June is another of those tricky months for the Avid Birders. The northbound migration is over, so we can’t chase such delights as transiting neotropical passerines or lingering waterfowl. It’s too early for even the earliest southbound shorebirds, much less other migrants. Plenty of nesting birds are here in Ohio raising young, but many of them have stopped proclaiming their territories at every opportunity and so are hard to find. And it’s hard to get excited about looking for common Ohio nesters: why go on an Avid Birders trip to look for cardinals, chickadees, and woodpeckers when you can find them in your own backyard? What’s a poor Avid Birder to do?
There are two possibilities for the truly avid. First, we could devote an Avid Birders trip to chasing true rarities if any happen to be around. Alternatively, we could look for regional specialties, species not usually found in central Ohio. Although there was one possibility for the first option (a Black Rail in Northeast Ohio), we elected to try the second. June is a good month to try for some southern Ohio specialties, such as Blue Grosbeak, Dickcissel, and Yellow-Breasted Chat.
With those summer species in mind, we heard the siren call of Southwestern Ohio. We have not visited the far southwestern corner of the state in quite some time, but there are some interesting birding locations there. Some friends down that way, particularly Oxford birder Jim Michael, helped us plan a route that held promise of good birds, so Saturday morning saw eight of us heading to areas west of the Queen City.
Our first stop was a spot known as the Lost Bridge. We were at a loss to figure out why the bridge was lost; it appears to be a perfectly normal small bridge over the Great Miami River. In any case, we were off to a good start with four of the likely five swallows in Ohio: Bank, Barn, Northern Rough-winged, and Tree. (Oddly enough, no Barn Swallows.) Six Spotted Sandpipers, an unusually high number for one spot, were feeding on the mud flats and sand bars along with numerous Killdeer. Nearby trees held, and mostly hid, a few Orchard Orioles.
Up the road a bit, an area of abandoned gravel pits has become county parkland. Here we had one of our great finds of the day: a singing Bells Vireo. Although easily heard when present, this species is notoriously difficult to see, but we all managed at least fleeting looks. Among other species, Gray Catbirds and Northern Mockingbirds sang everywhere.
Next, we made a quick stop at Dravo Park seeking a previously-reported Lark Sparrow. Alas, no sparrows and little other reason to stay, so we headed to Fernald Preserve.
Fernald is an interesting place. A uranium processing plant during the Cold War, it has been decontaminated and turned into a nature preserve of about a thousand acres. A lovely new Visitor Center houses exhibits describing the history of the location; we put the center to more prosaic use, commandeering some seating in the front area for a lunch break. A friendly staffer pointed us toward several trails, and our subsequent explorations paid off. A stunning male Blue Grosbeak was seeking shade in an ornamental tree mere steps from the visitor center; a short distance further brought us to an observation platform where we heard a Sedge Wren. A walk in the other direction toward a bird blind gave us several singing and displaying Dickcissels and a lone Eastern Meadowlark with a southern dialect.
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We we were well into our day as we headed toward Shaker Trace Wetlands. A long walk along the edge of a woodlot demonstrated just how beautiful early summer Ohio afternoons can be, with the bluest of skies, greenest of leaves, and a soft breeze. Being Avid Birders, though, we felt a twinge of impatience even with such lovely conditions – until some Cedar Waxwings flew in to keep us amused, followed by an actual sighting, as opposed to mere hearing, of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and an even better Yellow-breasted Chat.
Hoped-for sparrows were not in evidence, so we decided against a much longer walk, enjoying a slow ramble back to the parking lot. Our species total for the day was a moderate 67, not a huge total but good for the time of year, especially as it included almost all our target southern Ohio birds. The entire list is below.
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Mallard
Hooded Merganser
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Bell’s Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow