Category: Uncategorized

May 20 2019.  Chillicothe, Ohio. The Bird of the Day that never was.

Finished with the warblers of Kentucky we headed home northward through Ohio. But Dan had read about the return of a breeding pair of Mississippi Kites to the rural edge of Chillicothe in southern Ohio.

We deemed it worth the side trip and found the reported site with little trouble and some sightseeing through the underbelly of Chillcothe. The purported site was a large un-mowed field, a grassland surrounded by hills, forests and the odd farm building.  Seeing the very distinctive kites should be straightforward here .

I’ve never seen a Mississippi Kite to be certain of, so had only books and on-line descriptions to watch for. Our first putative Mississippi Kite was a hovering American Kestrel, quickly dismissed but admired. American Crows, Turkey Vultures and Red–tailed Hawks along the skyline were all kite candidates, some briefly, others in desperation as we struggled with intermittent views; but no.  Here’s the kestrel, but no Mississippi Kites, not for us.

May 19 2019.  Red River Gorge, Kentucky. This is Day Six of our road trip to Ohio and Kentucky. Ohio is behind us and we have three target birds yet to find: Swainson’s and Worm-eating Warblers and Louisiana Waterthrush. I’m enjoying the many and somewhat different plants too, I am familiar with some, maybe most, of the trees we see but wish I could summon up a botanist companion to help with the puzzling ones.

The Red River Gorge lies within Daniel Boone National Forest, it has plenty of tourist facilities, rock-climbers especially find lots to tackle and there’s tons of green space. It puzzled us for a while to see cars parked overnight at the side of wilderness roads with no sign of owner or trailhead, no apparent reason for leaving a car. But so-called Dispersed Camping is allowed in some areas, that is to say that if you can find a spot you can pitch your tent and enjoy the wilderness solitude. I suppose we could have saved a couple of night’s hotel cost.

With some on-line help we were able to identify a marked trail where Swainson’s Warblers had been seen. We started early, at the trail-head by about 7.15 and followed the steep trail down. I had committed to memory the Swainson’s song and it wasn’t long before I heard one, it was close, perhaps 20 Metres away but in hopelessly dense understory. We never did manage to see it and moved on.

We followed the trail down to the clear river and managed a couple of happy sightings, a Worm-eating Warbler and a Louisiana Waterthrush; that took care of two out of three of our target birds. Without needlessly drawing it out, what followed was a very straightforward sequence of events. Quite simply we were directed to another spot and with no trouble at all found a Swainson’s Warbler.  For a reputedly secretive bird it was surprisingly front and centre and obligingly let me take a few reasonable photos. It’s quite possible that it was concerned about our proximity to its nest so, more than satisfied, we left it in peace.

Oddly, finding that Swainson’s pretty well wrapped up our trip. The day was becoming warm, campers and hikers were up and about and it was time to head back to the hotel where the birding was unusually good for hotel grounds. Perhaps the hotel’s general state of neglect and consequent low occupancy meant a family of Northern Mockingbirds, an Orchard Oriole or two and a singing Eastern Meadowlark had nothing to fear.

May 17 2019.  Clear Creek Metro Park, Ohio. Clear Creek Metro Park is a wilderness area where thick forest overlays a deep, eroded and multi-branched gorge. On the lush, watery valley floor you’re enveloped in green. The roads leading to it wind through modest-scale farms, it’s all very pretty and while the park’s name may suggest a suburban setting it is anything but. On the main, and only, road along the valley we were fortunate to meet a helpful park ranger who gave us many tips and suggested we take a winding trail through deep woods lush with ferns and ringing with warbler song.

Before we had set foot on the trail, I’d already noted in my field book Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Towhee, Pileated Woodpecker, possible Summer Tanager, and Yellow–throated Vireo. As we climbed the trail I thought I could hear Ovenbirds left and right of us but apparently I was wrong. There were indeed Ovenbirds, just a few; I know the song well when I hear it, but what I was hearing turned out to be Kentucky Warblers. It was all very baffling for a while until we came face to face with a Kentucky Warbler and then I put it all together. The songs are similar, both are emphatic and repetitive: the Ovenbird’s song is often written as tea-cher tea-cher tea-cher tea-cher, two distinct syllables, increasing volume and repeated perhaps half a dozen times; the Kentucky’s song, tor-eee tor-eee tor-eee continues for much longer and there is far less distinction between the syllables.

The Kentucky Warbler was a lifer for me and we saw one or two more of them that morning. In some ways they resemble our Common Yellowthroat with their Lone Ranger masks, but bright yellow spectacles distinguish the Kentucky and, in any case, they occupy completely different habitats.

