The portents for the annual Avids excursion to southern Ohio were unusual this year. A late spring suggested a lack of migrants, early reports in the week presented Shawnee State Forest in a discouraging light, and to top it off, the Ohio Ornithological Society had to go and schedule their 10th annual meeting on the same weekend in the same place! Would the birds be late? Would the woods be silent? Would we be dodging vans full of OOS participants on the narrow forest roads? Would anyone actually show up?
The usual routine for an April Shawnee trip is to include a Friday night jaunt to Adams County for nocturnal and crepuscular species. Our Friday night crew consisted of five people, who were grateful for being previously well-acquainted after squishing all into a single vehicle. Dan Sanders and Doreene Linzell had been birding the area the night before and during the day on Friday, and had Whip-poor-wills and Barred Owls the night before, but no sign of the real target: Chuck-will’s-widow, a true southern Ohio specialty. They also reported a disturbing lack of Wood Thrushes and orioles during their diurnal birding. Had we misjudged the timing of the April trip?
However, our fears for the trip outcome started to be assuaged that evening, picking up Baltimore Oriole in the marina parking lot before we left, and hearing multiple Wood Thrushes singing along Ohio Brush Creek Road on our way to the Euletts Center in Adams County. We arrived at the Euletts Center about 8:20 PM, and started hearing birds such as Field Sparrow, Wild Turkey, and Common Yellowthroat. At 8:40, a Chuck-will’s-widow began to loudly call, and soon after, we heard the peenting and flight calls of an American Woodcock. After dishing the latest to a group of OOS folks who arrived at 9 PM, we headed out to find other night birds. Oddly, despite our success with the Chuck-will’s-widow earlier, we struck out on Whip-poor-wills and owls.
Saturday morning dawned cool and bright. Shortly after 8:00, the entire crew congregated and many happy reunions were made, especially with the official Avids mascot: the Platygator. The Platygator is an odd stuffed animal that was found at the former Richfield Coliseum site during a long-ago Avids trip, and was entrusted to the care of Joe Hammond. After a stint in southeastern Arizona, which did wonders for his complexion, the Platygator made his triumphant return to the Avids. We typically start picking up good birds in the small woodlot at the Shawnee Marinaand this morning was no different, with the boldest White-eyed Vireo ever singing and posing directly in the open for all to see, and both Orchard and Baltimore Orioles showing up. A Gray Catbird, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and an Indigo Bunting appeared briefly to stoke our appetite for birds, so with fifteen birders in tow, the Platygator perched on the dashboard of the lead vehicle and ushered us into the state forest.
While the neotropical migrants that breed north of Ohio were conspicuous by their absence, the birds who call Shawnee State Forest their nursery did not fail to impress. A total of 18 species of warblers were recorded by the end of the day, with all but two (Louisiana Waterthrush and Ovenbird) seen. Especially numerous, it seemed, were Hooded Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, and Ovenbird. Decent numbers of White-eyed Vireos and Red-eyed Vireos were back, and two Blue-headed Vireos provided challenges for everyone in the group to get a good look. By this time, the fabled Platygator had acquired a dashing purple tutu (or cumberbund, depending on your degree of fashion sense), and perhaps causing some confusion for an OOS group who viewed him being touted around our group during lunch at Picnic Point.
Yellow-throated Vireos were almost a miss; however, while discussing how the group last year found a nesting pair at the campground, one bird started singing as though he knew we were talking about him. Lo and behold, there was a pair building a nest in a tree near the edge of the parking lot in the campground! After satisfying observations of the nuances of vireo home décor, it was time to split up. Some of us were staying to attend OOS activities, while the remainder headed north. Some of the traditional stops on the way back to Columbus were visited, including the bridge over SR104, a traditional Cliff Swallow colony location. The small wetland on River Road near Charlie’s Pond provided interesting birds for the trip list, including both yellowlegs, snipe, sora, Vesper Sparrrow, American Kestrel, and Peregrine Falcon.
Despite prognostication of poor showings, the presence of the Platygator must have coaxed out the local resident birds to provide a splendid start to the spring warbler migration. Once again, a good mascot shows its value in the birding luck it brings its companions!
Our trip list (below) was a healthy 88 species. You can see additional photos of a few of the birds that we saw courtesy of Lisa Phelps at her Flickr album.
Canada Goose
Mallard
Wild Turkey
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Cooper’s Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Sora
American Coot
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Wilson’s Snipe
American Woodcock
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chuck-will’s –widow
Chimney Swift
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Blue-winged Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Black-and-White Warbler
American Redstart
Worm-eating Warbler
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow Vesper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch