickens run full tilt toward us-- that was laugh-out-loud funny. Lockwood Road had NINETEEN RingNecked Pheasants-- a record, and a nice way to end the day.20011/3/2001 Just the flock of 50 Cedar Waxwings and 2 Bluebirds at Oxbow Lake 1/22/01 100 Robins (all male that I saw) were flocked with 10 Bluebirds at Oxbow Lake. 2/20/01 Oxbow Lake had a flock of about 25 Robins/Bluebirds in one group, and about 100 Canada Geese with 2 Snow Geese mixed in, although the lake was still frozen. 2/25/01Oxbow Lake had about 20 Canada Geese and a lone drake BlueWinged Teal, my first for the year. 2/26/01 Oxbow Lake had two dozen Canada Geese, one Bufflehead and a drake RingNecked Duck. Many very vocal Bluebirds. 2/27/01 Oxbow Lake 3 RedTailed Hawks, 4 Canada Geese, 4 Lesser Scaup, 17 RingNecked Ducks. 3/2/01 Oxbow Lake had many (under 50) of both kinds of Canada Geese. The Fish and Game pond at 15/Schick held a single Lesser Scaup. 3/5/01 Oxbow had only 14 Canada Geese and a Harrier. 3/6/01 Oxbow Lake had 2 Bufflehead, 14 Canada Geese, 3 Redtailed Hawks (one being very harrassed by 3 Crows), and a grey Harrier. 3/12/01 Oxbow Lake had 40 Canadas, 2 male Bufflehead, a pair of Ringnecked Ducks, and a pair of Lesser Scaup. The only sparrows I saw were all Song Sparrows. My first Killdeer of Defiance County was at Evansport. 3/13/01Oxbow Lake had 4 pairs of Canadas. 3/15/01Oxbow Lake had 10 Canada Geese and 2 Horned Grebes, one of which I watched at close quarters, swallowing fish for as long as I wanted to stay and stare. 3/19/01 Oxbow Lake had a pair of Lesser Scaup, 2 male Buffleheads, 4 Canadas and a male RedBreasted Merganser. Although few in number, these birds were amazing in that they allowed extremely close, long viewing! 3/20/01 Oxbow Lake had 10 Lesser Scaup (only one of them a hen), 9 Canada Geese, a Great Blue Heron, a Blue Winged Teal drake, a drake Wood Duck, a drake RingNecked Duck, and a very close-to-shore cooperative Horned Grebe. 3/23/01Oxbow Lake 19 Horned Grebes in one flock! 4 Canada Geese and lots of Flickers. 3/27/01 Oxbow Lake had 4 Ringnecked Duck Hens, 8 Canada Geese and a Great Blue Heron. 3/29/01Oxbow Lake had 10 Canada Geese, 2 Herring Gulls, 2 Pied Billed Grebes (one of which I watched extensively try to swallow a very wide sunfish), and a drake Lesser Scaup. 4/4/01 Oxbow Lake 2 PiedBilled Grebes, and nesting Canada Geese. 4/11/01How about Barn Swallows at Sherwood and Tree Swallows at Oxbow? Also a Blanding's Turtle at Little Oxbow Lake!!!4/23/01 It's light in the morning! So a quick swing through Oxbow Lake before work netted the first Gray Catbird of the year for me. Also SilverSpotted Skippers! 5/3/01 Thinking that there MUST be warblers locally just like at Crane Creek, I checked out Oxbow Lake. Only Yellow Warblers, White-Throated and White-Crowned Sparrows, Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Catbirds, Bluebirds, etc I tried to appreciate them, but knowing what was at the Boardwalk at Crane Creek only a short distance away...7/11/01 Tried something new-- the Little Sit. 4:15-5:15pm , I sat in the stone parking lot at Oxbow Lake to see what would show up: American Crow 3, American Goldfinch 2, BlueJay, BrownHeaded Cowbird 4, Brown Thrasher, Chimney Swift, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Kingbird, Field Sparrow 2, Gray Catbird, Great Blue Heron 2, Indigo Bunting, Killdeer, Mallard 2, Mallard mix, Mourning Dove 2, Northern Cardinal, RedWinged Blackbird2, Rock Dove, Song Sparrow 3, Tree Swallow 8, Turkey Vulture 2, Willow Flycatcher (only 23 species, 44 birds!). Butterflies include an Anglewing, Black Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Monarch, Red Admiral, a dark Skipper, Tiger Swallowtail (7 species). Plants in bloom included: Birdsfoot Trefoil, Daisy Fleabane, Queen Anne's Lace, Red Clover, White Clover, White Sweet Clover Best Bird: Great Blue Heron flew in suddenly from the horizon, landing ON THE ROAD behind me, then walking a few feet into the dry grassy field! Soon I discovered why, as the two chased each other round and round the field at only about 10 feet above the ground. Best Trash: 3 Durex Condoms (2 blue, 1 green), 2 Feminine Applicators, and lots of cigarette butts, all in the same spot in the parking lot. 7/12/01 Another Little Sit-- 4:40-5:40pm, on the north shore of Little Oxbow. AmCr4, AmGo2, American Robin, Baltimore Oriole, BlackCapped Chickadee 2, BlueGray Gnatcatcher, BrTh, FiSp,GrCa 2, InBu, Kill, MoDo, NoCa 4,RedBellied Woodpecker, SoSp, WhiteBreasted Nuthatch, Wood Thrush, YellowShafted Flicker, YellowThroated Vireo (19 species, 28 individuals, 32 species in 2 days). Butterflies included BlSw,CaWh, GreatSpangled Fritillary, Mona, Mourning Cloak, Pearl Crescent, ReAd, dark Skip, Spicebush Swallowtail , Spring Azure (10 today,12 species for these 2 days). Plants in bloom included: BiTr, Canada Goldenrod, Canada Thistle, Cattail, Chicory, DaFl, Field Garlic, NarrowLeaf Plantain, Oxeye Daisy, QALa, ReCl, SelfHeal, Sumac, WhCl, WSCl, Wild