Wingless, Featherless, Clawless Birds

I promise a birding update soon, but we have been busy all week, birding as much as possible and squeezing in barely enough sleep in between! We head out tomorrow for our long trek back home to Ohio. 

After birding most of the day today, we stopped by the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival headquarters and ran into some friends at the Leica booth. We mentioned wanting to find a Green Kingfisher before leaving and they offered several good locations. Then, to seal the deal, they said that one particular park, Sabal Palms Sanctuary was also a decent spot to find Speckled Racers... an incredibly beautiful snake that has a pretty small range in the US. That was all they had to say! We were off to find some snakes... oh yeah, and maybe some birds too. 

We headed to the recommended trails and within minutes I looked to my right and saw possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It was like a scene from a movie where the lights are shining around a floating object, singling it out from everything else. There it was. A Speckled Racer, glowing blue, right there in the leaves! I tried to alert Ben, who was slightly ahead of me and I couldn't even speak for a few seconds... then I just kept repeating "Here it is! Here it is!" We watched through our binoculars in awe and tried to snap a few cellphone shots as it hunted a lizard. I was shaking and didn't get a decent picture, but here's one Ben took through his binoculars:

I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I had previously seen photos of Speckled Racers from Honduras but I had no idea anything like it existed in the United States until recently. As soon as I found out they were a possibility down here in Texas I wanted to see one. I never thought it would happen though. I was shaking and nearly crying and as soon as it was out of sight, I was jumping and cheering! I couldn't stop smiling, when moments later Ben spots a second Speckled Racer!! This one was a little closer, but as their name indicates, they are FAST and we couldn't catch it. I can't imagine actually holding one of these mystical snakes in my hands. 

Nearly forgetting we were there to see a bird, we continued down the path, watching only the ground. 

We made it to a bird blind and as we watched Least Grebes, Great Kiskadees and Mottled Ducks, in flew the Green Kingfisher! A new ABA bird for both of us! A Western Ribbonsnake swam by as we watched, and then we continued our journey. A bit down the path, Ben spotted another snake! This time it was the third and largest Texas Indigo Snake we've seen this week!! They are impressive shiny black snakes! Here we are after seeing the four snakes: 

We didn't have a lot of time left before the park closed, so we hiked around some more and decided we should check that initial trail we hiked one last time, just to see if we could catch another glimpse or possibly catch a Speckled Racer. We talked and joked about all the other snakes we'd like to see down here like rattlesnakes or bull snakes and decided it would be the coolest if we could see a Coral Snake before we left. Once we arrived at the fork in the trail that started the "good part" we decided that I would look left and Ben would look right so we could quickly and efficiently cover the ground. When we got to nearly the same spot as the first racer, I looked over and there it was. Not the racer... a Coral Snake!! I couldn't believe it! I already knew, but I squealed, "Ben! What is this!?!!!" 

These two snakes are possibly more exciting than any bird I saw here in Texas, and I saw some pretty amazing birds!! The next time you find yourself down in the Rio Grande Valley, and you need something to do, I highly recommend Sabal Palm for the birds, habitat and gorgeous snakes! 

 

 

 

 

AMAZON KINGFISHER!!!

Our first full day in Texas today has been incredible!! It started out with a Texas-shaped waffle and ended with a Great-horned Owl perched in front of a beautiful sunset. Here's the story:

After breakfast in San Marcos, we drove straight to the location of the super rare Amazon Kingfisher in Laredo. Along the way we saw DOZENS of Crested Caracaras and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers! Both are very cool birds that I was excited to see. Although they weren't life birds, both were new ABA birds and more numerous than I had previously seen. 

We arrived at Zacate Creek in Laredo around 11:20am. All earlier reports of the bird were negative until we were just 10 minutes away and I received a text message from a friend who was currently seeing the bird. We grabbed our binoculars and jumped out of the car. As we headed toward where we saw the crowd, we were above and could already see the bird sitting on the rocks! 

We got into place and set up the scope. What an amazing bird!!! I can't get over the bill! 

We watched her until she flew. Also foraging in the creek, we saw Black Phoebes (another Lifer!) and Belted and Ringed-Kingkishers! Then we explored the rest of the park located just across the river from Mexico! 

