Good raptor movement on Friday 28-Mar-2003 - Here are the totals observed from the sledding hill at Maumee Bay St. park and from the parking lot near the hill. The winds were blowing from the S-SW at 20-30 mph with higher gusts and it was much more difficult to observe from the hill than from the parking lot. I observed/took notes from 10:00 to 2:30. The first hour was from the top of the hill.
TUVU 367
RTHA 53
SSHA 18
COHA 17
AMKE 11
NOHA 4
The raptors last Friday were all low, less than 100 feet. I'm guessing the strong winds had something to do with this. The TUVUs would skim along the ground, then pop-up, then back down. The accipitors at times were only a few feet above the ground. There was one exception where a few TUVUs were a few hundred feet up, and we almost missed them.
The winds on top of the hill were consistently over 30 mph. CP was with me, and the wind blew a paperback book out of her arm and down the other side of the hill. It was retrieved just fine. It was windy enough to let the body lean forward and allow the wind to hold us up. But it was hard to bird on the hill. I couldn't hold my binos still. We spent the first hour on the hill, and then we went down and birded from the parking lot across the street, where we had an open view. "We" being CP, myself, and a couple of guys I know: BZ and KM.
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Backyard update - The snow and ice was completely gone from the shady areas of our yard by last Wednesday, March 19th. Over the past 10 days or so, there has been little bird activity in the backyard. Now that the snow has finally melted, the birds have found food elsewhere, and the spring urge is probably top priority for some. I still see a few Juncos visiting the yard. I've been out of millet for the last week. I threw some millet down in the flower beds today. I cleaned up a lot of empty sunflower and millet shells today. The only woodpecker activity I've seen lately has been from the Downy. The Starlings seem to have moved on.
Birds at my parent's place - I forgot to mention this earlier, but 10-14 days ago, a Pileated Woodpecker was hammering on a tree in my parent's yard. They see a Pileated a few times a year, and it's always on the same big old tree.
While visiting my folks earlly this week, the Bluebirds started building a nest in the house near their front porch. The house is 25-30 feet from the kitchen window, and less than 10 feet from the back porch. Dad has four or five houses up. I saw a Bluebird eat inside the Bluebird feeder I got my Dad last Christmas from the Audubon.
I saw a Chipping Sparrow in my Dad's tray feeder on Tuesday, March 25. There were several Song Sparrows singing around their house, which is really cool to wake-up to.
While visiting my folks earlly this week, the Bluebirds started building a nest in the house near their front porch. The house is 25-30 feet from the kitchen window, and less than 10 feet from the back porch. Dad has four or five houses up. I saw a Bluebird eat inside the Bluebird feeder I got my Dad last Christmas from the Audubon.
I saw a Chipping Sparrow in my Dad's tray feeder on Tuesday, March 25. There were several Song Sparrows singing around their house, which is really cool to wake-up to.
Birds while fishing "back home" - We visited my folks for a few days early this week. While fishing from the bank at the resevoir Tuesday morning, March 25th, I observed: Eastern Towhee, N. Cardinal, Titmouse, Am. Crow, Song Sp, Carolina Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Belted Kingfisher, Am. Goldfinch, Blue Jay, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Am. Robin, Canadian Goose, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, N. Flicker.
The weather at 10:15 A.M. was sunny, with light winds, and temps around 60. The highs were in the 70's down there on Monday and Tuesday. There were three or four Golden-crowned Kinglets in the trees near where I was standing when I was fishing Tuesday morning. I heard several Towhees. There were some ducks on the water, but I couldn't tell what they were. I didn't have any binos with me. I only stayed about an hour. I hooked a 12" Largemouth Bass on my third or fourth cast and that was it. I went back out Wendesday morning, fished a different area, and caught one more Largemouth arond 12-13 inches in size. Both were caught on a blue Slider worm.
We saw a lot of Turkey Vultures Mon-Wed during our travels.
The weather at 10:15 A.M. was sunny, with light winds, and temps around 60. The highs were in the 70's down there on Monday and Tuesday. There were three or four Golden-crowned Kinglets in the trees near where I was standing when I was fishing Tuesday morning. I heard several Towhees. There were some ducks on the water, but I couldn't tell what they were. I didn't have any binos with me. I only stayed about an hour. I hooked a 12" Largemouth Bass on my third or fourth cast and that was it. I went back out Wendesday morning, fished a different area, and caught one more Largemouth arond 12-13 inches in size. Both were caught on a blue Slider worm.
We saw a lot of Turkey Vultures Mon-Wed during our travels.
Fox Sparrows, Ducks, and Woodcocks - Those were the popular birds I saw last Saturday afternoon and evening, March 22. The weather Saturday afternoon was partly cloudy with temps around 50.
