10/08/2001 Archived Entry "Birding - Good day at Crane Creek Saturday"

(from my greymatter-powered hypermart-hosted blog)

Here's a list of the migratory songbirds I saw at Crane Creek on Saturday:

Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Cape-May Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Pine Warbler
Ovenbird Warbler
Winter Wren
Brown creeper
Hermit Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
White-throated sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Grackle
Red-winged Blackbird

The variety was not great, but the numbers for some were incredible and that made the day special.

Some of these birds will continue south to the Gulf-coast states, Central America or South America. For others, Ohio is their wintering ground.

I loaded up on seed yesterday for the feeders at home.

My winter training for the spring songbird migration consists of listening to CDs of bird songs and studying field guides. At times, the only way to id a warbler is by its song. The birds do little, if any, singing during the fall migration. Warblers are hard to id in the fall, because most adults have changed their plumage and the newly-born birds are also dull looking

Warblers, raptors, sparrows and ducks are my favorites. Shorebirds and gulls are too complicated for me and generally require, at minimum, a 1500 dollar spotting scope to see them. Several times, I've been as close as three or four feet away from a kinglet or warbler.

The raptors are the masters of the air. Turkey vultures have been known to go for hours without flapping their wings. Sharp-shinned hawks possess some of the best acrobatic flying skills available as they chase down prey through trees and brush. Peregrine falcons are the fastest creatures on the planet, reaching speeds over 200 miles per hour in a dive on prey.

I've watched bald eagles at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge fight in the air, lock talons, tumble and spiral out of control for hundreds of feet only to separate 40 feet from the ground.

The best is watching the broadwing hawks during the fall migration at Pt. Mouillee and Lake Erie Metropark just up the road from Toledo. The broadwings travel in groups of hundreds and even thousands, soaring and gliding from thermal to thermal.

I watched 6000 broadwings move through late in the afternoon one day last month; 50,000 came through for the day. The biggest day occurred two years ago when over 500,000 broadwings were counted. For someone who just got done reading the book of Revelation and was unaware of the broadwing hawk, would surely believe the end was near if they looked up and saw a kettle of broadwings numbering several thousand.

Since birding can be done in the woods, savanahs, prairies, marshes, and cities, year-round and in all weather conditions, it truly is my favorite of all activities. It's art on the wing.

Northwest Ohio is one of the best places to live in the country for birding.

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