Bergamot, Wild Parsnip, Yarrow, Yellow Sweet Clover. Dragonflies: Common Whitetail, Eastern Forktail, Green Clearwing, Green Darner, Swift Long-Winged Skimmer, Widow Skimmer (both male and female of this dimorphic one). (well, maybe, i'm new to dragonfly identification <grin>). Amphibians: Chorus Frogs, Cricket Frog, Green Frogs. and a Chipmunk. Almost all of the birds seen were soaking wet-- evidently between Little Oxbow and the Creek is a place where the birds bathe. Best Bird: should be the Wood Thrush, or the VIreo, both of which serenaded me the whole hour, but the little Gnatcatcher, which was only 5 feet away, soaking wet, and so tiny I thought someone's pet Cordon Bleu was loose at first, was just too cute! Best Trash: a pure white wing feather in the grass. 7/13/01 Little Sit: 4:30-5:30 pm Oxbow Lake at the spot immediately across the road from where the restroom would be if people didn't keep burning it down!: AmGo 4 (many more, but that's all I saw at one time), BlueWinged Warbler 2, Cedar Waxwing 2, Common Grackle 2, Common Yellowthroat, EaBl,GrCa 6 (at least! everywhere I went I had to move because they went crazy loud everywhere I went being too close to a nest-- I had to move 4 times!), GreatCrested Flycatcher, House Wren, MoDo3, Orchard Oriole, Purple Martin, RedTailed Hawk, Savannah Sparrow 2, SoSp 2, Swamp Sparrow, Tree Swallow, TuVu 3, WiFl 2, Yellow Warlber (20 species, 38 birds, 45 species for these 3 days), Butterflies: CaWh,GSFr,PeCr, SpAz, SpSw, and tiny bright-orange bodied moth/butterfly with brown wings and bright orange spots... Plants in bloom included: BiTr,CaGo, DaFl,Deptford Pinks, OxDa, QALa, Self, WSCl, WiMo, WiPa,Yarr. Dragonfly: very big dark one that was gone too early to even attempt to identify. Best Bird: BlueWinged Warblers! Worst Bird: Catbirds Worst/Best/Only Trash: poison ivy! 7/15/01 Little Sit: 11:15am-12:15 at the point where the old, blocked-off road stops following the curve of Big Oxbow Lake: AmCr,AmGo 6, BHCo 2, BROADWINGED HAWK, BrTh,CoGr,CoYe,EaKi,FiSp,GBHe,GrCa,Green Heron, HoWr,NoCa,RBWo,RWBl,RufousSided Towhee, SoSp, TuVu 2, WiFl,YSFl (21 species, 28 individuals, 48 species for these 4 days) Interesting Insects: BlSw, BrownSpotted Yellowwing, CaBu,GSFr,Mona,PeCr,SpSw, and the first flying grasshoppers I 've seen this summer. Plants in Bloom Included: Alsike Clover, BiTr, CaTh,Chic, Common Milkweed, DaFl, Indian Hemp, NaPl, Philadelphia Fleabane, PRAIRIE CONEFLOWER, Purple Loosestrife, QALa, SeHe, Self, StJohn's Wort, WhCl, White Teasel, WiMo, WiPa, WSCl, Yarr,YSCl Best Bird: need I say it again? Broadwinged Hawk, for sure. Best Find: Prairie Coneflower. 5/8/01 While walking at Oxbow Lake, trying to appreciate the many, many catbirds and yellow warblers and orioles, and trying not to think about Crane Creek, I ran into a pair of BlueWinged Warblers, only 2' off the ground and 5' away. They fed busily, chipping as they went. Bird #2 would every minute or whenever he got 3' or so away, fly back and attack harrass Bird #1. Competitive males? A couple keeping in contact with each other? Bird #1 hardly noticed the harrassment, but Bird #2 would check back often on Bird #1. After watching them for some time, I decided to go the 10 miles home and back to get pictures, since they were being so cooperative. Upon returning though, I found them too high for the digital camera, and too active for the clumsy big lens of the 35mm camera, so I'm back again to Snappy outtakes from the video 5/19/01 Received an email from Beverly Richardson of Fort Wayne about local Defiance Ohio's Oxbow Lake: Hi Bijou! Thanks for your directions to Oxbow. I made it over there for a short visit this last Saturday morning. While a drive around the big lake didn't reveal much besides robins, orioles and fishermen, the little lake was cool!!! I walked back along the backside of the lake (though CLOUDs of mosquitos-- thank goodness for repellent!), meaning the side away from the parking lot, for perhaps a 1/3 of a mile. The trail is very overgrown, and it was quite wet so I got pretty damp pretty quickly. There was also lots of poison ivy, so I was very grateful for long pants and long sleeves (and the temps to be comfortable in them). Birds were hard tosee because of all the foliage, but there were singers galore with a wonderful bass line from the bitterns (there had to be dozens!) and the many bullfrogs that were poked up through the algae on the lake. A green heron flew up right in front of me and perched in a pine not 20 feet from me -- WOW! My best and longest view of one ever. They're so gorgeous. I'd never really gotten a good look at the lovely creamy markings on the throat before: pretty! He totally posed for me! The mosquitoes finally drove me back out. As I was coming out of the wooded brushy area, a buffy streak diving and disappearing into some cattails caught my eye. It landed ahead of me, and as I walked toward that spot, that wonderful rubber-band swallow came pumping out of