On the drive out, I saw three Bald Eagles sitting on the ground in a field near the Bono curve -- one Adult, two Imm. I saw a few American Kestrels sitting on the wires. I arrived at the boardwalk at Magee around 4:00 P.M. I made a quick walk around the boardwalk. Near the west entrance, I saw at least 25 Fox Sparrows (conservative estimate). They were singing and scratching on the ground. Multiple times I had four or five in the same field of view. Nice bird. Nothing else really on the boardwalk. No Golden-crowned Kinglets. I didn't try real hard. I was mainly there for the Fox Sparrows, which didn't disappoint.
The water in the marsh by the nature center was still mostly frozen. Lake Erie looked slushy to mostly frozen, with some large ice flows or formations. (The borrow pits along the highway ranged from open to completely frozen.) The streams were open. There was a lot of water in the farm fields, and most contained a few ducks. The Crane Creek parking lot was open. Those big walls of snow that existed the previous weekend, blocking off parts of the parking lot, no longer existed.
There were a lot of American Coots along the causeway at Magee. Also present were Scaup, Hooded Mergs, Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Pied-billed Grebe, Am. Wigeon, Great Blue Heron. I saw an American Tree Sparrow by the nature center. I drove into Ottawa to checkout the ducks in the water bordering the entrance. While there, a flock of 14 Sandhill Cranes flew toward me from the northeast. They circled overhead, then flew to the southwest. Some of the cranes sounded off. In the water at Ottawa there were several Northern Shovelers (8+ males) and a couple female Buffleheads.
Along Lickert-Harder road, I saw a Red-tailed Hawk and a few Horned Larks. I stopped at the Bono curve, if that's the curve where the entrance to Metzger meets Rt. 2. I was viewing the flooded field on the other side of Rt. 2. The water and birds were next to 2, so I had good views. There were several more Shovelers (11+ males), Am. Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal, and Green-winged Teal. I don't see Green-winged Teal very often.
I then drove to Irwin Prairie, arriving at 6:30 P.M. More Fox Sparrows were singing. The sky was mostly clear at sunset. I entered the preserve and stood near Irwin Rd. The first "peent" begin at 6:56. Shortly after 7, I heard Woodcock flying. I watched three Woodcock in the low light. They were tough to see, but fun to listen to. I wish they started a little earlier. Between Irwin Rd and the parking lot, I identified at least a dozen different Woodcock "peenting".
On the drive out, I saw three Bald Eagles sitting on the ground in a field near the Bono curve -- one Adult, two Imm. I saw a few American Kestrels sitting on the wires. I arrived at the boardwalk at Magee around 4:00 P.M. I made a quick walk around the boardwalk. Near the west entrance, I saw at least 25 Fox Sparrows (conservative estimate). They were singing and scratching on the ground. Multiple times I had four or five in the same field of view. Nice bird. Nothing else really on the boardwalk. No Golden-crowned Kinglets. I didn't try real hard. I was mainly there for the Fox Sparrows, which didn't disappoint.
The water in the marsh by the nature center was still mostly frozen. Lake Erie looked slushy to mostly frozen, with some large ice flows or formations. (The borrow pits along the highway ranged from open to completely frozen.) The streams were open. There was a lot of water in the farm fields, and most contained a few ducks. The Crane Creek parking lot was open. Those big walls of snow that existed the previous weekend, blocking off parts of the parking lot, no longer existed.
There were a lot of American Coots along the causeway at Magee. Also present were Scaup, Hooded Mergs, Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Pied-billed Grebe, Am. Wigeon, Great Blue Heron. I saw an American Tree Sparrow by the nature center. I drove into Ottawa to checkout the ducks in the water bordering the entrance. While there, a flock of 14 Sandhill Cranes flew toward me from the northeast. They circled overhead, then flew to the southwest. Some of the cranes sounded off. In the water at Ottawa there were several Northern Shovelers (8+ males) and a couple female Buffleheads.
Along Lickert-Harder road, I saw a Red-tailed Hawk and a few Horned Larks. I stopped at the Bono curve, if that's the curve where the entrance to Metzger meets Rt. 2. I was viewing the flooded field on the other side of Rt. 2. The water and birds were next to 2, so I had good views. There were several more Shovelers (11+ males), Am. Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal, and Green-winged Teal. I don't see Green-winged Teal very often.
I then drove to Irwin Prairie, arriving at 6:30 P.M. More Fox Sparrows were singing. The sky was mostly clear at sunset. I entered the preserve and stood near Irwin Rd. The first "peent" begin at 6:56. Shortly after 7, I heard Woodcock flying. I watched three Woodcock in the low light. They were tough to see, but fun to listen to. I wish they started a little earlier. Between Irwin Rd and the parking lot, I identified at least a dozen different Woodcock "peenting".
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