• Michelle Wood: SWCD

Rare bird sticks around

• Bruce Glick: Gone Birding
• April 27, 2018
• 1794

When a rare bird shows up this time of year, it is often seen only once or twice. Not this time. Once the western-based black-throated gray warbler was discovered and the word got out, birders were delighted to find the bird evidently was in no hurry to leave. It was still being seen on April 24.

There have been a number of other black-throated gray sightings over the years, probably as many as 10 or more. I remember seeing one in the Cleveland area years ago. Later there was another local sighting north of Sugarcreek, so this is the second Bobolink Area record. The beautiful male western tanager was still being seen in the Mansfield area as far as I know.

By late April we expect to see a nice variety of early warblers as well as many of the other nesting and migrant birds that come our way. This year that certainly has not been the case. I was out for almost four hours on April 24, and the only new birds for the year were one blue-gray gnatcatcher and one house wren.

Checking the birding hotlines and Facebook pages, I found the same thing: one or two early warblers here and there, the first hummingbird or two, but not even the normally early yellow warblers in most locations.

The newsmakers instead are pine siskins, red crossbills, red-breasted nuthatches, snowy owls and many ducks. There have been reports of 15-19 species of waterfowl, which is amazing for this late in the year.

Our flock of 40-60 bufflehead and scaup can still be seen from my kitchen window each morning. On the other hand, most of the fox sparrows, hermit thrushes, yellow-bellied sapsuckers and golden-crowned kinglets have gone.

The northeast winds diminish at night, allowing these nighttime fliers to head on north with little or no headwind. They have been replaced by lots of ruby-crowned kinglets and yellow-rumped warblers.

Not so with the daytime soaring birds. We have already passed the normal peak of raptor migration with only a few reports. Jen Brumfield saw good numbers of turkey vultures and some sharp-shinned and broad-winged hawks moving through the Cleveland area.

On Monday, April 23, a raptor flight was reported along Lake Erie in the Ashtabula area. Locally, birders in the Walnut Creek and Mt. Eaton area saw up to 120 broad-winged hawks.

A new official hawk-count site began operating at Conneaut early in April. This count takes place at the same location where local birders have been counting raptors for many years but only on a few days each spring.

You can find that information online at Hawk Count. For up-to-date information on local birds, call the Bobolink Area Bird Hotline at 574-642-1335. If you are interested in hearing a similar update for Northern Indiana, call the Michiana Bird Hotline at 574-642-1300 ext. 4098.

Good birding.

Reach Bruce Glick at birderbruce@yahoo.com or 330-317-7798.