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October 7, 2006: Tuscarawas & Wayne Counties Ammodramus Dreaming by Brad Sparks Sparrows of the genus Ammodramus are notoriously hard to find in Ohio. For many Ohio listers Le Conte's sparrow ends up being one of the last non-review list birds needed for their state lists (along with the mythical Sabine's gull). So on a bright, crisp October morning 12 or so Avid Birders set out with dreams of skulking sparrows dancing in their heads. Our destination was Amish country, where we were to meet sparrow finder extraordinaire, Ed Schlabach. We met Ed and Greg Miller at the McDonald's in Apple Creek and then headed to a wet farm field were Ed had seen Le Conte's and Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow in the past. The field was full of sparrows: Song, white-crowned, savannah and swamp sparrows were abundant. After a short time we saw our first of six sharp-tailed sparrows for the day. It perched up and gave everyone crippling looks and even sang a bit. Another couple of hours of searching yielded more of the same sparrows. The group then split up a bit with some walking the road back to the cars and the rest birded the field on the way back. Soon Ed was on a Le Conte's sparrow. The bird gave great perched up looks (which is just not common behavior for this bird!). Amazingly we were able to get everyone in the group on the bird! After this we were a happy group of birders, even if our feet were cold and wet. Everyone in the group got either a life - bird or a state bird on this trip (except for Dan Sanders). After so much success with the sparrows we visited an Amish farm to see the barn owls that were roosting in a silo. On the way back to Columbus we stopped at Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area where the highlights were Lincoln's sparrow and sandhill cranes. Although our trip list was only 46 species, we definitely had some quality birds!
Page updated 1/12/07 © Columbus Audubon 2007 |
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