The BenAnnaquits set off for our 3rd year of participation in the Columbus Audubon Birdathon! This year's Birdathon was extra exciting because we were testing out a new route. Our goal was to beat last year's total of 153 species. We started off at 11:00 PM Sunday night to head towards our starting destination in Southern Ohio. An hour later, our timer started and we rolled down the car windows, anxiously awaiting our first bird of the day. Gray Catbird! We continued towards Tranquility Wildlife Area, making several stops along grassy fields listening over the sounds of Cope's Gray Treefrogs and Blanchard's Cricket Frogs. We added Yellow-breasted Chat, Northern Mockingbird, and Henslow's Sparrow before arriving at our starting destination. As we quietly crept down the roads of the wildlife area, our main target began to call... a Chuck-will's-widow! Chuck-wills-widow was even a new state bird for me! (#331 for Ohio) Several Eastern Whip-poor-wills called all around us as we listen for a distant Barred Owl.
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| Clear Creek Metro Park. Photo by Anna Wittmer |
We arrived at Clear Creek Metro Park before the dawn chorus started. An Eastern Whip-poor-will called into the silence of the night. As the birds woke up, we began our hike. A chorus of Wood Thrushes sang through the mist of the morning. Cerulean Warblers and Black-throated Green Warblers buzzed in the tree tops. Before long, we heard a Worm-eating Warbler, not far from the trail. It didn't take long before our team all got to see him as he sang repeatedly! Driving from one end of Clear Creek Metro Park to the other, we saw a beautiful Luna Moth flutter in front of us. Shortly after, Ben spotted a Milk Snake in the road. This has been a nemesis herp of mine for years! I jumped out to see it and help it across the road. I was thrilled to have this gorgeous guy in my hands for the first time!
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| Me with my lifer Milk Snake! Photo by Julie Wittmer |
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| Milk Snake bellies. Photo by Julie Wittmer |
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| Eastern Box Turtle crossing the road. Photo by Anna Wittmer |
Upon arriving at Pickerington Ponds Metro Park at 9:20am, it was alreay getting rather warm. We quickly scoped a Barn Owl nesting site before tallying a White-eyed Vireo in the parking lot!
Our next stop was Bolton Field Airport. We found a patch of shade to scope the grasslands as we heard several Eastern Meadowlarks call. Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks, and a Cooper's Hawk swirled in the sky above. We heard Savannah Sparrows as we scanned for our main target. After a few minutes, we were preparing to leave when Ben spotted it: an Upland Sandpiper! We all grabbed quick views before jumping back into the Prius.
By the time we arrived at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park, it was hot! 88 degrees is not ideal for wetland birding in the spring. We managed to add Sora and Virginia Rails, Common Gallinule, Ruddy Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Hooded Merganser, Marsh Wren, and several other species, but missed the bitterns we were hoping for.
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| Photo by Julie Wittmer |
The fields around Battelle Darby yielded Horned Larks, a Vesper Sparrow, and an American Pipit as we continued north. We soon realized we had made a fatal mistake and had left our food bag at home. We opted to stop by to pick it up and take a restroom stop rather than making several other stops for food or snacks throughout the day. We headed back towards home, which thankfully was mostly on the way to our next location anyway. On the way home on Interstate 270, the storms started rolling in. High winds, hail, and torrential downpours followed us home and we waited longer than we should have for the rains to let up before we left again for the 2.5 hour drive to Magee Marsh.