The paths were dusty and rocky and surrounded by grasses, cacti and succulents. Along the way, we found Verdin, Green Jays, a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, lots of squawking Great Kiskadees and Great-tailed Grakles! None of which reside in Ohio! The Verdin and Ladder-backed Woodpecker were also Life Birds! 

Once we left the park in Laredo, we went to Falcon Lake State Park for more birding. We visited an amazing butterfly garden with the most butterflies I have ever seen that weren't contained! There were Queen Butterflies, White Peacock Butterflies, Southern Dog Face Butterflies, Gulf Frittilaries, Tropical Leafwings (maybe my favorite!), Bordered Patch, American Snout, and many others! Within the garden, we found Inca Doves and a Pyrrhuloxia! 

As we left the garden, we saw a Couch's Kingbird and then a Greater Roadrunner foraging along the edge of some scrubby habitat! 

As we continued to hike around the park, a raptor flew overhead. As we got a look at it, we realized it was a Harris's Hawk. I almost cried! Not only was this a Life Bird for me, but I used to work with one at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary, and I have dreamed of seeing one in the wild for a VERY long time! It was such an experience to have this one soaring right over us!! 

As the sun started to set, Ben saw an owl move. We found where it landed and then an American Kestrel was screaming and trying to chase it away! Here's a terrible picture taken through my binoculars with the owl in the center and the kestrel on a higher perch to the left: 

A list of Life Birds from the day...

Amazon Kingfisher

Black Phoebe

Verdin

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Pyrrhuloxia 

Couch's Kingbird

Greater Roadrunner

Harris's Hawk

Vermillion Flycatcher

 

Pine City Natural Area

Yesterday we stopped in Pine City, Arkansas to bird in a beautiful loblolly forest. We hiked through the pines and found my first life bird of the trip!! Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, a small breeding population a ways from any other populations. We could see several of their nest sites too. Also in the area were a Wilson's Snipe, Red-shouldered Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, and lots of migrating Turkey Vultures!

In several marshy areas we passed, there were beautiful yellow flowers everywhere! I don't think it is Marsh Marigold, but if you know what it is, I'd be interested to know! 

On our way out of the area, Ben spotted this turtle in the road and stopped to save it! He said this is a male, and you can tell because of its long claws that it uses during courtship. 

We're in Arkansas!

It has been a long day on the road! Ben and I drove for 13 hours (including stops) and made it to Forrest City, Arkansas! The weather has been beautiful today and the fall colors are gorgeous although we were driving out of the peak colors.

We stopped in Tennessee to stretch and get some fresh air and of course, get some new state birds! We walked around the Old Hickory Dam, where there were many Pied-billed Grebes, Carolina Wrens, Northern Mockingbirds, Eastern Bluebirds and even an Eastern Phoebe singing! We tallied 25 species of birds and Ben caught a Pickerel Frog and a Chorus Frog! 

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Ohio Big Day

At 1:00 AM, May 17, 2016, our alarms sounded. Our team, the Benannaquits, sleepily, yet excitedly, dressed and headed to the already packed car. Ben, my mother, Julie and I were off on our Big Day birdathon for the Columbus Audubon! By 1:52, we had our first species of the day: the night flight call of a Swainson's Thrush. Decided to start our day north. We drove first to Oak Openings Preserve Metropark, usually one of my favorite birding locations. The weather wasn't great and in the mist of the night, a single close Grasshopper Sparrow sang, and in the distance, another replied. We listened carefully to pick out even the quietest of calls from any other species, and besides crickets, the night was silent. We still had a few hours before sunrise so we opted to go to Irwin Prairie and return to Oak Openings later, for a hopefully better start. As we arrived at Irwin Prairie, the birds started to awaken. American Woodcocks "peented" before the first Field Sparrow began singing. A distant rooster seemed to wake the Song Sparrows, American Robins, Common Yellowthroats, and Swamp Sparrows. After tallying 16 more species before 6AM, we went back to Oak Openings, hoping for the specialty birds there. The second attempt was more what we were hoping for! Orchard and Baltimore Orioles, Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, Acadian and Willow Flycatchers, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Lark Sparrows, Blue-winged Warblers and more. We were finally off to a decent start!

Oak Openings. A reliable area for Lark Sparrow, Red-headed Woodpeckers, and Summer Tanager. 