there. Must have been a bittern I'd glimpsed. Wish I coulda gotten a better look: bittern would have been a lifer for me!! Thanks for writing about Oxbow. What a cool place!! Don't know when I've seen a lake so relatively undisturbed. I'll be going back there --when the mosquitos are gone!!! 6/3/2001 Sunday. Oxbow Lake was very, very good when compared with Oxbow Lake on some other days. It didn't compare at all with Crane Creek however, of course. Willow Flycatchers (my first of the season) were simply everywhere, fizbehwing loudly everywhere one went, even outnumbering the Catbirds and Yellow Warblers, I think. GreatCrested Flycatcher, Common Yellowthroat, Warbling and RedEyed Vireo was there also, as well as Canada Geese with young, Wood Ducks, 3 Green Herons, 1 Great Blue Heron. Best of all, the BLUEWINGED WARBLERS from a month ago are still there in the same spot, evidently nesting since they certainly chased me off with loud chips and a flurry of intimidating movement. On the opposite side of Big Oxbow, between the old dog pound and the channel that enters Big Oxbow, was another pair of BlueWinged Warblers, but these were singing the bee-bzzz song and were much more shy. As I followed them, a Towhee followed me reminding me very loudly, always at my elbow, to drink-your-tea! A Cooper's Hawk was there. Enroute home, at Glenburg/Lockwood a male Harrier still strafed the fields, followed closely by angry RedWinged Blackbirds. 6/18/2001 An hour's walk at Oxbow found only the commonest of birds (Willow Flycatcher, Yellow Warblers, Catbirds, Orioles etc), and although I stopped at "the farm" to pick up mulch about 9pm I didn't hear any dickcissels. 6/22/2001 I went to Oxbow Lake to listen for what I would hear about 11pm. Not much except for lots of frogs and lots of Screech Owls (at one spot, at least 6 called at once!). 6/28/2001 Recent walks at Oxbow Lake have resulted in only the most common of birds, but the two pairs of BlueWinged Warblers are still there, evidently nesting from their behavior. Also saw an Orchard Oriole there today. But usually one has to be content with lots of Green and Great Blue Herons, Yellow Warblers, Warbling Vireos, Great Crested Flycatcher, Flickers, Screech Owls, Pheasants, Catbirds, Indigo Buntings, Brown Thrashers, Common Yellowthroats, RedTailed Hawks, Kestrels, Field/Song/Savannah Sparrows (in that order) and Empids. Oh and I almost stepped on a Woodcock today, saw lots of baby crows evidently newly fledged. 6/29/2001A strange dark duck with black feet and bill and a mottled white chest was with 4 mallards at Oxbow Lake today: Sibley's has a very similar duck listed as a domestic malllard ** 7/18/01 Little Sit #5 at Oxbow Lake 4-5pm after work, a little way up the dry creek bed North of BIg Oxbow Lake. It is definitely not forest or woods, more like a glen or a glade, composed mostly of Cottonwoods and a few Basswood: Birds: AmGo, BCCh (8 at one time!), BWWa(another one!), CAROLINA WREN, Chipping Sparrow 2, CoYe, Downy Woodpecker 2, FiSp, GrCa 4 (at least! very noisy!), NoCa, RBWo, RSTo, SoSp 2, Tufted Titmouse 3, Warbling Vireo, WBNu, YeWa (17 species today, 32 birds, 53 species in 5 days) Butterflies: CaWh, ReAd, SpSw, Wood Nymph. Dragonflies: CoWh, Northern Bluet, and a white-abdomen, black-bodied damselfly with black wings with a white spot on the very end of each. Flutters when it flies. Plants in Bloom: BiTr, Canada Goldenrod, CaTh, Clammy Ground Cherry, CUPPLANT, DaFl, Field Bindweed, GrGo, Hedge Bindweed, HOARY TICK-TREFOIL, InHe, Motherwort, NLPl, Oxeye, OxDa, PARTRIDGE PEA, Pasture Rose, PhFl, POKEWEED, PURPLE CONEFLOWER, PuLo, Purple Teasel, QALa, ReCl, Trumpet-Creeper, Water Hemlock, WhCl, White Avens, White Snakeroot, WiBe, WiPa, WiTe, WSCl, Yarr, YSCl (41 species blooming in this 5 day period) Mammals: chip, Fox Squirrel, Raccoon ** 7/15/01 Little Sit: 11:15am-12:15 at the point where the old, blocked-off road stops following the curve of Big Oxbow Lake: AmCr,AmGo 6, BHCo 2, BROADWINGED HAWK, BrTh,CoGr,CoYe,EaKi,FiSp,GBHe,GrCa,Green Heron, HoWr,NoCa,RBWo,RWBl,RufousSided Towhee, SoSp, TuVu 2, WiFl,YSFl (21 species, 28 individuals, 48 species for these 4 days) Interesting Insects: BlSw, BrownSpotted Yellowwing, CaBu,GSFr,Mona,PeCr,SpSw, and the first flying grasshoppers I 've seen this summer. Plants in Bloom Included: Alsike Clover, BiTr, CaTh,Chic, Common Milkweed, DaFl, Indian Hemp, NaPl, Philadelphia Fleabane, PRAIRIE CONEFLOWER, Purple Loosestrife, QALa, SeHe, Self, StJohn's Wort, WhCl, White Teasel, WiMo, WiPa, WSCl, Yarr,YSCl Best Bird: need I say it again? Broadwinged Hawk, for sure. Best Find: Prairie Coneflower. ** 7/13/01 Little Sit: 4:30-5:30 pm Oxbow Lake at the spot immediately across the road from where the restroom would be if people didn't keep burning it down!:AmGo 4 (many more, but that's all I saw at one time), BlueWinged Warbler 2, Cedar Waxwing 2, Common Grackle 2, Common Yellowthroat, EaBl,GrCa 6 (at least! everywhere I went I had to move because