Wintry weather had not yet arrived in the state when 14 of us gathered for the first trip of 2012. A cold few days had encouraged some interesting birds to move in, but for the most part we could only hope for the arrival of delayed waterfowl. Swans and cranes were still migrating through the state, long after their customary schedule. Of special interest was a noticeable incursion of snowy owls, young birds apparently driven south by their parents after an evidently good breeding season in Canada.
Overall, our efforts went to the birds of open country, of lakes and marshes and prairie-like settings, rather than those of woodlands. The weather was propitious, mild and sunny, a bit breezy. For the second trip in a row, we set out under a full moon in a clerar sky. The usual January sites along eastern Ohio Lake Erie sites were, by reports, not of great interest. We had good intelligence on the presence of four snowy owls in different locations along our route in northwestern Ohio, and we built an itinerary based largely on finding these ghostly visitors, who’d grown scarce in recent years.
Our first stop was at sunrise at the largest Findlay reservoir, where we anticipated a good-sized gull and waterfowl roost to disperse at that time. The birds were far fewer than hoped, and all of course stayed as much as a mile away, many obscured by unfavorable light, but we got a list started before we headed north for a reported snowy owl in Hancock County and another disappointment, as no owl was around. No problem, we thought, as there were two owls that had been refound in Wood County, along with a northern shrike, whereupon our five carloads headed northwest. Both species evaded us there after a couple of hours slowly cruising empty fields, where we at least found many harriers, a nice flock of a couple hundred snow buntings, and other expected birds of that habitat. The lengthy searches involved added a bit of urgency to subsequent efforts.
Another jump north placed us at Maumee Bay State Park, where reports of long-eared owls, northern shrike, and many waterfowl drew us. The actual result was a few waterfowl, less than a hudnred birds, off in the Lake. Other observers we met had had similar results. Reduced to polishing year lists, we resorted to feeders at the Trautman Nature Center for northern birds like black-capped chickadees, and to the cottage grounds for shrikes, etc., all to no avail. Some desperation led us to consider more shrike reports and rumors of flocks of waterfowl to the east, but our short day was growing shorter, and we restricted ourselves to a visit to Metzger Marsh, where a modest gathering of waterfowl fluffed our lists a bit.
There lay before us a lengthy drive as the sun plummeting toward the horizon, aiming for the last seemingly reliable snowy owl report, in Hardin County. We hoped we might have time for a last swing thereafter for an eared grebe back home. In Hardin County we prowled the several locations this reportedly skittish owl had haunted, without seeing it, or the snarl of birders’ cars that might have signalled its presence. Finally, with the reddening sun just about to disappear, during our second pass down one of the rural roads, a big white bird flushed and alit on a ridge a couple of hundred yards west. It allowed us all to set up scopes in the traffic-free roadway and admire it. A local resident talked with us, wondering what we were up to, saying her family and neighbors had been speculating that all the visitors in recent days might have been drug dealers, but we set them straight. Afterward our happy group set off for home, a bit more than an hour away, after a feast on Mary’s muffins. Our trip list came to a modest total of 49 species, but the weather was excellent, one important goal at least was accomplished, and we all had a fine time in the company of old and new friends. We hoped that some more normal winter birding might face us in February, about which we will duly report next month.
Canada goose
Tundra swan
Gadwall
American wigeon
American black duck
Mallard
Canvasback
Redhead
Lesser scaup
Bufflehead
Common goldeneye
Hooded merganser
Common merganser
Red-breasted merganser
Pied-billed grebe
Horned grebe
Double-crested cormorant
Great blue heron
Bald eagle
Northern harrier
Cooper’s hawk
Red-tailed hawk
American kestrel
American coot
Ring-billed gull
Herring gull
Rock pigeon
Mourning dove
Red-bellied woodpecker
Downy woodpecker
Northern flicker
Blue jay
American crow
Horned lark
Carolina chickadee
Carolina wren
Eastern blueburd
American robin
Northern mockingbird
European starling
Lapland longspur
Snow bunting
American tree sparrow
Song sparrow
Northern cardinal
Brown-headed cowbird
American goldfinch
House sparrow
All photos courtesy Bett Williams.