In the time it took us to drive north, the outside temperature had dropped 20 degrees. Birding Magee Marsh was FANTASTIC! We arrived to a rather large crowd all looking for a vagrant Black-throated Gray Warbler. I immediately ran into my bird-sister, Ashli and she informed us that the bird hadn't been very cooperative lately. We decided to give it a try but not spend too much time for one species. We added a few new warblers along the way such as Chestnut-sided Warbler before arriving to the largest group of people. Just as we stopped to wait, someone called out that she spotted it. We were a ways from the epicenter of the group, but we lucked out having this lovely female Black-throated Gray Warbler right out in the open where we could all easily admire her! We weaved our way through the crowd, briefly stopping to greet my bird-dad Kenn Kaufman who generously pledged a donation per species we found on our Big Day! We continued to add the rest of the expected warblers that we needed, including Black-throaed Blue Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, and Wilson's Warbler. We enjoyed incredible close-up views of a Canada Warbler before continuing on to find a Philadelphia Vireo, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and an Eastern Screech-Owl. We were surprised to observe a Sedge Wren foraging on the ground just inches off the edge of the boardwalk. Their intricate patterning was impressive to see that closely. We saw 23 species of warblers at Magee Marsh! There were so many birds everywhere we looked that it made it very difficult to pull ourselves away from the boardwalk to continue our Big Day.
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| Black-throated Gray Warbler at Magee Marsh. Photo by Rick Nirschl |
Our next destination was a quick drive through the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Auto Tour. Our targets here were Black-necked Stilts, and any other shorebirds or waterfowl we could locate. We were not expecting to add a Rough-legged Hawk during our Big Day since they usually leave Ohio by late March or early April. Some other additions included Green Heron, American Wigeon, Common Tern, and Dunlin.
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| The Eastern Screech-Owl we saw at Magee Marsh Photo by Chris Brown |
A brief drive through Metzger Marsh yielded Cliff Swallows for the day before we arrived at Howard Marsh. Howard Marsh is an impressive 1000-acre wetland restoration project completed by the Toldeo Metroparks that just opened earlier this month. It has already been hosting a wide variety of migrant shorebirds, waterfowl, and waders, and quickly became the home of a nesting pair of Osprey. Getting late in the day, we were still able to aquire several new species! Dunlin were present in the hundreds and among them were 38 Short-billed Dowitchers and 2 Wilson's Phalaropes. We tallied Bonaparte's Gulls and a single Lesser Scaup before our departure.
The sun was getting low in the sky, but we had just enough time to get to Oak Openings Metropark before last light. As soon as we rolled down the windows, we could hear several American Woodcocks "peenting." A Wild Turkey called from a distance and a single Lark Sparrow sang his last bit of song before nightfall. We missed several species by arriving so late in the day but got lucky with these ones! Eastern Whip-poor-wills called at the third location of the day to start and end our Big Day.
As the night grew darker, we were off to Irwin Prairie State Nature Preserve. Several occasions of recent scouting offered a variety of rails, Wilson's Snipes, and more. Tonight, we accidentally flushed a single Song Sparrow from the edge of the boardwalk. We didn't detect a single species more, besides hundreds of Gray Tree Frogs, and a few Spring Peepers, and Western Chorus Frogs!
Our team was exhausted and opted to head home since we had to work the next morning. We didn't set any state records, but we did set a new record for our team! 158 species in a single day!!
Click HERE to contribute to our donations for Columbus Audubon! THANK YOU!!
Some Stats
Species of Warblers Observed: 30 Species
Species of Sparrows Observed: 12 Species
Total Species of Birds Observed: 158 Species
Number of Reptiles/Amphibians Observed: 16 Species
Number of Mammals Recorded: 9 Species
Miles Driven: 591 Miles
Miles Walked: 4.5 Miles
Counties Birded: 8 Counties
Total Hours Birding: 22.5 hours
Although I drive an eco-friendly Toyota Prius, I was feeling guilty about our carbon footprint during our Ohio Big Day. To help offset the damage, I donated to the Nature Conservancy in support of habitat restoration efforts and research into climate change solutions.
Meet the BenAnnaquits
Anna Wittmer - I formed the BenAnnaquits team with my husband, Ben Warner the first year we moved to Columbus together. I asked my mom, Julie Wittmer to join us and she has every year. We often try to include anyone else who is interested in joing us. This year, we were joined by my friend and newest coworker, Sarah Brown! Sarah has only been birding for a few months and was a great team member during our day! She added 56 lifers!