they went crazy loud everywhere I went being too close to a nest-- I had to move 4 times!), GreatCrested Flycatcher, House Wren, MoDo3, Orchard Oriole, Purple Martin, RedTailed Hawk, Savannah Sparrow 2, SoSp 2, Swamp Sparrow, Tree Swallow, TuVu 3, WiFl 2, Yellow Warlber (20 species, 38 birds, 45 species for these 3 days) Butterflies: CaWh,GSFr,PeCr, SpAz, SpSw, and tiny bright-orange bodied moth/butterfly with brown wings and bright orange spots... Plants in bloom included: BiTr,CaGo, DaFl,Deptford Pinks, OxDa, QALa, RoughFruited Cinquefoil, Self, WSCl, WiMo, WiPa,Yarr. Dragonfly: very big dark one that was gone too early to even attempt to identify. Best Bird: BlueWinged Warblers! Worst Bird: Catbirds Worst/Best/Only Trash: poison ivy! ** 7/12/01 Another Little Sit-- 4:40-5:40pm, on the north shore of Little Oxbow. AmCr4, AmGo2, American Robin, Baltimore Oriole, BlackCapped Chickadee 2, BlueGray Gnatcatcher, BrTh, FiSp,GrCa 2, InBu, Kill, MoDo, NoCa 4,RedBellied Woodpecker, SoSp, WhiteBreasted Nuthatch, Wood Thrush, YellowShafted Flicker, YellowThroated Vireo (19 species, 28 individuals, 32 species in 2 days). Butterflies included BlSw,CaWh, GreatSpangled Fritillary, Mona, Mourning Cloak, Pearl Crescent, ReAd, dark Skip, Spicebush Swallowtail , Spring Azure (10 today,12 species for these 2 days). Plants in bloom included: BiTr, Canada Goldenrod, Canada Thistle, Cattail, Chicory, DaFl, Field Garlic, NarrowLeaf Plantain, Oxeye Daisy, QALa, ReCl, SelfHeal, Sumac, WhCl, WSCl, Wild Bergamot, Wild Parsnip, Yarrow, Yellow Sweet Clover. Dragonflies: Common Whitetail, Eastern Forktail, Green Clearwing, Green Darner, Swift Long-Winged Skimmer, Widow Skimmer (both male and female of this dimorphic one). (well, maybe, i'm new to dragonfly identification <grin>). Amphibians: Chorus Frogs, Cricket Frog, Green Frogs. and a Chipmunk. Almost all of the birds seen were soaking wet-- evidently between Little Oxbow and the Creek is a place where the birds bathe. Best Bird: should be the Wood Thrush, or the VIreo, both of which serenaded me the whole hour, but the little Gnatcatcher, which was only 5 feet away, soaking wet, and so tiny I thought someone's pet Cordon Bleu was loose at first, was just too cute! Best Trash: a pure white wing feather in the grass.** 7/11/01 Tried something new-- the Little Sit. 4:15-5:15pm , I sat in the stone parking lot at Oxbow Lake to see what would show up:American Crow 3, American Goldfinch 2, BlueJay, BrownHeaded Cowbird 4, Brown Thrasher, Chimney Swift, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Kingbird, Field Sparrow 2, Gray Catbird, Great Blue Heron 2, Indigo Bunting, Killdeer, Mallard 2, Mallard mix, Mourning Dove 2, Northern Cardinal, RedWinged Blackbird2, Rock Dove, Song Sparrow 3, Tree Swallow 8, Turkey Vulture 2, Willow Flycatcher (only 23 species,44 birds!). Butterflies include an Anglewing, Black Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Monarch, Red Admiral, a dark Skipper, Tiger Swallowtail (7 species). Plants in bloom included: Birdsfoot Trefoil, Daisy Fleabane, Queen Anne's Lace, Red Clover, White Clover, White Sweet Clover Best Bird: Great Blue Heron flew in suddenly from the horizon, landing ON THE ROAD behind me, then walking a few feet into the dry grassy field! Soon I discovered why, as the two chased each other round and round the field at only about 10 feet above the ground. Best Trash: 3 Durex Condoms (2 blue, 1 green), 2 Feminine Applicators, and lots of cigarette butts, all in the same spot in the parking lot. 8/6/2001 Birding has been a yawn lately, but of course I haven't been traveling to the Lake! Three Mallard-mix ducks are now at Oxbow Lake (dumped?!!) 9/13/2001 Can it be? In the half-hour window between the end of the work day and the start of tonight's rain, I visited Oxbow Lake and found warblers, lots of them! Tennessee/Nashville/Magnolia/Cape May/BlackThroated Green, as well as Common Yellowthroat and BroadWinged Hawks! Cedar Waxwings were the most numerous bird. 9/14/2001 The first half-hour was extremely disappointing with no bird movement at all-- only trampled trails and lots of gunshots as hunters combed the area for who knows what. Once I reached the spot where the road turns right to go to Little Oxbow, I stumbled on a large group of warblers once again-- add Redstart and Blackpoll to last night's list, as well as Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, and many Peewees and House Wrens, AND PHILADELPHIA VIREO and excellent looks at OSPREY perched on the largest snag near LIttle Oxbow. 9/15/2001 Disjoint report today: Headed to Oxbow Lake today, of course, and was greeted by literally hundreds of birds-- hundreds of Cedar Waxwings alone. The Cedar Waxwings were so hungry they often fed only 7 feet away on the Russian olives. Best bird may have been the Ovenbird that stalked me evidently wondering what or who i was, then raised his crest when he realized I was HUMAN! Also, an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER that patiently flitted in a small circle while I perused all my guides to make sure that's what he was. The other new warblers for the day were Yellow-Rumped and Pine. YellowBellied Flycatcher was great, too. RedEyed Vireos, House Wrens and Cape May Warblers were especially plentiful, as were Blackpoll. The Osprey was there also. Warblers were EVERYWHERE near Big Oxbow, but Little Oxbow had nothing but the common birds and the Osprey. The Leopard Frogs there were fascinating nonetheless. Shorebirds and waterfowl at Oxbow are zilch, zero and none, not even a Great Blue Heron, Mallard or Canada Goose. 9/16/2001 Oxbow Lake I walked for an hour without seeing a single warbler, starting at 7:30am. What I DID see may explain that though: about 15 minutes into the walk, seeing only the most common birds like catbirds and cardinals, a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK landed about 5' off the ground directly on the trail about 20' ahead of me. He stayed there a full minute eyeing me and then my little wirehaired dachshund. About 20 Blue Jays danced overhead, wanting to harrass the obviously distressed hawk but afraid of me and the dog. After he left, chased by the Blue Jays, a large Cooper's Hawk glided overhead, silently escorted out of the area by 3 Crows. Maybe 5 minutes later, probably the same Sharpie again landed on the trail, about 5' off the ground and 20' ahead, still harassed by a large flock of jays, again staying for a full minute. After that, warblers begin to appear singly: first a Tennesee, then a Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia, then a BlueGray Gnatcatcher, then a Blackpoll, a Redstart but never in groups. Always singly and pretty far between. Next was my first RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET of the season, which almost flew directly into my face. Cape May, then suddenly Cedar Waxwings appeared, but not many (only about 30 the entire morning). At the juncture of the entrance road and the circling road, however, appeared a WILSON'S WARBLER. At the pull-off by Big Oxbow, that is just that, surrounded by tall trees was the best spot of the morning-- THREE MALE BLACK-THROATED BLUES all chupping loudly, TWO BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS, and another WIlson's. I saw more of these uncommon warblers than the others which were so plentiful just yesterday! Two Wood Ducks and 8 Canadas flew over, but certainly would not land, as the Lake was crowded with fishing boats, and hunter's guns were blasting away all morning (I left about 9:30am). The Osprey, not suprisingly, was gone. 9/17/2001 Oxbow Lake The first bird seen as I stepped from the car was a Cooper's Hawk, with quiet Blue Jays watching him fly away. Warblers were down, the first group I came upon containing 3 Redstarts, a Magnolia, a Blackpoll, and a Wilson's. Not staying too long (once again, after work before a rain), I'd estimate 30 Waxwings, 30 Yellowrumped, over 10 Blackpoll, over 10 Cape May, 3 House Wrens in a group, a Great Crested Flycatcher, 5 Peewees, a dozen Nighthawks flying south overhead, and a second Wilson's Warbler. Especially nice views of a certain tame RedEyed Vireo at eye level five feet away! The Wilsons' were also especially entertaining, not shy at all and at eye-level, with the darker capped one being in the same spot he was yesterday. Tonight I also found my first WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS (two) of the season. 9/27/2001 At Oxbow Lake immediately after getting out of the car I spotted a small group of warblers: 4 Cape Mays, a Blackpoll and a YellowRump. Many, many Blue Jays flew overhead as I watched them, from as close as eyelevel at 7 feet. I didn't see any others walking from the parking spot until the entrance road, where there was Nashville Warbler with a RubyCrowned Kinglet and a Chickadee. Next group at the road to Little Oxbow was a Cape May and 2 Blackpolls. Where the stone road starts were 2 more Blackpolls, another Nashville, 10 YellowRumped Warblers, and a YELLOW-THROATED VIREO. Thereafter it was almost totally bush-to-bush YellowRumps, at least a hundred. Enroute back to the Little Oxbow Road was a PALM WARBLER hanging inexplicably with 2 Song Sparrows. On the Little Oxbow Road itself were 10 WhiteThroated Sparrows, and two RedHeaded Woodpeckers (one adult and the other juvenile). Enroute back to the car, I stopped to watch the Nashville again (still at the same spot) and realized a single Magnolia Warbler had joined him. Nice for almost 6 o'clock at night! No waterfowl, unless one counts the fishing boats. 