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		April 24, 2004    Avids Investigate Shawnee Forest by Brad Sparks April 24th dawned a cool, foggy morning along the mighty Ohio River.  Eighteen members of the Avid Birders met along the river’s bank, full of anticipation and questions.  Migration seemed to be well underway, but this trip was a full six days earlier than last years. Would we still be able to find all the warblers that nest in the area?  Had the ice storms of last year affected the number of neotropical migrants returning to the area?  We would soon find out. The trip started along Odell Creek Road, where many birds were singing.  American Redstarts, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Ovenbird were all quickly ticked.  We heard a Kentucky Warbler, and some persistent pishing lured it into view.  Along the ridge a Broad-winged Hawk flew over to examine the group.  Six Ospreys were migrating north with a group of Turkey Vultures.  All along the forest roads the resident warblers and vireos were defending their territories with song.  It seemed all the expected species were back in expected numbers.  Two warblers were more abundant than normal in the forest: Prairie Warbler and Yellow-breasted Chat.  Everyone hypothesized that this was due to the opening of the canopy by the ice storms.  This allowed the understory to become much more dense, creating ideal habitat for these species. We then drove to Picnic Point where, appropriately enough, we had lunch.  While we were eating, an early Black-billed Cuckoo flew in to join us.  After lunch we went to search Moore’s Lane, the shorebirding Mecca of southern Ohio.  There were a few shorebirds around, but the highlight was several calling Soras.  Let’s just hope the farmer doesn’t plow this productive little wetland under!  At this point the group parted ways, some of the group birding their way back to Columbus, the others going to Adams County for an evening of birding. Adams County is always a neat place to bird after dark and this trip was no exception.  We easily found Barred Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl, and Whip-poor-will, but Chuck-will’s-widows avoided us.  Perhaps it was just a week or two early.  The trip list of 109 species follows: Pied-billed Grebe Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Green-winged Teal Mallard Blue-winged Teal Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Broad-winged Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Ring-necked Pheasant Sora Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Wilson’s Snipe Ring-billed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Black-billed Cuckoo Eastern Screech-Owl Barred Owl Whip-poor-will Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher Easter Kingbird Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Blue Jay American Crow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Carolina Wren House Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Swainson’s Thrush Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher American Pipit European Starling White-eyed Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue-winged Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Pine Warbler Prairie Warbler Palm Warbler Cerulean Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Worm-eating Warbler Ovenbird Louisiana Waterthrush Kentucky Warbler Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler Yellow-breasted Chat Scarlet Tanager Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Savanna Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Red-winged Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark Rusty Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow Page updated 04/04/05 © Columbus Audubon 2005