Warbler migration is underway
- Bruce Glick: Gone Birding
- August 26, 2018
- 1350
Blue grosbeaks seem to be doing well with multiple reports still coming in from around the local area. The same thing is true here in Northern Indiana, where we live. The latest nearby report came from Southern Michigan this week.
A new bird hotline has just been started for the Richland County area. The phone number is 260-768-8105. This hotline will include reports from the Clear Creek Reservoir Area and is a welcome addition for the Bobolink Area.
Speaking of bobolinks, over 100 were reported as they gathered before leaving the area. These birds head south by late summer and go as far south as Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
On Monday morning, Aug. 20, a report was posted saying a roseate spoonbill was located at Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area near Wooster. There have been several spoonbills seen in Ohio and Indiana including one in Holmes County, but this is the first report for Wayne County as far as I know. The bird was found in the morning, but at least one birder who looked for it in the afternoon couldn’t find it. However, the spoonbill may still be in the area. For up-to-date information on this rarity as well as other birding reports, call the Bobolink Area Bird Hotline at 574-642-1335.
On Aug. 17 a western kingbird was reported at Bath Nature Center in Summit County. A different observer found the bird at the same location on Sunday morning, Aug. 19. Over the years western kingbirds have rarely made their way as far east as Ohio, and often they didn’t stay long enough for many birders to see them.
Here in Goshen our resident common nighthawks are still calling overhead each evening. I’ll be checking them each night to see how long they stay. Nighthawks are one of my favorite birds here in Goshen, where they have been easy to find each summer, going back to my college days in the early 1960s.
Shorebirds continue to be reported, but the numbers are small and the reports few. As usual, part of the problem is very dry or too wet conditions in the small number of locations with good habitat. It is raining as I write, so maybe tomorrow I’ll head out to the agricultural areas east of Goshen. Some fields tend to flood, creating habitat for south-bound shorebirds.
Other recent reports include a pine siskin that was banded in Stark County. Jon Cefus and Ben Morrison drove to Montgomery County, Ohio on Aug. 19 to see the swallow-tailed kite that was hanging around the area. Check the Facebook page, Birding Ohio, to see some great photos of this beautiful, rare visitor. And for what it’s worth, this Facebook page now has over 8,800 members, up from zero not many years ago.
A friend of mine who lives in South Bend, Indiana posted photos on Aug. 20 of blackburnian, chestnut-sided and black-throated green warblers. The fall warbler migration is underway.
Good birding!
Email Bruce Glick at bglick2@gmail.com or call 330-317-7798.