10/1/2001 Oxbow Lake First out of the car, I saw a small group (under 10) of YellowRumped Warblers. It was to be a day like yesterday, with RubyCrowned Kinglet, WhiteThroated Sparrows, and three more similar groups of YellowRumps destined to be the highlights of my walk. Oh, and the Kingfisher. Some nice man almost got his 8-week-old yellow longhaired perfectly-healthy kitten to the Animal Shelter a half-mile away, but darn it, only got as far as Oxbow. The thing was meowing loudly amidst all the brambles and wouldn't come no matter how I coaxed. The nice man that owned him before must've abused him just enough before dumping him off as fox food. Perfectly wonderful day, weather and walk otherwise.10/7/2001Oxbow Lake My first greeting was a dead YellowRumped Warbler lying in the road, either shot or hit by a car I imagine. Large numbers of YellowRumped Warblers, Bluebirds, Eastern Meadowlarks, Crows, RubyCrowned Kinglets and Robins. RufousSided Towhee was nice though, and I heard a Lincoln's Sparrow sing while I watched him being uncharacteristically friendly--or maybe he just didn't know I was there. 2 PiedBilled Grebes were on Big Oxbow, with Swifts and Tree Swallows plying their trade on its surface. 11/2/2001 Rushed to get some birding in before sunset, while everyone else went shopping: Oxbow Lake was full of carloads of hunters. Parked in one spot for only a minute was like watching the movie Bambi during the forest fire scene as 3 RingNecked cock Pheasants, 12 Eastern Bluebirds, 6 Tufted Titmice, 2 BlackCapped Chickadees and a GoldenCrowned Kinglet rushed by ahead of the approaching gunfire. 100 RingNecks had been released the last two weekends for the kids to shoot. Real Pheasant season opened today, with another 50 to be released here on Nov 9, 19, and 26.11/21/2001 Oxbow Lake had lots of hunters and Brittany spaniels, but no waterfowl. 11/29/2001 Four carloads of hunters at Defiance's Oxbow Lake, but after work from the safety of my car I saw two cock Pheasants (one crowing continually, as if to say, "Come shoot me!"), a RedTailed Hawk, many Kestrels and Mourning Doves, a Blue Jay, a dozen or so Bluebirds and no waterfowl at all. 112/29/2001 Oxbow Lake Christmas Count Doug & I took Oxbow Lake area, Micki & Lach took the Girl Scout Camp, getting the Great Horned Owl and WhiteCrowned Sparrow. Pete & Roger took the north rural area, getting White-Throated Sparrow. In the afternoon, Lach & I did Power Dam area, finding the only RoughLegged Hawk at 15/Bowman. Micki & Doug took Independence Dam with surprising losses: no yellowrumped warblers or eagles (they were probably at their nest, just outside of the proscribed circle). None too eventful unfortunately... 1 each: Cooper's Hawk, RoughLegged Hawk, Eastern Screech Owl, Great Horned Owl, Carolina Wren, Field/WhiteThroated/WhiteCrowned Sparrows, 2 each: Wild Turkeys, Hairy Woodpeckers and Song Sparrows, 3 each: Kingfishers and RedHeaded Woodpeckers, 4 American Black Ducks, 7 each: Flickers, Brown Creepers, Snow Buntings, 11 Eastern Bluebirds, 14 Kestrels, 22 RedBellied Woodpeckers, 26 Tufted TItmice, 27 Harriers and Herring Gulls, 30 Cardinals, 32 WhiteBreasted Nuthatches, 36 Downy Woodpeckers, 37 RedTailed Hawks, 40 Blue Jays, 41 Goldfinches, 47 Rock Doves, 49 each BlackCapped Chickadees and American Crows, 63 Mourning Doves, 115 American Tree Sparrows, 145 Juncos, 242 House Finches,239 Horned Larks, 377 RingBilled Gulls, 712 Canada Geese, 766 House Sparrows, 1101 European Starlings.2000 1/2/2000 A cock RING-NECKED PHEASANT, a downy woodpecker, 3 titmice, 2 black-capped chickadees and lots of hunters. 1/16/2000 30 American Tree Sparrows, 1 cardinal, 2 harriers, 2 red-tailed hawks, 1 pheasant. 1/28/00 Oxbow Lake was still frozen over of course, and so only yielded 4 mourning doves, a dozen American Tree Sparrows, 10 yellow-rumped warblers, a lone junco, a male cardinal, and a kestrel. Stark contrast to Independence Dam today. 2/7/2000 A quick drive around the frozen OXBOW LAKE revealed nothing at all. No movement at all, except for a few ice fishermen. I was tempted to read to them Al Smith's column in yesterday's Defiance Crescent-News: "...One place that is a total waste of an angler's time is Oxbow Lake..." 2/28/00 16 Canada Geese, and lots of boats and fishermen. 3/7/00 12 vehicles(!), 100 grackles and 100 robins, 2 drake mallards, and 10 Canada Geese. sigh. 3/17/00 Oxbow Lake held 40 Canada Geese, 6 Eastern Bluebirds, 3 Ring-Necked Pheasants, a Great Blue Heron, a Red-Tailed Hawk, and a Harrier. 3/19/2000 At Oxbow Lake, I watched a cock pheasant for about 20 minutes from a distance of 10' as he just stood in the rain, ruffled his feathers, and shook his tail, periodically crowing. There were also 4 crows, 6 Canada geese, and hundreds of grackles and robins. 3/24/2000 Oxbow Lake had 22 Canada Geese, 3 Red-Tailed Hawks, and 2 Turkey Vultures, and lots of fishermen to discourage any other waterfowl. 3/25/2000 12 Canada Goose, 4 Turkey Vultures, 3 Kestrels, 3 Crows, 2 Harriers, a Red-Tailed Hawk, and a Cooper's Hawk. 3/30/2000 Oxbow Lake had 2 pair of RingNecked Pheasants (first females I'd seen in quite some time), 2 Horned Grebes, a kestrel, a RedTailed Hawk and 16 Canada Geese. 4/10/2000 Oxbow Lake had 4 Red-Breasted Mergansers (3f,1m, the first i've seen this season), 4 Canada Geese, 3 Turkey Vultures, 2 Pied-Billed Grebes, a Kingfisher, and many Tree Swallows and large numbers of Flickers. 