Our next stop was for some shorebirds. We knew the Curlew Sandpiper we saw last week was gone, but the habitat was still good so we wanted to check the location. We successfully tallied 9 species of shorebirds, American Pipit and all the expected swallows. The most exciting bird for me, was one of several White-rumped Sandpipers! The first I have ever seen during spring migration! White-rumped Sandpiper was a bit of a nemesis for me, until I finally got it, then I seemed to see them every time I went birding last fall.

White-rumped Sandpiper. Phone-scoped photo by Ben Warner.

As I walked along the dike, hoping to stumble upon the Least Bittern that was hanging out during The Biggest Week, I almost literally stumbled upon a Purple Martin. I looked down, and there it was, 3 inches from my boot. I reached down slowly to pick it up, and the poor bird didn't even have the energy to try to get away. I gently picked him up, as I had been trained to during avian rehab and bird banding internships. I quickly walked back to my mom and Ben who were still scanning the mudflats for shorebirds. I said "I have a Purple Martin!" and they replied, "you HAVE one?" I held it up and explained how I found it. I peeked in the scope to see the last few shorebirds so we could add them to our list and I looked p the phone number for a nearby wildlife rehab facility. Of course they were still closed, it wasn't even 9AM yet. I contacted several friends in NE Ohio to see if they could help or had ideas of another place we could take the bird. Kimberly Kaufman almost immediately responded saying that she would care for the martin if we could bring it over to BSBO. BSBO/Magee Marsh wasn't scheduled until later in the day but we reversed our plans to get the bird to her asap! Of course it was great to take a minute to see my Bird-mom and get a hug before we rushed back to our Big Day!

Up next was the Magee Marsh causeway, boardwalk and beach. The birds weren't overly numerous, as they often are, but we slowed our pace to get spectacular views of warblers, such as this Northern Parula that was waist-level, literally 3ft from us! Ben took this photo with his PHONE! No adapters.

Northern Parula. Magee Marsh Boardwalk. Photo by Ben Warner.

We also got great looks at Philadelphia Vireos, Blackburnian Warblers, Canada Warblers, Black-throated Blue Warblers, and a lovely perched Ruby-throated Hummingbird! After we walked the boardwalk, we headed towards the beach to scan for terns and shorebirds. On our way, a small group had gathered where some had been seeing a Connecticut Warbler. We scanned the beach with little success and then returned to the CONW spot. By then, several others had joined in, including a group from Cleveland led by Jen Brumfield. Jen pretty quickly refound the bird and got nearly everyone on it! I was able to see it for a few seconds as it walked along foraging! Thanks Jen! That was only the second Connecticut Warbler I've seen, and the first, 2 years ago, was only about 20 meters away from this one!

Jen also gave us a tip of some Wilson's Phalaropes being seen at the Benton-Carroll Rd Boss Unit, which was already our next stop anyway. In addition to the Wilson's Phalarope, we added several birds to our day list: Green-winged Teal, Short-billed Dowitcher, Greater Yellowlegs and a Red-tailed Hawk.

We continued west along the lake to Metzger Marsh. By now, it was nearly 3:30pm. As we drove along the causeway, a small brown bird darted next to the road into a pile of logs and branches. I quick glimpse of the bird indicated a new species for the day: Lincoln's Sparrow! As we watched for a closer look, several Marsh Wrens sang away in the marsh! Another new bird! We arrived at the parking lot and decided to walk along the lake to scan for gulls and terns. As we walked, we saw some birds moving in a tall tree. Two Nashville Warblers foraged in the foliage. Another new bird for the day! It was interesting how a so abundant in the days and weeks prior seemed to be totally gone from the area with the change in weather, but thankfully at least these two were still around! Common and Caspian Terns were added and we were off to Maumee Bay State Park.

One of our main targets at MBSP were the Eastern Screech Owls that nest in boxes along the boardwalk. Unfortunately, the cooler weather must have had the babies huddled together inside and no one was peeking out of either box. There were no signs of fledged babies or parents hanging around in the trees nearby either. Oh well, we didn't have time to spend searching, so we continued along. We made it to the marsh at the end of the cabin camping area. One of the first birds we heard was an American Bittern! Shortly after, we spotted a Common Gallinule. Two new species! After spending some time waiting for a Mourning Warbler to pop out from behind a log with several other birders that had seen it a while before or had also not yet seen it, we decided we should probably keep moving without it. A stop at the beach yielded one additional new bird for the year... a single Ruddy Turnstone. At just after 6pm, standing at 135 for the day, we knew we had a long drive to our final destination before dark and we weren't sure we would reach our goal of 140.

