The Biggest Week in American Birding!...part one..or so...

 One of the few warblies of the day was this gorgeous Blackburnian Warbler.

For the past two weekends, I've been participating in The Biggest Week in American Birding festival. I drove van loads of happy birders to some of the best areas in northwest Ohio to see some of the best birds! Some folks even managed to get lifers! I was lucky enough to co-lead two beginners and access challenged bird walks at Pearson Metropark in Oregon, Ohio. It's a fantastic park with great treails and a "window on wildlife" as well. Oh, and a playground too...but they wouldn't let me play on it.

This first installment is from Friday May 3rd, a moist and misty day. Of course, I wore shorts and everyone thought I must be a little loopy...and they are right you know. I didn't think about bringing long pants, once the shorts come out, they stay out!

Make sure you come to next years Biggest Week which should be Bigger than ever! I hope to see you there!

A Barn Swallow chillin' on the rocks at Howard marsh.

Yoiks! Those are some long legs. No wonder they them Black-necked Stilts!

This Black-throated Blue Warbly posed nice...for a split second...

...and then he was off to places unknown...

Thousands of Blue Jays were soaring along the shores edge of Lake Erie waiting for the right winds to help them fly across the lake to Canada.

A very shy Cape May Warbly...

Getting the stink eye from that Cape May because I caught him from behind!

Our leader said there was a Common Gallinule swimming across from us...so I took a dozen pics of "across from us." You find him!

Alllllll the way to the right end of the frame, the last frame by the way...

The Dunlin were a little easier to find...there were dozens to pick from!

I picked this Dunlin too...

Not the least of my photos of peeps...this is a Least Sandpiper..ha.... 

Called that because he is the smallest of sandpipers.

Why it's a turtley turtle! A Midland Painted Turtley turtle...

I'm thinking about starting a new spin off blog called "Woodpeckers From Behind"...or not.

This is a Red-headed Woodpecker...and I'll leave that idea alone.

At Pearson's window on wildlife we saw close to a dozen Rose-breasted Grosbeaks!

This solitary sandpiper is called a Solitary Sandpiper...for obvious reasons. Bad breath?

And this sandpiper with spots is called...you guessed it! A Spotted Sandpiper. You kids are catching on!

This wildflower growing in the wild is a wildflower that I do not known the name of.

Woo-hoo! My most favoritest bird song is from this lovely Wood Thrush!

(It's not really made of wood...)

And I'll leave you for today with the appropriately named Yellow-rumped Warbly...from the front though...next time I'll get it right...

Until next time, happy birding!

 

King of the Marsh!...

 This is an Eastern Kingbird, very kingly, but not king of the marsh...

 I had a birdathon day last Friday with trips to Sheldon's Marsh, then Magee Marsh and finally Howard Marsh...10 hours of wandering not including the driving...I was beat! I need to remember to eat once in a while as well...

I show pics from Sheldon and Magee later on...butt right now I had an exciting find at Howard's! It was the end of the evening for me, the wind picked up and it was getting chilly...and dark. So...I decided(or actually my stomach decided) to turn around and head back to my wee little bird mobile and head for home...and food!  As I was heading back I heard some crazy sound coming from the marsh just ahead of me. It sounded like a rail, but it was LOUD!  I walked a little faster then stopped when I thought I was in the right area of the thickening reeds.

I stood there for about fifteen minutes before I heard the call again, watching intently for something to move. Every time it called I tried to find the center of its call. I wanted someone else to hear it, but I was the lone fool enjoying the marsh with the mosquitoes. Should brought more bug spray...add that to food. Finally there was some movement in the darkening marsh. Hot dog! There's the bird!

I watched it moving very slowly around in the background, carefully finding little meals hidden away. Amazingly it was walking towards me! I could see it look up at me a few times when my camera was clicking away. Ooooo...I thought at first Virginia Rail, butt looking at the size of it, like a small chicken, I thought "Hot Diggitty, it's a King Rail!" I saw one only once before, from a distance and got no photos of any quality. It was about 8:30pm now and I actually got a few decent shots.

