On February 3, 10 individuals braced the cold weather in search of some of Ohio’s winter residents. The feeders at Green Lawn provided great looks at many of Central Ohio’s great feeder birds. We were treated to close-up views of House Finches, Blue Jays, Dark-eyed Juncos, and White-throated Sparrow. Participants were fortunate enough to see a Great Horned Owl as she prepares for the nesting season. Deeper into the cemetery, a real highlight was a pair of Pine Siskins coming in very close, down to eye level and singing for us! Everyone was very excited to get such good look at this sometimes tricky bird to locate. With a lot of patience, we were able to locate one “Cassiar’s” Dark-eyed Junco in the large group of “Slate Colored” Dark-eyed Juncos. Finally, as we headed back towards the cars, a Brown Creeper put on a show for us, our 19th and final new species for the trip!
For the full report, see the eBird list.
You can join the discussion of Dark-eyed Junco subspecies and intermediates at the Oceanwanderers web site.