November continues to be a good birding month
- Bruce Glick: Gone Birding
- November 11, 2020
- 1260
There have been lots of interesting reports coming in over the last several weeks. Hummingbirds were in the news, with several rufous hummers posing for birders at feeders. Rufous hummingbirds have been at feeders near Mansfield, as well as at Time and Optics, south of Mt. Hope. In Indiana, a super rare Anna’s hummingbird showed up on Nov. 2 in Lake County. Since then the bird has been successfully banding and continues to visit the feeder every day. Anna’s hummingbird is a common resident in southeastern Arizona, where we see many of them while living near Tucson in the winter.
As I write this on Nov. 10, we have had a full week of warm weather, with the thermometer reaching the high 70’s at times. It has been a good week to catch up on yardwork and dealing with the leaves. We love living in an area with many large oak, maple, hickory, popular and other hardwoods that fill our yards with colorful leaves this time of year. While working outside, red-breasted nuthatches keep me company, calling and visiting the feeders and birdbath. That’s a nice change from last year. There have been more evening grosbeak reports than I can remember. I heard that 30-to-40 grosbeaks have been observed at the Mohican State Park location where they have wintered in the past.
More common redpolls have been showing up in Ohio and Indiana. We have had them here in Goshen, with other reports from around the region. Several hoary redpolls have also been reported, although they are difficult to identify, even when seen with common redpolls. Both red and white-winged crossbills have been seen at different locations across the region. Pine siskins and purple finches continue to be reported. Some reports have been referring to the northern finch invasion as a “superflight.” There have been some sightings north of us of exciting birds such as snowy owl, pine grosbeak, Canada jay and boreal chickadee. A snowy owl was found near Oberlin on Nov. 9.
Red-necked grebes have been observed at Clear Fork Reservoir recently. Several Baltimore orioles showed up during the last week, quite late for orioles, which usually leave by late summer. Several marsh wrens were found recently, including one that Helen and I heard and saw on Nov. 15 at Camp Friedenswald just across the state line in southwestern Michigan.
A peregrine falcon was photographed recently at the Muskingum County courthouse. It’s nice to know that these amazing falcons continue to find locations where they find adequate food, while also being easy to observe by birders.
The next several weeks should continue to bring more interesting birds. Try to get out as often as possible, especially in the morning. The return of colder weather and north wind will bring more surprises.
A last-minute note – I just received a copy of All the Birds of the World, from Lynx Editions in Barcelona, Spain. This is an amazing book, with literally, all the birds of the world, complete with maps and illustrations. You can also scan any species to get more information about any bird. Wow.
Good birding!
Bruce Glick can be reached at bglick2@gmail.com.