• IMBD
• Toledo Farmers Market
• Dead Bald Eagle
• Levis Commons
• RIVP

Notes - Sat, May 10, 2014

IMBD

Today is International Migratory Bird Day. This will be the second year in a row that I will not be at Magee Marsh and at other places along the lake shore for IMBD after attending each IMBD at Magee Marsh from 2000 through 2012 after I began birdwatching in the fall of 1999.

IMBD was always one of my favorite days of the year. I made sure to arrive at the west entrance of the boardwalk by 6:00 a.m. to get a decent parking spot because IMBD was always the most crowded day of the spring. I enjoyed hanging around Tom Bartlett as he conducted his Big Sit near the west entrance of the boardwalk. In recent years, I brought Tom doughnuts from Haas Bakery in Oregon.

On IMBD day, some birdwatching-related vendors and organizations would setup their tent booths near the west entrance of the boardwalk. The BSBO conducted banding demonstrations. I always bought a hot dog or two from the duck hunting group that sold grub and soda.

At my first IMBD event in 2000, the BSBO banding station at Navarre Marsh banded a male Kirtland's Warbler, and they brought it over to their banding demo tent at Magee Marsh to show the public. That was my first KIWA sighting, although the bird was being held. But it was nice to observe one of the rarest songbirds in the world up close.

Also on IMBD 2000, I observed a female Painted Bunting from inside the Magee Marsh nature center as the bird visited the feeders.

Anyway, maybe next year for IMBD at Magee Marsh.

Today, IMBD 2014, it sounds like good bird sightings were reported this morning at Magee Marsh. I checked http://twitter.com/biggestweek Mourning Warbler, Summer Tanager, Worm-eating Warbler, and Golden-winged Warbler were reported early this morning at Magee Marsh.

Toledo Farmers Market

This morning, DD and I patronized the downtown Toledo farmers market. All the bays are now in use. It was busy. A lot of flowers and plants were sold. We bought coffee beans, bread, salad greens, radishes, goat cheese, and maybe a couple other things, and an apple turnover. We eat the apple turnover on a picnic table near Swan Creek and the market. It's nice that Turkey Foot Creek now sells its goat cheese products at the farmers market.

After the market, we went home for bit. Then we packed up our birdwatching gear and headed to Wood County.

Dead Bald Eagle

During our drive to Wood County, I spotted what appeared to be a dead Bald Eagle along I-75. I doubled-back to drive by it again to be sure, and I'm positive it's an eagle. I could not see its head, but I saw its large, dark brown body and white tail. The bird rested against the concrete median barrier along the far left lane of southbound I-75, just past the on-ramp to southbound I-75 from Miami Street. So just past the casino. I think the feathers from dead Bald Eagles are given to Native Americans. I considered contacting Mark Shieldcastle at the BSBO to determine if the eagle should be retrieved, but I know that he's super busy with the BWIAB festival, so I did not call.

Levis Commons

First, we visited Levis Commons to do a little shopping for our Moms. We bought some items at Pottsies, including the humorous fish gurgling beverage pitcher for my Mom.

Then we visited a shop, located a couple doors away called Fiddle Stix where DD bought gifts for her Mom. Both are interesting stores. Pottsies sells the Annie Sloan paint products, which DD enjoys using in our home. Fiddle Stix is operated by the daughter of the couple who operate Pottsies. Small, locally-owned businesses located in an outdoor mall that contains mostly chain stores.

After Fiddle Stix, we walked over to another locally-owned small business at Levis Commons called the Flying Joe coffee shop. We both got tasty iced coffees. We drank our beverages inside the coffee shop, and we looked through the Brooklyn Brewshop's 'Beer Making Book' for future one gallon beer recipes to make at home. I marked the 10 or so recipes that I would like try.

RIVP

After Levis Commons, we stopped at Rossford Island View Park for birdwatching. This small park, located along the Maumee River at the mouth of Grassy Creek has provided some interesting bird sightings over the years, but today was certainly one of the more memorable visits.