4/14/2000 4 Canada Geese, a Mourning Cloak Butterfly and a Pied-Billed Grebe. 4/24/2000 Oxbow Lake: Saw the first Cedar Waxwings, and Field Sparrows of the year, Pied-Bill Grebe, a single Redhead, and a Pheasant. Also lots of wildflowers including Trout Lily (white and yellow), Large Flowered Trillium, Spring Beauty, Cut-Leaved Toothwort, Rue Anemone, a few very late Bloodroot, Dutchman's Breeches, Wild Strawberry, Striped White Violet, Downy Yellow Violet, Hispid Buttercup, Sessile Trillium, Common Blue Violets, Purple Dead Nettle, Early Meadow Rue, even the Garlic Mustard looked festive. Pipevine Swallowtail, Spring Azure, Tiger Swallowtail, and lots of strange Skippers I can only identify as Columbine Dusky Wings, based on the yellow spots on the underside of the wing. 4/28/2000 Oxbow Lake: Wood Anemone, Golden Ragwort, and Wild Blue Phlox joined the floral carpet, as Eastern Kingbird joined the Field and White-Throated Sparrows, Kinglets, 2 Pied-Billed Grebes, 2 Brown Thrashers, 5 Canada Geese, and Red-Tailed Hawk. I was surprised by a Rough-Legged Hawk enroute to work this morning, near Sherwood. 4/30/2000 Cedar Waxwings, 2 Yellow Warblers, 2 Blue-Grey Gnatcatchers, 2 Brown Thrashers, and a Green Heron.5/19/2000 Quick drive resulted in a male Ring-Necked Pheasant, 4 Canada Geese, and a male Harrier. Turkey season reports show 161 killed in WilliamsCo, 66 in Defiance, 36 in Paulding, 26 in Fulton and 25 in Henry (314 in these NW counties). 6/14/2000 Enroute home from work saw 4 Red-Headed Woodpeckers on the telephone poles, just on the Defiance County section of Evansport Road. 6/16/2000 An hour's walk at Oxbow Lake: within the first five minutes were the regulars: Oriole, Common Yellowthroat, Red-Winged Blackbird, Lark, Kestrel, Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Canada Goose, Goldfinch, Blue Jay, House Wren, Grackle, Starling,etc. Five minutes later I had added only Indigo Bunting. 25 minutes later added Cardinal. 30 minutes later Field Sparrow. 35 minutes later only Rufous-Sided Towhee. 55 minutes later only Yellow Warbler and Tree Swallow. It was a nice walk though, with many butterflies (mostly Spangled Fritillaries, Monarch, Giant Swallowtail, Cabbage and Hackberry Butterlies, Alfalfa and Sulphur, Red Admirals, Striped Hairstreak, Pearl Crescent, Little Wood Satyrs, Silver Spotted and European Skippers, Northern Pearly Eyes) and late spring flowers (White Yarrow, Deptford Pinks, Ladies' Thumb, Moneywort, Bird's-Foot Trefoil, Yellow & White Sweet Clover, White, Alsike & Red Clover, Rough Cinquefoil, Oxeye Daisies, Indian Hemp, Fleabane, Pasture Rose, (and prettiest of all) Butterfly Weed; Chicory and Milkweed just on the verge of bloom), and dragonflies (I don't know these very well, but appear to be Green Darners (Snake Doctors), Widows, and Whitetails). I think I remembered them all. Pretty but uneventful. Most numerous: deerflies, mosquitos, and dog ticks (I removed more than 10 in the field, and 3 at home!). 9/15/2000 Oxbow Lake had 4 Blue-Winged Teal. 9/16/2000 Oxbow Lake had many fishermen today. A long walk tired out my poor dachshund, and all we really saw was a Red-Tailed Hawk and a Phoebe. 10/3/2000 Oxbow Lake not too exciting with a small mixed flock of Field Sparrows and White-Throated Sparrows. 5 Kestrels. 10/5/2000 Oxbow Lake is going to have 450 pheasants released this year: 100 Oct 20, 100 Oct 27, 100 Nov 2, 50 Nov 10, 50 Nov 17, 50 Nov 22. 15,000 for the entire state. 10/6/2000 The only excitement at Oxbow Lake was a Pied-Billed Grebe and a flock of 10 White-Throated Sparrows. Lots of Jays, Cardinals, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, 2 Turkey Vultures and a pair of Harriers, though. Great fall foliage. A huge flock of Eastern Meadowlarks at Glenburg & SR 18. 10/12/2000 Passed a field at 18/Glenburg with about 30 Eastern Meadowlarks in a flock. 10/18/2000 Oxbow Lake was very active-- with fishermen. Bluebirds, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Swainson's Thrush, Bluebirds, 2 Harriers. Some sweet man had shot a flicker, but fortunately it dropped headlong into a tree about 15' off the ground with wings and tail spread, where it shows off its beautiful yellow lining for every man, woman and child who walks by. Just don't look at it's ugly dead eye socket. 10/20/2000 Oxbow Lake had an extremely cooperative OSPREY today, allowing great video of him eating a fish. Lots of friendly Pheasants around, dropped there for people to shoot tomorrow. Got nice pix of some of them too. :) On a more serious note, both White-Crowned and White-Throated Sparrows cavorted with Field Sparrows and Juncos. There were also Ruby-Crowned and Golden-Crowned Kinglets, Cedar Waxwings, and a Nashville Warbler. Rufous-Sided Towhee female still there. Lots of fishermen and hunters too. And a Turkey Vulture.11/10/00 Oxbow Lake had legions of hunters and 3 Harriers (one adult male). At Glenburg and Buckskin Roads were 8 Meadowlarks. 