Creature Feature

We were birding several spots around Big Island Wildlife Area, hoping for some lingering ducks in late April, but it seemed like everywhere we looked, we had squeaking, fluttering groups of Blue-winged Teal. I hadn’t seen so many of them in Ohio, but grew up with them in Florida. There, they are more common than

It was like a twisted fairy tale. We had journeyed to Stratford, Ontario, to see the Shakespeare festival, but walking along the Avon River (yes, they really call it that), we were startled by the large number of Mute Swans. Turns out, it wasn’t a natural accumulation. Town representatives thought the birds were a good

We did a double take. Our trio was out on a Columbus CBC territory in urban Columbus, and we’d stumbled upon a cluster of unusual waterfowl in an urban wetland (off Codet Road near Easton, to be exact). In urban areas, anything besides Mallards and Gadwall is rather unusual, and here we had those and

It was warm and humid.   The birding had slowed, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered.   As we peered out from the shade of some large trees, someone noticed a large gold dragonfly drifting into view.  Then another.  And yet another.    Soon the meadow in front of us had a cruising swarm of dozens of big

Creature Feature: Blue Grosbeak By Rob Thorn The rich warbling song was faint at first, as if it were a long distance away, but distinctive. “Blue Grosbeak,” I whispered to the group. I had discovered a lot of them recently, all over central Ohio. “How do you keep finding them?’ said one birder.  “Do you have a