We arrived at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area at 7:51pm. Our first stop wasn't promising. There were no waterfowl on the water, but as we headed back to the car, we heard a Sandhill Crane calling! We finally found some waterfowl and added Mute Swan, American Wigeon, Hooded Merganser, and Ruddy Duck. As we were birding we heard a Ring-necked Pheasant calling from a field! We've seen pheasants at KPWA before, but it definitely wasn't a bird I was expecting that evening so it was a very pleasant surprise! As we drove to look for shorebirds, we were commenting about seeing TONS of Gray Catbirds all day, several Brown Thrashers, but not a single mockingbird. After another catbird flew across the road, we joked about just counting it as a mockingbird. Just then, I saw something in a tree and told Ben, who was driving at the time, to stop a reverse a bit. There in a tree, 8 feet off the ground and right along the roadside was our Northern Mockingbird for the day! We all cheered and went along on our search for more shorebirds or waterfowl. We pulled up to an area that is often good for shorebirds, but there wasn't much out there. A few Killdeer and yellowlegs walked through the shallow water. Then Ben found them, probably the best birds of the day, and definitely the least expected birds of the day: a pair of Black-necked Stilts! We figured these would be the last birds of the daylight, and we had already surpassed our goal, so we all enjoyed these birds. We watched them through our binoculars and took turns looking through the scopes at these two tall, beautiful birds. Ben and I were even able to get a few shots with our phones, handheld through the scope. Here's Ben's:

Black-necked Stilts at KPWA

Our last efforts to see waterfowl before dark were at the reservoir. As we scanned across the water with our scopes, I saw a duck quickly move behind an island. I couldn't immediately tell what it was in the low light and with such a brief view, but I thought it was a scaup. This was good because we didn't have either scaup for the day so either way it was an additional species! Ben confirmed that it was a Greater Scaup, which isn't typical for this time of year. After we watched it to get an ID, Ben was able to get this photo of our last bird of the day.

Greater Scaup in the last light of the day. KPWA.

It was a fun day to spend together and out birding, but it was for a cause. Our day was to support the Columbus Audubon's efforts of educating the public, supporting local conservation, and funding the Ohio Young Birders, a great group that gets kids out birding and learning about the environment! Please consider supporting Columbus Audubon and our team, the Benannaquits, by following this link to donate: Donate Here!

Thank you for reading about our day and donating! 

My mom and me birding during our Big Day! 

Here's a complete list of our 144 species:

