Avids Migrate South: 16 September 2017

Eight Avid Birders managed to find our temporary southern meeting location on Stringtown Road, despite road construction and service road access requiring U-turns. Even with one driver creating his own personal left turn lane – left of center and way over the double yellow line – we made it safely through the construction and headed south. (Note to self: better meeting location needed for trips headed south!) Navigating through the construction zone in the dark was challenging indeed. Fortunately, traffic was light at 5:45 AM on a Saturday.

Our caffeination destination was the Wilmington McDonalds where we socialized briefly before heading to East Fork, somehow proceeding in different directions. Parts of our group ended up on opposite sides of the lake, but we could see and sometimes hear each other across the water. Cell phones enhanced communications as we searched for the previously-reported but elusive Neotropic Cormorant, our target bird for the day.  A Green Heron and a Belted Kingfisher flew by, helping to keep our attention focused while we waited. What may have been the Neotropic Cormorant made a brief fly-by appearance, but we were not satisfied. One team stayed in place, eventually locating the bird perched in a snag over the water, while the other team  checked the marina, where we found a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Eventually the teams reunited, with most of the group enjoying the Neotropic Cormorant, a life bird for many. One couple, who were not feeling well, decided cormorants were not their thing, and headed for Armleger to look for warblers.  While we were viewing our target bird, a nearby Double-crested Cormorant flew off, but then another Double-crested Cormorant flew in right next to the Neotropic Cormorant. That provided great comparison looks between the two species.

Next we checked the East Fork beach, easily relocating an American Golden Plover and a lone Semipalmated Plover. Black Vultures, always unusual in Ohio, roosted on the pavilion roof. The park ranger joined us, along with a couple other park employees, to view the plovers.

We searched in vain for other potential rarities, hoping for birds blown off course by the recent Hurricanes in Texas and Florida. This beach is the site of Ohio’s first (and only at the time of our trip) record Sooty Tern.

Next destination: warblers! We headed for Armleger, where the birds were scarce and high in the trees. Nevertheless, we saw Magnolia and Tennessee Warblers, along with a single Bay-breasted Warbler. A walk in the woods provided a respite from the noonday sun, but yielded few birds.

The Lost Bridge area was even more lacking in birds, dashing our rarity hopes again! At this point, the group decided to return to Columbus. But, needing to do more birding, a few of us headed for Kiwanis – likely a new Avids destination – where we were treated to good numbers of warblers and vireos. In the parking lot, we saw a Wilson’s, Blackburnian, and Black-throated Green Warblers .  As we headed to the path, we also found a pair of Philadelphia Vireos, then quickly added Redstarts, Warbling Vireo, and House Wrens to our list of species for the day.

Just before 6:00 pm, a report came in for a Sooty tern near Dover Ohio – alas, too far to be able to see before dark! Many of us made the two-hour trip the following day and were rewarded with views of Ohio’s second record for this species!

We ended up with a respectable 65 species for the day; they are listed below.