For birders who were trying to see as many birds as possible in January, they picked a good year. Right down to the last day there were plenty of choices of birds to look for. On Jan. 31, four Cackling Geese and a Hermit Thrush were located in Stark County.
The fun of being out birding is the main prize for doing a big month. Since I restricted my birding to the Bobolink Area (12 counties including Holmes and Wayne), I avoided the long trips to Lake Erie and other distant birding locations. I ended up with about 20 less species than several of my friends who took on the entire state. This was the first time Ive tried this and now have a baseline to compare with in the future.
Very rare in winter, a Baltimore Oriole near Mt. Eaton has been eating grape jelly and showing up at the feeder for most of the visiting birders. A fairly cooperative Brown Thrasher near Berlin/Walnut Creek is also quite unusual for this time of year.
A Rosss Goose recently showed up along Prairie Lane on the south side of Wooster. This diminutive white goose was seen for a number of days as it fed in cornfields with Canada Geese. At least three Snow Geese were among the thousands of waterfowl at Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area. One-hundred-sixty Tundra Swans at the same location were joined by 1,500 or more Mallards plus many other species of ducks. This is highly unusual for January and is undoubtedly due to the mild weather and high water levels.
Although Snowy Owl sightings have diminished recently, two Snowys were again found at the Ashtabula Harbor Jan. 31. Toledo continues to be the place to find crossbills and redpolls. Columbus birders have been finding some rare gulls at the landfill, known to birders and others as Mount Trashmore. Merlins have also been sighted at Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbus.
One of the pleasures of exploring closer to home is finding new places to bike and watch birds. For the first time I biked the Conotton Creek Trail in Harrison County. The hard-surface trail starts/ends in Jewett and passes through Scio and Conotton, ending/starting in Bowerston. Ill remember this rails-to-trails as the one with the colorful benches along the way. There are many benches, picnic tables and covered rest stops, many of them painted bright pink, yellow, orange, lavender or blue. After the initial surprise I realized that I was enjoying the unique colors. A local biker told me that the trail is kept clean and tidy by volunteers - quite impressive for an 11-plus mile trail. Ill be back to check it out again in the spring.
Good birding!