1. Canada Goose
2. Mute Swan
3. Trumpeter Swan
4. Wood Duck
5. American Wigeon
6. Mallard
7. Blue-winged Teal
8. Green-winged Teal
9. Greater Scaup
10. Hooded Merganser
11. Ruddy Duck
12. Ring-necked Pheasant 
13. Pied-billed Grebe
14. Double-crested Cormorant
15. American Bittern
16. Great Blue Heron
17. Great Egret
18. Snowy Egret
19. Green Heron
20. Turkey Vulture
21. Bald Eagle
22. Red-tailed Hawk
23. Sora
24. Common Gallinule
25. American Coot
26. Sandhill Crane
27. Black-necked Stilt
28. Semipalmated Plover
29. Killdeer
30. Spotted Sandpiper
31. Solitary Sandpiper
32. Greater Yellowlegs
33. Lesser Yellowlegs
34. Ruddy Turnstone
35. Dunlin
36. Least Sandpiper
37. White-rumped Sandpiper
38. Semipalmated Sandpiper
39. Short-billed Dowitcher
40. American Woodcock
41. Wilson's Phalarope
42. Ring-billed Gull
43. Herring Gull
44. Caspian Tern
45. Common Tern
46. Rock Pigeon
47. Mourning Dove
48. Common Nighthawk
49. Chimney Swift
50. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
51. Red-headed Woodpecker
52. Red-bellied Woodpecker
53. Downy Woodpecker
54. Hairy Woodpecker
55. Yellow-shafted Flicker
56. American Kestrel
57. Eastern Wood-Pewee
58. Acadian Flycatcher
59. Willow Flycatcher
60. Least Flycatcher
61. Eastern Phoebe
62. Great Crested Flycatcher
63. Eastern Kingbird
64. White-eyed Vireo
65. Yellow-throated Vireo
66. Blue-headed Vireo
67. Warbling Vireo
68. Philadelphia Vireo
69. Red-eyed Vireo
70. Blue Jay
71. American Crow
72. Horned Lark
73. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
74. Purple Martin
75. Tree Swallow
76. Bank Swallow
77. Barn Swallow
78. Cliff Swallow
79. Black-capped Chickadee
80. Tufted Titmouse
81. White-breasted Nuthatch
82. House Wren
83. Marsh Wren
84. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
85. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
86. Eastern Bluebird 
87. Veery
88. Gray-cheeked Thrush
89. Swainson's Thrush
90. Wood Thrush
91. American Robin
92. Gray Catbird
93. Brown Thrasher
94. Northern Mockingbird
95. European Starling
96. American Pipit
97. Ovenbird
98. Northern Waterthrush
99. Blue-winged Warbler
100. Black-and-white Warbler
101. Prothonotary Warbler
102. Tennessee Warbler
103. Nashville Warbler
104. Connecticut Warbler
105. Common Yellowthroat
106. American Redstart
107. Cape May Warbler
108. Northern Parula
109. Magnolia Warbler
110. Bay-breasted Warbler
111. Blackburnian Warbler
112. Yellow Warbler
113. Chestnut-sided Warbler
114. Blackpoll Warbler
115. Black-throated Blue Warbler
116. Palm Warbler
117. Myrtle Warbler
118. Black-throated Green Warbler
119. Canada Warbler
120. Wilson's Warbler
121. Grasshopper Sparrow
122. Chipping Sparrow
123. Field Sparrow 
124. Lark Sparrow
125. White-crowned Sparrow
126. White-throated Sparrow 
127. Savannah Sparrow
128. Song Sparrow
129. Lincoln's Sparrow
130. Swamp Sparrow
131. Eastern Towhee
132. Summer Tanager
133. Scarlet Tanager
134. Northern Cardinal
135. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
136. Indigo Bunting
137. Red-winged Blackbird
138. Eastern Meadowlark
139. Common Grackle
140. Brown-headed Cowbird
141. Orchard Oriole
142. Baltimore Oriole
143. American Goldfinch
144. House Sparrow

The Wonders of Birding Northwest Ohio

Since I lived in Bowling Green, Ohio when I really got into birding, Ottawa NWR, Metzger Marsh, and of course the Magee Marsh Boardwalk were some of my favorite birding locations that I visited often. Almost weekly my friends and I would head to the lake for some great birding,especially during spring and fall migration! The northwest part of Ohio, along the lakeshore is still one of my favorite places to visit, although much more infrequently now that it is such a drive from Columbus.

My mom, Ben and I made it up that way on Monday and it was quite a day! We left home at 5:30am and returned 18 hours later, absolutely exhausted but it was totally worth it! We first went to the boardwalk. In three quick hours, we turned up 53 species of birds, including 11 species of warblers! Most of the warblers were expected, but warbler migration is so exciting because they migrate at night while we're all sleeping. We wake up in the morning, and almost magically, the trees are covered with colorful warblers hopping about, feeding on any insect they can catch. What we don't get to see is the beauty of their actual migration flight. This is possible, however, with Blue Jays! Yesterday was the second time I have been able to witness a big movement of Blue Jays along Lake Erie. They migrate during the day and you can look up and watch, literally a stream of Blue Jays across the sky, nearly all day long!

I know many people don't like Blue Jays. I work in a store where our customers prefer the "small colorful" birds, and while the Blue Jay is one of the most colorful and beautifully patterned birds we have year-round in Ohio, they have somehow made many bird-feeders' "bad bird lists." We get complaints daily about the birds on these lists and often people are looking for solutions to get the birds out of the yard or away from their feeders. While I have to regularly suggest feeding options that exclude their favorite foods, or feeders that are weight sensitive so heavier birds cannot eat, it saddens me that so many miss out on the brilliance of the Blue Jay. Personally, I love having jays in my yard, yes, the smaller birds leave the feeders while the jays are there, but they're never too far away and you can still watch the little ones in the nearby trees. The jays are so smart and seemingly playful. I love to watch them interact with each other and the feeders. It is especially fun to watch them snag a whole peanut in the shell, fly across the yard and cache the nut in a tree for later. If another Blue Jay is nearby and sees where the food was cached, the first jay will re-hide its prize! I have even seen them pretend to cache a nut when another bird was watching. It would pretend to hide it in several locations before finally settling on a secret location to cache the nut. That's pretty cool, if you ask me!

