| |
|
|||||||||||
|
April 19, 2006 Avids go a-twitching by Bill Whan As August arrives we usually think ahead to shorebirds. For the jaded, the delights of the nesting season have grown stale, as cute little balls of fluff sprout pin-feathers and gawkily stalk through the trees, and the fun of verifying a nest is no longer possible, save for goldfinches, and the house sparrows that seem never to stop reproducing. Sure, a few silent warblers, clad mostly in somber tones, have begun to move through, and flycatchers desert their posts. But it is the first big waves of tundra-nesting migrants, long-winged, long-billed, and long-journeying, that spark the imagination. Often enough, Ohio offers few places for these birds to refuel, hence insufficient opportunities to enjoy them. Such was the case this time, as the big refuges begged off, citing excessive rains and invasive plant species as reasons shorebird habitat was at a premium. The big reservoirs were full, with no mudflat on upper edges. Conneaut had some exciting birds-two juvenal ruffs the day before our trip-but remained over three hours away, with Saturday a favorite for local adolescents of all ages to harass birds, burn tires, fire off guns, and generally make this spot unpleasant. But a little stint, a Eurasian sandpiper very rare even on the coasts of North America, had been seen for three days in a row in an industrial area of Louisville, Kentucky, and the basin it had been frequenting was to be opened for birders. Enticing of course, this seemed all the same a long way off, and we generally confine ourselves to Ohio...but then I got out a map and found out Louisville was actually closer than Conneaut, and the directions were clear, and the bird was rare, and when we got together at the 530 am rendezvous the seven other Avids who showed up were rarin' to go. This was a life bird for all of them, and a long road trip was only an excuse to talk birds with friends. I had announced that I'd be leading a trip to Lake Erie, even promising to meet another of our group up there, but this unanimous mutiny left me without a ride, and I joined up, unhappy I didn't have a way to reach our ninth participant by phone. He was experienced, and could find birds himself, so we set out. Three-plus hours of freeway later, in a crowded parking lot near the Louisville airport, another birder was giving us looks through his scope at the bird before we walked three hundred yards closer for more careful observations. Fortunately for us, this little bird, whose plumage would be so drab that it would be next to impossible to discover it a month later, was in full adult feathers, easy to pick out (once found!) among the eleven other shorebird species in the vast mud flat that lay before us. Perhaps fifty other birders came and went for the next an hour and a half, while we admired this ultra-rarity, and eventually checked out the commoner birds that accompanied it. Neat bird, neat oasis in an industrial wasteland. We didn't have much time for other birding, except while we lunched at Big Bone Lick State Park south of Cincinnati, so our list was short. All the same its percentage of life birds was high, as the stint was new to seven of our eight. Here is our list of 53 species seen (no gulls or terns, no Canada geese! And no warblers, at least none in my notes!)
Page updated 08/30/06 © Columbus Audubon 2006 |
|||||||||||