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August 18, 2007: August Arctic Avids by Bill Whan In August Ohio birders, thirsting for novelty, turn their gaze from the local scene to greet the first southbound migrants, the most prodigious travelers of all—the shorebirds. Because the arctic breeding season is brief, these birds lead the way, often to the other end of the world. Many, mostly adults, had appeared in July, but by mid-August a throng of adults and young birds, in feathers subtle and garish, occupied Ohio mudflats and shallow wetlands seeking fuel for their long journeys to the wintering grounds. Unlike, say, warblers, shorebirds have personalities, such as varied feeding strategies and other behaviors. They sport interesting plumages--fresh juvenal, worn adult, various mid-journey molts, basic--to make studying them especially rewarding and sometimes difficult. They love open sunny places, are not terribly skittish, and can be studied at leisure. And in mid-August, they are in many ways the only game in town. Thus it was that eleven of us set out in the dark, aimed at Conneaut, Ohio's northeastern-most town, where an unkempt marsh and sandbar inside a harbor wall has for nearly twenty years attracted more than its share of water-loving birds. It's a three and a half-hour drive, but the lure was great; in fact, a West Virginia birder joined us, having started his journey at 2 am from that too-well-drained state. The good citizens of Conneaut appear not to appreciate their harbor and its wildlife, using it to dump old tires, shoot off fireworks, fly model airplanes, do donuts in the sand, train (but not restrain) dogs, etc., etc. Thus, we got there early and stayed only until the motorcycles arrived in numbers. We found several birders who'd been there since dawn, who showed us a white-rumped sandpiper and a red-necked phalarope that remained since then, but we'd missed a golden-plover and a little gull that hadn't. Birds came and went, sending us from one spot to another. Eventually our numbers grew to about twenty, and we were able to protect a section of beach with a tripod-armed phalanx from the antics of the locals. The birds worried less than we did. We went next to Mosquito Lake, where encouraging reports had emanated over the previous days. The refuge on this lake's northern end had devolved to vast mudflats with reduced rainfall, and many shorebirds were present, albeit at a considerable distance, and in light not yet great, with a lot of heat waves. We tried to get closer to the birds while playing by the rules, without a lot of luck, and did as well as we could, finding the three marbled godwits reported, some dowitchers, a knot, etc. The views were barely diagnostic, and required imagination to be aesthetically satisfying. We did meet a lot of birders, including poachers from Pennsylvania just 15 miles east. A trip to the old fish hatchery at Grand River Wildlife Area was unavailing, whereupon a phone call alerted us to more finds at Mosquito, so we returned for a while to scan the flats in slightly better light. A quick freeway trip back home left us enough time to inspect the mudflats at the upper end of Hoover Reservoir, one of Ohio's better shorebird spots this fall, and right in our backyard. A stroll with many stops along the boardwalk netted some new sights, and we ended our day with a respectable 83 species, despite never having ventured into a number of productive habitats. Our list follows. Canada goose Wood duck Green-winged teal American black duck Mallard Blue-winged teal Hooded merganser Pied-billed grebe Double-crested cormorant Great blue heron Great egret Little blue heron Green heron Turkey vulture Osprey Bald eagle Cooper's hawk Red-shouldered hawk Red-tailed hawk American kestrel Peregrine falcon American coot Black-bellied plover Semipalmated plover Killdeer Spotted sandpiper Solitary sandpiper Greater yellowlegs Lesser yellowlegs Marbled godwit (3) Ruddy turnstone Red knot Sanderling Semipalmated sandpiper Western sandpiper Least sandpiper White-rumped sandpiper Pectoral sandpiper Stilt sandpiper Short-billed dowitcher Red-necked phalarope Ring-billed gull Herring gull Greater black-backed gull Caspian tern Common tern Forster's tern Rock pigeon Mourning dove Chimney swift Ruby-throated hummingbird Belted kingfisher Red-bellied woodpecker Downy woodpecker Northern flicker Eastern wood-pewee Willow flycatcher Eastern kingbird Red-eyed vireo Blue jay American crown Purple martin Tree swallow Bank swallow Barn swallow Black-capped chickadee Tufted titmouse White-breasted nuthatch Marsh wren Blue-gray gnatcatcher American robin Brown thrasher Cedar waxwing Common yellowthroat Song sparrow Northern cardinal Rose-breasted grosbeak Indigo bunting Red-winged blackbird Common grackle Brown-headed cowbird American goldfinch House sparrow |
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