But anyways, seeing multiple and sometimes large flocks of Blue Jays streaming across the sky all day long is really a sight to see! While I get really excited about watching a single species, like the migrating jays or a personal record flock of Willets (see below) the lister in me still wants to see ALL THE BIRDS!! So, as we walked along the boardwalk, I was thrilled to see so many new migrants! White-eyed Vireo, Black-and-white Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Veery, Chimney Swift... my year list total just went up and up as the sun moved higher in the sky. It seemed as though we had just started birding when my stomach started growling and we realized it was lunch time! One of the most exciting birds to find during our morning walk was a Rusty Blackbird. While their populations seem to be decreasing, this spring has been great for seeing Rusty Blackbirds across Ohio. I have been seeing quite a few, nearly every week for a while now, but my mom, however, had never seen one despite her efforts over the past few years.

By the time we left the boardwalk for lunch, I had added 13 new year birds! We had a picnic lunch on the beach and walked the estuary trail before checking the east end of the boardwalk for Fox Snakes. We were unsuccessful finding Fox Snakes but throughout the day we found several Eastern Garter Snakes, a Northern Water Snake, many Painted Turtles including a quarter-sized baby, and a few big Map Turtles! We also saw a few species of frogs, including a Bullfrog, Green Frogs and Leopard Frogs! In addition to the fascinating reptiles and amphibians, we found several types of mammals including an elderly Muskrat, Eastern Cottontails, and some White-tailed Deer.

Muskrat

Before we left for the day, we stopped by Metzger Marsh after hearing a report of a number of Willets. We arrived and it wasn't hard to find them! They were calling away and there were flocks in the marsh as well as circling through the sky!! We were able to count 75, although it was difficult to get an exact number when we were counting the ones on the ground and more and more continued to fly in from several directions! There could have easily been quite a few more than 75. This is by far the most Willets I have ever seen in one place, and probably more individuals than I had ever previously seen, combined! Willets are one of my favorite shorebirds, so I was definitely excited to watch the fantastic show they were putting on!

What a great day, spent with my wonderful family! I even got to see my Bird-mom, Kimberly Kaufman, which is always enough to make any day great! In all, I added 24 year birds during our excursion!

Trip Year Birds:

• House Wren
• American Golden-Plover
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Willet
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Caspian Tern
• Purple Martin
• Barn Swallow
• Chimney Swift
• White-eyed Vireo
• Blue-headed Vireo
• Warbling Vireo
• Gray Catbird
• Veery
• Orange-crowned Warbler
• Prothonotary Warbler
• Black-and-white Warbler
• Northern Waterthrush
• Nashville Warbler
• Yellow Warbler
• Blue-winged Warbler
• Common Yellowthroat
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Join me Birding! 
The next time I'm in that corner of the state, it will be The Biggest Week in American Birding!! I am so so excited for all the wonderful birds and friends I'll be seeing! This year Ben and I will be leading three of the van field trips! If you'd like to join us, look for open seats on the Monday, May 9 trip to South Bay, the Wednesday, May 11 trip to Catawba/Marblehead, or the Thursday, May 12 trip to Erie County! I will also be heading up the BSBO Woodcock Walk on Monday May 9!! I can't wait and hope to see some of you there!

If you're in the Columbus area, join me this Saturday, April 30 at 9am at Kiwanis Riverway Park, or Saturday May 21 at Highbanks Metropark as part of the Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Hike Series!

More Cemetery Birding

Exactly one month ago, I started a new job. It was two months after my wedding day. I was happy to be married to my wonderful husband, Ben, but I didn't like my previous job. I was stressed enough over starting a new job and moving to a new city. Not even mentioning moving INTO the city from my woodsy bird-rich rural home where I had spent the majority of the last 26 years back in Lexington, Ohio; and I was worried about how the move and my own stress was affecting my 15 year old kitty, Maxine.