11/22/2000 Oxbow Lake had 3 Robins joining a flock (49) of Cedar Waxwings. I was surprised to still see a Flicker. There were many Bluebirds, and a cock Pheasant made it through the first hunting phase. 8 Hunters in bright orange, 4 RedTailed Hawks, 3 adult male grey Harriers, 1 Brown Harrier, 2 Kestrel, and Crows, too.12/6/2000 Oxbow Lake had 6 Robins and a RedBellied Woodpecker at the entrance, 7 carloads of hunters inside. 12/28/2000 Oxbow Lake had 53 Cedar Waxwings, 6 Juncos, 8 Blue Jays, 3 Goldfinch, an Eastern Bluebird, 2 Cardinals, 2 Hunters and 8 Ice Fishermen. 12/30/2000 Pam and I participated in the Oxbow Lake Christmas Bird Count today, although we didn't go to Oxbow Lake at all <hee-hee>. Our assigned area did include the area of PauldingCo within the 15mi circle, Power Dam, and the Riverside Cemetery. The total Christmas Count will be posted at a later date, but our contribution included: 1,853 Starlings, 229 Canada Geese, 200 RingBilled Gulls, 52 Rock Doves, 47 Mallards, 40 Mourning Doves, 24 Crows, 17 Blue Jays, 14 Cardinals, 12 Herring Gulls, 11 Common Mergansers, 11 American Black Duck, 11 House Sparrows, 8 Juncos, 8 RedBellied Woodpeckers, 8 RedTailed Hawks, 8 Black-Capped Chickadees, 7 Downy Woodpeckers, 6 Eastern Bluebirds, 6 RedBreasted Nuthatch, 6 WhiteBreasted Nuthatch, 6 Kestrel, 5 American Tree Sparrows, 5 GreatBlue Herons, 3 Titmice, 2 Hairy Woodpeckers, 1 Goldfinch, 1 brown Harrier, 1 adult Bald Eagle, 1 male RingNecked Pheasant, 1 female RedWinged Blackbird, 1 Great BlackBacked Gull. Points of interest: no Owls at all, even with calling, not even ShortEared, only 1 Harrier (instead of 25 per mile), no Larks, Longspurs, or Buntings, all of which should've been common. Maybe due to the 10" of snow and recent bitter cold? 19999/1 Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Canada Geese, a Kestrel and a Turkey Vulture. 9/7/99 there were no swallows, no geese, only cardinals, catbirds, 12 turkey vultures and a very cooperative Magnolia warbler. October 7 drive-thru: 6 tree swallows still there, 2 crows and 2 red-bellied woodpeckers raising quite a fuss with each other. yellow-rumped warblers aplenty. still a few turkey vultures. October 11, 1999 quick drive-thru found a male and a female Lesser Scaup swimming with a male Ruddy Duck. There were also lots of white-crowned, white-throated, field, and chipping sparrows. I saw only 6 tree swallows,3 bluejays, 1 robin, 1 catbird, 1 bluebird, 1 turkey vulture, 1 red-tailed hawk, and 1 chimney swift. Also there were a grey- and a brown- harrier just outside the entrance, and lots of kestrels. October 13, 1999 drive-thru found hundreds of robins, lots of white-throated sparrows, 1 white-crowned sparrow, 6 bluejays, 10 flickers, 10 cardinals, 3 turkey vultures, 2 kestrels, 2 harriers (one grey, one brown), 1 great blue heron and a soaking-wet disgusted-looking redtail that would not fly even as I drove under the tree in which he sat, with a bright red Ohio State sweatshirt on. In the skies overhead were two more redtailed hawks, one chased by six crows and another by three. Two crows sat not far from the hawk in the tree. Every warbler I checked was a yellow-rumped--and i checked lots of them : ) !! 10/21/99 Unusually barren of birds! Saw only 6 turkey vultures, 2 brown harriers, 1 redtailed hawk, and 4 crows... no small birds at all. Quick drive-through of course.10/26/99 1 redtailed hawk, 1 harrier, 3 crows, 3 white-throated sparrows, 4 cardinals, 10 starlings, 20 robins. 11/8/99 3 crows, 10 juncos, 2 cardinals, 12 hunters in orange, and a pheasant wing. I have discontinued going here until after hunting season. 12/23/99 a harrier, a cardinal, and about 50 starlings (quick drive); frozen lake. 12/26/99 There were 12 of us who started the 100th Christmas Bird Count from Oxbow Lake at 7:30pm. Doug and Micki Dunakin were our leaders. Our first bird was a screech owl at Oxbow. It was bitterly cold and snowing, until we actually started. Then it seemed a very pleasant day, though the weather was the same: 610 European Starlings, 593 RingBilled Gulls, 448 Canada Geese, 263 Horned Lark, 239 House Sparrows, 237 Herring Gulls, 73 Rock Doves, 66 Mallards, 52 American Crows, 49 Housefinches, 28 Downy Woodpeckers, 25 Cardinals, 24 WhiteBreasted Nuthatches, 19 RedTailed Hawk, 18 Blue Jays, 17 Tufted Titmice, 17 YellowRumped Warblers, 16 American Kestrel, 14 Lapland Longspurs, 14 Mourning Doves, 14 Northern Harrier, 13 Juncos, 12 American Tree Sparrows, 12 BlackCapped Chickadees, 12 Gadwall, 12 RedBellied Woodpeckers, 11 American Goldfinches, 9 American Black Ducks, 9 Eastern Bluebirds, 8 Brown Creepers, 6 Wild Turkeys, 5 GoldenCrowned Kinglets, 5 Great Blue Herons, 4 Belted Kingfishers, 4 ShortEared Owls, 3 Cooper's Hawk, 3 Hairy Woodpeckers, 3 Pine Siskins, 3 RoughLegged Hawk, 2 Cedar Waxwings, 2 Common Merganser, 2 Redpolls, 1 Bald Eagle, 1 Eastern Screech Owl, 1 PiedBilled Grebe, 1 RedBreasted Nuthatch, 1 RedHeaded Woodpecker, 1 RubyCrowned Kinglet.