The morning also included an Acadian Flycatcher. It’s a species I find fascinating, not because they are particularly colourful, cute, engaging or anything like that, but because, of their brief and explosive Ptzza! song; (well hardly a song) and because they are a much sought-after rarity in Ontario but bog-common everywhere on the eastern half of the continent south of us.

Dan and I agreed on Kentucky Warbler as Bird of the Day but there were other strong contenders: Cerulean Warblers would have been serious competition had they made themselves visible, but they are birds of the tree tops and searching for them can be hard on the neck. Then, late that evening, a Chuck–will’s–widow, also heard but not seen. Chuck-will’s-widows, like Whip-poor-wills, are named for the cadence of their crepuscular song. Maybe it’s because I’ve heard both a few times that I know their names to be truly onomatopoeic. If you can’t bring it to mind but think it worth a try, you might visit either of following links to the Macaulay Library, perhaps the best repository of North American bird vocalisations: Chuck-will’s-widow. Whip-poor-will

May 15 2019.  Rondeau Provincial Park, ON. This is Day One of a planned trip to Ohio and Kentucky with a friend. Our goals include seeing Kentucky, Hooded, Yellow-throated and Worm-eating Warblers and, in an obscure corner of Kentucky, the elusive Swainson’s Warbler. But first we planned a couple of warm-up stops in Rondeau Provincial Park and Point Pelee National Park, the Canadian element.

As luck would have it, this, my second visit to Rondeau Provincial Park in ten days, was every bit as bird-active and rewarding as my last.

Dan and I started early and chose to walk Rondeau’s Tulip Tree Trail if for no other reason than it includes known breeding sites for Prothonotary Warblers, a relative rarity. The trail leads through moist forest and there was loads of migrant activity. It took perhaps an hour to reach the Prothonotary Warbler spot, and yes, we saw one quite easily. But along the way we were stopped time and again to absorb dazzling Scarlet Tanagers, flame-faced Blackburnian Warblers and, one of the subtlest beauties of the warbler tribe, Bay–breasted Warblers.

There were many Cape May Warblers, a bit of a nemesis bird for me. I’ve seen them from time to time but never well; things changed today.  Although most Cape Mays stayed fairly high and were a little tricky to follow as they moved restlessly picking insects, one decided it was time to take a bath in a woodland pool. We watched as it moved down until it was slightly lower than the trail and apparently oblivious to our presence. We watched as it dunked and fluttered in the dark leafy waters until, well wetted, it came back up to our eye-level to preen and dry off.

This Cape May Warbler remained as my Bird of the Day despite many strong would-be candidates. For me it was the best among 74 species, including Lincoln’s Sparrows, Red-headed Woodpeckers, and dusk encounters with American Woodcocks and Whip-poor-wills who were almost close enough to touch had we been quick enough.

May 10 2019.  Hendrie Valley, Burlington, ON. Just as in any crowd, even a boisterous, mid-May migratory party, there are the quiet ones. Sometimes they are the still water that runs deep. I’d place our handful of woodland thrushes in this category, they are retiring birds of beautiful song: the Swainson’s, Gray-cheeked, Wood and Hermit Thrushes and the Veery.

Once the initial thrill of our neo-tropical show-stoppers has faded, these thrushes are equal to my almost always favourite vireos. Like vireos they are subdued in appearance, but unlike vireos, thrushes are shy and most frequently seen looking back at you as they move away.

A week ago, at Rondeau Provincial Park and Point Pelee we saw many Hermit Thrushes and Veerys, Wood Thrushes too but fewer. The Gray-cheeked and Swainson’s Thrushes return a little later, in fact starting around now.

Today on our transect, our first bird was a Wood Thrush, heard but unseen. Seeing it didn’t matter, hearing one is usually enough. I’ll defer to Pete Dunne’s description in his invaluable Essential Field Guide Companion, “Varied song consists of an ensemble of rising-and-falling short phrases that have a dreamlike surreal quality.” Try this link for more. Just the sound of it, and the mental picture, was enough to make it Bird of the Day.

A little later we glimpsed a Swainson’s Thrush. So back to Pete Dunne for more: “Song is wonderful. A hurried ascending tumble of notes that climb the scale in serial bounds”wr’wr’ooeeooOoEeOOEE”.

Our transect was a perhaps the birdiest-ever, we noted 59 species. Along with Baltimore Orioles, Gray Catbirds and Great–crested Flycatchers back to set up home in the valley, there were Palm, Black and White, Nashville, and Black–throated Blue Warblers just passing through. Others, notable as much for their photogenic potential, included this Eastern Screech Owl, a pair of Barn Swallows investigating a nest site and a Solitary Sandpiper.