Well, zip past that month, back to today, and Max is very contently sleeping next to me; purring away as I type! I absolutely love my new job at Wild Birds Unlimited! It is great to be able to talk with people about birds all day long! I love being able to help them solve problems. I often get to share exciting the natural history of a variety of birds and I even get to put my IDing skills to test. It is so great to be surrounded by so many people, every single day who appreciate and love birds as much as I do! On top of that, a few weeks ago I was asked if I'd like to lead some birding/nature hikes around the Columbus area throughout the season. As much as I love seeing new birds for the first time, I think I love sharing birds with others even more, or at least just as much! I absolutely enjoy being a part of someone finding a new life bird, or better yet, one they've been trying to see and missing previously. So, needless to say, I was thrilled to be asked to lead some trips. Plus, getting paid to do my favorite activity!? Was I dreaming!? We worked together on getting the schedule set up for our WBU Nature Hike Series and it was difficult for me to choose places I'd like to lead trips because there are very few areas in Columbus that I am familiar with. I took this as an opportunity to get to know some new places. I asked my manager to choose the locations, and I'd start visiting them to become familiar with the areas.

My first trip was scheduled for today, at Green Lawn Cemetery. I wasn't sure what to expect with the weather being full sun and 70 degrees after last Saturday was snowing all day! In addition to the excellent weather, perhaps people were excited about the possibility of seeing Great-horned Owlets. And the Whip-poor-will. I found it and shared it, Kenn Kaufman mentioned it on NPR, and we excitedly talked with customers about it all week. Although we never said or implied that the bird would be around, perhaps people wanted to see it, and thought that just maybe, if they went birding with me at the location where the bird was found we could magically drum up another Eastern Whip-poor-will. Whatever the series of circumstances was, nearly SEVENTY people showed up at Green Lawn Cemetery this morning to spend the sunny morning in search of migratory birds! It was a great group and a lot of fun birding. Several people had lifer Pine Siskins, or Winter Wrens, or Eastern Towhees. We saw recently fledged Great-horned Owls, recently fledged White-breasted Nuthatches, nest-building American Robins and a variety of migrating species such as Sharp-shinned Hawks, Myrtle Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Hermit Thrushes.

What a great morning! And before the WBU walk began, Ben and I headed out bright and early to do some scouting and to bird together before Ben had to head off to our nephew's birthday party. The cool morning air was perfect for us, and the birds were quite active too! We were able to see our First of Year Pine Warbler, a beautiful male and Green-throated Warblers! We also got to see a Purple Finch and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers!

I have definitely enjoyed the first month working at my new job, and getting out with my lovely husband to explore the great birding areas Columbus has to offer has made my move to the city more enjoyable. I can't wait to see what lies ahead!

Rainy Day Birding

This week, Ben and I only had one day off together and it happened to be a day of 100% chance of rain... all day. We were excited to get out and find some warblers so we didn't let the rain slow us down! Well, it may have slowed us down a little. We relaxed inside with our kitty, Max, most of the morning and headed out just after lunch to Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. Last week we saw our first-of-year Pine Siskins, Hermit Thrush, Brown Thrashers, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, in addition to TONS of Yellow-shafted Flickers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Fox Sparrows, Eastern Towhees and other great birds! This week we were hoping for a returned warbler. I would've been happy with even a Yellow-rumped. Ben was hoping for a Pine Warbler; but we really both wanted a Yellow-throated Warbler! I drove south in the rain, wondering why I had even agreed to leave the house. It was cold, and wet and I was grumpy. I didn't want to get out and bird in the rain (even though I wanted to see the birds!) but I also knew I had to go to Green Lawn to get a better idea of the layout so I wouldn't get lost in the loops of roads during my first field trip this Saturday with Wild Birds Unlimited! I'm really excited to be able to lead bird walks as part of my new job, so I definitely don't want to get lost on my first one and I want to be well prepared and scout out some good areas and birds!

As we pulled into the cemetery's main drive, the rain slowed to a light sprinkle! I found the meeting area and the two areas I want to take people for birding on Saturday, with no problems. Yay! Then we decided to take a walk while the rain was nearly stopped. We walked along a little gravel trail and the birds were enjoying this break in the rain too! We were delighted to find American Robins and Yellow-shafted Flickers foraging all over the grassy areas and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Carolina Chickadees lining the trees! As we noticed some leaves rustling on the ground we found Fox Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, Brown Thrashers and Eastern Towhees tossing leaves to dig up some delicious bugs. "Fee-bee" called his name from a bridge and some Northern Cardinals seemed to be very upset and scolding... some sparrows? No! An Eastern Whip-poor-will!!! I jumped up and down, somehow never taking my binoculars off the bird, saying, "Oh wow, look over here! Look over here!!!" Never actually saying what I was seeing because in my excitement, I actually forgot the name of the bird, or any other bird! Ben quickly figured out where I was looking, despite my lack of describing the bird or where it was! He had thought maybe the birds were scolding a small owl, but perhaps they had noticed this life-like bump on the branch and confused it for an owl. Why else would a group of song birds be mobbing a little bird who flies around catching insects out of the moonlit skies?