I wonder if he'll find his soul mate in this amazing area?

 The King of the marsh!

Playing peek-a-boo through the grass and reeds.

 This American Coot was nearby doing a crazy dance to get my attention...it worked.

 I think he was a little embarrassed of himself...

 I swear I heard this lil angry Barn Swallow bark at me...

 Get your hip boots out! There's more little fuzzy poopers on the way!

(aka Canada Gooseseses...)

I forgot to mention the Snowy Egret...

 For you lovers of gray and white birbs...

Terns and Gulls...left terns I believe and gullibles.

 This is way I don't show more shorebird photos.

Uncropped image of Dunlin....waaaaayyy back there!

 Great, another Egret.

(Get it? Great Egret?!)

 And a Snowy Egret showing off his spring finery.

Looks better on him than some rich ladies hat...

 Until this Osprey flew into the nest, I didn't notice it was occupied.

I wonder if there's beebees yet?

 Yep, still love those Song Sparrows!

 A rude Spotted Sandpiper, just walking away form me while I'm talking...

Just in case you were wondering...I did indeed get a life butt shot of the King Rail!

Until next time...love those burdz from all directions!

More hot air...

Dunlin flying along the Lake Erie shore.

I believe wind turbines could be useful in creating energy, but research and good planning are absolutely necessary. A new turbine is planned for Camp Perry, along the lake front just minutes from Magee Marsh and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.

These areas are well known world wide for the vast numbers of birds that live, nest and migrate through them. I've been lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time seeing for myself the wonders that fly into our area. Soon that may change.

If more research isn't done, correctly, we will start to add dead and injured birds to our daily lists of migrating species. I won't rant about the morons that wrote the report and purposely left out key facts, but I will ask you to write letters to Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

You can read more about this on the Black Swamp Bird Observatory web site. Thanks...

This Bald Eagle, and others, nest within a few square miles of the proposed site.

Here is a quote from Kenn Kaufman, a real expert from this area...

"The EA totally fails to acknowledge the fact that the lake shore represents STOPOVER HABITAT, where vast numbers of migrants are pausing during their migrations to rest and feed before continuing their journey. The EA repeats (on p. 61) the tired argument that "a vast majority of nocturnal migration of song birds, waterfowl and shore birds occur at altitudes greater than the height of most modern utility scale wind turbines." This is true - most nocturnal migration occurs at least several hundred feet above the ground - but it's irrelevant when we're talking about stopover habitat, where birds are dropping in and taking off in the dim light of predawn and dusk. Anyone who has been out on the Lake Erie beach at dawn on a good spring migration day will know that vast numbers of birds are flying low, paralleling the shore, in a repositioning flight at dawn. During their arrival, departure, and repositioning flights, these birds will be very vulnerable to more tall structures in the air column.


As another example of inadequacy in the EA, it refers (on p. 60) to numbers of waterfowl using the Darby Unit of Ottawa NWR, and backs it up with duck survey results from October 4, 2011. As any experienced birder or biologist knows, peak waterfowl migration in this area occurs in late fall. The use of numbers from the beginning of October must reflect either ignorance or a willful attempt to mislead.


The EA also understates the threat to local Bald Eagle populations. Ironically, the EA makes reference to the Altamont Pass wind factory in California, WITHOUT mentioning the fact that alarming numbers of Golden Eagles and other raptors have been killed there.


In short, the sections on birds in the EA are slanted, inadequate, and inaccurate. It's no wonder that both the federal and state wildlife agencies were sharply critical of the EA. The fact that their comments (and ours) are being ignored should be deeply disturbing to anyone who cares about wildlife and about transparency in government.


The public is allowed to comment on this from now through 5 p.m. on November 30. To see the information on the comment period, here's the link:
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/coastal/Coastal_Main_Menu/HelpforLandowners/LawsandRegulations/ApplicationNotices/tabid/20851/Default.aspx


The Camp Perry wind turbine is currently the third item listed under that link, under Consistency ID # 2012-073."


Please help.