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| Me, Julie, and Ben |
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| Sarah |
Our Bird List
- Canada Goose
- Trumpeter Swan
- Blue-winged Teal
- Northern Shoveler
- Gadwall
- American Wigeon
- Mallard
- Lesser Scaup
- Hooded Merganser
- Ruddy Duck
- Ring-necked Pheasant
- Wild Turkey
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Green Heron
- Turkey Vulture
- Osprey
- Cooper's Hawk
- Bald Eagle
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Rough-legged Hawk
- Virginia Rail
- Sora
- Common Gallinule
- American Coot
- Sandhill Crane
- Black-necked Stilt
- Killdeer
- Upland Sandpiper
- Dunlin
- Short-billed Dowitcher
- American Woodcock
- Wilson's Phalarope
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Solitary Sandpiper
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Bonaparte's Gull
- Ring-billed Gull
- Herring Gull
- Caspian Tern
- Common Tern
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Barn Owl
- Eastern Screech-Owl
- Barred Owl
- Chuck-will's-widow
- Eastern Whip-poor-will
- Chimney Swift
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Belted Kingfisher
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Pileated Woodpecker
- American Kestrel
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Eastern Wood-Pewee
- Acadian Flycatcher
- Willow Flycatcher
- Least Flycatcher
- Eastern Phoebe
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Eastern Kingbird
- White-eyed Vireo
- Yellow-throated Vireo
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Warbling Vireo
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Horned Lark
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Purple Martin
- Tree Swallow
- Barn Swallow
- Cliff Swallow
- Carolina Chickadee
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Tufted Titmouse
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- House Wren
- Sedge Wren
- Marsh Wren
- Carolina Wren
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Eastern Bluebird
- Veery
- Gray-cheeked Thrush
- Swainson's Thrush
- Wood Thrush
- American Robin
- Gray Catbird
- Brown Thrasher
- Northern Mockingbird
- European Starling
- American Pipit
- Cedar Waxwing
- Ovenbird
- Worm-eating Warbler
- Louisiana Waterthrush
- Northern Waterthrush
- Blue-winged Warbler
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Prothonotary Warbler
- Tennessee Warbler
- Nashville Warbler
- Kentucky Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Hooded Warbler
- American Redstart
- Cape May Warbler
- Cerulean Warbler
- Northern Parula
- Magnolia Warbler
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Blackburnian Warbler
- Yellow Warbler
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Blackpoll Warbler
- Black-throated Blue Warbler
- Palm Warbler
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Yellow-throated Warbler
- Black-throated Gray Warbler
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Canada Warbler
- Wilson's Warbler
- Grasshopper Sparrow
- Henslow's Sparrow
- Chipping Sparrow
- Field Sparrow
- Lark Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Vesper Sparrow
- Savannah Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Lincoln's Sparrow
- Swamp Sparrow
- Eastern Towhee
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Scarlet Tanager
- Northern Cardinal
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Indigo Bunting
- Eastern Meadowlark
- Baltimore Oriole
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Common Grackle
- House Finch
- American Goldfinch
- House Sparrow
Our Herp List
- Cope's Gray Tree Frog
- Gray Tree Frog
- Leopard Frog
- Blanchard's Cricket Frog
- Green Frog
- Bull Frog
- Spring Peeper
- Western Chorus Frog
- Fowler's Toad
- American Toad
- Red Eft (Red-spotted Newt)
- Milk Snake
- Box Turtle
- Midland Painted Turtle
- Blanding's Turtle
- Map Turtle
Our Mammal List
- Virginia OPossum
- Eastern Cottontail
- Eastern White-tailed Deer
- Raccoon
- Gray Squirrel
- Fox Squirrel
- Red Squirrel
- Eastern Chipmunk
- Muskrat
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