Eastern Whip-poor-will in Columbus, Ohio 4.11.16

We never made it beyond the bridge before I spotted the Whip-poor-will, so we barely noticed when the rain started picking up again, until the wind started lowing the water droplets onto our scope, binoculars and phones (since we had to other cameras with us!) Then we  were stuck. Under the bridge with nothing to look at besides the cutest little bird, perched up on a branch like he was a part of it. Every so often he would sway as though the wind were blowing him around like a leaf... keeping up his disguise even though the rest of the birds were out of sight, seeking shelter from the downpour. While we were waiting under the bridge for the rain to let up, I posted my exciting find on Facebook. I had used my new cell phone to take a picture through Ben's scope and I was very pleased with the results! More than just a diagnostic photo, I had a nice portrait of this bird in his habitat! Within minutes, I had several local friends asking where we were and if we'd help them find the bird! We were just standing around waiting on the rain anyway so we agreed to stay until they could arrive. We stayed, the bird stayed, and several friends were able to add an Eastern Whip-poor-will to their lists of county or state birds or to their lists of birds seen at all! This was a new county and year bird for me, but a more exciting achievement, this is the first Eastern Whip-poor-will I have ever found on my own!! The others I have seen before were spotted by someone else, and others would either point it out to me, or I would at least know the general area to look for it. I've always wanted to find one and now I'll never forget this one!!

A very wet Eastern Whip-poor-will

Ben and I walked back to my car, deciding what to do next. We were excited about the whip and still hadn't seen any warblers so we determined that a trip south was in order. Rain or no rain, we were heading to Clear Creek Metropark in Hocking County! We thought the rain might not be as bad further south but as we headed the hour south, the rain never let up. By that time, we had three hours until sunset and we had driven all that way we made the decision to "go for it!" Ben picked a trail that he wanted to hike and we made a plan. You can either hike the Hemlock trail from the road in, and have to turn around, or you could take another trail to it, hike the Hemlock trail, and loop back to the car. I suggested the loop so we wouldn't have to backtrack and Ben agreed. Little did we know that the starting trail and Hemlock trail were quite narrow and steep, uphill, and downhill and uphill and uphill some more. All during a steady, heavy rain. These were absolutely beautiful trails with the wet weather enhancing the contrast between the wintery brown trees and the lively, green, spring wildflowers blooming on the hillsides. The fog sat low in the hills over the meandering steams and the flute-like songs of a Hermit Thrush echoed across the trail. We had very few birds (and still no warblers) during our two-hour hike, but the scenery made up for it! Before our hike ended, we caught a glimpse of a Pileated Woodpecker flying in the distance. From under a piece of fallen bark, a tiny species of shrew ran and as we looked for it again, we saw a Red-backed Salamander!

The end of our hike at Clear Creek Metropark

In all it was a lovely rainy day exploring central Ohio with my husband! I am still very excited about the Whip-poor-will, and after seeing this eBird map of this year's sightings, you can probably see why! 

Map from 2016 eBird.org data, copied by J. Muller

That's my bird! The lone red dot in the middle of Ohio!! Poor bird is probably wondering WHY it decided to make the trek to Ohio on such a cold rainy weekend, but at least the weather is warmer today! Hopefully it has a safe journey to wherever it is heading this spring!

"Leaning Lena" on the way out of Clear Creek Metropark

If you are interested in joining me this Saturday, April 16 at Green Lawn Cemetery, please meet at the Huntington Chapel at 9am. If you follow the main road in, and take a right at the first fork in the road, Huntington Chapel is the biggest building you can see right in the middle. 

For more information regarding the 2016 WBU Nature Hike Series, visit our website, here. Keep your eye out for more dates being added soon, including a hike in May at Clear Creek Metropark!