I lived in Rossford from the summer of 1992 to the summer of 2001. During my running days of the early to mid 1990s, I would occasionally run some laps on the winding trails at RIVP.

When I began birdwatching in the fall of 1999, I visited RIVP often until I moved to West Toledo in the late summer of 2001. I continued to visit RIVP often after 2001 but not so much in recent years.

While I lived in Rossford, RIVP was my "local patch," the place that I visited the most because it was close and when I didn't have much time. I would birdwatch the park before work or during lunch or after work or sometimes all three times of the day. The park was most productive during the spring and fall migrations for songbirds.

On Sat, May 10, 2014, DD and I birded during the warmish, sunny, middle part of the afternoon when bird activity can decrease, but the activity seemed good today.

Our bird observations at RIVP
(a=audio or heard and v=visual or seen)

• House Wren - a v
• Baltimore Oriole - a v
• Red-eyed Vireo - a
• Carolina Wren - a
• Chestnut-sided Warbler - a v
• White-eyed Vireo - a v
• Northern Waterthrush - v
• Nashville Warbler - a v
• Yellow-throated Vireo - a v
• Bay-breasted Warbler - v
• Black-and-white Warbler - v
• Orange-crowned Warbler - good, long looks. bird at medium tree height.
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - a v
• Swainson's Thrush - v
• Gray Catbird - a v
• Ovenbird Warbler - v
• Veery - a - heard its 'veer' call note repeated a few times.
• Black-throated Green Warbler - a
• Blackpoll Warbler - v male
• White-throated Sparrow - a
• Blackburnian Warbler - a v
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak - v female
• Yellow-rumped Warbler - a v
• Eastern Towhee - a
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet - v
• Black-throated Blue Warbler - v - two females
• Worm-eating Warbler - good, long looks. bird foraged on or near the ground among the leaf litter. it poked around shriveled old leaves. typical foraging behavior.
• Magnolia Warbler - v - stunning as usual. my favorite warbler.
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird - perched multiple times
• Canada geese goslings in Grassy Creek
• Grey-cheeked Thrush - seen along the gravel path
• Wood Thrush - singing

I don't have a master list of my bird sightings for RIVP in digital form or in any form. I only have a lot of notes in small notebooks, dating back to 1999.

I observed a Yellow-throated Vireo in the past RIVP, at least once. But I don't remember if I've observed a White-eyed Vireo at RIVP.

I've seen the Orange-crowned Warbler once before at RIVP. My previous sighting of that bird occurred in the fall.

The Worm-eating Warbler is definitely a new bird for me for RIVP. We enjoyed watching that bird for a while.

The Northern Waterthrush is common during migration in northwest Ohio, but I'm unsure if I have ever observed that one at RIVP. I think that I have observed the NOWA in the past near or along Grassy Creek.

The Grey-cheeked Thrush could be a new bird for me at RIVP. Don't remember.

The point is, that I have had days at RIVP with greater numbers of birds and more variety of birds. But I don't think that I have ever experienced a day at RIVP with so many birds that were either new for me at this park or were birds that are typically uncommon sightings for me at RIVP. And it was made better because I birdwatched with my wife. These birds observed today that fell into this group include:

• WEWA
• OCWA
• NOWA
• GCTH
• WEVI
• YTVI

Probably a first for me to observe at RIVP the SWTH, GCTH, VEER, and WOTH on the same day. I know that the WOTH is not part of the Catharus genus like the others.

Other RIVP sightings:

• Red bud trees were blooming in nearby yards
• four deer, located in the middle area of the park.

We ended our birdwatching at RIVP at 6:57 p.m. We birdwatched for at least two hours.

Another "exciting" day in the Toledo area, laid-back style.

#farming - #food - #shopping - #toledo - #perrysburg - #rossford - #bird